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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0080.PDF
FLIGHT, JANUARY 23, 1931 AIRISMS FROM THE FOUR WINDS The Prince and the Buenos Aires ExhibitionT.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES and Prince George leftHendon by air on Friday, January 16, on the start of their journey to South America. The flight was made inthe Prince of Wales' " Puss Moth " G-AT3BS, piloted by Mr. E. H. Fielden. After the arrival at Le Bourget, thePrinces went on by train to Santander, in Spain, to join the ss. Oropesa. The " Puss Moth " was then flown back toEngland and will be sold. Another machine of the same type has been shipped to Buenos Aires for the use of thePrinces and his brother during their stay in South America. The Prince's new " Puss-Moth " is being taken to BuenosAires by the carrier H.M.S. Eagle, which carries normally three flights of the Fleet Air Arm. At present, these flightsare : No. 402 Fleet Fighter Flight with " Flycatchers," No. 448 Fleet Spotter Plight with " Fairey 3F's," andNo. 460 Fleet Torpedo Bomber Flight with " Ripons." In addition, there is on board a special flight composed of oneHawker " Fury " with Rolls Royce " F " engine, one Hawker " Osprey " (the naval version of the " Hart ") with " F "engine, and one " F'airey 3F" with Armstrong-Siddeley 510 h.p. " Panther " engine.R.A.F. Cairo-Cape Flight THE flight of three Vickers Victoria aircraft of No. 216(Bomber) Squadron, which are making the annual Service exercise in flying from Cairo to the Cape and back, reachedJuba, from Malakal, on January 16. Next day they flew to Entebbe, Uganda, where they engaged in troop-carrying exer-cises with a detachment of the King's African Rifles. On January 20 they proceeded to Nairobi.Italian Atlantic Squadron at Rio THE Italian squadron of Savoia S55 flving-boats, underthe command of Gen. Balbo, has completed its remarkable cruise from Italy to South America. Eleven of the 14machines, which set out from Rome on December 17, 1930, completed the last stage of their 6,400-mile cruise, when theyflew in formation from Bahia to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 15. The arrival of the squadron was the occasionof wild scenes of enthusiasm on the part of a vast crowd gathered to welcome them. This last stage, about 2,000miles, was perhaps the most dangerous of the whole cruise, for they had to fly over treacherous jungle—with no possi-bility of landing—inhabited by wild beasts and uncivilised Indians. Sig. Mussolini, on hearing of their arrival, sent aJong message to Gen. Balbo, congratulating ail the members of the squadron on the successful conclusion of the " flightwilled by me, and superbly accomplished by you." After referring to the death of the five airmen at Bolama, Sig.Mussolini said that the Italy-Brazil flight had no precedent in the history of aviation and had shown what Italian aviationwas as regards men and machines in the ninth year of the Fascist regime. He concluded his message by announcingfor next year " an even greater aerial feat "—a formation flight across the North Atlantic ? In a final lengthy report toRome, Gen. Balbo stated that he hoped that their experiences would be useful not only to Italy but to aviation throughoutthe world. He declared that the percentage of casualties was far lower than he had estimated, and that, in spite of theexceptionally bad weather at the outset, the forced descent in, the Balearic Islands proved the Savoia flying-boats wereamazingly seaworthy. He considered that the 56 miles of smooth water in the Bay of Bolama (Portuguese Guinea)made it an excellent base, as a forced descent could be made in comparative safety during the first half-hour or so of a long-distance flight, which was always the most difficult. General Balbo praised the perfect behaviour of the machinesand their engines. Throughout the flight the great problem had been to maintain their formation. " If I had to make anAtlantic flight again," he said, " I would rather cross the ocean alone three times from one side to another than crossit once in a formation flight." It is reported that the Brazilian Government is proposing to acquire the 11 Savoia flying-boatsin exchange for their value in coffee. Miss Amy Johnson Flying Home Miss AMY JOHNSON left Warsaw for England in her GipsyMoth, Jason IT, on January 18, but she had to mak*, a forced landing near Klodawa—midway between Warsaw and Posen—owing to a choked petrol feed. After the trouble had been put right by mechanics of the Polish Air Lines, Miss Johnsonresumed her journey on January 19,Jand flew to Tempelhofer Aerodrome, Berlin ; next day she proceeded to HanoverThe D.H. Moth, Jason, on which Miss Johnson flew to Australia, will be exhibited permanently in the Aeronauticalsection of the Science Museum at South Kensington as soon as room can be found for it.Capt. Matthews Delayed CAPT. F. R. MATTHEWS started from Port Darwin inhis " Puss Moth " for England on January 14, but returned after an hour's flight, having encountered heavy stormsover the sea. Missing Atlantic Flyers THERE is still no news of Mrs. Beryl Hart and Mr. MacLaren, who set out from Bermuda in their seaplane Trade Wind, for the Azores, on January 10. It appears that thereports that their machine was seen to fall in the sea off the island of Sao Miguel are incorrect.Reduced Fares on Canadian Airways ACCORDING to the fare schedule put into effect by Cana-dian Airways, Limited, passenger rates in eastern Canada are now little more than the railway fares between importantcentres of population. On all routes out of Montreal passen- gers will be carried for slightly more then five cents a mile.The rate for the short journey between Saint John and Monc- ton, N.B., works out at six cents a mile. The correspondingrailways fare including the normal Pullman or sleeping car charges would only be 20 per cent, less than the cost of travelby aeroplane. The new passenger fares quoted by Canadian Airways, Limited, are believed to be considerably" lower thanthose now prevailing in the United States, the average on all routes in that country being estimated at 10£ cents a mile,the lowest (operating between Detroit and Chicago) being 7| cents a mile. The Canadian rates are also claimed to beless than those charged by Imperial Airways, Limited, on the London-Paris route, working out at about 13 cents a mile.Canadian Airways, Limited, it will be recalled, is a new Company formed by the recent amalgamation of WesternCanada Airways, Limited, and the Aviation Corporation of Canada, an interest in the Company being owned both by theCanadian National Railways and the Canadian Pacific Rail- way Company. The new passenger rates are confined tothe regular mail 'planes, as it is impossible to operate two or more machines at such low rates without the air mail business.It is anticipated, however, that the demand for air transporta- tion will necessitate the addition to all routes of larger machinesable to absorb the normal overhead charges. The new air- ways fare from Montreal to Toronto is $17-50. For the dis-tance of 334 miles between these points the railway companies charge |14-60 including the lower berth sleeping car rate.From Montreal to Windsor, Ont., the aeroplane fare is $29-10 as against $24 • 25 for transportation and berth by train, thedistance being 561 miles. From Montral to Saint John, N.B., 482 miles, the air rate is $25 • 85 as compared with the railwayfare of $21-55. Return fares for the journey by air are in each case about 180 per cent, of the single fare. In this con-nection it is interesting to compare the rates levied in Western Canada by Western Canada Airways, Limited, a Companyforming part of the new amalgamation. A single fare of $44 is charged for the journey from Winnipeg to Calgary, a dis-tance by rail of 832 miles. The fare between Winnipeg and Edmonton (848 miles) is $46-00.Luxor Goggles and Insurance E. B. MEYROWITZ, of Old Bond Street, W.I, announcethat they have made a special arrangement with Lloyd's whereby all purchasers of Luxor Goggles during 1931 will begiven free insurance up to /1,000, which will be paid in case of injury to an eye caused by the splintering of the lens of anyof their Luxor Goggles fitted with Triplex or Acetex safety glass lenses. To those who have purchased Luxor Gogglesprior to 1931 they will arrange for a similar Policy (good for one year) upon payment of Is. The amount of insurance canbe increased from /1,000 to ^5,000 by paying for each thousand pounds on Policy. This is certainly a very interest-ing and enterprising scheme—but from what we know of Luxor Goggles, we do not think Lloyd's will go " broke "on this account ! Aeroplanes Survey Niagara AEROPLANES of the Niagara State Reservation Com-mission flew over the Falls on January 19 in order to make a survey of the effects of large slides of rock which recentlyoccurred at the crest of the Falls on the American side. 82
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