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Aviation History
1926
1926 - 0181.PDF
MARCH 18, 1926 it becomes possible to start regular air services over portionsof the route covered by Cobham. In the evening Mr. Cobham broadcast from 2.I.O a brieftalk on his flight, which was so well delivered that not a single word was lost to the millions of listeners. In view of thefact that he had flown rather more than 900 miles since his breakfast in Pisa that morning, had been mobbed at Croydon,and had had an audience of the King, we are not at all certain that his talk from the London station was not one of hisgreatest achievements. Certainly nobody could have dreamt from listening to him that he must be dead tired, and onebegan to realise some of the qualities that make Cobham what he is. And here on behalf of ourselves and our readers, wewould add our quota of congratulations and appreciation to the thousands of others received by Cobham, Elliott andEmmott, and to the De Havilland Aircraft Co., Armstrong- Siddeky Motors, and all the other firms which collaboratedin making this epoch-making flight a success. In conclusion, we wish, once again, to draw attention tocertain other factors in connection with the flight. First of all, it was financed entirely by private enterprise, andsecondly, its object was to survey the London-Cape Town route with a view to the possibilities of air services along its various points, and also as propaganda for British avia-tion. The construction of the special de Havilland 50 aeroplane,its Siddeley " Jaguar" engine, and the provision of all the equipment, supplies and finance required were accomplishedby the united efforts of about twenty or more British firms. Thus, the De Havilland Co., who managed the organizationof the expedition, received the wholehearted assistance and enterprising co-operation from the following firms :—ImperialAirways, Ltd., Armstrong Siddeley Motors, Ltd. ; the British Petroleum Co., Ltd. ; C. C. Wakefield and Co., Ltd. ;the British Thomson-Houston Co., Ltd. ; the Palmer Tyre Co., Ltd. ; the Robinhood Engineering Works, Ltd. (K.L.G.Plugs) ; the Hoffman Manufacturing Co., Ltd.; the Aeronautical and Panel Plywood Co., Ltd. (the plywood supplied by thisfirm was the same plywood which was on the machine when it made its London-Rangoon-London flight) ; Wm, Mal-linson and Sons, Ltd. ; Titanine-Emaillite, Ltd. ; J. Stone and Co.. Ltd. ; S. Smith and Sons (M.A.), Ltd. ; Pinchin,Johnson and Co., Ltd. I Earle, Bourne and Co., Ltd. ; Brunton and Son ; Aecles and Pollock, Ltd. ; Brown Bros.,Ltd. ; Henry Hughes and Son, Ltd. ; the Triplex Safety <".lass Co., Ltd. ; and Pickford's and Hay's Wharf Shippingand Forwarding Co., Ltd. <$> <$> AMUNDSEN'S NORTH POLE AIRSHIP Wireless Direction as Navigational Aid THE Italian airship " Norge 1," in which the well-knownPolar explorer Amundsen is to attempt to fly from Europe over the North Pole to Alaska, and which will pass throughLondon on its journey, will, it is claimed, be the most effi- ciently equipped airship from a wireless point of view whichhas ever taken the air. By special arrangement with the Marconi Company, thevessel is to be equipped with transmitting apparatus which will enable the commander to keep in touch with either landor skip stations at distances up to 1,000 miles. Thus the airship will never be out of touch with the external worldduring its whole journey above the icebound solitudes of the Polar regions, and it is to be hoped that this very necessaryequipment will not, as seems to be so frequently the case in exreditions of this scrt, be discarded at the last minute inorder to save weight, etc. Otherwise it may mean the same old story of days of anxiety with no news of the expedition. Receiving apparatus specially designed to cover a wave-range of 300 to 25,000 m. will also be carried, whilst direction- finding apparatus will be installed which will be sufficiently The •• Other " African Flights THE four R.A.F. Fairey III.D biplanes, under Wing- Comdr. C. W. H. Pulford, which left Cairo for Cape Town on March 1, are making steady progress, although cne or two delays have been experienced. Proceeding from Malakal <m or about March 10, they flew to Mongalla, where slight magneto trouble to one of the machines prevented them from resuming the journey until March 12. Kisumu (Kenya) was reached on March 13. sensitive to enable the navigators accurately to determinetheir course and direction even over the Pole itself, when the compasses will be of no navigational value, since all directionwill be due south. The wireless direction-finder will enable all the long-waveEuropean and American stations to be picked up and oriented with ease, huge loops having been erected right round theenvelope of the airship. By this means the sensitivity of the wireless directional apparatus has been made much greaterthan any hitherto employed on any aircraft. The Marconi Company are making arrangements to forwardany reports from amateurs of reception from the airship during its flight to the North Pole to the wireless officer withthe expedition. The airship has been reconditioned in Rome and hasalready successfully carried out some trials. When these are concluded it will fly via Marseilles, London, Leningradand Norway to King's Bay, which will be the taking-off ground for the final flight across the Pole. When in England theairship will make a halt at Pulham. • <J> On March 9, Lieut. Medaeto, the Belgian pilot, left Brusselson a Breguet XIX biplane in an attempt to fly to Kinshasa (Belgian Congo), as previously reported in FLIGHT. Hereached Belgrade the same afternoon, and, proceeding the next day, flew on to Athens. On March 11 he crossed theMediterranean and landed at Cairo in the afternoon. Bad weather delayed him at Cairo until March 15, when heaccomplished a nine hours' flight to Atbara. With him are Lieut. Verhagen and a mechanic, Coppens. WO MACCHI LIGHT 'PLANES :~ On the left the Macchi 20 Seaplane, which was classed first in the recent Coppa del Mare," and the Macchi 20 land 'plane, which was classed second in the " Coppa d'Italia." Both types were fitted with 60 h.p. Lawrence air-cooled engines 161
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