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Aviation History
1932
1932 - 1228.PDF
FLIGHT, DECEMBER 1, 1932 VON GRONAU'S WORLD FLIGHT v™ I ON GRONAU'S flight round the world in the Dornier flying boat Gronlandwal, D. 2053 (two B.M.W. VII " engines), was so planned as to be made with the minimum of outside assistance, and everything possible was done to make the machine self-sufficient except in the matter of fuel supplies. The actual machine used was the one on which von Gronau crossed the Atlantic in 1931. In addition to von Gronau the machine carried Gert von Roth as second pilot, Fritz Albrecht as wireless operator and Franz Hack as engineer. At the start from the Island of Sylt at 11 a.m. on July 22, the machine was very heavily loaded with fuel for the non-stop flight to Iceland (1,120 miles). After a flight of more than eight hours' duration von Gronau landed in Seydisfjord, on the east coast of Iceland, at 7.50. The next day a start was made at 11.55, and flying round the northern coast of Iceland the machine landed at Reykjavik at 3.5. On July 25, at 16.30 a.m., a start was made from Reykjavik, and Ivagut, on the south-west coast of Green land, was reached towards 7 p.m. With previous experi ence of the difficulty of flying across Greenland, von Gronau decided again this year to fly round the southern end. Starting from Ivagut at 12.25 (Mean European Time), Cartwright, on the coast of Labrador, was reached at 10.45 p.m. (G.M.T.). A ground mist made it necessary to land by the aid of radio instructions after the machine had circled over Cartwright for nearly three hours. Leaving Cartwright at 6.50 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) on July 26, Montreal was reached at 8.6 p.m. on July 27. An intermediate landing was made on the way to St. Clair Lake, when the engines were given a slight overhaul. In the meantime the crew were the guests of Mr. Henry Ford. Chicago was reached on August 2, and the flight was continued on August 6 to Milwaukee, where the crew were given an enthusiastic reception. During the period August 11 to 23 the overland flight from Milwaukee to Winnipeg and Prince Rupert was made, entailing the crossing of the Rocky Mountains at an alti tude of more than 10,000 ft. The flight from Prince Rupert to Cordova was made on August 23, and on August 26 von Gronau started the 900- mile flight to Dutch Harbour, where the Dornier arrived at 8.30 p.m. Pacific Time. On August 31, the machine reached Kanago Harbour, in the Andeanowski Islands, and on September 2 the flight was continued from Kanago Harbour to Kakuma- betsu Bay in the Paramushiro Islands, the northernmost of the Japanese Kurile Islands. The flying boat crossed the Behring Strait in 7 hr. and landed towards 4 a.m. A start for the next stop at Nemuro on Hokkaido was made on September 3 at 4.55 a.m. Tokio time, and the machine arrived at 10.52. An early start was made next day and Tokio was reached at 11 a.m., where huge crowds had collected to greet the Gronlandwal. Von Gronau's next destination was Nagoya, for which he started on September 16, arriving at 5 p.m. While taking off again the left wing of the flying boat was slightly damaged, but the crew were able to effect repairs, and on September 21 the flight was continued to Kago- shima. At 8.50 a.m. on September 22 von Gronau left Japan, and on the same day at 1.10 p.m. he alighted at Shanghai. 11 The flight from Shanghai to Hong Kong was made on September 25. Manila was reached on September 27 after a flight of 6J hr. At 8 a.m. on September 30 the flying boat started for Zamboanga, on the Philippine Island Mindanao, and the multitude of islands in the Malayan Archipelago were suc cessfully negotiated, and Batavia reached on October 6. On an average the machine covered while flying this stretch some 600 to 700 miles per day. In Batavia von Gronau succeeded for the first time in getting into direct wireless communication with Berlin over a distance of 9,300 miles. A start was made from Batavia on October 8. The in tention had been to make an intermediate landing at Port Swettenham before continuing the flight to Akyab. Although weather conditions were good at the start, the wind soon got up and kicked up a nasty sea. When some 150 miles from the coast of Burma, in the region of the Mergui Archipelago, a water pump developed trouble, and von Gronau was faced with the problem of making a forced alighting, as the heavily loaded machine was not able to keep in the air on one engine. While Hack, the engineer, took the skin off his shins in an effort to get to the defective engine, and while Albrecht sent out an S.O.S. to Manila, von Gronau struggled to keep the machine in the air until the three tallest waves should have passed under him. Then, in a breathing space before the next set of high waves should approach, von Gronau succeeded in getting the machine down safely. The troubles of the Gronlandwal were not yet over, however. The coast of Burma was a long way off and the only hope was to get in touch with a steamer. These, however, have only long-wave wireless, and the Dornier had to erect a mast and stretch an aerial to the wing tips. After several hours' work, in constant danger of being washed over board, an aerial was at last erected. The steamer Caragola heard the S.O.S., changed its course and shortly arrived on the scene. By the exercise of excellent seamanship the Caragola succeeded in taking the Gronlandwal in tow. After towing for about 200 miles, the Caragola brought the flying boat into Rangoon about midnight on October 11. After 70 hours of uninterrupted hard work the crew were at last able to get thoroughly rested. It deserves to be placed on record that the owners of the Caragola refused any remuneration for the help which they had given the flying boat. Spares having been obtained, and the damage re paired, the " Wal " flew to Akyab on October 17, and on October 18 Chilka Lake was reached, where the crew were the guests of the Rajah of Collecot. Colombo was reached on October 20, and by October 26 they arrived at Bombay, where a day of rest became im perative, as Roth was taken ill with fever. On October 27 the flight was continued to Karachi, where again the machine got into direct wireless communi cation with Germany. On October 30 the flight was continued to Baghdad, with stops at Banda Abbas and Basra. Cyprus was reached on November 1, and after another flight of nearly 600 miles Athens was reached on Novem ber 2. On November 4 the machine alighted at Rome, and on November 7 the flight was continued to Genoa, where the Gronlandwal arrived at 1 p.m. Unfavourable weather conditions over the Alps caused von Gronau to postpone his start for Friedrichshafen, where he ultimately arrived safely on November 9. 50
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