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Aviation History
1933
1933 - 1219.PDF
FLIGHT, DECEMBER 14, 1983 DUTCH SPEED MAIL ATTEMPT MISCARRIES : The new Dutch high-speed Pander mailplane, " Postjager," about to leave Schiphol Aerodrome at 4 a.m., December 8, in an attempt to reach the Dutch East Indies in 34 days. Unfortunately, oil trouble has held up the machine in Italy, as reported below. be capable of attaining level speed of about 200 miles an hour and, a normal cruising speed of 175 miles an hour. This, as a mail carrier, would have a capacity of 1,000 lb., and would have to be provided with fuel suffi cient for a non-stop journey of 1,250 miles—that is, about 200 miles longer than the Bombay-Calcutta air distance. THE PANDER " POSTJAGER " PAUSES THE Pander " Postjager," the high-speed mail aero plane which set out from Schiphol Aerodrome, Amsterdam, early on December 8, on its attempt to reach the Dutch East Indies in 3J days, was forced, by a motor defect which developed shortly before it reached the island of Corfu, to return to Southern Italy and come down at the military aerodrome of Grottaglia. The defect was as un expected as it was disastrous to the success of the venture, for on the first stage of the flight from Amsterdam to Home, and again after leaving Rome for Athens, the machine behaved extremely well and kept easily to its schedule. According to a telephone message from the two pilots, Asjes and Geyssendorffer, the three motors were run ning perfectly, when without warning the oil pressure of the right-hand motor fell. They immediately switched off this motor, and tried without success to bring its screw to a standstill by slowing up the aeroplane. They then flew the aeroplane back on two motors to Brindisi, but could not land there, and finally brought the machine down safely at Grottaglia. During this return flight of just over an hour the two motors ran perfectly. From their exami nation of the right-hand motor after landing, they found that the cause of the trouble was a defect in the oil pump, but thev were unable to account for it, On uncovering the three upper cylinders, they found that neither cylinders nor pistons had suffered, but that the piston rods and crankshaft were seriously damaged, and would in any case have to be renewed. The pilots added that their confidence m the motors had not been shaken and that if they could get a new one they would be willing to continue the flight. The great difficulty is that the new motor—a Wright " Whirlwind "—would have to be brought over from America. The Dutch postal authorities have agreed to leave the mail on board the " Postjager " pending a decision as to the possibility of continuing the flight. If this proves impossible, the mail will be picked up by a iv.L.M. aeroplane (the new Fokker F.XX would come in useful here) and taken on to Batavia. It is hardly neces sary to add that the mishap has aroused keen disappoint ment in Holland, where the " Postjager " has been the object of national admiration during the last few weeks. The disappointment is naturally greatest among the many people who entrusted their Christmas greetings to friends and relatives in the East to the " Postjager," for the new engine—a cable has been sent to New York for one to be despatched at once—will not arrive in Italy before December 20. SOUTH ATLANTIC AIR ROUTE IF the present experiments wliich are being carried out with the Westfalen are successful, the inauguration of a Germany-Brazil air mail route should take place in January, 1934. As the postal agreement between Brazil and the Aeiopostale Co. (since taken over by Air-France) expires shortly, the new contract will presumedly be com peted for by the Deutsche Lufthansa and Air-France. AIRWAY BEACON FOR PIETERSBURG AN air navigation beacon has been erected 3| miles S.E. of Pietersburg Aerodrome, South Africa. It is 60 ft. high and has a light of 940,000 candle power, which flashes at intervals of 10 sec. visible over a visibility of 70 miles. WIBAULT-PENHOET HIGH-SPEED MACHINE THE Wibault-Penhoet Co. is reported to have received an order for a high-speed mail machine of the " 365 T " type. This machine will be fitted with a 690-h.p. Hispano engine. The contract specifications recmire a speed of over 248 m.p.h., a useful load of 1,102 lb. and a minimum cruising range of 622 miles. MOSCOW VLADIVOSTOK AIR MAIL INAUGURATED THE first air mail from Moscow to Vladivostok to inaugurate the new airline left Moscow a few days ago, the machine being flown by Pilot Riabshenko. His plane was to take the post only as far as Sverdlovsk, thence another machine would carry it to Novosibirsk, a third to Krasnoyarsk, a fourth to Irkutsk, a fifth to Mogoch, a sixth to Khabarovsk and a seventh plane would take the mail to Vladivostok. The whole of the distance was to be covered in 50 flying hours. ACTIVITY IN GREECE DURING September, the Greek Air Traffic Company (S.H.C.A.) carried 585 passengers, 33,890 lb. of freight and 2,295 lb. of mail on the Athens-Salonika route. On the Athens-Jannina service, 410 passengers, 10,388 lb. of freight and 818 lb. of mail were carried. These figures, in comparison with those for the same month last year, show an increase of 110 per cent, for freight, and 70 per cent, for mail. In view of the fact that the company has been formed but a short while, these figures must be considered excellent. 1255 C2
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