FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1928
1928 - 0906.PDF
other troubles of any moment were encountered on the flight. On August 5 the flight arrived at Armidale, and reached Brisbane next day. On August 7 it reached Charleville, and then followed the Quantas route up to Normanton. This tiny town on the Gulf of Carpentaria was holding its annual race meeting and all accommodation was booked, except the hospital, in which the members of the flight slept that night. Next day the flight made straight for Camooweal, the present western terminus of the Quantas route, and then followed the future extension of that route, Brunette Downs, Newcastle Waters, Daly Waters, Katherine, to Port Darwin, which was reached on August 12. Two days were spent at Darwin, and one or two small overhauls were made in the railway workshops. H.M.A.S. Geranium was in harbour, and the officer commanding it was taken for a flight over Melville Island, which has never been properly charted. The existing charts showed several slight indentations on the north coast of the island, which from the air were seen to be large bays and rivers extending many miles inland. The island is heavily timbered. On August 15, the flight went on to Wyndham, which is soon to become the terminus of the West Australian Airways. The future extension of that route was followed via Hall's Creek to Derby, the present northern terminus. The airways route was then followed down to Perth, which was reached on August 20. On August 21, the flight turned eastward again, following more or less what will be the air route between Perth and Adelaide, namely Meredin, Kalgoorlie, Cook, but from the last-named they turned south and crossed the coast over the Great Bight. Heavy rain forced the machines down to 30 or 40 ft. above the sea, and they lost each other, but they joined up again on re-crossing the coast at Ceduna. They made Port Lincoln the same night (25th) and next day arrived at Adelaide. There the engines were given a top overhaul, and while it was in progress, the C.A.S. dashed off to Melbourne and spent a few days in his office. On September 2, the flight started again, heading north once more, through the very centre of Australia, a route which has not very often been flown. Their course was Port Augusta, Oodnadatta, Alice Springs, Tennant's Creek, Anthony's Lagoon. Here the machines turned east and south again and retraced their path down the Quantas route to Charleville. There they headed due south to Bourke and reached Hay via Nyngan. From Hay they followed the Larkin route back to Melbourne and arrived home at Laverton on September 10. The Country Traversed The above is a very brief outline of the course of the flight. The observations which follow in appendices to the report are very interesting and important. The weather is dealt with first. In the south in winter time all sorts of bad weather may be expected, and the flight experienced a number of unpleasant varieties. In the Tropics the winter was found perfect for flying. The machines were heavily loaded with spares, and their climb in tropical air was slow. In the mornings it was calm up to 10 or 11 a.m., but then bumps reached to a great height, and sometimes the machines were unable to climb above the bumpy area. Radiators were apt to boil when the machines tried to climb. Geographically, Australia, on the whole, is reported as particularly favourable for flying throughout the year. The country is generally undulating with few great heights, and, apart from the ranges running up the east coast, and across Victoria north of Melbourne, and small ranges round Perth and Adelaide, there are no hills to speak of. From Melbourne to Adelaide the country is mostly grazing and agricultural, though parts of South Australia have not yet been cleared. Grazing country extends up to Broken Hill, but south of the latter town no clearing has been done, and low scrub would make a landing without damage very improbable. From Hay eastward to Junee the route passes over plains, crop and grazing, but just before reaching Coota- mundra hills are encountered, and therefore, for defence purposes, Junee would be preferable to Cootamundra as a halfway halt between Melbourne and Sydney. From Cootamundra to Bathurst is hilly, rising to a little over 2,000ft. but landing grounds could easily be selected. North from Goulburn stretch the Blue Mountains, but there is a coastal plain where landings are possible. Tree stumps are one of the curses of Australian agricultural land. They often project from 3 to 5 ft. and are difficult to observe from the air. The introduction of a " stump jump " plough permits the farmers to leave them in situ much to the annoyance of airmen. SEPTEMBER 27, 1928 Broken country, some suitable, some unsuitable for landings continues up to Brisbane, but when one gets west of Too- woomba one strikes open plains where one can land anywhere. South of Charleville there is so much scrub that a safe landing would be impossible, except on a prepared ground. The Quantas route, needless to say, is kept in good working con- dition, and the same can be said of all the regular air routes in Australia. The extraordinary regularity of all these services is a sufficient answer to any enquiries about the practi- cability of their routes. A special interest attaches to the reports on northern Australia because so little detail was previously known about the flying conditions there. Normanton is a small town of some 540 inhabitants, and the country between it and Burketown consists principally of swampy flats which might make landing grounds in winter. The shore round the mouths of the Norman and Flinders rivers is sandy, but west of Morning Inlet it is covered with mangrove swamps. Most of the country on to Camooweal is open West of that small, but now famous, town is cattle country, innocent of roads and traversed only by tracks. Tussocky grass is the only difficulty to be guarded against when landing. This type of country extends on to Anthony's Lagoon and Newcastle Waters, where timber is again found. Along the Overland Telegraph line the country is wooded, and though a ground has been prepared at Katherine, the tropical vegetation grows quickly, and it is reported that " Grounds in this part of the Commonwealth should not be reckoned as usable unless steps have been taken to ensure their being so." Timber extends on to Darwin. There is a landing ground at Batchelor Farm. At Darwin the aerodrome is well maintained by convict labour. On that part of the coast there are numerous sheltered inlets suitable for seaplane operations, but a site for a regular seaplane station would be difficult to find To the south-west of Darwin the country is scrubby and swampy, and there is no habitation until the Daly River is reached. This is a fine river with a good supply of water even in late summer. The country along the coast up to Wyndham was found to be flat (though at least one map by a well-known map-making firm shows ranges of hills there). There are hills in the neighbourhood of Wyndham, and south of it there stretches the Albert Edward range down to Hall's Creek, where it ends abruptly. From Wyndham on, numerous landing grounds have been prepared for West Australian Airways. Omitting the report on the West Australian Airways route, we may pass on to Perth, whence the new airway will soon be opened to Adelaide. First the flight passed a small range of hills not more than 30 miles in width, and found undulating wheat and orchard land for 50 miles up to Northam. Then it became almost flat and covered with light timber, except along the railway line where it is being cleared. The wheat country ends at Southern Cross, but is always being extended. Similar country extends up to the Kalgoorlie goldfield, where there is a rather small landing ground at Boulder. At Naretha, 200 miles on, a stretch of flat timberless country commences, and extends for 400 miles and south to the coast. It is tussocky and sometimes rocky, and is not quite so good for landings as it appears from the air. From Port Lincoln the crossing to the York Peninsula involves no sea crossing of more than 20 miles, as there arc islands in the gulf. Flat wheat country extends up to Adelaide. Hills, not of much height, extend north of Adelaide, and wheat is grown as far as Hawker, where sheep country commences. This extends to north of Charlotte Waters. Then one meets more timber and cattle country up to the MacDonnell range, a narrow ridge no more than 3,428 ft. high, in which Alice Springs is situated. There is more flat country until the Murchison Range, about 1,500 ft., is met and this continues up to Tennant's Creek. WTiite ant hills are prevalent in that part, and form the chief obstacle to making landing grounds. The return down the Quantas line and along a prepared route from Charleville to Melbourne via Bourke and Hay does not call for record here. Equipment The engine of the D.H.50 was equipped with a tropical radiator. The radiators of the D.H.9's were incieased by 20 per cent., which proved a suitable compromise. The normal oil used was BB, but in the tropics a quantity of B was added whenever procurable. The only mechancal troubles of the engines worth recording were leaking cylinder heads, and no forced landings occurred. When overhauled at Adelaide, after flying 113 hours, the blocks of the two 836
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
