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Aviation History
1927
1927 - 0452.PDF
PINEDO'S BIG FLIGHT : Sketch map showing the route taken by the Marchese dl Pinedo. was his mother, after which he was embraced by the Duce. Then followed remarkable scenes as the airmen and reception party motored into Rome, where a second " reception " had been arranged at the Palazzo Chigi. As might be expected, the whole of Italy was in a state of ecstacy over Pinedo's return, and Rome and other big cities were gaily decorated and illuminated in his honour. Congratu- lations have been received from all quarters, while the British Ambassador in Rome sent the following letter to Sig. Mussolini:— " By direction of His Majesty King George I am honoured in asking your Excellency to pray his Majesty the King of Italy to permit the bestowing on Colonel the Marchese de Pinedo of the Air Force Cross. It is with the deepest pleasure that I convey the proposal of giving the greatest flier the highest decoration that can be conferred on a British aviator. British men followed Colonel de Pinedo's latest feat with the utmost interest, and also recall his previous flight when he landed at several British ports where he left an unforgettable record behind him of sportsmanship, frankness, unpretentious- ness, skilfulness, and efficiency." Regarding the technical side of the flight, while it is as yet too soon for any data from the airman himself, the following points are brought out from the information so far to hand. First, concerning the machine : the Savoia S.55—which has already been described in FLIGHT (April 9, 1925)—is a somewhat unusual type of machine, being a cantilever monoplane with two short-hull " boats," and the tail carried therefrom by outriggers. The boats are connected by the centre section of the wing, which carries the power plant, consisting of two Isotta-Fraschini engines, arranged in tandem and mounted high up on an arrangement of M-struts. The pilot's cockpit is also located in this centre section, at the leading edge, from which position an excellent view is obtained. The depth of the wing at this point, it may be mentioned, is about 3 ft. Each of the boats have cabins, with windows, of comparatively large proportions (they could, for instance, if desired, accommodate 12 passengers). The wing extensions are set at a dihedral angle, and taper sharply from root to tip, both as regards chord and thickness. JUNE 23, 1927 The overall span of the S.55 is 78 ft. 9 ins., the chord, 16ft. 6 ins.—9 ft. 9 ins. ; and the overall length, 52 ft. 6 ins. The wing area is 1,000-7 sq. ft. As the average load (fuel, oil equipment, " Smiths' " instruments, etc.) carried was nearly 7,500 lbs., and the weight of the machine empty cornea out at approxi. mately 8,100 lbs., the total weight of the " Santa Maria " on many occasions was about 15,600 lbs., or nearly 7"tons ! As regards the flight itself, it was re- markable for the steady progress made practically throughout, and the absence of any really serious trouble. Some difficulty was experienced in taking oft' from Bolama for the Atlantic hop, but this was overcome by proceeding to Porta Praya (Cap Verdi Is.), and starting from there, thus reducing the length of the " hop," and consequently the total load of fuel required. The other outstanding features, or inci- dents, of the flight may be recorded thus. Bad weather prevented Pinedo from alighting at Port Natal (Brazil) at the end of the Atlantic crossing, and he had to fly back a short distance to Fernando Noronha. After leaving Buenos Aires, Pinedo's route lay up through the centre of South America, over very difficult—and in parts unknown- country, with only the various big rivers over portions of the journey to serve as alighting and taking off points. Finally, on numerous occasions, single stages of 1,000 miles or more were accomplished. Some idea of the day-by-day progress of the flight may be obtained from the following log, in which the approximate distances (in miles) between stages are given in brackets :— February- 8.—Sesto Calende—Cagliari (500). „ "13.—Cagliari—-Rabat (1,000). 14-15.—Rabat—Villa Cisneros—Bolama (1,000). 18.—Bolama—Dakar—Porto Praya (700). 20-22.—Porto Praya—Fernando Noronha_(1,500). 24.—Fernando Noronha—Pernambuco (450). 25.—Pernambuco—Bahia (460). 27.—Bahia—Rio Janeiro (780). 28.—Rio Janeiro—Santos (200). March 1.— Santos—Porto Alegre (500). 2.—Porto Alegre—Buenos Aires (650). ,, 14.—Buenos Aires—Montevideo (125). ,, 15.—Montevideo—Parana—Asuncion (850). ,, 16.—Asuncion—San Luiz de Caceres (600). ,, 20.—San Luiz—Guajara—Manaos (1,550). 21.—Manaos—Para. ,, 25.—Para—Georgetown (1,000). ,, 26.—Georgetown—Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe (700). „ 27.—Pitre— Port-au-Prince, Hayti (700). „ 28.—Hayti—Havana (700). ,, 29.—Havana—New Orleans (900). April 2.—New Orleans;—San Antonio (500). ,, 4.—San Antonio—Elephant Butte (500). 5.—Elephant Butte—Roosevelt Dam. (350). May 2.—New York—Boston (250). 9.—Boston—Norwalk (200).„ 11 .—Norwalk—Philadelphia (120). „ 12.—Philadelphia—Charleston—Pensacola (800). „ 13.—Pensacola—New Orleans (200). 14.—New Orleans—Memphis (450). ,, 15 .—Memphis—Chicago (500). „ 17.—Chicago—Montreal (800). ,, 18.—Montreal—Quebec (150). ,, 19.—Quebec—Shippegan (460). ,, 20.—Shippegan—Trepassy (500). ,, 23-30.—Trepassy—Horta, Azores (1,470). „ 10-11.—Horta—Lisbon (1,060). 13.—Lisbon—Barcelona (650). ,, 16.—Barcelona—Ostra, Rome (550). Total distance, approximately 25,825 miles. A Northern Alberta Air Survey THE huge natural park lying within the angle formed by buffalo, have their habitat, is to be surveyed for the first time, and by air. It embraces an area of 17,000 square miles,the Slave and Peace Rivers in Northern Alberta, within and will take a month to complete. Two machines will which the wood buffalo and their near cousins, the plains take up their headquarters at Fort Smith. •;'-% r • - \- 414
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