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Aviation History
1928
1928 - 0165.PDF
1 S\ V MARCH 1, 1928 AMSTERDAM - BATAVIA - AMSTERDAM : Aleppofrom above, showing, in the centre, the fortress. believe. And yet it was so—and it was so easily done ; we ascended early, came down again late, which we did just four times, and then we were in Karachi. We had nothing to do to the machine ourselves because of our R.A.F. colleague. He was a mechanic who knew the " Lynx " well, and under the management of Elleman, the Fokker was soon flying again. In Allahabad, where we were the guests of the " Pioneer Press," we arrived on October 5, to depart from there again on the 6th. But half an hour after the departure a strong wind, in conjunction with the back current of the oil pressure of the middle engine, turned us back. In landing, the Fokker sank so deep into the mud that we were working into the middle of the night fishing her out again, a job wherein we, thanks to the powerful help of our host, Mr. Gilbert, and the Fort Commander and his crew, were happily successful. Since Calcutta, our next stop, was not originally on the pro- gramme, of course, there was no petrol there in depot. From the Shell, however, we quickly got all that we needed. On October 8 we started in the hope of getting to Rangoon. However, once in the air it appears that we outdid ourselves and got right to Bangkok. The weather was, however, bad, with much rain and cloud. Since little could be seen from inland, we followed the coast to the Moscos Islands, ascended there, trusting on our instruments, to 2,500 metres and then coursing due East. Away over the mountains the weather speedily became better, and after 9 hours.' flight we reached the principal town of Siam. Here Elleman was obliged to put the reserve screw on the middle motor, for the heavy rains had treated the prop, of this motor very badly. After the " Postduif " had been fully packed with divers Love Gifts," given to us by our charming Siamese host, the stage to Singapore followed. We prefered the shortest way ; 750 kms. over water, trusting to our " Lynx " trio and our Smith's Aperiodic Compass. Then we went a couple of hundred kilometres over woods, where literally no tree is missing, and in about 9 hrs. the " Postduif " came to rest on Singapore's magnificent race-course. Although it was Sunday, we speedily got the necessary fuel, thanks to the quick help of Captain Westers, the Shell man. In the mean- time, Frijns and Elleman had already accepted an invitation from the Dutch Colony, and I was in the evening the guest of Sir Hugh Clifford, the Governor of the Straits Settlements, who had already done us the honour to welcome us on our arrival at the race-course. Then, after a sleepless night, broke the last day, the last of our outward journey. The " Lynxes " ran harder than ever before, and the " Postduif " shot into our archipelago swift as an arrow. We descended first at Muntok on Banka, in order to deliver the post. We were able to attend per- sonally to this for the articles, as far as possible, were addressed to be delivered by hand on the field in question. Then our " Flying Mail Cart " started again, to the second halt; Palem- bang. But we were half an hour too early, so that the resident, Mr. Tideman, begged us to make half an hour's circle round. No one demurred, and with the resident and his fellow officials as passengers, we flew round again until the appointed time and we could land officially. Then, we reached Batavia, our goal. Never shall we forget the wonderful scenes of enthusiasm which mastered all those present here. The fact that a Dutch flying machine within 145 10 days had overbridged the mighty distance betweenAmsterdam and Batavia, appeared to stir strongly the strings of the national conscience. And the greatest and mostsolemn moment, a moment that deeply impressed us all, was when the thousands on the flying field of Tjililitan togethersolemnly sang our " Wilhelmus," our national folk song. The following morning Frijns and Elleman departed withthe " Postduif " to Bandoeng, where in the workshops at the Military Air Navigation Department apparatus andmotors in great variety are received. Here the engines were completely overhauled—valves were cleaned, and springschanged, while an oil scraper-ring was also changed, so that the oil consumption should be all right again. At the sametime the reserve cylinder was fitted, in the left motor, as one of the cylinders of this motor had received a small dent underthe edge during fitting. This really had caused no trouble, but as we still had a reserve cylinder, the damaged one wasreplaced. The air screws which had been damaged by the ram were repaired and again put in order. After testingeverything seemed to be O.K. On October 17, the " Postduif " journeyed back to Amster-dam, now with Fl.22,000 post on board. The first day conveyed us via Palenbang and Muntok to Singapore, whileon the second day we came to Bangkok. Here our Fokker suddenly sank with one wheel in the field covered with water.The Siamese then bound a cord on the axle and began to pull, but the rope shot aloft and broke, and the right wingknocked against the ground. This misfortune held us up two days in Bangkok. Our Fokker appeared the followingmorning to have received the company of the French pilot, Capt. Challe, who was on his way from Paris to Saigon. On October 21, giving our hearty thanks for the kind helpand hospitality, we took leave of our Siamese hosts in order to fly in good time over Rangoon to Calcutta. Although,forthe second time, we came unexpectedly coursing inward here, the Shell representative seeing us flying over the city hadcome to the conclusion that we needed him again, and there- fore got the necessary petrol on board. The days of October 22 and 23 brought us respectively toAllahabad and Karachi. Soon after our departure from Allahabad, we had for the second time oil trouble, whichcaused us to turn back, but after advancing the spring tension a half stroke, it ran perfectly. Again at ourdeparture to Bushire, we were annoyed for the second time by mechanical trouble. This time we had a faulty oil-pressure gauge, but the R.A.F. spontaneously offered us a new one "It is better not to mount the reserve gauge,otherwise you have nothing more on the way," was said to us. Splendid ! such sporting co-operation ! In the meantime, it had become so late that we could notgo further than Bander Abbas, where the English Consul, Mr. Richardson, very kindly invited us to be his guests.Here in Bander Abbas we met also the German " ex- aspirant Ocean Flyer," Konnecke, who by primitive means,flew to the Far East. Before the return over Europe, we obtained from Konnecke a hint or two. Just then he advisedus not to go over the Alps, but over Vienna. And further, "In no case to follow the Danube, which is the grave of theair simpleton." This appears to be so, because there is often much mist in the valley. AMSTERDAM - BATAVIA - AMSTERDAM : Anaerial view of the tin mines of the island of Sinkep (Sumatra).
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