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Aviation History
1935
1935 - 0098.PDF
52 FLIGHT. JANUARY IO, 1935. LORD SEMPILL, A.F.C., F.R.Ae.S., CON TINUING THE STORY OF HIS WORLD FLIGHT, DESCRIBES AN AFTER-DARK SEARCH FOR CALCUTTA LJAVING thoroughly enjoyed my short stay at Jodhpur, * • I left early the next morning with the intention of flying to Calcutta by the nearest route via Allahabad. This is the route taken by the K.L.M. and French Air Lines, Imperial Airways machines proceeding, of course, via Delhi. One would like to spend a good deal of lime in India, and I must certainly include Delhi on the home ward journey. Even if one confines one's itinerary to Northern India there are many interesting and historic places already provided with landing grounds. For ex ample, along the route from Delhi to Calcutta lie Benares, reputed to be the oldest city in India ; Allahabad ; historic Lucknow and Cawnpore, of mutiny fame; and Agra. One of the most romantic cities of India, Agra is chiefly known as the site of one of the wonders of the world—the Taj Mahal. Of all the cities of the plains of Hindustan, this is probably the most interesting. The Taj itself, built in marble, was erected by the Mogul Emperor, Shah Jahan, as a mausoleum for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It is said that it took twenty years to build, and that 20,000 men were engaged on the work. The Qanges Plain H OWEVEK, much as I should have liked to visit these wonderful centres of interest, they had to be left for another time, and I continued my way to Allahabad, some 600 miles on the direct route from Jodhpur to the old Indian capital, Calcutta. The country between Karachi and Jodhpur, when one passes over the Sind desert, is featureless and uninteresting, but as one approaches Allaha bad across the plain of the Ganges the country becomes more cultivated. Between the two centres are two landing grounds, Nasirabad and Jhansi, the latter lying a little to the south of the direct course, but I made Allahabad non stop in just over six hours. Having arrived at Allahabad, I refuelled the "Puss Moth " quickly, as I was anxious to push on to Calcutta, which, in any case, I knew I could not reach before dark. Allahabad lies at the junction of the River Ganges and the Jumna, its name meaning ','The abode of Allah." Its importance in Hindu history is considerable, as the con fluence of these two great rivers, which has a religious significance, has been from the very earliest times a sacred spot. Periodic festivals are held, and are attended by many hundred thousands of pilgrims. I was glad to reach Allahabad by daylight, as the aero drome has, as yet, no adequate facilities for night flying. There is, however, a radio service and weather forecasts can be obtained from the meteorological station at Cal cutta. Meteorological information for aviation is provided by the Government of India, the service being under the control of the Director-General of Observatories, whose headquarters are at Poona. The trans-India route is divided into two sections, fore casts and current weather reports being supplied by the meteorologist at Karachi for the section Karachi-Jodhpur- Delhi-Jhansi-Allahabad, and for the section Allahabad- Calcutta-Akyab-Rangoon as far as Victoria Point, by the meteorological office at Calcutta. The weather forecasts Over India by Night are based on charts prepared twice daily at these two sta tions. The condition of the upper winds is determined at a number of places en route by the medium of pilot bal loons. The Indian Meteorological Service is doing good work, and it will do much to aid the development of avia tion in that country wheie such facilities are very neces sary, particularly during the monsoon seasons. To continue the journey of 500 miles to Calcutta, the course runs via two centres with landing grounds, Gaya and Asansol, but I wanted to reach my objective without a further stop. Although the weather report was not too good, I hoped all would be well, and made good progress over the range of thickly wooded hills between Allahabad and Gaya. After Gaya, the route lies over paddy fields and many rivers. I passed a single conical mountain rising to 4,500ft., and seemed to be well on my course. Darkness and Cloud DUSK fell when I was still 120 miles from Calcutta, and I trusted the weather would hold good. When about fifty miles from my destination, however, I came to clouds and went in between two layers. I had seen no beacon and, although I could at first distinguish the lights of several small towns, I could see no sign of the illumination of a large city. I went on as I felt I had set a good course, although I found myself unable to check up my position from the strip maps I carried, which were hardly adequate for navigating by night. Conditions becoming worse, I began to be somewhat anxious, and thought of trying to land, but wondered whether I should go into a river or the sea. The idea of crocodiles or sharks in such circumstances was not en couraging. One's thoughts in such a case range over all pos sibilities, and I even considered whether I could find an old dry river bed where I could come down. Feeling certain that I could not be far off Calcutta, I cruised round at various heights for what seemed an interminable time to try and fix my position and find the lights of the city. To add to my discomfort my lamp gave out and I could not read the petrol gauge. A Cautious Approach THEN, suddenly, I saw a flash flare in the clouds, and realised with much relief that I was over the beacon. I knew the clouds were very rfear the ground, however, and as I did not want to risk a crash, I hesitated to come down through them. Putting my engine on and off to warn them I was about, I made off some twenty miles to the north where I had descried a clearing, and having located the beacon, I came through and flew in that direction under the clouds. Soon all was well, and I saw the beacon and made a good landing after having flown about in the dark for nearly three hours. The Indian official in charge was almost in tears and was nearly as relieved as I was. They had done all the3' pos sibly could to help me with the facilities available. They had fired off numerous Very lights, but these were, of course, quite ineffective, and I did not see one. To cope with such an emergency it is very desirable that rockets should be available, and it would be a great help if the beacon could be adjusted to shine vertically through the clouds. It was an experience I should not care to repeat, but it taught me how necessary it is to try and discern all one can at various heights when there is cloud and to stick to it as long as there is any petrol left.
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