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Aviation History
1929
1929 - 0078.PDF
JANUARY 10, 1929 IRIMSFROMimmmwms Endurance Record THE United States Army aeroplane, the Question Mark, a Fokker monoplane fitted with three engines, landed at 2.12 p.m on January 7, having flown continuously for six days, six hours, and 46 mins., or 150 hrs. 46 mins. It was forced to descend then owing to trouble with one engine. Had it remained aloft until 7.27 a.m. the following morning, it would have been flying a week. On Saturday night, the crew saw one of the engines slowing down (the - could not hear it owing to temporary deafness), and prepared to land then, but it picked up again. During the long flight, which started on January 1 over Los Angeles, the machine was constantly refuelled by other Army aircraft and provisions, etc., were also transferred for the crew, 16 replenishments taking place. The crew numbered five. Major Carl Spatz, was in command, Capt. Ira Eaker was chief pilot, Lieut. Elwood Quesada and Lieut. Harry Halverson were assistant pilots, and Sergt. Roy Hooe was the mechanic. A good landing was made at the end. The previous record for sustained flight was 118 hrs., by the French dirigible Dixmnde. Refuelling in the Air IMPORTANT tests in refuelling aircraft during flight have been successfully completed at Le Bourget by the 34th Avia- tion Regiment. They were carried out at the request of the Aero Club de France, and the organisers of the annual aviation fete at Vincennes. Commandant Weiss and Capt. Wacken- heim passed oil and petrol to other machines flying at a height of 2,500 ft. The operations offered no difficulties. Australia Air Race THE Centenary Committee has decided to call the Sydney to Perth air race, to be held in September or October. the " Western Australia Centenary East-West Air Race." The distance to be flown is 2,400 miles, divided into six stages of one day each. The prizes are :—First, £1,000 ; second, £300 ; third, £100. Also £100 will be distributed each day in prizes of £50, £30 and £20 for the three best daily perform- ances. The entrance fee is five guineas, and the race is open to the world. New Women's Record Miss BOBBIE TROUT made an endurance flight of 12 hrs 11 min. at Los Angeles on January 3, which is claimed as a record. She is only 19 years of age. Lady Heath IT is stated that Lady Heath has resigned her presidency of the Air League of the British Empire, but not her member- ship. It is also mentioned that Lady Heath, who is now touring America, will be away from this country for a year, and has decided to go on to Australia. Seaplane Missing A SEAPLANE which left Cartagena for Melilla on Decem- ber 31, did not arrive, and a search was made for it. Serum by Air CAPT. MAY flew an Avro " Avian " light aeroplane carry- ing anti-diphtheritic serum to Fort Vermilion, Northern Alberta, where diphtheria had broken out. He reached Peace River on the morning of January 3, and continued in the afternoon to Fort Vermilion. Dog teams then carried the serum the remaining 50 miles to Red River, where the disease has also spread. Capt. May started on his return flight and reached Peace River on January 4. This stage of 3 hours happened on the coldest day this winter and in a head wind all the way. Successful Aerial Prospecting in Canada NORTHERN Aerial Minerals Exploration, Ltd., a Canadian company organised some months back by Mr. Jack Hammell, has concluded its first season's operations and is announced, to have made four promising mineral discoveries. The best in the opinion of Mr. Hammell, is a gold find at Crow Lake, in the Patricia district of western Ontario. This has been opened up for 1,100 ft. and is to be sampled as soon as the aeroplane can be fitted with skis. Another find is copper- lead-silver in the Athabaska Lake region. The other dis- coveries, the one copper and the other gold, are in localities which Mr. Hammell declines to discuss at the moment. This company's planes flew over 100,000 miles in the course of the season's work. One hundred men were in the field, and it is planned to have more out next year. " It has been a good year," Mr. Hammell says, " and I am thoroughly pleased.'' Canadian Air Mail Results POST Office statistics show that 235,793 lbs. of air mail were carried over the various routes throughout the Dominion up to the week ending December 8, 1928. Airship Mast at Quebec THE mooring mast at St. Hubert, Quebec, which is 220 ft. high, and has been constructed for the reception of the airships planned to carry out an Empire air service, is now completed. Archdukes' Crash THE Archdukes Antoine and Francois Joseph of Haps- burg were injured near Dijon, France, on January 6, when the light aeroplane in which they were flying from Paris to Barcelona, Spain, crashed. Both, it is stated, are expert pilots, and they tried to come down in a field, but swerved to avoid a man and hit waste land. Both live in Barcelona. They left London on January 3, and had been detained at Abbeville by bad weather. A leaky petrol tank was the cause of the forced landing. Marseilles-Beirut Air Service THIS month the French Air Union anticipates starting an air service between Marseilles and Beirut, when the French Government and local authorities will have signed the postal convention with a provision for a surtax on air mails. A trial service has been carried out by seaplanes each fitted with three 180 h.p. engines. A relay system of service is to be employed to reduce strain on the crews and machines, and to ensure a more reliable and quicker service. It necessitates a large fleet of aircraft and four more seaplanes will be added, each fitted with two 500 h.p. engines in tandem. The route will run in an almost direct line from Marseilles to Beirut, with intermediate calling ports at Bastia, Naples, Corfu, the Pirseus and Castellorizo. When the service is firmly established an extension to the Far East may be attempted in co-operation with Imperial Airways. World's Record for Czechoslovakia ALTHOUGH Maj. A. Vicherek, of the Czechoslovakian Air Force, who set out from Prague on October 5 last in an " Avia B.H. 11 -B " monoplane with the intention of beating the world's record for distance (light 'plane class, 3rd category) • did not com- plete his flight as originally planned, he succeeded, in establish- ing a record. He had intended flying to Moscow and Omsk ; but a heavy snow storm forced him down near Biednodiem- janovsk in Russia. The total distance covered (he had to fly off the straight line track owing to Russian restrictions) was about 2,500 km., and the time in the air was 15 hrs 20 mins. Last month the F.A.I, homologated this flight as a record, with a distance of 2,011 km. and Maj. Vicherek thus beat the previous record of 1,564 km. established in America on February 21, 1928, by H. J. Brooks on a Ford " Fliver." The "Avia B.H. 11-B" used for this flight was the well- known touring low-wing monoplane, fitted with a 60-h.p. " Walter " air-cooled radial, converted into a single-seater and provided with extra large petrol tanks—containing fuel sufficient for a flight of at least 30 hours' duration The weight of the machine empty was 347 kg., and fully laden 817 kg. Col. Lawrence AN official communique, issued on January 7, and reported from Delhi, India, stated that in view of the increasing but totally unfounded and preposterous rumours connecting Aircraftsman Shaw (formerly Col. Lawrence, of Arabia) with events on the Afghan side of the border, the Government of India has decided to transfer him from the north-west Frontier Province, where he was stationed in the ordinary course of service with the Royal Air Force at Miranshah. He flew to Lahore on January 8, and is going on to Karachi to catch the first boat to England for transfer to a home establishment. He flatly denied the smallest connection with the troubles in Afghanistan. Schneider Trophy Race IT is reported that Lieut. Alford Williams is expected to be one of the pilots chosen by America to compete for that country in the next Schneider Trophy Race at the Solent. 34
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