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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 0456.PDF
FLIGHT, MAY 10, 1934 Qik FRENCH SERVICE TO MADAGASCAR To connect with the Cairo—Cape Service of Imperial Airways. It should not be long before there are many more similar " feeder " •-...•:.;'•'... :- lines along the Imperial Airways route in Africa, linking up various important areas in this vast continent. , ;_ . BROKE! NEW French air line making postal con- nection with the Cairo-Cape service of Imperial Airways at Broken Hill, Northern Ehodesia, and extending to the island of Madagascar, will be put into operation about the beginning of August. Steamship con- nections with the new air line will be made between Mada- gascar and the island of Mauri- tius and Reunion. The nego- tiations recently announced in FLIGHT have resulted in an understanding between Im- perial Airways and a new com- pany with the name of " les Services Aeriens de Mada- gascar. It is reported that M. Lefevre will be Managing Director. At the beginning the equipment of the line will consist of some triple-engined S.P.C.A. Colonial mono- planes, loaned by the French Air Ministry to the Govern- ment of Madagascar. When the service opens, mail and " express " matter will be carried over the route only once a week. Connec- tions will be made with the Imperial Airways machine which leaves London every Wednesday with the mail which reaches Broken Hill the following Wednesday. On the return trip the machine from Madagascar will deliver the mail to the Imperial Airways machine which leaves Cape- town each Tuesday and reaches Broken Hill on the follow- ing Thursday. It is expected that at the beginning of the operation of the iine, between 115 lb. and 130 lb. of mail will be transported each trip. The operating schedule of the new line will be as follows : —First day : Broken Hill-Tete-Quilimane (about 621 miles). Second day: Quilimane-Mofambique-Ma- junga-Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar (about 994 miles). Between Mozambique, which is the last point on the African mainland, and Majunga (Madagascar) there is a flight of 250 miles over open sea. A great saving of time will be effected. The mail between London and Paris and Madagascar at present takes 25 days ; it is carried in steamships which sail once every 15 days. By the new air line it will carry mail once every week, deliveries being made in ten days. At Mada- gascar mail intended for the island of Mauritius and .IVD KB MO 500 400 500 Reunion will be transferred to sea trips. Thus the delivery of the European mail to these islands will be made in about 15 days instead of 40 days, which is the time taken at present. Madagascar is, of course, one of the most important French Colonies. It has about four million inhabitants, a large number of whom are en- gaged in agriculture and min- ing. Mauritius, a British pos- session with about 400,000 in- habitants, and Reunion, be- longing to France, and has about 200,000 inhabitants. The aircraft to be used on this air line are of a new type, constructed by Societe Provencale de Construction Aero- nautique, and known as the S.P.C.A. type 41.T. They are all-metal high-wing monoplanes fitted with three Salmson 9 N.C. nine-cylinder radial engines of 135 h.p. Wings, tail surfaces and fuselage are covered with metal sheet. The fuel tanks are in the wings. Differentially controlled wheel brakes are fitted to enable the machine to be landed in small spaces. The cabin for the pilot and navigator is just forward of the leading edge of the wings, and has the following dimensions:—Height, 4 ft. 2 in. ; width, 4 ft. 3 in. ; length, 6 ft. 6 in. ; cubic capacity, 141 cu. ft. The machine can fly at 5,500 ft. with one engine cut out. The accompanying table gives the dimen- sions, weight and performance data. R. C. W. S.P.C.A. 41.T Three Salmson 9 N.C. Engines Span .. _ 65 ft. 8 in. (20 m) Length 43 ft. (13,1$ m)Height 13 ft. 8 in. (4,19 m) Wing area 598 sq. ft. (55 m2)Weight empty Weight of equipmentWeight of fuel Useful loadWeight loaded Speed at groundService ceiling Range 4,600 lb. (2 091 kg)748 lb. (340 kg) 584 lb. (265 kg)770 lb. (350 kg) 6,702 lb. (3 046 kg)119 m.p.h. (190 km/hr) 17,200 ft. (5 300 m)62 5 miles (1000 km) FOR THE MADAGASCAR SERVICE : The S.P.C.A. 41 .T monoplane (three 135-h.p. Salmson 9 N.C. engines) to be used on the new French Madagascar-Broken Hill air line. 456
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