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Aviation History
1929
1929 - 1276.PDF
FLIGHT, JUNE 20, 1929 10.50 p.m.—Flving at 5,000 ft. 11.20 p.m.—Flying at 7,000 ft., still in the clouds. Midnight.—Flying at 8,400ft., still in clouds. No ground had been glimpsed since 9 p.m. April 25. 12.5 a.m.—Flying at 8,500 ft. 12.30 a.m. —Ground glimpsed 5 miles south of Burgas, Black Sea ; slightly off course. Had altered course 2° to clear mountains. 1 a.m.—At 8,000 ft. be- tween two cloud layers. 1.10 a.m.—Heavy clouds. 1.17 a.m.—Heavy rain. 1.50a.m.—Black Sea, checked course. Had had following wind up to Burgas. 2.15 a.m.—Hit Constanti- nople after 17 mins. on the new course. Dropped messages, written in English, French and Arabic, in bags, which were never found. 2.25 a.m.—Changed course for Baghdad, meeting strong south wind. Dawn came as they flew towards Taurus Mountains, bumpy. 7.10 a.m.—Through pass in Taurus at 8,000-9,000 ft. 7.20 a.m.—Sighted Alexandretta Bay. Ground was clear. 12.40 p.m.—Baghdad ; dropped messages on the aero- drome (never found). Altitude 7,800 ft. 4 p.m.—Ground speed 72 m.p.h., owing to strong head wind. 6.37 p.m.—Bushire: ground speed 78 m.p.h. Flying at 6,000 ft. i 11 p.m.—-Thick dust encountered, but saw moon and stars. Could not distinguish between land and sea. April 26. 12.30 a.m.—Passed Larak Island. Speed for last 7 hrs. averaged 65 m.p.h. Head wind of 30 m.p.h. 3 a.m.—Jask. . 5.15 a.m.—Charbar ; ground speed 78 m.p.h. at 6,000 ft. [" FLIGHT " Photograph Flying over Cranwell Aerodrome, the scene of successful start for India. its 7.40 a.m.—Pasni, first aero- drome in Baluchistan. DUST indicated ground wind from north. 10.50 a.m.—Karachi. From Bushire the ground speed had been 65 m.p.h. They had met a slight tail wind about 150 miles before Karachi. At Karachi they changed course for Bangalore, and had 6 hrs. petrol left to cover 650 miles to beat the record. Ground speed was found to be 97 m.p.h. As it was then 4.30 p.m, local time the landing would be done in the dark if they carried on, probably in swampy country, meaning an inevitable crash, for Shalapur was the next aerodrome, 720 miles away. There was no prospect of beating the record (4,466 miles). They calcu- lated that 120 milesshort of the record could only be attained if they carried on, so it was decided to return to Karachi. 1.15 p.m. (B.S.T.).—Lan- ded at Karachi.Incidental Details There were 83 gallons of petrol left when they landed. During the flight the pilots never did more than 5-hr, turns at the controls, and eventually reduced it to 2 hrs. on and 2 hrs. off. They did not rest when off the controls, as there was always much to do, such as keeping the log and checking the course, etc. Neither were unduly fatigued, although towards the end their eyes lost keenness, and they could not dis- tinguish anything ahead like the horizon without a sharp mental effort. The enclosed cabin of the Fairey monoplane was decidedly more comfortable for them than an open cockpit would have been, and the quantity of food taken was found to be far too much. Fruit and coffee were the most satisfying. (Concluded on page 514.) [•FLIGHT "Photographs Cranwell Officers, Cadets and Aircraftsmen welcome the return of the Fairey monoplane (Napier) fromIndia, on June 15. The monoplane is seen making its punctual landing, after flying the last stage from Le Bourget, and taxi-ing in. " " :".. :."•• •' : ' 502 . ' \ •'_•'.
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