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Aviation History
1926
1926 - 0570.PDF
AUGUST 12, 1926 ALAN COBHAM ARRIVES IN AUSTRALIA JUST over five weeks after leaving England Mr. Alan J. Cobham arrived safely in Australia, thus successfully accom- plishing yet another of his remarkable long-distance nights. He left England on June 30, in the same D.H.50J (Siddeley " Jaguar ") machine on which he had previously made the London-Cape Town-London flight (also the same D.H.50, but with Siddeley " Puma " engine, used on the London- India-London flight), except that it had been fitted with Short all-metal floats. On August 5 he reached Port Darwin the most northerly point of Australia, having covered a total distance of about 10,000 miles. Readers of FLIGHT will, we feel sure, join us in offering hearty congratulations to Mr. Cobham and all concerned at the successful conclusion of this first stage of the big flight, which has been a most difficult one, bad weather conditions having been encountered almost the whole way—to say nothing of the regrettable delay caused by the death of Mr. Elliott who accompanied Mr. Cobham at the start. The D.H.50J seaplane, with its Armstrong-Siddeley " Jaguar " engine and Short metal floats have undoubtedly proved themselves equal to the task. Last week we left Mr. Cobham and Sergt. Ward—who took the place as engineer of the late Mr. Elliott—at Sourabaya, Java, with 1,700 miles ahead of them before reaching Australia. The day following their arrival at Sourabaya, August 3, they proceeded on this final leg of the big flight, and reached Bima, about 450 miles on. the same day. On August 4, after some difficulty in refuelling, owing to a heavy sea, they made another 450 miles to Kupang, on the island of Timor, and the next day set out on the 500-mile jump across the open sea to Port Darwin. Cobham set a compass course of 450 miles for Bathurst Island, and struck his objective within five miles. He then steered southward and landed in the harbour at Port Darwin at 1.40 p.m., where they were greeted by much siren blowing from the ships in harbour. They took 6J hours on this trip, against a strong head wind, and" flew most of the time some 20 ft. above the water. Large crowds of people gathered together to give them an enthusiastic welcome, and Mr. Bruce the Australian Prime Minister sent a telegram, on behalf of the Australian Government, congratulating Mr. Cobham on the successful accomplishment of the first half of his flight to Australia and back, stating that he had " made a valuable contribution to British Aviation." H.M.S. " Geranium " was in attendance to render assistance at Port Darwin, and Col. Brinsmead, Director of Civil Aviation in Australia, had flown over from Melbourne, in a D.H 50. to meet the airmen. Just before Cobham landed he paid tribute to a fellow pioneer airman by flying round the Ross Smith Memorial. Two days were spent at Port Darwin in overhauling the D.H.50J and fitting wheels in place of the floats, as the flight to Melbourne is to be carried out overland. This alteration accomplished, the machine was flown off the beach and landed on the aerodrome, where Sir Ross Smith landed during his flight to Australia in 1919. Early on August 8, a start was made for the trans-Australia portion of the journey. A little over two hours later they landed at Katherine Waters, refuelled, and set out again for Brunnette Downs. They passed over Newcastle Waters, but did not land, and, owing to a strong head wind and doubt as to the route, they returned after continuing a short distance and landed at Newcastle Waters for the night. The next day they proceeded to Brunnette Downs, where they refuelled before finally making Camooweal, the ter- minus of the Queensland and Northern Territory Air Service. It may, perhaps, be of interest if we give a log of the pro- gress made during the England-Australia stage, which is as follows :— June 30 .. Julv 1 . .3-4 ,, 6 .. ,, 13 .. ,, 14 .. ,, 18 .. ,, 20 .. ,. 21 ..,, 22 .. ,, 23 .. ,, 24 .. ,, 25 .. „ 27 ..,, 28 .. ,, 29 .. ,, 31 .. Aug. 1 ..2 3 . .,, 4 .. ,, 5 . . . . Rochester, Kngland-Xaples. Xaples-Athens.Athens-Baghdad. .. Baghdad-Basra (Fatal accident to Elliott.)Basra-Bushire. Bushire-Bandar Abbas. (Delay, bad weather.) Bandar Abbas-Charbar-Karachi Karachi-Bahawalpur. Bahawalpur-Delhi.. . Delhi-Allahabad. Allahabad-Calcutta. Calcutta-Akyab. Akyab-Rangoon. Rangoon-Victoria Point.Victoria Point-Penang. Penang-Singapore. Singapore-Muntok. Muntok-BataviaBatavia-Sourabava. Sourabava-Bima.Bima-Kupang. Kupang-Port Darwin, Australia Sir Charles Wakefield has arranged to pay to Mrs. Elliott, whose son was shot by a wandering Arab" while acting as Mr. Cobham's mechanic in his flight to Australia, an annuity of £100 in recognition of his service and heroism in the cause of British aviation. HHHHHHHHHHH H H H H H H H H M H H 13 m H M E Nippon's Royal Prince Flies : As reported in FLIGHT recently, His Imperial Highness Prince Chichibu, the second son of the Emperor of Japan, ex- perienced the pleasures of flying for the first time at the Stag Lane Aerodrome. Our photograph shows the Prince with Col. the Master of Sempill— his pilot—standing be- side a D.H. biplane fitted with a Siddeley "Jaguar" engine, on which one of his flights was made. 500
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