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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0185.PDF
JS MARCH 26. 1925 Native interest in the D.H.50 at Jalpaiguri. supply a permanent guard. It was at Calcutta that General Brancker was taken very ill and narrowly escaped pneumonia. He had been ailing ail the way from Delhi, where it is evident that he caught a severe chill while drivmg-in an open car ; anyhow, 1 insist that he did not catch it flying in the D.H.50. " His illness, I suppose, delayed our schedule nearly a month, and had he not been so unfortunate, I feel sure we should have returned to England in the middle of February, as originally planned. Many people in Calcutta talked enthusiastically about an air line to Darjeeling, which is the hill station where all Calcutta people go in summertime, and General Brancker thought it would be a good idea while I was waiting for him, if 1 flew up there and made a little survey of the route. It was while on this flight that the idea of flying over the Hima- layas and having a look at Everest occurred to me. Enough has already been said and written about this very little episode. About the splendours and magnificence of the sights that we witnessed, I leave to the imagination of any who read this story, and can only say that I was particularly fortunate in having an ideal day for the flight. A gentle south wind was blowing, which possibly gave slight uplifting currents. I am sure of one thing, that a strong north wind blowing in the region where I was flying would have made it practically impossible for a machine to fly owing to the terrific down currents that would naturally occur as they came over such mountains as Kinchinjunga, which is 28,000 ft. At one time we were flying within a mile of this mountain, and the summit, which was 11,000 ft. above, seemed to be hanging right over us. The air route to Jalpaiguri, which is a town at the foot of the hills, and would be the aerodrome for Darjeeling, is very simple, and would no doubt reduce the journey from Calcutta to Darjeeling from 18 hours, as at present, to a 6-hour trip. However, I have my doubts regarding the commercial success of this scheme. On returning to Calcutta, I was glad to find that Sir Sefton had greatly recovered, and the doctors considered that a steady three-days' boat journey at that time of year to Rangoon would be an excellent form of convalescence, and it was so arranged that I should fly on down there and bring him back in the aeroplane, so that he would be able to see the possibilities of the Calcutta-Rangoon Air Route. Great keenness has been shown in official circles regarding this air line, for they are anxious to establish an air mail service between these two towns. At present the boat takes three days to do the journey, and by air it could be done in 10 hours, the distance being under 700 miles. Originally, it was thought that this was only possible as a sea-plane route owing to the extraordinary nature of the country to be flown At Jalpaiguri the ground was cleared by ele- phants, here seen standing guard over the D.H.50. 185 \
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