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Aviation History
1935
1935 - 0394.PDF
IQ5 FLIGHT. FEBRUARY 21, 1935 HERE AND THERE The Loss of the " Macon " ONCE again disaster has overtaken an airship of the U.S. Navy—this time, fortunately, without serious loss of life. When returning on February 12 from manoeuvres with the fleet the U.S. Navy rigid airship Macon got into difficulties a few miles off Point Sur, California. The captain, Lt. Cdr. Herbert V,' >v, sent out a somewhat cryptic SOS saying "We have had "bad casualty and the ship is falling." Another signal, "Wait," followed immediately after, and then, half an hour later, a third message came through saving, "Will abandon ship soon as we hit water." Lt. Cdr. Wiley gave the Macon's position as twenty miles south of Point Sur, ten miles at sea. Cruisers and coastguard craft were immediately rushed to this position, and eventually all but two of the eighty-three officers and men from the airship were rescued. The only loss of life was Chief Wireless Engineer E. A. Dailey, who was reported to have jumped from the airship when 125 ft. up, and F. Edquiba, a Filipino mess-boy. The exact cause of the disaster is still uncertain; it appears that there was no question of a storm, although weather con ditions were far from ideal, but Lt. Cdr. Wiley stated that a gust of wind struck the airship with astonishing force, and one of the helium gasbags aft was exposed and ripped almost instantly. The stern crumpled up and the airship commenced to fall stern-first. Lt. Cdr. Wiley ordered the crew to stand by, for the purpose of abandoning the ship, when they were 1,000 ft. up, and as the stern hit the water all jumped from the control car into the water. They swam to the rubber life boats, which had been prepared by the crew and floated out. The Macon sank slowly stern first, the huge framework crump ling in the swell as it sank. A few days ago unofficial reports appeared to the effect that trouble with the fins had been experienced just prior to the flight, and that further repairs were due to be made on return, but these may merely be rumours, and not in any way founded on fact. Most of the survivors were picked up by the cruiser Rich mond, and the rest by the U.S.S. Cincinnati and U.S.S. Concord The Macon was launched on April 21, 1933, shortly after the loss of the Akron, a sister ship. It was 785 ft. long, 132.9 ft. max. diameter, and 6,500,000 cu. ft. capacity. The gross lift was 410,000 lb., the useful lift 173,000 lb., and the maximum speed 83 m.p.h. Normally it carried a crew of seventy-five, and had a range of about 10,000 miles. Internal Airlines Debated by the W.E.S. The second of the debates arranged by the Women's Engi neering Society was more in the nature of a lecture than a debate, and perhaps, for that reason, was not quite so well attended as the first of the series. This was a pity, because these gatherings have something which ordinary lectures lack. It may be that feminine touch which manages to combine comfort and a certain amount of " artisticness" (not arty- ness!) with subjects like engineering and electricity, or it may be that the audience is different from that which attends the majority of lectures about aeronautical subjects. There is little of that back-scratching which is so prevalent at the lectures of more august bodies, when each and every speaker extols the lecturer and his work until it seems that he is almost too good to live. The subject of this debate was that of Britain's internal airlines, Mr. William Courtenay being the speaker. He gave his listeners a very good idea of how our airlines have grown up and the position to-day. He asked for the establishment of an aerodrome in North London from which the lines for the Mid lands could depart, and suggested that it might be somewhere between Hatfield and Hendon. He also wanted that aero drome connected with the centre of the City by an under ground railway. Lt. Col. F. C. Shelmerdine, the Director-General of Civil Aviation, who was in the chair, thought that an underground railway would be too costly, and that more than one aerodrome would be wanted if congestion were to be avoided. He also felt that a survey of the whole question should be completed at an early date. [Underground railways are basically wrong for serving aero dromes, because their whole economic structure is built up for dealing only with passengers. Anything which cannot expeditiously handle freight and mails would not provide what is needed for an aerodrome. The Aerodromes Advisory Board ART AND THE AIR : This small reproduction gives some idea of the fine composition and dignity of Norman Wilkinson's painting of the Race-winning "Comet," but it cannot convey the beauty of the colouring. Fine art prints, measuring (without margin) i6£ in. x 20 in., are being offered by the De Havilland Aircract Co. at £1 is. ; a few artist's proofs are available at £3 3s. are considering the lines upon which the survey, referred to by Col. Shelmerdine, shall be carried out. It is therefore to be hoped that something may be done about it before the end of tnis year.—ED.] The next debate of the series will be held in Dorland Hall, Lower Regent Street, London, on February 26, when the sub ject will be " The flying boat versus the airship." Mr. Oswald Short and Sir Dennistoun Burnev will be the speakers. C. N. C. MacRobertson—the Last Chapter The news of the " better late than never " arrival at Darwin recently of R. Parer and G. Hemsworth in their Fairey " Fox," titer various mechanical and other troubles, closes the last chapter of the Melbourne Race. Parer and Hemsworth are going on to Melbourne, and, it is said, the " Fox " will then be flown to New Guinea, for use by a mining company. A short time ago Philips and Powis (Aircraft), Ltd., of Read ing, received a most entertaining account of the adventures of Sqn. Ldr. M. C. McGregor and H. C. ("Johnny") Walker, who, with their Miles " Hawk Major," gained fifth place in the handicap, with an average speed of 105 m.p.n. Here are some extracts from their letter:— "At the various aerodromes at which we arrived in day light, we used to do what we later termed the ' Roscoe Turner stunt.' That was to put the nose down some distance away, and, quietly gathering speed, to end up over the aerodrome with the Pitot showing fifty the second time round. One of the officials at Allahabad said: 'Good heavens! What the h— is this you've got ? We thought the Comet was fast, but—!' "It was dark, again at Rangoon, and we found wireless mast? in the air everywhere at 2,000 feet, but no aerodrome After dodging these lights, and tearing around the skv for well over half an hour, both firmly of the opinion that we had done too much flying, we came in low down very cauti ously from another direction. Some bright lad fired a very pistol, and we landed to find that we had struck one night in the year when the natives have a ' carnival of lights.' ' ie wireless masts were lanterns tied to balloons, and not Ruguv on a bigger scale ! " The trip to Alor Star was quite peaceful above the clouds, with us both trying to forget that machines with spats we« warned not to land there. After re-fuelling, we managed wi the help of numerous people to taxi to the end of the be(- They pointed out the best runway. It wasn't, and we end up in a mudhole at forty miles an hour. A number of the pulled us out, bent the spats straight, and this time, a taking the full 800 yards, we scrambled over a mudban at the other end."
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