© Allied MediaCapt Alan Cobham (right) and his mechanic, Sgt Arthur Ward, after arrival in Sydney from England in a de Havilland DH 50J seaplane, via Naples, Alexandretta (now Iskenderun), Bagdad, Basra, Bushire (now Bushehr, Iran), Bandar Abbas, Karachi, Babawalpur, Delhi, Allahabad, Calcutta (now Kolkata), Akyab, Rangoon (Yangon), Singapore, Muntok, Balavia (now Jakarta), Sourabaya, Bima, Koepang, and Darwin. Photo: Otago Witness, Issue 3780, 24 August 1926, Page 40 SYDNEY, August 11: Mr Cobham arrived here to-day and landed at the Mascot Aerodrome. When the airman finally hove in sight, escorted by 10 aeroplanes, tumultuous cheering commenced, and lasted until he made a perfect landing. When the aviator landed a strong force of police was powerless to cope with the excited crowds which rushed the aerodrome and took possession of the machine amid frenzied excitement. Mr Cobham, guarded by the police, managed to struggle to the hangar where he was officially welcomed by representatives of the Government. Mr Cobham said that now that the first half of the journey was done be considered it was not as hard as he had been led to believe, and he was quite certain that he would accomplish the return to England. He stressed the fact that there must be a chain of air lines between London and Australia within a few years. The route from Rochester, England to Melbourne covers a distance of 14,370 miles, and if the return journey is successfully accomplished the whole flight will be more than the distance round the world. Flight only 41 days The plaudits accorded to Mr Alan Cobham upon his success in flying from England to Australia must be held to be the more worthily earned when consideration is given to the difficulties which confronted him in his journey. Mr Cobham has now two great long distance flights to his credit — the first from London to Capetown and back, and the second from London to Sydney. While these aerial journeys represent great individual achievements, it can, however, scarcely be suggested that they bring the distant portions of the Empire, which were the starting and terminal points respectively, into measurably closer contact for practical purposes. The aviator's time between London and Sydney has been forty-one days. Even when a considerable margin is allowed for the interruptions to which he was subjected, it has been made evident that the route is not one upon which the journey can be made at present by aeroplane or seaplane with any remarkable degree of speed. It presents difficulties which render the flight a very severe test of human endurance. The fact that an interval of several years has separated the second successful flight from England to Australia from the first possesses a definite significance. Mr Cobham's achievement cannot he regarded as opening up any prospect of the aeroplane becoming in the near future the medium for linking up the different parts of the Empire by aviation on a commercial basis. What is required is a type of aircraft that will be able to travel continuously or almost so. Only thus can it be hoped that the time occupied on these great journeys will be very substantially reduced. — editorial Yorks to visit on way to Canberra London, August 10: It is officially announced that the Duke and Duchess of York will travel on board HMS Renown via the Panama Canal visiting New Zealand first, then all the other States of Australia before the function at Canberra. Royal bias towards NZ The official announcement that is now made respecting the programme for the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York to the Dominions will be specially welcome in New Zealand. Gratified and honoured as the people of this country must feel in the knowledge that they are to have the opportunity and privilege of receiving as their guests the heir-presumptive to the Throne and his wife, the second lady in the land, respecting whose great charm all reports agree, their gratification will be increased by the fact that New Zealand is to be the first of the dominions to greet their Royal Highnesses on their tour. It is to be noted with satisfaction, moreover, that the stay of the Duke and Duchess of York in New Zealand seems likely to be of longer duration than that of either the King and Queen in 1901 or the Prince ot Wales in 1920. — editorial — ODT, 12.8.1926
