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Aviation History
1928
1928 - 0010.PDF
JANUARY 5, 1928 Great Flying-Boat CruiseTHE four R.A.F. " Southampton " flying-boats left Manga- lore, Madras, on December 29 and arrived at Cochin, SouthernIndia, in the afternoon. On December 31 they reached Colombo, Ceylon.Latest Atlantic Mystery THE probable solution of the fate of Mrs. F. Grayson andher companions in the Sikorsky amphibian, " The Dawn," is furnished by a statement by Capt. Comeau, of the sailingvessel, " Rose Anne Belliveau." On the evening of December 23 his attention was drawn to the muffled roar of an enginenear his ship which became louder and then stopped. Next a loud splash was heard as of a heavy body dropping into theseas, which were mountainous. The captain declared that it was impossible for* anything but a sea-going vessel to livein the seas at the time. This account coincides with a wireless message intercepted by another vessel, which stated " Planedown." It is thought that the pilot of " The Dawn," attempted to land alongside the " Rose Anne Belliveau " and his machineimmediately sank. Lost Air Liner FoundAN Imperial Airways air liner on the Cairo to Baghdad service made a forced landing in the desert 200 miles west ofBaghdad, on December 29, owing to petrol shortage and was missing for some time. Many machines, including thoseof the Air Force, made continuous searches in the desert and it was found eventually by Capt. Warner, an ImperialAirways pilot, who had been flying all night. It was sur- rounded by Arabs who were very friendly and had assisted thepilot, Mr. D. Travers, and his passengers, among whom was Mrs. Warner, wife of Capt. Warnei. Sufficient petrol wastransferred to the stranded machine to enable it to reach Rutba post, while the passengers and mails were conveyedto Baghdad in Capt. Warner's machine. Wireless messages from the lost machine were not picked up owing to jammingcaused by messages sent out between stations enquiring for information.Sydney-Wellington Flight Hitch THE proposed flight of Lieut. Moncrieff and Capt. Knightfrom Sydney to Wellington, in a Ryan monoplane, is receiving certain official disfavour both in Australia and New Zealandowing to the type of machine adopted. Australia has placed a ban on long distance sea flights in machines other thanflying-boats. Apparently the two airmen were assured by Mr. Coates, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, of Australia'sagreement to the flight taking place in a Ryan monoplane in this instance, and on the strength of this, the machine waspurchased. It had been passed by the X.Z. Government, and the Director of the N.Z. Air Services, Maj. Wilks, hadoffered to participate in the venture. It is now stated that the Commonwealth will allow the flight to proceed, in spite ofits official disapproval. Atlantic Hero's South American Tour COL. C. LINDBERGH left Mexico City on December 28 inhis monoplane, " Spirit of St. Louis," for a flight of 650 miles to Guatemala City. For fifty miles he was escorted by sevenMexican Army aeroplanes. His course led between moun- tains and over barren tablelands as well as jungle whichoffered no landing grounds for emergencies. He reached his destination safely the same day. Mrs. Lindbergh, also leftMexico City that day to return to the United States. Col. Lindbergh arrived at San Salvador on January 1, fromBelize, British Honduras, in less time than expected. The next lap will be over regions where fighting is taking placebetween rebels and the U.S. Marines, and he has been warned to fly very high or make a detour.The Paris-Hanoi Flight THIS French attempt to fly to Hanoi in five days fromParis has met with unexpected incident. When Col. Antoinat and his companions left Rome in the " Georges Guynemer "a storm caused them to drift over the Mediterranean and the pilot fainted owing to the intense cold. The conditions madea landing at Athens impossible and the machine finally came down at Adalia, Asia Minor, with the petrol supply exhausted.The Turks arrested Col. Antoinat under the pretext that he had flown over Smyrna, but he and his crew were releasedafter strong protests. Then, in spite of a gale, they decided to resume the flight and a landing was made at Mersina wherearmed peasants attacked and refused them refreshment. With great difficulty the Colonel induced his antagonists tolet them go at a moment when they and their machine were in danger of being burnt by the peasants. The flight wascontinued early on Christmas morning with the crew in a lamentable condition. Alexandretta was reached, the petrolreplenished, and the journey made to Rajak. A ministerial order is now keeping him there so the real purpose of the flightwill not be possible to accomplish. New French Mission UNDER the command of Commandant Gama, a Frenchmission, which will include M. Proust, Deputy for Indre-et- Loire, is to make an air tour of French West and EquatorialAfrica. For this purpose three Breguet machines left Le Bourget on December 29 and reached Lyons. They nextstarted f«>r Perpigan but one was forced to land at Narbonne, another had to return to Lyons and the third managed thestage. J- tFrench S. American Tour CAPT. COSTES fnd Lieut. Le Brix flew from La Paz, Bolivia,to Lima, Peru, on December 29. New French Air ServicesM. HENRY FARMAN proposes to extend his air services.He will inaugurate a 12-hour night line between Paris and Rome and Paris and Casablanca ; also a rapid night linebetween Paris and Berlin. The French C.I.N.A. are con- templating extending its Constantinople line to Cairo soon.The French Eastern Air Line is anxious to expand its lines across Syria and British India to China.The Australian Flight CAPT. LANCASTER and Mrs. Keith Miller left Rangoonin their Avro " Avian " " Red Rose " on January 2 for Tavoy. On the way a snake suddenly appeared in the cockpit,which the pilot tried to kill by stamping upon it but missed. Mrs. Keith Miller then attacked it in her cockpit with thespare joy-stick and battered it to death. It is thought that the intruder entered when the machine was on the race-course at Rangoon. The African Survey Flight Progress SIR ALAN COBHAM hopes to leave Malta next week forAfrica in the Short " Singapore " flying-boat, which is now nearly repaired. The new wing is already in position.Aeroplanes' Rescue Work SERIOUS floods are reported from Morocco and aeroplanesare maintaining communications between Rabat and Suk-el- Arba. They are also surveying the flooded areas and con-veying food to isolated centres, as well as directing relief boats to places where the inhabitants are in danger ofdrowning. A Return Flight to the Moon Without Accident! HALF A MILLION MILES flown without accident to pas-sengers or pilots have been completed by Australian Aerial Services, Ltd., up to November 16 last. This distance isequivalent to a return flight to the moon, and the A.A.S. claims the distinction of being the first aerial mail servicein the British Empire to fly this distance without an accident. During this period 7,806 passengers have been carried oversingle stages of the company's services. Whilst in the employ of Australian Aerial Services, Ltd., Pilot S. E. Sut-cliffe has flown approximately 120,000 miles, and Chief Pilot F. S. Briggs 100,000 miles. The company, which inauguratedthe Riverina Aerial Services in June, 1924, with a fleet of three machines, now controls 11 aircraft with seating capacitiesranging from two to seven persons. They operate passenger and mail services between Melbourne and Hay, Cootamundra-Hay-Mildura and Adelaide, and Mildura-Broken Hill. Pilot Governor Trumbull CONNECTICUT'S chief executive Governor, Trumbull byname, who has been a keen advocate of air transport, has put his preaching into practice. He recently completed a courseof flying instruction from Interstate Airways, Inc., and was granted his pilot's certificate ! 10
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