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Aviation History
1933
1933 - 0794.PDF
FLIGHT, OCTOBER 19, 1933 MISS SOUTHERN CROSS The Percival " Gull " (" Gipsy Major ") used by Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith for his record flight to Australia. One hears all sorts of knocks and splutters, but, as a matter of fact, the engine and plane behaved perfectly. It has been a pretty constant fight against sleeplessness and that extraordinary sickness and nervousness I get over water. I suppose doctors would call it aquaphobia. At one stage over the Timor Sea I felt that I would have to break out of the cabin. My last long flight will be the Melbourne Centenary Air Race, which I hope to win through. I have no doubt the present record will be severely flattened.'' Of course. Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith received numerous messages of congratulation. Sir Isaac Isaacs, the Governor-General of Australia, sent the following telegram to Sir Charles: '' His Majesty desires me to convey warm congratulations on your remarkable flight." The Marquess of Londonderry, Secretary of State for Air, sent the follow ing telegram: '' On behalf of the Air Council I send you warmest congratulations on your magnificent flight from England to Australia." A message of congratulation has also been despatched by the Royal Aero Club. On October 12 Sir Charles left Wyndham for Sydney, but had to land at Camooweal, 750 miles from Wyndham. Next day he flew against strong headwinds to Brisbane, his birthplace. Large crowds greeted Sir Charles on his arrival at Mascot Aerodrome, Sydney, on October 14, and about 40 aircraft met him over the harbour. Sir Charles continued next day to Essendon Aerodrome, Melbourne, escorted by seven other aeroplanes. Nearly 100,000 people gave him an enthusiastic welcome. Sir Charles has a number of noteworthy flights to his credit—apart from his activities in connection with Australian National Airways, which maintained a successful unsubsidised air service in Australia for some time—including the following:—1927, round Australia in 10 days (7,000 miles); 1928, across the Pacific from U.S.A. to Australia (7,347 miles); first non-stop flight across Australia, Melbourne-Perth; first flights between Australia and New Zealand; 1929, Australia-England in 12£ days; 1930, Ireland-New York and on to San Francisco, thus completing his circuit of the globe ; England-Australia in 9 days 21 hr. 40 min. ; 1931, Australia-England in 13 days ; Xmas mail flight from Australia to England in 16 days ; 1932, New Year mail from England to Australia in 12£ days ; Australia-New Zealand and back. As a matter of comparison, the accompanying logs of the various England-Australia flights (that is, the " record " ones) may be of interest. The first flight of all, that of Ross and Keith Smith in 1919, although of a rather different character to the solo efforts later, may be taken a^ our " datum line," i.e., four weeks' flying from start to finish. The Ross-Smith flight was accomplished in the following stages : — Depart Hounslow Nov. 12, 1919, and reached Lyons. Nov. 13, Lyons- Pisa. Nov. 15, Pisa-Rome. Nov. 16, Rome-Naples. Nov. 17, Naples- Suda Bay. Nov. 18, Suda Bay-Cairo. Nov. 19, Cairo-Damascus. Nov. 20, Damascus-Ramadie. Nov. 21, Ramadie-Basra, Nov. 23, Basra-Bandar Abbas. Nov. 24, Bandar-Karachi (13 days). Nov. 25, Karachi-Delhi. Nov. 27, Delhi-Allahabad. Nov. 28, Allahabad-Calcutta. Nov. 29, Calcutta- Akyab. Nov. 30, Akyab-Rangoon. Dec. 1, Rangoon-Bangkok. Dec. 2, Bangkok-Singora. Dec. 4, Singora-Singapore. Dec. 6, Singapore Kalid- jatti. Dec. 7, Sourabang. Dec. 8 10, Bima-Atamboca. Dec. 10, arrived Port Darwin. The Technical Aspects of the Flight Having paid due homage to the human factor, it is of interest to refer to the mechanical element. " Smithy was helpedt in his attempt by the fact that he was flying a machine which is considerably faster than that used by Scott. That meant that he could use the extra margin either in taking longer rests or in covering greater dis tances in the day without resorting to night flying. The Percival " Gull " is a low-wing cabin monoplane, in which great care has been taken to reduce air drag. It may be recollected that the first batch of " Gulls " was built by George Parnall, of Bristol, as recorded in FLIGHT on July 29, 1932. The tapering cantilever wing is of wood construction, and use is made of the type of spar con struction invented and patented by Mr. Basil B. Henderson. This consists essentially of a set of criss-cross drag bracing members joining top and bottom booms of the two main spars, and forming with them a kind of box which is very strong in torsion. This construction was first used by Mr. Henderson in his little " Hobo," and later in the Hendy 302. Capt. Percival has fitted several types of engine to the " Gull." The first machine had the " Hermes IV," and (Concluded on page 1062) RECORD SOLO FLIGHTS, ENGLAND-AUSTRALIA, 1928-1933 Day 1 2 3 4 5 <; 7 8 8 10 11 12 13 14 Bert Hinkler, Avro Avian (Cirrus), Feb. 7-22, 1928. 15 days 12 hr. Stage Crovdon-Rome Malta Tobruk Ramleh Basra Jask Karachi Cawnpore Calcutta Rangoon Victoria Pt. Singapore Bandung Bima Port Darwin Kingsford-Smith, Avian Sports (Gipsy II), Oct. 9-19, 1930. 9 days 21 hr. 40 min. Stage Heston-Rome Athens Aleppo Bushire Karachi Allahabad Rangoon Singapore Sourabaya Atamboca Port Darwin C. W. A. Scott, D.H. Moth (Gipsy II), April 1-10, 1931 9 days 4 hr. 11 min. Stage Lympne-Belgrade Aleppo Baghdad Baluchistan Jodhpur Calcutta Victoria Pt. Palembang Bima Port Darwin C. A. Butler. Comper Swift (Pobiov R.), Oct. 31-Nov. 9, 1931 9 days 2 hr. 29 min. Stage Lympne-Naples Athens Baghdad Jask jansi Akyab Victoria Pt. Batavia Koepang Port Darwin C. W. A. Scott, D.H. Moth (Gipsy II), April 19-28, 1932 8 days 20 hr. 47 min. Stage Lympne-Brindisi Aleppo Basra Karachi Calcutta Rangoon Singapore Sourabaya Koepang Port Darwin Kingsford-Smith. Percival Gull (Gipsy Major), Oct. 4-11, 1933. 7 days 4 hr. 44 min Stage Lympne-Brindisi Baghdad. Gwadar. Karachi Akyab. Alor Star. Sourabaya. Wyndham. 1042
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