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Aviation History
1919
1919 - 0776.PDF
steamer traffic, had to proceed via India, No. 2 party making for Mombasa, and No. 3 party for Lorenco Marques (Captain Shortridge) and Cape Town. The bases were reached about the end of December. As far south as Khartum Major Long's party had no diffi culties ; before the New Year the line to Khartum was ready for use, and about three weeks later Brig.-General Herbert was flown there in a Handley Page machine. At Meroe an aerodrome was not cleared, that town being regarded merely as a flying-boat stage. Aeroplanes would naturally follow the railway, which cuts off the loop of the Nile, and proceed direct from Wadi Haifa to Atbara. South of Khartum, from about 13 deg. north to Broken Hill, about 13 deg. south, the whole line of the country presents enormous difficulties. It was decided to form large perma nent aerodromes at intervals of from 400 to 500 miles and leave the intermediate emergency landing grounds until later, and the first big station in this difficult country was to be, if possible, near Kodok, 400 miles south of Khartum. Kodok (Fashoda) is a native village on the Nile, unhealthy and surrounded by a large swampy area. However, Malakal, some 40 miles farther south, the headquarters of the Upper Nile Provinces and a base of the Irrigation Department, offered facilities for an aerodrome on an open grassy plain some few miles to the east of the river. This spot the survey party adopted instead of Kodok. Between Malakal and Gondokoro, a distance of some 400 miles, the Nile runs through sudd country, and though the whole district Rejaf-Gondokoro-Mongalla was thoroughly searched no suitable landing spot could be found. Sugges tions as to building an elevated landing ground were made but abandoned on account of the cost. The only solution would appear to lie in the use of the flying boat, the river being of sufficient width to allow of landing whatever the direction of the wind. The results of the expedition exploring the country of the great lakes is not yet to hand. About Zoka, roughly midway between Gondokoro and Jinja, are plains covered with long elephant grass ; to the south it is more undulating, and covered with bushes, scrub and forest. In the rainy season, from March to January, the country is practically a swamp. In the dry season, if the grass were burnt, it would become possible to land machines. About Jinja itself the country is swampy, broken and heavily wooded. Flying-boats can easily make the journey over Victoria Nyanza to Mwanza, and there are plenty of sheltered inlets along the coast which could be used as intermediate stations. The chief drawback is the frequency and suddenness of severe thunderstorms, with gales and rough water. The annual rainfall is about 60 ins. Waterspouts frequently <s> <$> The Prince of Wales at the Sopwith Works ON June 5 the Prince of Wales drove down to Kingston to inspect the Sopwith Aviation works. He was received at the chief office by Mr. T. O. M. Sopwith ; Mr. R. O. Carey, managing director ; Mr. H. P. Margrave, secretary and organis ing manager; Mr. L. Fowler, factory superintendent; and Mr. H. Mitchell, works manager. On entering the works he was greeted by the workmen with a hammer chorus. In the metal assembling shop the Prince saw the various processes of making bullet-proof shields for the protection of the low- flying trench-fighting Salamanders, and he also visited the experimental shops. The Prince then drove to the new factory at Ham, where he saw the assembling of aeroplanes and inspected completed Salamanders and Dragons with their fighting equipment, the latter being an improvement of the Snipe. The Prince climbed into the pilot's seat of a Sala mander, completed and ready for delivery, and Mr. Sopwith explained its details. Wireless Telephony in Night Flying THE extraordinary value of wireless telephony for direc tional purposes in connection with aircraft has been em phasised recently in its relation to night flying. It often happens, of course, that in daylight inter-communication between planes, or between wireless stations and aircraft, is unnecessary, but in flying across country at night the use of the wireless 'phone will certainly become more and more efficacious. Some details are now available of a test carried out during a recent night flight from Kenley to Paris in a Rolls-Royce- engined Handley Page. This in no way constitutes a record, but is nevertheless interesting as indicating what is being done as a matter of routine. Wireless telephony has now been definitely adopted as a means of ground to air communication JUNE 12, 1919 occur during rainstorms, and masses of small insects some times rise out of the lake, having the appearance of dense clouds. Between Mwanza and Ujiji the country is good over a stretch of 300 miles Ujiji itself is in a swampy neighbour hood, but a short distance away is open and grassy country. Here an aeroplane site can probably be found without much difficulty The country to the east of Lake Tanganyika is fairly suitable for aeroplanes, but Kituta, at the southern end of the lake, was found by Captain Shortridge's party to be unhealthy, low-lying, swampy and surrounded by hills. It is not suited as a stopping place for aeroplanes, but Aber- corn, some 14 miles away, is a much better locality. From Abercorn onwards the country becomes impossible for flying- boats, and the best aeroplane route is via Serenje, across 440 miles of country, to the railway at Broken Hill. This con cludes the difficult portion of the route. It remains to be seen what Major Emmett's party decides is the best course, for all the alternatives are to be examined. A roundabout route, east from Kisumu to Nairobi and thence over the rolling, open lands west of Mt. Kilimanjaro and south along the cart-track to Dadoom is over a district suited to aeroplanes throughout. The cart track continues through similar open country via Iringa to Neu Utengule, Ikomba and Abercorn. This involves a detour of at least 400 miles but it may make possible the use of the aeroplane instead of the flying-boat. Major Court-Treatt's party, examining the southern sector, had a relatively simple task allotted to them. It appears that the chief difficulties were to choose aerodromes from the many good sites which existed. In addition, many South African towns made requests that aerodromes might be built in their vicinity. • This involved reference to Cairo, and assent has generally been given to the proposal. An aerodrome has been prepared near Johannesburg. A route in process of development is that from Atbara to Trinkitat, on the Red Sea, and thence via the Farsan and Kamaran Islands to Perim and Aden. This will probably be more used for military than civil purposes, but may become a section of an alternative route via Egypt and the Arabian Coast to India. Major Carr has been responsible for the survey and preparation of this route. Until full reports of the African Survey parties have been received, one cannot speak definitely about this great air route. It is probable that a combination of flying-boats and aeroplanes will be used at the start of the service. The first machine will probably be flown from Cairo to the Cape in October or November this year. <$> <$> and vice versa on the London-Paris route, and the test in ques tion was made with one of the first machines on this service fitted for the purpose. Communication was opened as soon as the Handley Page had obtained height, and, after speaking to the ground station, the receiver was turned in and speech was very clearly heard trom Kenley. The officer conducting the test emphasises in his report speech quality and strength, and states that he easily recognised the voice as that of an officer known to him. To a distance of about 35 miles the strength of signals was so great that speech from the machine could be clearly heard at Kenley with the receiver laid upon the table. At 50 miles it was still distinct and constant, and was heard until the aeroplane was crossing the Channel and was in touch with Marquise ; the first ground station on the French side. On the return journey conversation between the machine and Marquise was again picked up at Kenley, and the latter station itself was in communication with the machine 30 minutes before it landed. One of the recent developments in this connection is the production of an aeroplane set which can be converted within a few moments for transmission of either voice or Morse signals. A New Parachute AT Kenley aerodrome on June 6 comparative tests were carried out with a new parachute designed by Major Taylor, R.A.F., and two other types. Each parachute carried a dummy load representing a man, and the results were ap proximately as follows :— Type. Diameter. Rate of fall. Major Taylor's 20 ft. 13 ft. per sec. Commercial type 8 ft. 15 ft. per sec. Experimental (R.A.F.) .. .. 15 ft. 20 ft. per sec.
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