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Aviation History
1928
1928 - 0477.PDF
JUNE U, 1928 AFRICAN SURVEY FLIGHT " Round England " Conclusion SIR ALAN COBHAM landed at Rochester on June 11 in aheavy thunderstorm and completed his 2,000-mile cruise of Great Britain's seaports following his arrival home fromthe African Survey Flight of 20,000 miles. It was seven months since the Short " Singapore " flying-boat had startedoff from the Medway. He carried many passengers on the home cruise and on the arrival at Rochester Lord Thomsonand Air Vice-Marshal Sir Vyell Vyvyan were amongst them, for whom General P. R. C. Groves"and Mrs. Groves had givenup their pkces at Southampton. Amongst those who greeted Sir Alan at the slipway ofShort Bros, on the river were the Mayor of Rochester (Coun- cillor F. C. A. Matthews) and Mayoress, Air Commodore J. A.Chamier and Maj. G. P. Bulman, Mr. Oswald Short, and Mr. Basil Johnson. A reception was held later inthe Guildhall, when Sir Alan was presented with a brass chiming clock by the City of Rochester. Mr. Basil Johnsonof Rolls-Royce, Ltd., and Mr. Oswald Short paid tribute to Sir Alan's valuable work for aviation. Short Bros,and Rolls-Royce, Ltd., presented him with two rose bowls, and silver replicas of the flying-boat were prepared for Capt.H. V. Worrall, Mr. C. R. Bonnett, Mr. F. Green and Mr. C. E. Conway. Sir Alan said that the success of the flight had been theresult of team-work rather than the efforts of any one man, and paid tribute to Capt. Worrall and the crew. The flightwas also the result of private enterprise, in which Sir Charles Wakefield had played a prominent part. It had beenmaterially aided by the Air Ministry in lending the flying- boat. The home cruise began with a flight to Hull on June 5,then to Newcastle the next day, when a huge crowd gathered and the Lord Mayor of Newcastle and other civic officialsreceived the party on the Tyne Commissioners' yacht. In the afternoon the cruise was resumed northward to Leith,where a landing was effected at 5 p.m. On the following morning Glasgow was reached, the descent being made inthe Firth of Clyde. Official receptions again followed, and Sir Alan broadcasted a most interesting talk which wastransmitted from all stations. Belfast was next visited on June 8, then Liverpool, June 9,Cardiff, June 10, Southampton, June 10, and finally the return to Rochester via London the same day. Col. The Masterof Sempill was a passenger on the Liverpool, Cardiff and Southampton stages. Brig.-Gen. Groves and Mrs. Groveswere passengers right round to Southampton, and Col. and Mrs. Warwick Wright were on board at the finish. The purpose of the cruise round our ports was to demon-strate a flying-boat of a type that is likely to be widely used in the future for commercial aviation, and after it had donea strenuous, necessary job. All the authorities at each place beside the public were able to inspect the Short " Singapore "(Condors) just as it was after the 20,000-mile cruise round Africa. „ [" FLIGHT " Photographs THE END OF A LONG " SHORT " STORY : Sir Alan Cobham's latest big flight, known as the "Sir Charles Wakefield Survey Flight Around Africa," was concluded on June 11, when the Short-Rolls-Royce " Singapore " metal flying-boat was safely moored at Rochester—as shown in the bottom photograph of our illustration—at the finish of Sir Alan's supplementary stage, the tour of Britain. Our top pictures, taken on this occasion, show, left, Sir Alan (in the centre) and Lady Cobham (in the stern with Mrs. Warwick Wright) coming ashore from the " Singapore." In the bows are Col. Warwick Wright and Air Vice-Marshal Sir Vyell Vyvyan. On the right, the Lord Mayor of Rochester (centre), with the Town Clerk (left), and Mr. Oswald Short await, in the rain, the arrival of the "Singapore." 433 D
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