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Aviation History
1933
1933 - 1046.PDF
FLIGHT, NOVEMBER 23, 1933 AVRO'S K»- f * EGYPT ID URING the past two or three weeks eighteen officers and men of the Egyptian Army Air Force have been at Lympne getting used to flying Avro 626's. Ten of these machines, fitted with Armstrong- Siddeley " Cheetah V " engines, have been bought by the Egyptian Government for " General Purpose " duties. As the 626 is an aircraft without vice, and the Egyptian officers art extraordinarily keen, it was not many days teefore the squadron could put up a really good display of formation flying. Last Tuesday H.E. Hafez Afin Pasha, the Egyptian Minister in London, paid a visit to Lympne to inspect the machines and the personnel, and to wish the squadron " bon voyage," before its flight to Egypt with the new THE INSPECTION : Th? Egyptian Minister and Kaimakam Tait Bey inspecting the pilots under Bimbashi Webster. (FLIGHT Photo.) equipment. A day before the inspection two of the machines met with mishaps, so that only eight could be put into the air, operating m two flights, one of five and one of three. There was a delightful newness about everything at Lympne on Tuesday. The 626's, fresh from the Avro works, looked really handsome in their fresh coats of Cellon and their green markings, and the eight pilots wore brand-new flying suits of identical pattern and colour. Incidentally, we noticed that the markings on the machines were different from those on the five D.H. " Gipsy Moths " supplied to the Egyptian Army Air Force last year. The Egyptian flag was then painted on each machine, but on the new Avros there are green discs with the stars and crescents superimposed. The two flights took off in formation for their display, which naturally consisted of " straight " flying only. After flying to and fro over the aerodrome in " V " for mation two or three times, the flight of five changed for mation into line astern and did a really spirited dive past. It is a pity that one of the machines did not give the Egyptian Minister a display of aerobatics to show him what an excellent all-round type Egypt is buying. The larger flight made a good landing in formation. H.E. Hafez Afifi Pasha was obviously impressed by what he saw. Among the personnel who are flying the machines to Egypt are two officers specially seconded from the R.A.F., Sqd. Ldr. V. H. Tait and Fit. Lt. S. N. Webster, or, to give them their Egyptian ranks, Kaimakam Tait Bey and Bimbashi S. N. Webster. Five British warrant officers are with them. From the Egyptian Army Air Force comes seven officers, three N.C.O.'s and a wireless operator. The Avros are flying to Cairo, by way of Paris, Marseilles, Rome, Sicily, Tunis, Tripoli, Benghazi and Mersa Matruh. It seems that the 626's have some hard work in front of them. They will be used for flying train ing, anti-smuggling work, photo graphy and the survey of the S.W. Egyptian desert, with a view to establishing landing grounds. The machines for Egypt are fitted with Smith's instruments, Fairey metal airscrews and Dunlop wheels using Bendix brakes. It is with regret that we have to report that two of the machines crashed, in fog, on their way to Paris on Novem ber 18. One machine crashed at Moncmaux and both occupants, Mr. Haggag and Mr. Dors, were burnt to death. The other machine crashed near Wismes-au-Val, and also caught fire, but pilot and passenger escaped un hurt. THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT : The new equipment of the Egyptian Army Air Force. (FLIGHT Photo.) 1170
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