FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1935
1935 - 0412.PDF
208 FLIGHT. FEBRUARY 21, KJ35- 'IVATE LORD SEMP1LL, F.R.Ac.S., DESCRIBES AERODROME AND WEATHER CONDITIONS ENCOUNTERED IN MALAYA DURING HIS AUSTRALIA FLIGHT THE night after I arrived at Penang it rained con tinuously, and the aerodrome on the following day was in such a bad condition that I could not get off. As it was Armistice Day, and still raining, I decided to stay and attend the ceremony there, and devote the day to writing up my diary. The next morning was little better, but I determined to leave if possible, and the effort nearly proved disastrous. As the aerodrome was so wet and muddy, the only thing to do was to try and take off from the roadway leading to it. This would have been quite practicable, but unfortu nately my brakes jammed and prevented my gaining suffi cient speed to clear a low wall. Luckily I managed to jump the ditch on to the aerodrome, but this little adven ture completed the damage done to the tail wheel fork at Victoria Point. Fortunately I still had my spare fork intact, and I congratulated myself on the fact that I had not changed it on the previous occasion. This misadven ture caused me to lose another day, as I had to overhaul the brakes as well as refit the tail unit. The binding of the brakes was, no doubt, due to the fact that mud and water had got into the drums during the previous wet landing. With the help of the ground engineer, Mr. T. Foy, who had been loaned by the Singapore Flying Club, and a Chinese G.E. who was training, I managed to get the machine in shape for another try the next day. The mention of the loan of Mr. Foy serves to draw attention to the fine spirit of co-operation which exists between the flying clubs of Malaya. For myself, I have every reason to be grateful for all the help I received at Penang. At Singapore AFTER the two days' delay I succeeded in taking the air • next morning (in spite of the fact that it was the thirteenth of the month) and within a few hours was at Singapore. I landed at the Service Aerodrome, and was welcomed by my old friend, Group Captain (now Air Comdre.) Sydney Smith, who is in command of the R.A.F. units there. He and his family were extremely kind to me during my stay, and I was very glad to have the oppor tunity of seeing at close quarters the splendid efficiency of our Far Eastern Air Forces. The layout of the R.A.F. bays is well conceived, and the units are housed in remark ably good quarters. Air Comdre. Smith is to be congratu lated on the excellent organisation maintained, and on the very fine spirit shown by the personnel, who are provided with every facility in the way of recreation, and are well looked after in every respect. I also met another very good Service friend—Wing Cdr. Burling—whom I had last seen when he was at the R.A.F. Station at the Scilly Isles. He has organised a very fine sailing club, which numbers some fifty boats sailed by officers, N.C.O.s and men. The R.A.F. units at Singapore are a credit to all concerned, and the A.O.C. is inde fatigable, not only in his fine work for military flying, but in his encouragement of civil aviation. While I was there the Douglas machine which had done so well in the McRobertson Trophy Race arrived on its way back from Australia. The A.O.C. opened the aero- Down the Mala] Peninsula drome to the Dutch subjects who came in many motor coaches to pay homage to their compatriots Parmentier and Moll, who had so ably upheld the flying prestige o! their country. They gave flowers to the crew and pre. sented a silver tankard to each of the pilots. It was a great day for Dutch Nationals, who, incidentally, held the trade supremacy in Malaya for two centuries before British influence predominated in that region. I had the privilege of meeting the Governor and the Colonial Secretary, and paid a visit to the site of the new civil aerodrome which, when finished, will be one of the most convenient and finest in the East. The layout has been extremely well designed, and will provide a run of a thousand yards in each direction. There is also an ex tensive and sheltered anchorage for seaplanes, so that, when fully equipped, Singapore will have some of the best combined land and seaplane facilities to be found any where. I found much enthusiasm for aviation in all quarters, and it is probable that before long a Director of Civil Aviation will be appointed to look after flying in the Malay States. The Naval Base ' I 'HERE may not be entire unanimity of opinion as to • the necessity for the large expenditure involved in the present plans for the extension of the Singapore Naval Base, but there can be no doubt that there is even- justification for any outlay which may be necessary to improve the ground organisation on this section of our Imperial Air Route. With regard to flying within the Peninsula itself, my experience may have given the impression that conditions are generally most unfavourable. It must be remembered. however, that during November, the month I passed through, the rainfall is usually the heaviest of the year. It is true that Malaya averages about one hundred inches during the year, which is about three times the average in the British Isles, but the number of days per annum on which rain falls is little, if any, greater than in this country. The constant drizzle So common in Britain is seldom ex perienced in Malaya. The rainfall is usually intense, but rarely of long duration and often very local. The morning and early afternoon, even in the wet season, are generali. characterised by bright sunshine. In Spite of Rain THE amount of flying done by the clubs is an indicat^ that climatic conditions are not so bad as rnig be supposed. During October, when over ten inc . rain fell, the Quala Lumpur Club totalled nearly » hundred hours' flying for the month, which compares v favourably with clubs in this country. )0t The monsoon, as known in India and Burma, d0^ penetrate to the west and south of the Malay Pe?r~£ and it is free from the typhoons and cyclones whic P vail in certain times of the year in the Bay of *.*', $ the China Sea. A trying feature of the chn»^ Europeans is its monotony, as there are no denfl ,y and warm seasons. On the other hand, the c*cCtfopi£5 high temperatures prevalent in many parts of the ^ is not experienced, as the shade temperature d j usually exceed go deg. Fahr. by day and is genera y below 80 deg. Fahr. at night.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
