FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1936
1936 - 1317.PDF
540 FLIGHT. MAY 2T, 1936. MRS. MOLLISON'S FINE "DOUBLE" Her Gipsy Six Gull, Returning from the Cape, Beats Existing Time by 1 Day, 14 Hours, 40 Minutes : 14,200 Miles in 11 Days EVEN those who question the utility of long-distance " record " flying have had to admit that Mrs. Amy Mollison has put up, in the current vernacular, a jolly good show. Allowing the possession of a reliable engine and aircraft; allowing that the route was not a pioneer one; allowing that there were no long sea crossings and that on many parts of the route a flying search party might be able to spot a dis abled machine and effect a rescue; making due allowance for all these things, one still has to "acknowledge that to fly 6,700 miles solo in 78 hours, rest for three days, and then return by a different route of 7,500 miles in 112 hours indicates almost superhuman qualities of navigational skill and physical endur ance. And this is leaving out of account the added fact that the pilot in question is a member of the so-called weaker sex. Mrs. Mollison, who built up an enviable reputation as a long distance pilot after her solo England-Australia flight in 1930, at first alone and then partnered by her husband, has done little flying of this kind during the last year or two, a fact which makes this " come-back " all the more triumphal. Bearing these things in mind, it is perhaps natural that the SUN. OOOOOOOOOOOO MON. HHBB!n Mrs. Mollison's out-and-home progress day by day. The thin line shows Fit. Lt. Rose's return route via Malta. Amy-ability : A happy picture of Mrs. Mollison at Croydon with her husband on her return. personal triumph should rather tend to overshadow the mechanical one, but the makers of the Percival Gull, its Gipsy Six, and the miscellaneous equipment, have been among the first to give full credit to the pilot. Some details of Mrs. Mollison's outward flight from Graves- end to Cape Town were given in last week's issue. She fol lowed the shorter and more formidable West Coast route, beating Fit. Lt. Rose's East Coast time by n hr. 9 min. She returned over the latter route, but made a diversion via Athens instead of taking Rose's Mediterranean crossing via Malta. In spite of an unexpected twelve-hour stop at Graz, Austria, caused by unfavourable weather, she, reduced his time by no less than 1 day 14 hr. 40 min. According to Plan Her day-to-day progress is clearly shown in the accompany ing map. It only remains to be said that the homeward flight was carried out almost exactly according to plan, her machine's speed and the excellence of her airmanship enabling her to fly regular daily stages with reasonably long stops for sleep. Extra tankage in the Gull—an 85-gallon tank in the cabin and 20- and 10-gallon tanks in each wing (145 in all) gave a range of 2,400 miles. • Mrs. Mollison was welcomed at Croydon on Friday by Mr. J. G. Gibson, Deputy Director of Civil Aviation; Mr. W. G. Klerck, of the South African High Commissioner's Office; Mr. James Mollison and members of the family, and some thousands of highly enthusiastic members of the general public. She landed after her final stage from Graz looking as fresh as the proverbial daisy. The following message lrom Eord Swinton, Secretary of State for Air, was handed to Mrs. Mollison on her arrival: " Dear Mrs. Mollison,—I telegraphed to congratulate you at the Cape on youi great flight, and I want to be among the first to congratulate you on your return. Your double flight is a splendid achievement.—Your sincerely, (Signed) SWINTON." The equipment of the Gipsy Six Gull included the following: B.T.H.magneto,Clatidel-Hobsoncarburetter, K.L.G. plugs (originalset unchanged), Tecalemit lubrication, Terry springs, Weyburn camshaft, Smith's engine instruments Fairev metal airscrew, Shell fuel, Patent" Castrol XXL oil, Smith's P.4 compa?', KoUsman altimeter, Marconi short-wave wireless equipment, Kotax generat" , starter'and batterv, Demec navigation lights, Vickcrs landing lights and three-", petrol taps, Percival petrol tanks and undercarriage, Bendix brakes, Dunlop ""' tyres and wheels, Palmer tail wheel and tyre, Titanine dope, Rumbold "p rf'tjil and Moseley Float-on-Air Cushions, Splintex windscreen and windows, o fittings by Brown Bros. Ltd., fabric by Bessbrook Spinning Co., Bamberger spruce. and Flexo plywood.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
