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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0180.PDF
MARCH 26, 1925 LONDON- RANGOON—LONDON By ALAN J. COBHAM AIR VICE-MARSHAL SIR SEFTON BRANCKER, Director of Civil Aviation, flew in a small commercial passenger aeroplane, a de Havilland type 50, from England to India. The crew consisted of A.'B. Elliot as engineer and myself as pilot in charge of the flight. The chief reason of Sir Sefton's visit to India was to attend the conference and decide, after various sites had been surveyed with the other experts who had come out from England, where the airship port should be in India. The great airship route, which is being, up to the present, entirely financed by the Imperial Government, will eventually run to Australia, with possible branch aeroplane lines running off the main airship route. The preliminary step will be to start a service to India, and after that other airship routes will quickly follow, including the extension to Australia and possibly a separate route to South Africa. Another route to South America may also be considered, and, no doubt, from stunt flight, but one in which an aeroplane was used as a business proposition to carry out a certain purpose because the ordinary means of transport could not effectually do the job. Although a big portion of the expense was borne by the Air Ministry, the major portion has been subscribed by the aircraft industry, including the Imperial Airways, Ltd., the De Havilland Aircraft Company, Sir Charles Wakefteld, British Petroleum Company, the Aircraft Disposal Company, and the entire Society of British Aircraft Constructors, who believe that a flight of this nature would be good propaganda for British aircraft and prove the utilitv of commercial aviation in general. We left Stag Lane Aerodrome, the headquarters of the De Havilland Aircraft Company at Edgware, on November 20, our first stop being Paris. There was a big gathering to see Sir Sefton off, despite the secrecy of the departure date. The famous Buddhist Pagoda with solid gold roof at Rangoon. the experience gained on the preliminary tests on these routes, giant airships will be planned and constructed to run the transatlantic service. However, it is evident that the " All Red " routes will be first considered, as aviation in its various branches, by speeding up communication, can do more than anything else to bind the Empire together. By an airship route India will be four days from England and Australia eight or nine days, while South Africa will be about six or seven days' journey. Sir Sefton Brancker flew to India for two reasons : firstly, because as the Director of Civil Aviation it is his belief that he should fly on all his Government work journeys ; and, secondly, because it was the only possible way in which he could correctly survey the possibilities of the various aeroplane air routes and branch lines throughout Europe in connection with the Imperial Airways Company and other aeroplane lines that will link up with the airship routes in Egypt to Iraq, Baghdad, and later the Persian Gulf. Therefore, this flight to India was not intended to be a The aeroplane used was a De Havilland type 50, with a 230 h.p. Siddeley " Puma " engine. The machine has a neat cabin for four passengers and the pilot sits behind. Our load, which consisted of two passengers, a great deal of baggage, spares, and a lot of extra petrol, amounted to over half a ton weight, making the total weight in the air up to 4,300 lbs. Sir Sefton Brancker stayed two days in Paris in conference with M. Flandin, the French Director of Aviation, and then proceeded with the results of his interviews to Cologne. The flight was uneventful except for the very bad weather, fog and rain, together made worse in patches by the smoke of busy towns, such as Liege and district, which seemed to be working full time with all furnaces belching forth. After a conference with the Commanding Chief at Cologne, Sir Sefton then flew on to Berlin. On the way we flew over the Ruhr district, and here every foundry and factory, although it was Sunday, appeared to be going full time, for all the thousands of chimney stacks seemed to be emitting clouds of smoke. At Berlin we were met by the German Air Minister, 180
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