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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0162.PDF
MARCH 19. 1925 SIR SEFTON BRANCKER'S AIR TOUR Alan Cobham Again Makes Good THE wonderful seventeen-thousand-nve-hundred-mile aerial tour to India and back undertaken by the Director of Civil Aviation, Sir Sefton Brancker, has—thanks to the combined efforts of Alan Cobham, the pilot, and Engineer Elliott— at last come to a successful conclusion. And, incident- ally, British aviation, as a whole, has once again shown the world what can be done. Originally, Sir Sefton ex- pected to arrive back in England last Thursday, as reported in last week's Fr.iGHT, but he was gently but firmly reminded that he had arrived in the zone where " weather " conies from. They started from Prague on Wednesday, March 11, for Paris, but they encoun- tered violent snowstorms over the whole range of the Bohemian mountains. After an attempt to fly through them (the storms, not the mountains), Cobham, for once in a way, was forced to turn back, near Pilsen, and return to Prague aero- drome. Three further attempts-were made to get over the mountains and through the snow, and even- tually rthey succeeded, but had not got very far into Germany—near Stuttgart— when snow once again proved too much. Cobham selected one of the little open patches in the forest and effected a safe landing in a small and very rough field on a hill-top' As it was much too small for taking off purposes,the D.H.50 was partially dismantled, and, with the assistance of the German villagers,was transported to an old German aerodrome some 50 miles back, when it was re-erected. After waiting some time forthe snow to clear they resumed their journey to Strasbourg, where they arrived on Sunday, March 15. On the following morning they flew on to Paris, arriving OFFICIAL WELCOME TO THE VOYAGERS: Maj. J. W. Hills and Mr. Hubert Scott-Paine at Croydon, where, on behalf of the Board of Imperial Airways, they met Gen. Sir Sefton Brancker and Mr. Cobham. safely at Le Bourget shortly before noon. The last stage of the tour, to London, was completed on Tuesday, March 17, when, after being delayed somewhat by head winds and bad visibility, they left Le Bourget at 10.30 a.m. and arrived at Croydon aerodrome at 1.45 p.m. Their welcome back at Croydon was exceedingly enthusiastic—as, indeed, it should have been—and there was a crowd about 1,000 strong to receive them. The Secretary of State lor Air, Sir Samuel Hoare, was unable to be present, but the Air Ministry was well represented, and messages of welcome from the Secre- tary of State and the Under- secretary were given to Sir W. S. Brancker. Two direc- tors of Imperial Airways. Mr. H. Scott-Paine and Major Hills, were present, Sir Eric Geddes and the other direct- ors being engaged at a board meeting. Mr. T. O. M. Sopwith, Chairman of the Society of British Aircraft Constructors, Sir Charles Wakefield, and many others well known in the aviation world, were there, while the Royal Aero Club was repre- sented by Col. M. O. Darby and Commdr. H. Perrin. Col. Edwards, who has acted as Deputy Director of Civil Aviation, was the hrst to greet Sir Sefton, who looked remarkably well— smiling and monocled, the same as ever. As the hardy D.H.50, with its trusty Siddeley " Puma," landed gently on the aero- drome-—of course, to the accompaniment of enthusiastic cheering—one outstanding feature must have impressed many who looked on. This was the extraordinarily smart and " new " appearance of the machine. It was hard to realise that this 'bus, with its three-ply fuse- lage smooth and unscratched, tight-fabric wings, etc.. m The End of a Perfect Trip: Gen. Sir Sefton Brancker alight- ing' If ro'm ,the D.H.50, while Mr. Elliott stands by on the wing, and Mr. Cobham greets his many friends. * m m 162
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