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Aviation History
1928
1928 - 0155.PDF
m, i /\ v A\ MARCH 1, 1928 THE GREAT FLYING BOAT CRUISE The Four Supermarine-Napier " Southampton* " Reach Singapore WHILE Bert Hinkler has made glorious history in Britishaviation on the civilian side, the Service has not been idle, for it has, also, added yet another triumph by the arrival atSingapore of the four R.A.F. Supermarine-Napier flying boats, thus completing the main portion of the Great Flying-BoatCruise to Australia. Though, perhaps, not so spectacular as the former achievement—a 16-day hustle to the other sideof the globe in a small single-seater machine of only 60 h.p.— the steady progress of the four " Southamptons "—big,twin-engined metal flying boats, flying, without a single failure, to a fixed time table—over much the same route asthat taken by Hinkler, is equally remarkable and praise- worthy. The flight has accomplished the longest formationflight by flying boats in the history of aeronautics, having, so far, completed—without a single serious mishap—over10,000 miles. The object of this cruise, we would remind our readers,was primarily to gain experience in the problems involved during an extended independent cruise carried out by flyingboats, and also to obtain experience regarding the reinforcing of points on the Imperial routes with aircraft drawn fromEngland or other parts of the Empire. No effort has been made to complete the cruise in record time, and, as previouslystated, the squadron has flown stage by stage according to a pre-arranged time-table, collecting all possible informationas it went along. We may, perhaps, again give brief particulars of the com-position of the Flight—men and machines. The latter consist of four Supermarine " Southampton "-type flying boatspossessing several modifications and improvements—chief of which being the metal (Duralumin) hulls in place of woodenhulls. Each boat has two standard Napier 5A-type " Lion engines. The Flight is under the command of Group-Capt. H. M. Cave-Brown-Cave, D.S.C., D.F.C., whose boat—or " flagship " —is piloted by Fit.-Lieut. H. G. Sawyer, A.F.C. The second in command (in boat No. 1) is Sqdn.-Ldr. G. E. Livock, D.F.C., while the other officers are :—Boat No. 1, Flt.-Lieut. P E Maitland, A.F.C. ; Boat No. 2, Flt.-Lieut. D. V. Carnegie, A.F.C., and F./O. G. E. Nicholetts ; Boat No. 3, Flt.-Lieut. C. G. Wigglesworth, A.F.C., and F./O. S. D. Scott. Since the Flight left Plymouth, on October 17, last, we havebriefly recorded, in FLIGHT, the progress made week by week,and as we intend, very shortly, to publish in full the official " log " of the cruise as from England to Karachi, we onlypropose, this week, to set forth the bare facts regarding the final stages and arrival at Singapore. Subsequently, nodoubt, details of the remaining section will be available from official sources. As recorded in last week's issue, the four " Southamptonsarrived at Penang on February 16, and after staying here a week, proceeded on February 23, to Port Swettenham (Selan-gore). Then, on February 28, they completed the final leg of the big cruise to Singapore, their base, where an extremelyenthusiastic welcome was accorded by the inhabitants. Sir Hugh Clifford, the Governor, was a passenger in one of theboats, and greatly enjoyed his trip from Port Swettenham. The Flight will remain at Singapore for some time. Later on, in company with two " Southamptons " of theRoyal Australian Air Force, the four flying boats will continue the cruise to Australia, via Batavia and Port Darwin. Aftera flight round Australia, during the summer, they will return to Singapore, whence further flights—to Hong Kong and otherplaces—will be carried out. The following is a time-table of the cruise, from Plymouthto Singapore, with the approximate distances in miles between each stage given in brackets. Karachi—Bombay (560).Bombay—Mangalore (450). Mangalore--Cochin (240).Cochin—Colombo (500). Colombo—Trincomalee (340).Trincomalee—Lake Pulicat (370) Pulicat—Cocauada (280).Cocanada—Chilka Lake (280). Chilka—Calcutta (300). Calcutta—Akyab (450).Akyab—Rangoon (500). Rangoon—Mergui (350).Mergui—Penang (500). Penang—Pt. Swettenham (250).Pt. Swettenham— Singapore (250) Oct.17 19 21 25 28 29 Nov.3 ' 5 6 10 12 14 16 18 Plymouth—Hourtin (330).Hourtin—Berre (270). Berre—Naples (382).Naples—Brindisi (200). Brindisi—Athens (295). Athens—Aboukir (434). Aboukir—Alexandretta (365). Aleyandretta—Ramadi (363). Ramadi—Hinaidi (520). Hinaidi—Basra (225). Basra—Bushire (165).Bushire—Henjam (302). Henjam—Gwadar (330).Gwadar—Karachi (225). Dec15 27 2931 Jan.12 19 20 23 27 reu3 6 13 IB23 28 THE GREAT R A.F. FLYING BOAT CRUISE : Our picture shows the officers and men of the fourSupermarine-Napier " Southampton " metal flying boats which have now reached Singapore. (1) The " Flagship." Group Capt. H. M. Cave-Browne-Cave (right, centre) and Flight-Lieut. H. G. Sawyer. (2) BoatNo. 1, Sq.-Ldr. G. E. Livock (left, centre) and Flight-Lieut. P. E. Maitland. (3) Boat No. 2, Flight-Lieut. D. V. Carnegie (left, centre), and F./O. G. E. Nicholetts. (4) Boat No. 3, Flight-Lieut. C. G. Wigglesworth(left, centre) and F./O. S. D. Scott. We believe that two of the airmen were, during the actual flight, replaced by their equivalent weight in extra spares and stores ! Britain's Air Speed Bid IT is stated now that the British attempt upon the world's air speed record will be made about the second week in March; 135 the actual day depending upon the weather. The pilot will be Flt.-Lieut. S. N. Kinkead, one of the last Schneider Trophy team, and he will fly the Supermarine-Napier S 5.
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