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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0311.PDF
MAY 21, 1925 touched the ground ; then making a quick turn, the machinecame to a standstill. The damage was found to be somewhat serious. The engine had been damaged beyond repair through over-heating and the field, which looked like a meadow, had in reality been used as a rice field, and was crossed by a number of dykes about a foot high. During the landing, the wheels had struck no Jess than nine of these dykes, with the result that the right- hand wheel had been seriously damaged. The lecturer then gave a graphic account of his troubles in making himself understood in any of the Western languages, and made some humorous references to a sealed telephone which was opened with a form of golden key that is universal all over the world. After a long delay, the Dutch Consul from Philippopolis arrived in a Ford" and in this vehicle the aviators were brought along over very bad roads to the town. After more than a week of waiting, telegraphing, and letter-writing, the Chief of the technical services of the K.L.M. arrived in Philippopolis to make investigations, and he ex- pressed himself in favour of repairing the damage on the spot. The Fokker factory at once commenced work on a new under- carriage, and Het Leven, the illustrated paper, made the aviators a present of a new Rolls-Royce engine. While repairs were being effected the aviators had to wait with what patience they could muster, and judging by the lecturer's remarks, they did not greatly enjoy their "stay. At last, however, three mechanics arrived from Holland with the engine and spare parts, towards the end of October. After five long days of extremely hard work in the open and in rain and mud, the machine was ready by November 1. The engine had been tested and found to be O.K., and a piece of ground had been found in the neighbourhood with good surface, and just long enough to enable the machine to start. In the small hours of the morning of November 2, a start was made from this field, and the journey to the Far East was continued. The machine landed on the San Stephano Aerodrome, near Constantinople, that afternoon The aero- drome itself was quite good, but there was only one very small hangar, and it was impossible to run the F. VII inside. The next day a somewhat belated start was made and flying along the Princes Islands the aviators made for Asia Minor. Here the scenery changed. The mountains were not very high, but nevertheless dangerous enough in the event of a forced landing. Ultimately, the Baghdad Railway was reached and followed up to Eski Sher, where the Angora Railway leaves the main track. Again the landscape changed. In the meantime the wind had increased and made headway more difficult. By the time the sun had set, Angora was still out of sight, but at last they sighted the lights showing up against the hills. The aerodrome was none too large, and fairly rough, and a landing was only possible right in the middle. 'They could just see in the dusk that a herd was grazing on the spot where they ought to have landed, and so they had to turn right over the chimney tops of a factory. Suddenly, there was a loud bang against the left-hand wing, but nothing seemed to happen, and a safe landing was made. It was found, however, that the left-hand wing had struck a wind indicator, while a long length of telegraph wire was entangled in the propeller. The damage to the wing was not important, and was repaired by gluing a piece of three-ply wood on to the wing. The next step was from Angora to Aleppo, flying first for many hours over the desert of Anatolia, and then passing a large salt lake. After having flown for several hours on a compass-course, they struck the Baghdad Railway, in the south of Anatolia, and reached the Taurus Mountains, which rise to a height of 10,000 ft. The mountains were too high to fly over with the heavy machine, and so they were forced to fly eastward, following the railway through "the narrow pass between the Taurus and Anti-Taurus mountains. The lecturer described the scenery as wonderful, but said that had theirtruatgiRollaJia3ai&.*Bgine refused to work the F. VII wouTcT have met with a terrible end.Emerging into the green plain of Adana, they came down from about 6,000 feet to a few hundred feet, crossed the Gulf ofAlexandretta, and entered Syria. A short flight over a low range of hills and Aleppo was in sight. At Aleppo theywere very well received by the French pilots, who gave them every assistance possible. From Aleppo the aviators pro-ceeded across the desert to the Euphrates, which was followed into Iraq, the British mandate. Presently they left theEuphrates, and, flying east towards the Tigris, went on towards Baghdad, a squadron of British 'planes flying past them onthe way. A landing was made on the south side of the R.A.F. aerodrome at Baghdad, and the lecturer was loud inhis praise of the reception extended to them by the Royal Air Force personnel at Baghdad. The next step contemplated was to Busra, but it wasfound that a strong following wind helped the aviators along, and so it was decided to continue as far as Bushire, on thePersian Gulf. From Bushire the aviators flew to Bunder Abbas, where again they were received by a few Englishmenpresent, and on the next stage Karachi was reached, it having been decided, as a result of a strong following wind,not to land at Chahbar, as had originally been intended. A severe dust-storm was encountered, but the wind blewin from the sea, and, fortunately, the wind direction made it possible for the machine to fly above the dust-storm. From Karachi to Calcutta use was made of the variousBritish aerodromes along the Indus and Ganges. The first landing was made at Ambala, and from there the route takenwas to Allahabad and Calcutta, the northern route being preferred to the more direct southern one from Karachi toAgra. Everywhere, the lecturer said, they were received with the heartiest hospitality and assistance from the RoyalAir Force. From Calcutta the course was laid down along the coast of Burma, and Mijnheer van der Hoop stated that,as a matter of fact, it could safely be said that from Calcutta to Batavia there were no forced landing-grounds at all.The first landing was made at Akyab, and from there the Dutch fliers headed for Rangoon. On arriving over Rangoon,it was found that the aerodrome there was a small racecourse surrounded by trees and houses, from which the machinewould not have been able to start again. It was also impos- sible to continue on to Bangkok owing to a strong head wind,and there seemed nothing for it but to return to Akyab and there fit a larger tank. Fortunately, some distance awayfrom the town another and larger race-course was discovered to be suitable, and there a safe landing was made. Crossing the mountains and channels, the flight continuedfrom Burma to Bangkok, the capital of Siam. From Bangkok southwards the east coast of the Malay Peninsula was followedas far as Sengora, a small Siamese town with an aerodrome not more than 320 yards in length. From Sengora theyflew over the Malay Peninsula, passed Penang, and then had to cross the only large stretch of sea of the whole flight,the Malacca Straits, which separated them from the Dutch East Indies. A Dutch steamer was in attendance in cheMalacca Straits, and the gallant aviators were accompanied by Dutch seaplanes up to the coast of Sumatra to the smalltown of Muntok. From Muntok they flew to Sumatra across the Sunda Strait, between Sumatra and Java, andwere met and again escorted by seaplanes until reaching Batavia. In conclusion, Mijnheer van der Hoop said he wished to express his sincere gratitude to the English authorities, and the Royal Air Force in particular, for their kind and welcome assistance and the hearty hospitality he had always received during the preparations for the flight, as well as during the flight itself. DUTCH AVIATORS ENTERTAINED ON May 14 the Anglo-Batavian Society gave a dinner at the Connaught Rooms in honour of Mijnheer van der Hoop, Lieutenant Poelman, and Mr. van der Broeke. Sir Walter Townley, K.C.M.G., who is Chairman of the Society, presided. In proposing the toast of " Our Guests," Sir Walter Town- ley said he was sure that in the future the main transport would be in the air. He congratulated a comparatively small nation such as Holland upon ranking as pioneers in the art of aviation. He said that Mr. Fokker, who was present at the dinner, had made a name not only for himself but for Holland in general in developing air transport. Mijnheer van der Hoop, in replying, again expressed his cordial thanks for the help he had received by the British during his flight, and particularly by the Royal Air *orce. He thought that aviation, both sporting and commercial, served as a link between nations. It had already done much in that way, and he hoped and trusted it would do a great deal more in the future. Air Vice-Marshal Sir Wm. Sefton Brancker, Director of Civil Aviation, submitting the toast of " Anglo-Batavian Relations by Air," pointed out that the interests of Great Britain and the Netherlands were very closely bound together in the development of air transport. His Excellency the Netherlands Ambassador, Jonkheer Dr. R. de Marees van Swinderen, briefly responded to this toast, and the proceedings came to a close with a toast to the Chairman, Sir Walter Townley, proposed by Lieut.-Colonel I. A. E. Edwards, of the Air Ministry. 311
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