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Aviation History
1929
1929 - 0626.PDF
FLIGHT, MARCH 28, 1929 MifBMMM .\frican Service Flight THREE of the R.A.F. Fairey 11 IF (Napier "Lion" engines) engaged on the annual flight to Cape Town and back, arrived at Nairobi on March 24 with three S.A.A.F. machines. These South African service aircraft made a fine flight of 900 miles from Abercorn to Nairobi in one day, in order to catch up with the R.A.F. machines. The Flight Towards Australia FLIGHT-LIEUT. J. MOIR and F./O. H. Owen, who left England in the Vickers " Vellore " (Armstrong-Siddeley ' Jaguar ") for Australia on March 18, left Benghazi, on the North African Coast, on March 22, but were forced to land at Mersa Matruh, about 160 miles west of Alexandria. The extent of the damage is not known yet in this country, but assistance is being sent to the airmen from London. If the machine is repairable there, then the flight will be resumed. The progress of the airmen before their mishap was as follows : March 18, Marseilles ; March 19, Rome ; March 20, Malta ; and Benghazi the next day. Their engine was then reported to have run faultlessly. Capt. Lancaster's Flight THE last report of Capt. W. N. Lancaster's progress, on the 10,000 miles tour from New York to South America and back in the Cirrus-Avian, was that he had reached Guade- loupe, on the chain of West Indies which circles to the main- land of South America. His next stages are also sea flights to Martinique, Trinidad and Georgetown.- He is competing for a gold medal offered by the Central Union Trust Co. of America for the first light "plane flight over the route men- tioned. One believes he carries a raft as a precaution for his sea stages. Light 'Plane Flight to S. Africa SQDN.-LDR. L. H. SLATTER, who is flying to S. Africa from England in a Blackburn " Bluebird " (D.H. " Gipsy "), reached Mersa Matrah on March 21, and continued towards Aboukir, the next day. On March 23 he reached Cairo. Madrid-Brazil Flight SPAIN is attempting a non-stop flight to S. America A Spanish-built Breguet 19 (600 h.p. Hispano), left Seville in the evening of March 24, flown by Capt. Jiminez and Capt. Iglesias. It carried a rubber boat, 907 gallons of petrol and 71 gallons of oil. The machine was reported off Cape Jubv later. Its arrival over Natal was reported on Tuesday evening. Naval vessels were ordered to keep a sharp vigi- lance. The same Spanish airmen tried to set up a non- stop record last year in a similar machine. Graf Zeppelin's Tour AT 12.45 a.m. on March 24, the Graf Zeppelin left Friedrichshafen on its Mediterranean cruise. Over 16,000 letters and postcards were carried. Mail will be dropped at Jaffa for the neax East, and at Athens, Budapest and Vienna Twenty-five passengers and a crew of forty are on board. Amongst the passengers are Herr Koch, Minister of Justice ; Herr Lobe, President of the Reichstag ; and Herr von Guerard, the recent Minister of Transport. The airship passed over Marseilles via the Rhone at 8 a.m., and was sighted at Rome by 3.15 p.m. It descended to a low altitude and dropped a message in German national colours. On the course next taken to Naples it was escorted a short distance by Italian light aeroplanes. It was over Naples by 5.30 p.m The cruise is expected to last about four days and cover 5,000 miles. Distance flown to Naples was about 800 miles. Some Striking Statistics EUROPE'S passenger air fleet at present numbers 730 passenger aeroplanes with an aggregate power capacity of 358.935 h.p., according to an article in the latest issue of Flygning, the official organ of the Royal Swedish Aero Club and of the Swedish Air-traffic Societv. The author as a comparison, points out that the power capacity of the Euro- pean air fleet corresponds to no less than that of 16 modern ocean lmers of the size of the Kungsholm, the latest and largest ship of the Swedish-American Line. At the present time regular passenger, mail and goods traffic is maintained by -° d™eTent air trafnc companies, representing 15 countries, which hgure, however, does not include Russia, from where the author has been unable to obtain the necessary infor- mation. Of the entire air fleet, 577 aeroplanes have one engine, 71 have two engines, 63 three engines, and 19 four engines. Thus, of all planes, 21 per cent, have more than one power unit. The 730 aeroplanes have been built by 29 diffe- rent factories and represent no less than 67 different types, which shows the keen competition existing between the various manufacturers. The author states that standardi- sation is progressing rapidly and that within the near future the number of types will be considerably reduced. The general tendency in the development of the industry is towards bigger machines and more powerful motors. Another interesting feature is the probability that the Diesel engine will soon compete seriously with the types now used, and the author is of the opinion that once the Diesel engine has proved its efficiency for aviation purposes it will quickly eliminate the petrol engine, owing to its smaller fuel consumption and to the fact that it uses fuel which is 50 per cent, cheaper and which considerably reduces the danger of fire. Lady Bailey—Premier Airwoman ON March 25, the Hon. Lady Bailey was the guest of the Sports Fellowship at the Stadium Club, Holborn. She was introduced by Lord Decies, who said that Lady Bailey was the premier airwoman of the world. French Honours for Lady Bailey and Senor de la Cierva THE French Academy of Sports has awarded its Grand Prix for 1928 to Senor de la Cierva for his Autogiro machine. And one of its five gold medals has been awarded the Hon. Lady Bailey for her solo African flight. Air Line Performance AN Imperial Airways air liner flew from Basle to Liver- pool in 10 hours. The actual flying time was 7J hours. Prague-Rotterdam-London ON April 2 next an air line between Prague and Rotter- dam will start, connecting the line from London. London-Brussels Night Services ATTEMPTS to run a night air service for mails between London and Brussels will he made in July. Subsidy for Cape Service ? MAJOR HUDSON, Rhodesian Minister for Defence, states his belief that the Government will do all it reasonably can to subsidise the proposed Imperial Airways service to Cape Town. Death of Atlantic Flyer THE death is reported of Maj. \V. N. Hensley in America. He flew to England in the R.34 in July, 1919, and was thus the first American to fly non-stop between the two countries. He was 48 years of age and trained as an airship pilot in Ger- many. He was also an aeroplane pilot. Brussels Aviation Conference TWENTY-SIX States were represented at the fifteenth session of the International Committee on Aerial Navigation (established in accordance with the Air Convention of Octo- ber 13, 1919), which has just been held in Brussels. The British delegates were Air Vice-Marshal Sir Sefton Branckcr and Capt. M. H. J. Goodman Crouch. Weisbaden Aerodrome A NEW landing ground for aircraft in the vicinity of Weisbaden will be available at Whitsun. Club for Ilford ? A FLYING club is being proposed for Ilford, and also an air port. Air Mail Robber. THE Daily Telegraph recently gave the following story : " Here is the solution of a mystery which not long ago caused something approaching consternation at the Air Ministry.—The mails which were being sent to India by the new air route for a reason not hitherto pubiiclv explained were, in part, at least, irreparably damaged before they could be delivered. At first various forms of foul play were suspected, but later it transpired that a young female, called Lindy, was to blame. She had been the very special property of a young Air Force officer stationed in Irak, and became so popular with all the squadron that when duty recalled him to England Lindy remained behind. Whether she suspected that the new air mail might bring a letter from her master history does not relate, but certain it is that she entered the orderly room and methodically inspected and destroyed the mail. Severe disciplinary action was contemplated, but Lindy, which, by the way, was not her real name, forestalled justice by dying of pneumonia. Inci- dentally, it should perhaps be added that she was of pure Simian descent. 258
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