FROM LONDON TO AUSTRALIA BY AEROPLANE 



321 



necessary materials. One of our Eng- 

 lish friends took us to a local Chinaman, 

 a jack of all trades and the master of a 

 promising heap of scrap-iron. Bennett 

 unearthed a piece of steel shafting which, 

 provided a lathe was available to turn it 

 down to shape and size, fitted our pur- 

 pose. 



We then proceeded to a near-by rice 

 mill which was just whistling off for the 

 night. There we found a good lathe, but 

 of primitive motive power. Four coolies 

 turned a large pulley-wheel, and their 

 power was transmitted by belt to the 

 lathe. 



Bennett got to work at once by the 

 light of a kerosene lamp. After an 

 hour's hard work, little impression was 

 made on the steel, and our four-coolie- 

 power engine "konked out." 



Four more coolies were secured, but 

 after half an hour they went on strike 

 and demanded more money. I gave them 

 the increase, but fifteen minutes later 

 they went on strike again. This time we 

 called the foreman from the rice mill. 

 There was a different kind of strike, and 

 so the work proceeded. 



VI. How We Made Our Homing 

 Flight 



By 10 p. m. Bennett had completed 

 the job, and, considering the makeshift 

 tools, it was a remarkably fine piece of 

 workmanship and skill. 



Rain began to fall, so we returned to 

 the bungalow which had been placed at 

 our disposal by H. R. H. Prince Yugula. 



Just before midnight we were awa- 

 kened by the sound of a torrential down- 

 pour — the storm which we had passed 

 through during the day had reached 

 Singora. The wind increased to a gale, 

 and, fearing that the machine might be 

 in danger, we all turned out and kept 

 w^atch. Fortunately, we had pegged her 

 nose into the wind, but during the heavy 

 squalls the Vimy so strained at her lash- 

 ings that several times I feared she would 

 be swept away and crushed. 



We stood by all night, obtaining what 

 little shelter we could from the wings, 

 and at every squall rushed out and held 

 on to the planes. Needless to say, we 

 were drenched to the skin, and when the 

 wind eased down, shortly after davbreak, 



we felt tired and miserable, with no dry 

 clothes to put on. 



Ten inches of rain had fallen during 

 the night, and the whole of the aerodrome 

 excepting the ridge on which the machine 

 was standing resembled a lake. Luckily, 

 the ground was sandy, and after the rain 

 ceased the water drained off rapidly. 

 Squalls continued throughout the day, 

 but Bennett and Shiers, after rigging a 

 tarpaulin shelter, were able to work on 

 their engines. 



After breakfast in the bungalow we 

 returned to the machine and found that 

 the government had sent down 200 con- 

 victs from the local jail to clear away the 

 stumps ; and so we set them to work to 

 clear a strip about 400 yards long and 

 fifty yards wide across the aerodrome. 



The day's rest from flying was a de- 

 lightful relaxation ; in fact, an imperative 

 necessity, for my brother's and my own 

 eyes were almost too painful for vision, 

 after the previous day's battling with the 

 storm. 



Late that afternoon our petrol arrived 

 from Penang, but it was raining too 

 heavily to risk putting it into the ma- 

 chine. We were greatly indebted to 

 Captain Owen Hughes, an ex-Royal Air 

 Force officer, for bringing up the petrol 

 and also for his prompt attention in ar- 

 ranging for its transport. 



A TRICKY TAKE-OFF 



After a much-needed night's rest, we 

 were down at the aerodrome at daylight, 

 and after putting the 200 gallons of pe- 

 trol into the tanks, started up the engines. 

 Getting the machine into the air was a 

 questionable problem, but, as our time 

 for reaching Australia was fast closing 

 in, we decided to make the attempt. 



Three large patches of water extended 

 across the aerodrome at intervals of 

 about fifty yards. This water was, on 

 the average, six inches deep ; but, as the 

 aerodrome was sandy, our wheels did not 

 sink appreciably into it. A clear run of 

 fifty yards allowed the machine to gather 

 fair headway. Then she struck the water, 

 which almost pulled us up ; a race across 

 another fifty yards of hard ground, and 

 by the time we had passed through the 

 second patch of water the machine was 



