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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0827.PDF
DECEMBER 17, 1925 ^^ PSS^e f°r our launch- so with the next tide we organised a team of dug-outs and were towed ^SX anChOrage That ht both Sec" -id our" At this our second base we had a bad spell of haze but as this section was a small one, ten days sufficed and wemoved down to the Tenassenm River. On this occasion Scott managed to catch the Rangoon steamer on its way toMergui and was consequently able to go ahead and select a base. A variety of possible sites were chosen on the mapand he was to light smoke fires at the one he had selected. We made a dump of petrol at Tavoy mouth and put downa mooring buoy, hauled up the machine on a convenient beach and again overhauled the floats and on February 9Robbins and I again left by air to follow Scott. Our third base was about 15 miles up the Tenasserim River behindMergui. It was the first place on the river where there was anything approaching a hard bank, as excepting Merguiitself the Tenasserim mouth lay in mud and mangroves. Mergui itself was out of the question as the harbour therewas an open roadstead liable to very bad storms. " The weather at this base was very good and some of thelongest flights were done from there. Twelve days' stay and seven nights completed our work from Tenasserim andwe then moved south to Karathuri without taking the machine up as we considered the bank to be too bad. This,our last base, was both the best and the worst. The anchor- age which we chose from the air was behind a reef of smallislands on the coast of one of the larger islands oft the main- land, in consequence there was no bad current and the waterwas clear. We had a firm gently sloping beach and a beautiful campiig site by the shore. We were, however, far fromcommunication of any sort with the exception of the fort- nightly steamer running to Victoria Point, which passedwithin a mile. Robbins and I waited here three days before the launch arrived towing a country boat loaded up withour tents, etc. During this wait we were royally entertained by the local headman, who insisted on our sleeping in hishouse. Immediately after our arrival the weather became bad. Haze in the morning turned to low clouds during theday, and though we arrived on February 22 it was not till March 13 that we managed to do a really good day's work.On looking over the engine after the flight our fitter discovered that our crankcase was cracked from the cylinder base prac-tically to the bottom of the sump. I at once despatched the launch to wire to Kemp for another machine and a spareengine. The photographer and myself remained behind to remove the damaged engine. " This we did successfully by rigging tackle on a convenientmangrove tree under which we could float the machine on a high tide. On the 20th Kemp arrived with the secondmachine, and the launch arrived two days later with the spare engine. On the 25th the weather improved, and wecompleted the reconnaissance by the 28th. As there was still some flying time due this was reconverted into photo-graphy, and sample strips were chosen at regular intervals right across the area from east to west to act as checks to thereconnaissance. On April 3 Kemp flew the original machine with the spare engine fitted back to Rangoon. We com-pleted the photographic strips, and Robbins and I left for Tavoy Mouth on April 8. During the latter part of our stayat Karathuri Bay we had had very bad thunder-storms every evening. Now a cyclone broke off the Madras coast, and thetail of it was felt in South Burma. On our way north we were flying at times with 40 degrees drift; we had, moreover,on board the biggest load we had flown with, as besides our usual gear when on the move we were carrying the camera anda full complement of plates, because we intended to take a photographic strip before the launch caught us up. Onlanding we found a teriffic current running with, even in our sheltered anchorage, a strong wind blowing right across it.The current had carried the mooring buoy, which we had left right under water, so that we had to rely on the lightanchor we carried in the machine. This, of course, dragged at once, but some local dug-outs edged us towards a firmsandbank. Here it held for about an hour after which the rope broke. We wen; rescued and manhandled along theshore to our mooring buoy, which had by this time reappeared above water. We spent the rest of the clay rescuing themachine, which dragged its anchor, an eighty pound one, four times. On the morning of the third day, however, shefinally broke her last anchor rope, a 4-iu. coia, and we lost our big anchor. We were on the point of abandoning themachine, as she was within a couple of hundred yards of 6-ft. breaking waves, having practically drifted out of theshelter of our island, when a big sailing boat managed to get us a towline and we were towed into safety. Having hadenough of the sea, we turned out the local village and dragged the machine up some planks above high water. Next daythe launch arrived, having had to turn back three times owing to weather. " The following morning was fine, and we managed to dothe necessary photography, and that afternoon Robbins and I flew up to our last base at Hciiize Bay to take the lastphotographs, and then wait for the launch with petrol to enable us to fly back to Rangoon. " On arrival at Heinze Bay we iouml the spot desertedexcept for one old fisherman and his family ; moreover the huts which we had left had all been demolished. Wetherefore camped in the open, but, unfortunately, it started raining at about 2 a.m. Next morning was fine enough forus to dry our clothes, but as we were discussing the possibility of a flight it started raining again and we billeted ourselveson the fisherman, where we spent the night. By this time the launch was overdue. Next day it was still raining, andby midday, as something had obviously happened to the launch, we decided to use the remainder of our petrol to getus to Rangoon. We therefore dodged various thunder- storms and got to Rangoon for tea, where we found that thelaunch had broken down in the Tavoy River. " We arrived in Rangoon on April 14, three months andone day after flying down to start the work, and in that time we had stock-mapped, according to my latest informationfrom Burma, 15,178 square miles. This was done in 57 hours 14 min. of actual reconnaissance flying, or 265 square milesper hour. Besides this, and not counting photographic flying, we did 8 hours 25 min. on check flights, tests, etc.If we include this necessary flying time it brings the average to 231 square miles per hour. The stocking was done on theSurvey of India 1-in. scale maps of the area, which had been cut up and pasted on to cardboard sheets of suitable size.Type boundaries and the areas covered by different types were marked in the air by different coloured chalks and,where time permitted, remarks were written in giving further details. In all, thirteen different general types were used, andthere is little doubt that only a highly-skilled observer could have dealt with this big variety on the scale used at thehigh rate of square miles per hour actually accomplished. Mr. Robbins, besides being an extremely efficient forestofficer, had, during the war, been one of our best artillery observer pilots. He had then gained the experience whichenabled him to read the 1-in. scale maps at the speed recorded, and with the high order of accuracy which appeared when theaerial stock map was compared with certain test areas which had been stocked on the ground. " In conversation with forest officers and others concerned,I gathered that the work we had completed in three months by the field would have taken about twenty years if donein the forest staff usually allotted to an area of that size." Dr. Eckner's Zeppelin Subscription. a saving also is made in packing, as lighter cardboard cases DR. ECKNER is apparently receiving a ready response to can be employed when the silk is carried in an aeroplane. his appeal for funds to build a Zeppelin for scientific explora- tion Over /50 000 has already been subscribed and there are stillPrussia. Silk By Air Aircraft on Liners AN Italian shipping company is building three Atlantic returns'To'comefrom Baden, Bavaria, and parts of liners which will be fitted with run-ways for seaplanes, inorder that the latter may be launched from the liner at sea when 1,000 miles or so from port (New York, etc.), and thusreduce the sea passage by about two days. In this way TT x, ™^ time nast considerable quantities of silk passengers who are pressed for time will, by paying extraIOR some rim p France the aeroplane fare, be able to reach their destination this much sooner have been exportedI by air fwm^ ' Qwj£ t0 than the liner-s normal time of arrival at port. The sea_SlgcttiyZ British and French ports are in a very planes-about four of which will be carned-will accomrno- the tact tnat me DHU duties and that date ten passengers each. The first of these liners, the TeSdlys are saved if the silk is sent by air. Furthermore, " Saturnia," is to be launched this month,severe *y • g27
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