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Aviation History
1929
1929 - 0807.PDF
FLIGHT, APRIL 18, 1929 they stopped to fill up, clue to its being midday, but, once, Icar of Madrid, high mountains were encountered, through which a narrow pass was negotiated, with peaks on eitherside and above, then over the plateau 2,000 ft. high, to Burgos, with the Pyrenees in clear view. Through the Mountains " It was difficult to get any information," remarked Capt. de Havilland, " as to the best way through the mountains, and we started off next morning with inferior maps and .igainst a 30-mile-an-hour wind. There is much mountainous i ountry to cover before reaching the Pyrenees proper, but with possible landing places nearly always below. You have io go through a succession of narrow passes with ever- i'hanging and wonderful scenery. Having passed over Vittoria and got thoroughly into the mountains, we realised that the gorge in which we were following a road and railway eventually led back to the south-east, and our way to Biarritz was north So we left all tracks and struck out over dis- tinctly unfriendly peaks, knowing that the sea was only ,'tf) miles away. The half-hour of mountains which followed was not in the least pleasant, and relief was general when the ground was seen to fall away to a rim of sea-shore ! Biarritz for lunch and then on to Bordeaux in the evening over an almost unbroken forest of pines." There the interesting part of the trip was over, and the next hop was to Beauvais via Tours against a bump ' head wind. Up to then, not a thing had been touched on machine or engine—in fact, the tool-roll had not been opened since leaving Stag Lane. Then a valve was adjusted, and next ilnv th(- Channel was crossed in brilliant weather and Stay Lane reached on March 29. Thus was completed a journeyof 4,600 miles in under four weeks, including over a week's stay in Morocco. A Tribute to the A.A. Capt. de Havilland pays tribute to the Aviation Depart- ment of the Automobile Association for the way the officials prepared passports, permits, tnptiques, and the rest of the paraphernalia with which it is still necessary to go armed into foreign countries, and considered their maps the best he has flown with ; they were, in fact, admired and coveted in all the countries visited. " The best route," he says, " through Spain is undoubtedly by way of Burgos, Madrid and Seville, provided there is a better way through the Pyrenees than that which we followed, and I am told that there is. One surprise was the almost total absence of bumpy conditions over the mountains anywhere. In the Pyrenees with a 30-mile-an-hour wind there certainly were a few bumps, but not so bad as I have often experienced in England. In Morocco it was often steadier than when flying at home—but all this mav have been luck.' As mentioned above, Capt. de Havilland had only to replenish his oil sump once during his trip, and he used any fuel offered—sometimes petrol, sometimes benzol mixture, and at other times spirit of no particular brand—but his engine ran consistently well on all. "' The trip has provided me," says Capt. de Havilland, " with a great deal of useful information and much food for thought, and, if it were possible. I am more convinced than ever of the almost limitless future of the light aeroplane." London Aeroplane Club, Stag Lane, Edgware, Sec., H. L. IJ.-rrin,3, Clifford Street, London. W.I. Bristol and Wessex Aeroplane Club, Filton, Gloucester. 5ecn tarv.Major G. S. Cooper, The Aerodrome, Hatchway. Glos. Cinque Ports Flying Club, Lympne, Hythe. Hon. Secretary,R. Dallas Brett, 114, High Street, Hythc, Kent. Hampshire Aero Club, Hamble, Southampton. Secretary, H. 1.Harrington, Hamble, Southampton. Lancashire Aero Club, Woodford, Lanes. Secretary, Mr. Atherton,Avro Aerodrome, Woodford. Liverpool and District Aero Club, Hooton, Cheshire. Hon. Secre-tary, Capt. Ellis, Hooton Aerodrome. Midland Aero Club, Castle Bromwich, Birmingham. Secretary,Maj. Gilbert Dennison, 22, Villa Road, Handsworth, Birmingham. Newcastle-on-Tym Aero Club, Cramlington, Northumberland. Secre-tary, J. T. Dodds, Cramlington Aerodrome, Northumberland. Norfolk and Norwich Aero Club, Mousehold, Norwich. Secretary.G. McEwen, The Aerodrome. Mousetold, Norwich. Nottingham Aero Club, Hucknall, Nottingham. Hon. Secretary,Cecil R. Sands, A.C.A., 30, Park Row, Nottingham. The Scottish Flying Club, 101, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow. Secretary,George Baldwin, Moorpark Aerodrome, Renfrew. Southern Aero Club, Shoreham, Sussex. Secretary, Miss N. B.Birkett, Shoreham Aerodrome, Sussex. Suffolk Aeroplane Club, Ipswich. Secretary, Maj. P. L. Holmes, TheAerodrome, Hadleigh, Suffolk. Yorkshire Aeroplane Club, Sherburn-in-Elmet, Yorks. Secretary,Lieut.-Col. Walker, The Aerodrome, Sherburn-in-Elmet. LONDON ABROPLANE CLUB (AFL. 8-14,I.—Instructors : Captain V. H.'liaker, M.C.. A.KC. and CaptainI R. Matthews. Ground engineers : C. Humphreys and A. F.. Mitchell. Aircraft : The following machines were in commission—G-EBXS. G-AABL.G-EBZC and G-AABN. Total flying time for the week : 31 hrs. 'M mins. Dual instruction : 13 members received dual instruction, the time beingIS hrs. 35 mins. Solo flying : 29 members flew sole during the wwk, the time being 17 hrs. 55 mins. J. A. Crane made his first solo flight. There were three blank days this week owing to the weather.Club-house Furnishing Fund: The following donation has been received : Lieut. Col. M. O. Darby, [3 3s. M.Club Aircraft: The Club has taken delivery of the first of its PH. Gipsy Moths G-AABN. It is hoped to take over the second this week. BRISTOL <Si VBSSBX AEROPLANE CLUB, LTD. (API., 7-13|. — Pilot instructor : E. R. \V. Bartk'H. Ground engineerA. W. Webb. Machines in commission : (3), TV, YH, JL. Flying tune for the week : 16 hrs. 45 mins. Pupils under instruction : (6), 4 hrs. IS mins.Soloists under instruction : (3), 3 hrs. 25 ruins. "A " pilots: (9! 7 hrs. 25 mins. Passengers : (4), 1 hr. 15 mins. Test : (8) 1 hr. 15 mins Oh, yes, thank you, the snow has been here too, so jolly ! Thrt-r days ""which the most stout-hearted could fly, a sad drop in our figures. Mr. r-arquharson finished his " A " tests with credit, just before the winterstarted afresh. Mr. Story flew his " Moth " from Lvmpne and Mr. Leach his Baby Avro-AUM to visit'us on the 7th. There will be over 150 members andfriends at our dance at the Spa Hotel on the 19th, so roll up any wavt-rrrs. i oor " Brownie " sat down too heavily last Sunday and will be on th> sickJist for a few weeks. No need for flowers and Colonial papers n<-ed take n<> notice. HAMPSHIRE AEROPLANB CLUB ^ (API.. t>-12|.- Pilot instructors. : Flight-Licul. 1'. A. Sw-iflor, M.B.I-., am •'"•• "• H- Dudley. Ground ensineers : Mr. E. Lenny and Mr. J. Elliott Aircraft : D.H. 60 " Moth " G-EBO1 and Avro " Avian " G-EBV1. Flying time for the week : 15 hrs. 20 mins. Pupils under instruction : (11)5 hrs. •>- mms. "A11 pilots: (II), 8 hrs. 20 mins. Passengers: (2) 25 mins. instructors' solo and tests : (4) 50 mins Bad weather this week has greatlv interfered with our flying. On Thursday II tint -1 l*>Mt CmnAo. —— Jil.r^. .' .. • • . r - _. nd parking ground for aircraft bringing • The Chief Instructor's book on " Learning to Flv " has now been published•a t&ose interested are invited to send 7s. <xi. to the Secretary, on receipt of lien a copy will be forwarded inrfh»t Members will be pleased to hear of a generous offer by one of our membersof £100 towards the purchase of a new aeroplane, provided that the balance is subscribed by the remaining members of the club. No sum is too large andnone is too small, and it is earnestly hoped that members and friends will assist as quickly and as generously as they can in order that the club maybenefit by this kind offer. Mr. H. F. Mase has now taken delivery of his Spartan machine and it isexpected that he will begin his long flight to New Zealand in the course of a few days. He carries with him the bsst wishes of all members. We are holding the last dance of the seasin at the Esplanade AssemblyRooms, Southsea, on Friday, April 26, and it is hoped that a large number or members and friends will be present. Tickets, price 8s. 6,i. single and 15s.double, may be obtained from the Secretary. LANCASHIRE AERO CLUB (ArR. 7-13).—Flying time 17 hns. Instruction (8), 4 hrs. Solo flights (ISI,8 hrs. 15 mins. Passenger (9). 3 hrs. 50 ruins. Tests (6). 55 mins. Instruction (with Mr. Hall): Messrs. Paddock, Goss. Ashworth, J. H..McDougall. Stern, Fallon. Wilkinson. Machines in commission, MQ, EC. QL. Soloists (under instruction) : Goss, Williamson, Sellers. Forshaw, Stern.Pilots : Messrs. Hall. R. F., Davies. R. G.. Garner. Harrison, Gort, Miehel- son. Weale, McDougall. Meads, Fallon, Chapman, Whitehouse, Twemlow.Passengers : (with Mr. Meads) : Goss ; (with Mr. Hall) : R. F. Briton. Miss Harrison, Sellers : (with Mr. Mills) : Stern. Jennison, Cliffe : (withMr. Williams) : Garner : (with Mr. Cohen) : Miss Ree. A week of cold and blustering weather with various minor excitements.Mr. Mills had his rudder control come adrift while flying QL in the front seat. He did quite a nice circuit and a safe landing and was able to report that themachine flew just as well without rudder. Mr. Michelson pulled an outer cover partially off the wheel by turning too fast on the ground and went into theair with the inner tube ballooning out in the most alarming fashion. Signals were made to him from the ground and he landed slowly without even burstingthe inner tube. XD, while sitting inoffensively on the ground was charged by one of our private owners. She resisted the attack strongly but herpiumage was considerably damaged in the encounter. We were all very glad to see Mr. Dudley Salthouse, one of our earliestflying members, on the aerodrome on Sunday. He and Mr. Leete, another of our early members, have been running the Bengal Air Transport Co.. out inIndia, and Mr. Salthouse is at present over in England on a short spell of leave. LIVBRPOOL "3D DISTRICT AERO CLUB (APR. 7-13).—Machines in commission: Avro Avians WK. XX. ZM. Instructor: Flt.-Lieut. J. B. Allen. Ground Engineers, Mr. H. Pixton, Mrj Mason. Flying time, total 18 hrs. 40 mins. Pupils, dual : (10), 7 hrs.; solo: (3). 2 hrs. 5 mins ; " A " pilots, solo (10)PupiL, — , . , . . . 6 hrs. 25 mins. Passenger flights (7) : 2 hrs. 50 mins. Test flights, 20 mins. 323
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