FROM LOXDOX TO AUSTRALIA BY AEROPLANE 



239 



Eventually the spare parts, personal 

 kit, and miscellaneous gear were assem- 

 bled and weighed. I decided to limit the 

 total weight of our machine when fully 

 loaded to 13,000 pounds. 



I was aware that the deadweight of 

 Sir John Alcock's machine in the trans- 

 atlantic flight was over 14,000 pounds, 

 but in the vastly greater distance that lay 

 before us, I intended to give my engines 

 as little work as possible. 



We discovered that, after the " weigh- 

 ing in,'' there was an excess of 300 

 pounds ; so something had to go. Our 

 "spares" were indispensable, and so we 

 drastically attacked our personal kit. It 

 was easy enough to cut down our kit — 

 so soon as we were unanimous in decid- 

 ing to go without any — and so it eventu- 

 ated that we left England in the garments 

 we wore and with the proverbial tooth- 

 brush' apiece. 



As my brother was navigator, all ar- 

 rangements concerning maps, etc., were 

 left entirely to him. Wherever possible, 

 we would fly our course by maps and 

 direct observations of features on the 

 ground ; but when cloudy or misty 

 weather rendered terrestrial observation 

 obscure, we would rely solely on naviga- 

 tion. For this purpose we carried an 

 Admiralty compass, a ground-speed and 

 drift indicator, and we had our own fly- 

 ing experience to fall back on. 



DELAYED BY WEATHER 



The machine was at last ready, and, 

 after being flown and tested by Sir John 

 Alcock, was pronounced fit for the un- 

 dertaking. I considered it advisable to 

 remain another week in England in order 

 to give our supplies of fuel and oil suffi- 

 cient time to reach some of the more re- 

 mote aerodromes. 



It was galling to have to idle in Eng- 

 land while every day we read in the press 

 of the progress of Monsieur Poulet, who 

 had left Paris on October 14 and had by 

 now reached Mesopotamia. The Sop- 

 with machine, piloted by Captain Ma- 

 thews, had also left England some time 

 previously. 



The weather during this week's stay 

 was abominable. Winter was fast clos- 

 ing in with typical English November 

 fogs. Driving sleet and pelting rains fell 

 almost without intermission. One after- 



noon there was a brief lull, and I man- 

 aged to get the machine into the air for 

 about an hour and make a final test. 



Our machine was still at Weybridge, 

 and the official starting place for the com- 

 petitive flight was the Hounslow aero- 

 drome. 



"we're ofe !" 



I had intended flying over to Hounslow 

 on November 13 and starting off on the 

 flight the following morning. On No- 

 vember 11 we were pottering around our 

 machine when the rain suddenly ceased 

 and the fog lifted. It was too good an 

 opportunity to miss ! We ran the ma- 

 chine out of its hangar, and I was just 

 about to start up when the clouds closed 

 down again and snow fell heavily. 



The weather was very capricious, for 

 in half an hour the clouds rolled away, 

 clearing the air and giving promise of 

 a bright, fine evening. The engines were 

 started up, we climbed into our seats, and 

 took off from Weybridge. As far as we 

 were concerned, the flight to Australia 

 had begun ! 



During the voyage to Hounslow the 

 machine in every part worked to my en- 

 tire satisfaction and we landed at the 

 official starting ground without difficulty. 



Hounslow is the main ''civilian" aero- 

 drome of London, and all commercial 

 machines inward and outward bound 

 from or to the continent start from or 

 land there. 



So soon as the machine was in its 

 hangar, I got in touch with Vickers and 

 informed them that I intended starting 

 next morning. 



On the morning of November 12 we 

 were called at 4.30, and I was delighted 

 to find a clear, frosty morning. How- 

 ever, at 6.30 a dense ground haze ap- 

 peared, and weather reports sent by the 

 Air Ministry forecasted bad weather in 

 the southeast of London and the north 

 of France. 



The machine was run out from the 

 hangars and Commander Perrin, of the 

 Royal Aero Club, marked and sealed five 

 parts of it, in accordance with the rules 

 of the competition. It was necessary to 

 produce three of the marked parts upon 

 arrival in Australia, in order to identify 

 the machine. 



At 8 o'clock another report stated that 



