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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 1165.PDF
NOVEMBER 8, 1934. FLIGHT. 1167 THE ENGLAND-AUSTRALIA RACE THE FEELING ABROAD A synopsis of the views expressed about the Melbourne Race by people met by the writer on the aerodromes between Croydon and Baghdad By C. N. COLSONT HERE is no doubt that the withdrawal of so manyAmerican entries served to decrease the interest shown abroad in the Melbourne race. In France I did not find a superabundance of ex- citement, although the papers, and particularly those which deal with aviation news—and here I should like to inter- polate that the French daily papers as a whole show a far greater interest in aeronautical matters than do English papers, and most of them include a half-column of aircraft movements and general news every day—dealt with events preceding the race fairly fully. The general feeling seemed to be that, as the French entries were unable to be prepared in time, the result was of no particular interest to French people. If there was any expression of opinion, then it was to the effect that the apparently well-organised Dutch entry, with a machine which had been fully tried out in its country of origin, was most likely to win, particularly in view of the fact that the Dutch pilots had had considerable experi- ence over the route. In Italy there was an evident and general feeling that the British attempt to win the premier prize was a sporting attempt in the face of very long odds. They looked upon the Dutch-flown Douglas almost as a foregone conclusion for the winner. Various pilots to whom I spoke thought that the Douglas was the very last word in efficiency from every point of view, and that the " Comet " was merely a racing machine with little or no future. My assertions that it would make a very useful mailplane for our own Empire routes, and that both structurally and aerodynamic- ally it was an achievement far in advance of anything the world has so far seen, met with considerable scepticism. The fact that the Douglas was carrying three fare-paying passengers and one bag of mail seemed in their minds to otetweigh everything else and to stamp that entry as the one solid one which should be considered as a commercial proposition. In general, the Italian mind did not seem receptive to the idea of efficiency being coupled with a low horse-power; they evidently thought that, even for regular mail services, a superabundance of power was a sine qua -non. As far as Baghdad was concerned, the educated Iraqi was certainly pro-British, and hoped that the British entries would prove their worth, but even there I found a lack of enthusiasm over the " Comets' " chances. They rather adopted the attitude—a genuine attitude which was not merely one tempered by the dictates of politeness—that they would like to see the British entries win, but that they rather thought that the Dutch entry was likely to prove too formidable Peculiarly enough, there was little or no mention of the Boeing, although this machine and its crew impressed me most favourably on its arrival at Baghdad, It was evident that everything had not gone as smoothly as could have been wished, and that unnecessary delay had occurred ; but, putting aside individualities, there was an air of effi- ciency about the combination of aircraft and crew which made that particular entry look a very possible winner, if the "Comets" had untoward trouble. Apart from the actual questions of which machine was likely to win, there was evidence that the race was hailed with satisfaction by the authorities both at Baghdad and at Cairo—although mostly at the former—as being a means of drawing attention to the strategic position of these airports. As pointed out in Flight about this time last year, Cairo is undoubtedly the passenger traffic centre of our Empire air routes. The race has, so Iraq hopes, shown that Bagh- dad is also a point of considerable importance in our Em- pire's air links. Whether or not it will prove to be more important from a mail point of view than Cairo is, I think, open to considerable doubt, but it is, nevertheless, a matter of considerable gratification to us that the Iraq Govern- ment, through the services of Mr. Gumbley and, latterly. Mr. Bailey, have laid out and established such a well- equipped and excellent aerodrome which will, when the Post Office awakes to its responsibilities, prove of inestim- able benefit to our Empire. -•«,_ / •!£«"»•_ »-«•*•« I, T TTP-X A 700 B The Tunkers Ju 160, developed from the Ju.60, has been built for " express traffic "™ "Sorn™ "radial (Pratt and Whitney licence) gives it a maximum speed of 211 m.p.h mnntrtiniif Ditch airscrew the machine cruises at 186 m.p.h. and carries a disposable load ofT?eNACA^ cowling contain a forced draught arrangement which directs hot air from the engine N.A.C.A. cowlin8downward to avoid fouling the cockpit and cabin.
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