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Aviation History
1932
1932 - 0853.PDF
FLIGHT, AUGUST 26, 1932 The Equipment The " Puss Moth " used by Mr. Mollison was a perfectly standard machine in every way as regards its primary structure, which had not been altered or strengthened, in spite of the great load it would have to carry. The alterations made were to the petrol-tank arrangement, the situ ation of the pilot, and the re moval of wheel and air brakes to save weight. In addition to the two petrol tanks in the wings, each of 20 gallons capacity, a large tank of 75 gallons was installed in the forward part of the cabin, and another tank, of 47 gallons, be hind the cabin. The total tank age was 162 gallons, which was estimated to be sufficient for about 33 hours' flying. The tare weight of the machine was 1,316 lb., and when the machine took off from Ireland it weighed 2,754 lb. This repre sented stn overload of approxi mately 700 lb. Yet, in spite of this, the take-off from the beach at Portmarnock took only 28 sec. A message from Mr. Mollison re ceived by the de Havilland Air craft Company indicates that neither machine nor engine objected to the overload, but behaved in a most exemplary manner. Mr. R. A. Loader, manager of de Havillands in Canada, sent two engineers to St. John, New Brunswick, to examine machine and engine, and their report was as follows: " Mollison's 'Puss Moth' and 'Gipsy' in per fect condition. Appearance as if flown 50 miles. No re placements required. Oil change at St. John this morn ing showed a consumption, for the 30 hours, of only 3J gallons. Machine now ready for return flight." The pilot's seat was shifted from its usual position, just behind the windscreen, to approximately the place nor mally occupied by the passenger's seat. The space left here by the two large petrol tanks was not large, but sufficed, as Mollison could not very well get up and walk about in any case. The view forward was not, of course, THls OFFICE " : Seated between petrol tanks, Mollison had in front of him a very complete set of instruments. (FLIGHT Photo.) quite as good as in the standard machine, but as the air over the Atlantic is not yet very crowded with aircraft, that did not matter very much. In front of him Mr. Mollison had an instrument board with the usual set of Smith's instruments. On each side, slightly lower down, was a Husun P-4 aperiodic compass. In addition to his two compasses Mr. Mollison was aided and abetted in his course-keeping by a Reid-Sigrist turn indicator, and the fact that he struck the coast of New foundland and arrived over Halifax according to schedule seems to indicate that the navigation was very good in deed, especially in view of the fact that Mollison was flying solo, and had his engine instruments to watch as well, not to mention the actual handling of the aircraft, although probably by now the latter has become so abso lutely instinctive to him that he could "do it in his sleep." The de Havilland " Puss Moth " is already well known and needs no description, beyond recalling that the fuselage is of metal construction, Reynolds steel tubing entering largely into it. The monoplane wing is mainly of wood construction, and the whole is fabric covered. Mollison's machine was doped with Titanine " Satin Finish " dope, and it may be this which caused the Canadian engineers to report that the machine looked as if it had only flown 50 miles. Normally the " Puss Moth " is fitted with wheel brakes, but in this instance they were re moved from the Dunlop wheels to save a little weight. The " Gipsy HI " engine has now proved its worth on many arduous flights, and once more it was found equal to the occasion and ran without a hitch, its Hoff mann ball bearings reducing fric tion losses to a minimum, its B.T.H. magnetos firing its K.L.G. plugs with the customary preci sion and regularity. (Concluded at bottom of next page.) WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN PETROL : This photograph shows where the 162 gallons of fuel were carried. (FLIGHT Photo.) 797
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