Letter: Why was paper present on plane?
On November 15, 1927, McIntosh and Hinkler set out from southern England to attempt the world record long distance non-stop flight.
They chose a route to India, but battling against bad weather depleted their petrol supply and they turned back at the Caspian Sea.
They flew back 1,000 miles to avoid landing in hostile Russia, and crashed landed near Lvov on November 19.
The photograph of the damaged plane revealed that it was carrying on board copies of the Wolverhampton Express and Star for India.
Only three of the twelve copies survived, but were sent on by the British Consulate – one at least was delivered to the Chairman of Chamber of Commerce in Madras. I have been unable to discover why in particular the Wolverhampton Express and Star became involved and wondered whether anyone in Wolverhampton can throw any light on the matter.
Copies of the newspaper for November 1927 might hold clues.
Dr Susan Pittman, Kent
