Evening star., 1934-10-22
AIR RACERS KILLED
|N|TALY AS BRITISH
REACH AUSTRALIA
Scott and Black Hold Lead
After Setting AIl-Time
Record.
DUTCH TEAM SECOND,
WITH U. S. PAIR THIRD
Gilman of England Burned to
Death When Plane Bursts
Into Flames in Flight.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
MILDENHALL AIRDROME, Eng
land, October 22.-Burly c. w. A.
Scott and dapper Campbell Black
highballed their brilliant Red Comet
into the last 2,176-mile stretch of the
Melbourne Air Derby today out OF
Port Darwin, with two Dutchmen four
hours behind them and the Americans,
Turner and Pangborn, in third place.
The record-smaShing pacemakers,
who sliced a generous two-thirds OF
all existing England-to-Australia speed
records in days hours and % min
utes, limped into Port Darwin on only
one engine, but repaired it in a few
ridden hours and sped on to
claim the 5000 prize at Melbourne.
Two Die in Crash.
The first fatality of the air race oc-
CURED today when Harold D. Gilman
of Great Britain and his co-pilot,
Baines, crashed in flames in Italy, be-
tween Soggia and Bari, according to
word reaching the Royal Aero Club.
Both were burned to death.
Last to arrive al Mildenhall, they
were the first to die in the great race.
They had been dogged with trouble,
first by forced landing at Lyon, then
hopping to Marseille where engine
trouble developed They were racing
for Rome, almost at the tail-end of
the procession, when the accident oc-
CURED.
The disaster left only 13 planes COM
petirg in the derby out of an orig
inal 20.
Col. Roscoe Turner and Clyde Pang-
born in their big transport plane had
reached Singapore without miShap
and without trouble except for be-
coming lost over Allahabad, India.
They remained an hour and % min
ates at Singapore and raced on after
the leaders, 2,084 miles behind.
Dutch in Pursuit.
The Dutch team, K. D. Parmentier
and ]. j. Moll, were reported draining
every possible ounce of speed from
their fast American machine in an
effort to close the slim 4-hour gap
remaining between them and Scott.
They were approaching Port Darwin
across the shark-infested Timor Sea.
Capt. James ]. Mollison and his
wife, Amy, were believed to be out of
the race. They remained at Allahabad,
India, with badly damaged motors.
In fourth place were Lieut.. Cathcart
Jones and Ken Waller of Great Brit
ain. driving a De Havilland comet
with a Gipsy vi motor machine, same
as the one flown by Scott and Black.
Forced to turn back to Allahabad by
motor trouble. they took off again at
9:39 am, E. S. T.
1t was the third time Scott had
flown from England to Australia, each
time breaking the existing record. In
reaching Australian shores from Eng
land in a little over So hours he beat
his own best previous record of days.
20 hours and At minutes made in
October, 1881.
Fifth in line, Squadron Leader NAL
colin MacGregor and Henry Walker,
New Zealand, reached Jodhpur at
10:45 am. (E. S. T) en- route to ALA
habad.
Other U. S. Team Delayed.
The other American team, John H.
Wright of Utica N. Y, and John
Polando, we're still at Aleppo at 6
O'Clock this morning, Eastern stand
ard time, with fuel line trouble. They
expected to be delayed until tomorrow
In Syria.
Only 13 of the original 20 contest
ants remained in the derby, the ranks
thinned by seven Withdrawals owing
TO crashes or motor trouble.
Scott's motor appeared to be working
perfectly when he took off from Port
Darwin, despite the fact it had under
gone the terrific strain of travelling
more than 5000 miles at an average
speed of around ITS miles an hour.
SCOTS spectacular record of approx
mately days 4 hours and %
minutes from England to Australia
appeared likely to stand for some time
to come.
Peril0us Sea Crossing.
1t was dusk here (6:08 am, Eastern
standard time) when Scott and Black
came in from a perilous crossing of
the Timor Sea, only one motor func-
tioning. They had reduced the best
previous record by almost two-thirds.
Charles T. P. Ulm of Australia flew
from England to Australia in 6 days
II hours and As minutes in 1893. The
record stood until today.
Scott's relentless pursuers, Parmen-
tier and Moll, appeared feverish and
excited upon reaching Singapore, dis
patches revealed. They used wet
sponges to refresh themselves, then
took of for Darwin. but landed at
Batavia, Java $40 miles away, at 5:36
am, Eastern standard time.
Valuable time was dropped by Turn
er and Pangborn when they became
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