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Aviation History
1928
1928 - 0753.PDF
AUGUST 9, 1928 this caused no damage. The Flight took off in formation at 07.05, and aftercircling Calcutta in formation at 07.25, flew on a compass course over the Sundarbans to Shahpuri Island, and thence down the coast of Akyab. TheDelta is jungle, swamp and small paddy fields, with many rivers and creeks where a seaplane could land, but with no landing place for a landplane.Flight landed in formation at Akyab at 11.35. Saturday, February 4, and Sunday, February 5. Akyab.—Theweather was fine and calm ; cool at nights with hull temperatures up to 85° F. by day. All airmen slept on board on Sunday night.Monday, February 6. Akyab to Rangoon. 320 miles. (4 hrs. 10 mins. ; 76 knots.)—Lieut.-Colonel Shelmerdine, Director of Civil Aviationin India, took passage in S. 1151. A fine, but misty morning ; wind, N.N.W., 3 m.p.h. ; strut and hull temperatures, 70° F. ; barometer, 29-00. The Flight took off in formation in from 35 to 40 seconds at 07.00. and wereclear of the mist at 800 ft. The mist was lying over the land from about 2 miles north to 20 miles south of Akyab. It was clear over the sea, butsufficiently thick over the land to shut out all sight of the ground except for occasional small patches. At first the flight flew some miles to seawardto keep clear of the mist. Afterwards, following the coast, which was mostly picturesque, rugged and well wooded, with many rivers and bays whichappeared suitable for emergency landing places. At 09.55 the Flight turned inland near Broken Point and steered direct toRangoon ; for the first 20 miles the creeks and rivers were small, but after- wards there were many stretches of water which appeared suitable for land-ing. After circling Rangoon in formation, the Flight landed in succession off Monkey Point at 11.10, and secured to buoys in the creek there, justabove the pier by the Air Survey Co.'s slipway. Tuesday, February 7, to Sunday, February 12. Rangoon.—Theweather was fine, with heavy morning mists on several days, which persisted up to about 09,30. Light northerly winds prevailed, and it was hot, themaximum, hull temperatures being 90° F. The maximum tide was about 4 knots. The visit of the Flight aroused a great deal of interest, and large numbersof visitors were shown over the flying-boats. All officers and airmen slept in the flying-boats on Sunday night.Monday, February 13. Rangoon to Mergul, 310 miles. (4 hrs. 15 rains. ; 73 knots.)—A fine morning with slight haze ; wind, north, 5 m.p.h.hull and strut temperatures : 71° F. ; no clouds ; tide, 2 knots. Officer Commanding Troops and many others came down to Monkey Point to seethe start. The Flight slipped at 06.40, taxied out of the creek, took off in formationat 07.00, and after circling Rangoon, left for Mergui. S. 1151 reported taking in water during the " take-off " ; this was found to be due to the lid of thelavatory not having been fastened sufficiently tightly ; this was rectified, and the water cleared out in flight. The conditions during the flight were fine, but hazy, and the windnortherly, increasing to 10 knots in the Gulf of Martaban. The course followed from Rangoon was down the Rangoon River to Elephant Point;thence across the Gulf of Martaban to the mouth of the YE river and down the coast, turning eastward to pass over Tavoy, which was circled at 1,000,and down the Tavoy river and the coast to Mergui, where the Flight landed at 11.15, and secured to buoys laid near the east shore of Pataw Islandand opposite Mergui Town. The coast lines and the Mergui Archipelago contain many places for emergency landings in seaplanes. Tuesday,' February 14, and Wednesday, February 15—Mergui.The weather was fine, although thunderstorms appeared to be threatening in the evenings. The. sea was calm with an occasional slight swell at themoorings. The conditions, both on shore where there was no electric light or fans, and on the flying boats were rather hot and sticky : the hull tempera-tures in the middle of the day rising to 95° F. The wind was mainly land and sea breezes up to 10 m.p.h. and the maximum tide at the moorings about1 kt. At night, considerable numbers of mosquitoes came out to the flying- boats from the shore. All officers and airmen slept on board on Wednesdaynight. Thursday, February 16, Mergui-Penang. 475 Miles. (6 hrs. 25mins. 74 knts.).—A fine morning with no wind ; 0-3 cloud ; hull tempera- ture : 78 ; strut temperature: 75 ; barometer, 28-95 ; tide : i kt. Took off in formation in 60 sees. (450 gallons) at 07.00 and circled Mcrgui.The connecting strut between centre and starboard rudder of S.I 150 was seen to be disconnected from centre rudder and S.1150 was ordered to landimmediately ; this she did, followed by remainder of flight at 07.10 ; all aircraft picked up their original buoys." The defect in S.1150, which didnot affect the control or flying in any way, was found to be due to the break- age of the eyebolt, in the. centre rudder, which carries the connecting rod tothe starboard rudder. This was temporarily repaired by substituting for the broken eyebolt a tommy bar suitably bent and drilled. A short testflight showed that the repair was satisfactory. The Flight took off again at 09.00 in 50 sees, and left for Penang VictoriaPoint was passed at 11.00, and after circling Penang, the Flight landed in formation at 15.25, and secured to buoys which had been laid off the HarbourMaster s Pier at Glugor, about three miles south of George Town, Penang The weather during the flight was fine except for slight drizzle, which startedwhen over Penang ; the sky then looked very threatening to the. eastward lhe winds were light, variable and northerly ; there was a small amountof detached cloud and a slight haze. The route was dotted with picturesque wooded islands, many of which would afford shelter in emergency, but mightbe of some danger to aircraft flying low in heavy rain or bad visibility At the time of the flight the sea was calm and flying-boats could have landed ortaken off anywhere. Refuelling to 250 gallons was started as soon as the flying-boats had mooredup, sampans being used to bring the barrels from the lighter to the flying- boats. By the time two boats had refuelled the thunderstorm, which hadbeen seen in the distance before landing, broke over Penang with a heavy downpour of rain and a wind which made it impossible to get the sampanswith the fuel from the lighter to the flying-boats. As this continued till dark-, the remainder of the refuelling was postponed till the next day, andofficers and airmen off duty went ashore as soon as the weather permitted. Friday, February 17, to Wednesday, February 22—Penang. Theweather was generally overcast : light rain fell nearly all one night and there were several showers during the days, but there wore no more heavy storms.It was rather hot and stickv, except immediately after rain • 'the hull temperatures varied from 78° F. at night to 92° F. during the day. Thewind was light and variable. The visit of the Flight to Penang aroused a great deal of interest, and many residents came out to Glugor and were shown over the flying-boats. Thursday, February 23, Penang to Port Swettenham, 160 mites'(2 hrs. 20 mins. ; 68 kts).—A fine, but dull morning : wind N.E.. 1 ni.p.h. ; hull and strut temperatures: 81° F. ; barometer : 29-00 • sky • 0-9 clouded •tide, J kt. ' At the request of the Officer Commanding Penang and Port WellesleyVolunteers, the Adjutant Capt. Prattley (Norfolk Regiment), who was pro- ceeding from Penang to Kuala Lumpur on duty, was carried as a passengerin S.1150. The Flight took off in formation in 25 to 30 sees. (250 gallons) at 09.00, and flew down the coast in fine weather, with detached clouds forthe first hour, after which the clouds were continuous at 1000 ft. or lower, and there were occasional rain squalls. Down to, and including Pangkor,there appeared to be many places suitable for emergency landings for sea- planes in bad weather, but farther south it was not so favourable. TheFlight landed in formation at Port Swettenham at 11.20 andsecured to buoys laid in a well-sheltered position. Friday, February 24, to Monday, February 27—Port Swettenham.At the request of His Excellency, the Governor of the Straits Settlements, the flight to Singapore was postponed from February 27 to February 28,to enable him and his staff to flv down with the Flight. The Air Ministry and Singapore were informed of the change of programme. The weather was fine, except for one shower, but frequently overcast,and it was hot and stickv, both in the boats (up to 90° F.) and on shore. The winds were light and variable, and the tide ran up to 2 kts. at themoorings. Tuesday, February 28. Port Swettenham to Singapore, 210 miles.(2 hrs. 30 mins. ; 84 kts.).—A fine morning. The noon conditions were : Wind N.W., 3 m.p.h.; clouds: 0-5; barometer: 29-00; hull and struttemperatures: 92° F. His Excellency the Governor of the Straits Settlements (Sir Hugh Clifford)and his staff, arrived at Port Swettenham at 14.20, and were accommodated in different flying-boats. The Flight took off in formation at 14.35 and flewdown the coast to Singapore. The wind was north-westerly, 10 to 15 kts., and the sky overcast for the majority of the flight. It was rather bumpyover the land, but smooth over the sea. As the Flight flew south the wTeather became thundery with bad atmospherics, and several heavy rainstormswere seen in the neighbourhood of Johore Straits. The Flight ran into light rain over Singapore Town, and landed in formation at 17.05 in moderaterain, off the site of the air base at Seletar, securing to the buoys which had been laid there for them. A large party, including Lady Clifford, theColonial Secretarv, representatives of the General Officer Commanding, and the Senior Naval Officer, had assembled at Seletar to welcome HisExcellency the Governor and the Flight. A guard from the base party was piit on board the flying-boats for the night and all the flying crows wentinto Singapore where they were accommodated. Total distance flown from Karachi—4,600 nautical miles : average flyingtime per aircraft, 67 hrs. 50 mins.; average ground speed, 66 knots; total local flying at Karachi, 8 hrs. 40 mins. ; total local flying time, escorts, etc.,during the stage, 5 hrs. 50 mins. T London Gazette, July 31, 1928General Duties Branch Lieut. Count Andrea Dudley Richard Metaxa, R.N., is granted a tempy.commn. as Flying Officer on attachment for duty with R.A.F. ; July 16. The undermentioned Pilot Officers are promoted to rank of Flying Officer :Cyril Charles Douglas Williams ; March 24. John Francis Griffiths (with seniority of June 3, 1927) ; June 3. Reginald John Drummond Brown ;June 11. Malcolm Angus Cowan ; July 10. James Douglas Ferrier Bruce and RolK'rt James Pilgrim Morris : July 15. Pilot Officer on probationAlexander Cunninghame Pearson is confirmed in rank ; Aug. 1. Group Capt. James Bevan Bowen, O.B.E., is placed on the half-pay list, ROYALS AIR FORCE scale B; Feb. 6 to 13 inclusive. Lieut.-Comdr. Edward John ShirleyKnocker, R.N., Flight Lieut., R.A.F., ceases to be attached to the R.A.F. on return to naval duty ; July 25. The short service commn. of Pilot Officeron probation Oswald Vcrnon Garratt is terminated on cessation of duty ; Aug. 1. Flying Officer Frederick Leslie Lawrence is dismissed the service bysentence of General Court-Martial ; July 25. MemorandumSqdn.-Ldr. Gerald Graham Adeley is granted permission to retain the rank of Major on retirement from the Army ; Mar. 24. ROYAL AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE Appointments.—The following appointments in the Royal Air Force arenotified :— General Duties BranchFlight Lieutenants: J. W. Turton-Tones, to No. 28 Sqdn., India, 8.7.28. V. Buxton, O.B.E., to R.A.F. Denot, IJxbridge, 11.7.28. G. S. Hodson, A.F.C.to No. 5 Flying Training School, Sealand, 30.7.28. R. C. Savery, D.F.C., S. Graham, M.C., R. J. Rodwell, J. C. Foden, A.F.C., H. F. V. Battle, C. W.Weedon, D. C. Prance and G. C. Shepherd, to Home Aircraft Depot, Henlow, 7.8.28. Flying Officers : K. C. Netherton, to No. 31 Squadron, India, 4.7.28.F. Boston, F. C. Rowland, T. H. Perry-Keene, T. N. McEvoy, and J. D. Greaves, to Home Aircraft Depot, Henlow, 7.8.28. V. J. Sofiano, to No. 216Sqdn., Middle East. 17.7.28. H. G. Wisher, to No. 60 Sqdn., India, 23.6.28. E. F. Wain, to No. 5 Sqdn.. India, 23.6.28. Pilot Officer J. R. Mathcws, to No. 27 Sqdn., India, 13.6.28. Accountant BranchPilot Officers : M. L. Jones, to Elec. and Wireless Sch., Flowerdown, 25.7.28. T. C. Reep, to No. 1 Sch. of Tech. Training (Apprentices), Halton, 25.7.28.C. V. Mears, to R.A.F. Depot, Uxbridge, 25.7.28. R. Trippett, to No. 5 Flying Training Sch., Sealand, 25.7.28. Medical BranchFlying Officer G. W. McAleer, to C. & M. Party, Basrah, 13.7.28. Flying Officer Q. Mstr. Medical) F. W. Goodread, to H.Q., Iraq, 13.7.28. NAVAL APPOINTMENTS The following appointments were made by the Admiralty on August 1 :—Lieut. (Flying Officer, R.A.F.).—F. W. 'Bourne, to Eagle, and for full flying duties in 402 Flight (undated) ; and E. H. Shattoek. to Eagle.Sub-Lieut. (Flying Officer, R.A.F.).—O. S. Stevenson, to Eagle (undated). 697
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