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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 1183.PDF
FLIGHT, NOVEMBER 6, 1931 " Leaving Karachi immediately after breakfast on aThursday morning in a three-engined Imperial Airways biplane, the City of Baghdad, we covered the distance toLingah, on the Persian coast, in the first 24 hr. (by Friday morning). This period included luncheon at the aerodromeat Gwadur and dinner at Jask, where we bathed in the sea and dined and slept at Imperial Airways Rest House, thelate officers' mess of the British detachment at Jask during the war. Electric fans assured a very comfortable night'srest. " The completion of the second 24 hr. (Saturday) foundus passing over the great arch at Ctesiphon, close to Baghdad. We had slept at the Rest House, Bushire, andpassed Abadan and Basra, at which last we breakfasted at the Shaiba aerodrome." The third 24 hr. (Sunday) included luncheon at Baghdad ; tea at Rutbah Wells—a strong fortress in themiddle of the Syrian Desert, 250 miles from anywhere ; a glimpse of the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem ;dinner and a comfortable night at Gaza Rest House ; an early morning flight to Aboukir, thence to Alexandria, andon by the four-engined flying-boat Satyrus across the Mediterranean towards Crete." In the fourth 24 hr. we reached Corfu (by Monday morn- ing), where we breakfasted, having lunched the previousday at Mirabella Bay (Crete), and dined and slept at Athens. At the end of the fifth 24 hr. (Tuesday morning)we were half-way between Basel and Paris. We had flown in that extremely comfortable flying-boat the Satyrus overthe mouth of the Adriatic, crossed the mountains of Southern Italy, lunched at Naples, dined at Genoa (whencewe travelled in a Pullman sleeper under the Alps), break- fasted at Zurich, flown to Basel, and there embarked onour ' home ' biplane for Croydon. The remainder of the flight to London (on the Tuesday) occupied six hr,, whichincluded 45 min. for luncheon at Le Bourget, Paris. So the whole journey occupied well under 5J days ! " With the exception of a couple of hours when crossingthe hills of Judea into Palestine, we experienced less motion in the air than travellers endure in an ordinary rail-way train ; while in the flying-boat the hum of the engines was less disturbing than the noise of a train. For the " Wings of To-morrow "THE film under the above title, shown privately by the Cierva Autogiro Co., Ltd., at Bush House on November 3,was taken in the United States, and showed the American version of the Autogiro. Before the film was shownCol. Josselyn, one of the directors of the British Cierva Company, spoke a few words of introduction, and he wasfollowed by Mr. de la Cierva, the inventor of the Auto- giro, who said that the American film showed what waspossible six months ago with the American machine, which was a good deal more powerful than the British typeshitherto produced. He hoped, however, that those present would have the opportunity in a very few days to seethe latest British type, which represented a marked step forward even compared with the American version. Thework of development had been divided somewhat, the American Company concentrating on the starter mechanismof the rotor, while the British company had devoted special attention to improving the rotor itself. The newBritish machine would have a starting mechanism superior to that developed in America. (| The film, partly taken at normal speed and partly inslow-motion," certainly did give convincing proof of the way in which an Autogiro with a mechanical starterfor the rotor can take off in a remarkably short distance. The higher power of the American machine gave an angleof climb that was very impressive indeed, while the land- ings were made without any run at all. Particularlyeffective were those portions of the film which showed the machine making " dead stick " landings, i.e., landingw'th the engine stopped entirely and the airscrew stationary. After seeing the film it was impossible notto believe that there is a great future before the " wind- mill " type of aircraft. R.A.F. Mediterranean Command THE Air Ministry announces the following appoint-ment:—Air Commodore Charles Edward Henry Rathbone, D-S.O., now Senior Air Staff Officer, Inland Area, to be Air06 cer Commanding, Royal Air Force, Mediterranean, with efi<-ct from February 1, 1932, vice Air Commodore James^>uis Forbes, O.B.E. Air Commodore C. E. H. Rathbone joined the Royal rest, everything, including motor cars and motor launchesto meet the planes, worked like clockwork, and not a minute was lost anywhere. The resource and courtesy ofImperial Airways' officials, who were always on the spot, are beyond praise. "At a time when the affairs of India demand greaterknowledge, study, and statesmanship than ever before, it cannot be too widely known that, thanks to Britishenterprise, skill and perseverance, India has been brought to within less than six days' distance of Great Britain,and that the journey by air, both for Europeans and Indians, can now be made under conditions of comfort and safety. M. DE P. WEBB." Air Wireless Expert to Survey African Air Route FLT. LT. R. DURRANT, A.F.C., the civil aviation wire-less specialist at the Air Ministry, is journeying from England by air for Cape Town. He will travel by ImperialAirways' aircraft and will break his journey at various points en route. He is proceeding in an advisory capacityto discuss the wireless problems involved with the Govern- ment officials in Egypt, Sudan, Tanganyika, Rhodesia andSouth Africa, and to assist in placing the wireless organi- sation of the new all red route from England to the Capeon a similar basis as the European civil aviation network. He will work in co-operation with Imperial Airways and theMarconi Field and Air Section. From Cairo to Cape Town the following wireless stations will be in action for keepingin continuous touch with the machines during the five thousand mile flight: Heliopolis, Wadi Haifa, Khartoum,Juba, Malakal, Port Bell, Nairobi, Moshi, Dodoma, Mbeya, Mpika, Broken Hill, Salisbury, Bulawayo, Johannesburg,Victoria West and Cape Town. Fit. Lt. R. Durrant was the wireless officer on boaid theairship R.34 when she accomplished the first flight west- wards across the Atlantic and the first double crossing inJuly, 1919. The next double crossing of the Atlantic did not take place until about ten years later when the GrafZeppelin flew to the United States from Germany and returned to her base at Friedrichshafen in 1928. Fit. Lt.Durrant also carried out the pioneer work in short radio telegraph communication between Iraq and the AirMinistry. <$> <s> Flying Corps (Naval Wing) in April, 1913, from the RoyalMarine Light Infantry. During the great war he served in France with the Royal Naval Air Service and the RoyalAir Force, and was awarded the D.S.O. in recognition of his gallantry and devotion to duty whilst taking part in a long-distance air raid in which his engine was put out of action and he was taken prisoner. He subsequently escaped andwas awarded a bar to his D.S.O. He was appointed to a permanent commission in the Royal Air Force in 1919,and later commanded Royal Air Force units at home and in Iraq. He became Chief Staff Officer, Inland Area, inOctober, 1930, and was promoted Air Commodore in January, 1931. The Royal Aero Club House Dinner. To commemorate the opening of the new Club House,a House Dinner will be held in the Club on Wednesday, November 11, at 7.30 for 7.45 p.m. The Right Hon. SirPhilip A. G. D. Sassoon, Bart., P.C., G.B.E., C.M.G., M.P., the chairman of the Club, will preside. The priceof the dinner, exclusive of wines, etc., is 7s. 6d. Members wishing to attend are requested to forward remittance forthis amount with their application. In the event of appli- cations for seats exceeding the accommodation available,seats will be reserved strictly in the order of application. There will be no accommodation for guests on this occa-sion. Lounge suits. Dinner will be served in the Ladies' Room for those members not attending the House Dinner.Lady guests will not be admitted to the Club after 3 p.m. on this day. A Correction I 9J LAST week/i a mistake unfortunately occurred in ourdescription of the Fairey (Napier) Long-Range Monoplane. We put it down as having Dunlop tyres. This is not thecase, for not only the tyres, but also the wheels and brakes are of Palmer manufacture. Bert Hinkler's Non-Stop Flight WE now learn that the remarkable non-stop flight of1,850 miles from New York to Kingston, Jamaica, accom- plished by Bert Hinkler on October 27—as reported lastweek—was made in a D.H. " Puss Moth " lubricated with Wakefield Castrol oil. 1107
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