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Aviation History
1927
1927 - 0818.PDF
OCTOBER 20, 1927 PRIVATE FLYING A Section of FLIGHT in the Interests of the Private Owner, Owner-Pilot, and Club Member THE AIR TOUR HABIT Mr. D. Kittel Completes Nearly 4,000 Miles THE vogue of purely private flying on any regular and considerable scale can be considered as having been definitely established this year. In particular, the Continental air tour of 3,000 to 4,000 miles has become a favourite habit, representing in most cases the first bold air endeavour after the usual preliminary experiments round the chimney pots. It is really remarkable, too, with what success it has been accomplished, in spite of the fact that the Continent is well- equipped with aerodromes, and the air trails from city to city and country to country are daily followed by commercial aircraft. England is quite a pioneer in this new aspect of aviation, for our tourists do not come across air tourists of other nationalities. One reason for this perhaps is a lack of foreign development of the light aeroplane of our standard. It must be admitted though that our lead in air touring The Tour Commences It was on Moth X that Mr. Kittel made this European trip, which commenced on September 18 and finished on October 6. He flew alone, for this enabled more luggage to be carried. On the first day, after clearing Customs at Croydon, he reached Lympne, and landed there to fill up the tank again in order that Cologne might be gained without another halt. The precaution proved unnecessary, however, for this stage was done in 2 hrs. 50 mins. with the help of a fresh following wind. A day was lost at Cologne on account of bad weather ; the visibility being no more than the length of the Bickendorf aerodrome. A start was made the next day on a course a few points to the north to make Berlin. The wind was again friendly, but flying over Germany was not so simple owing to the poor visibility and the great Mr. D. Kittel's Air Tour of Europe. This map delineates the course follow- ed by this experi- enced private- owner on his 4,000-mile flight through eight countries. He flew his " Moth X", called Silvry 3, and had a very enjoyable time, the weather being more or less favourable and his machine prov- ing again its accepted high standard and reliability. BERLIN, MILCS '-"-. 0 -M 80 120 160 200 o vi ao eo wawaoaowi METRES would not be possible without the capital ground organisation that Europe incidentally provides through its extensive use of commercial aviation. One of the most recent tours through a number of European countries has just been carried out by one of our most experi- enced private-owners, Mr. D. Kittel. Readers of FLIGHT will remember a previous short tour which he completed early this year. Apart from this, he has well covered this country and has totalled nearly 400 hours' flying. He was one of the first members of the London Aeroplane Club, and has owned two machines in his career ; the first a Moth Mk. I and the second a Moth X type. The first he called Silvry 2 and the other Silvry 3. His car is Silvry 1. Some time ago, when landing at Stag-Lane, he met with a slight mishap on Silvry 2, and on contemplating the result to the machine he decided to obtain a new one. He acquired Moth X by giving this old machine in part payment, for it was not seriously damaged and is now the satisfactory possession of another private owner. | number of towns—which were difficult to distinguish from each other. Through these reasons it became necessary to make two landings in fields ; one at Vlotho and the other at Oschersleben, near Magdeburg ; to enquire the way. These events gave the peasants some astonishment, apparently at the sight of a silver and black machine descending on their soil. Despite the variations made from the true course on this stage, Berlin was reached in 3 hrs. 15 mins., the distance flown being about 310 miles. Praha (Prague) was the next place visited, via Breslau, the distance being 180 and 140 miles respectively. The number of lakes surrounding Berlin made the flight from that city to Breslau rather confusing. The pilot again lost his way and resorted to circling the station at Sagan at an altitude of 100 ft. to read the name and thus correct his position. This procedure created some surprise in the porters and passengers. Another landing was made for further correction at the military aero- drome of Bozi Dahr in Czecho-Slovakia. The captain of this aerodrome was the only person who could make himself 740
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