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Aviation History
1937
1937 - 1381.PDF
MAY 27, 1937. FLIGHT. 519 Accidents will always occur in every sphere of transport. On our ocean liner we as passengers were safeguarded ; we had lifebelts and lifeboats provided for us by law. It seemed only logical that a time would come when there would be an Air Ministry regulation that would enforce the provision of a lifebuoy of the air for every human being that flew above this earth. But it was not for me to lay down the law, and at this stage nothing could have been done about it, anyway, for actually I was on my way to South America to demonstrate a British para chute, the G.Q., to that market. We arrived in Rio early in June—the commencement of winter in Brazil; winter in a magnificent setting beneath brilliant sunshine. If England had a few days of weather Mr. Ben Turner departs from a Curtiss Robin at Buenos Aires. such as this during her summer it would probably consti tute a record ; newspaper headlines would be six inches deep. I was met there by Mr. Hime, of Walter and Co., the G.Q. agents, and by the South American representative, Capt. Deane, both of whom proved exceptionally kind and helpful. Incidentally, Mr. Hime was responsible for Miss Jean Batten's guidance during her stay in Brazil after her flight across the Atlantic. Within twenty-four hours I had been introduced to the Brazilian Naval Air Service chief, Capt. Bandera, and arrangements made for demon strations to be carried out on their Island aerodrome. When the appointed time came we had an hour's trip out to this aerodrome and were shown round the training school and hangars. Most of the training aircraft are Tiger Moths, which the pilots handle extremely well. This island, unlike the surrounding country, is as flat as your hand, but not particularly large in area. I was amazed at the efficient way in which numbers of these trainers would fly in tight formation and make excellent landings when it was necessary for them to touch down not many yards from the water-front boundary. A Model Parachute Room The parachute room was a model for any aerodrome in England. The parachutes were well serviced and packed away in apple-pie order. The whole place was spotlessly clean and so designed that direct sunlight, which is so detrimental to the silk of a parachute, could not pour on to the canopies as they hung away from the walls for drying. The packing tables, with their beautifully smooth tops, had their legs standing in cans of oil to trap insects, and away from all contact with any of the equipment was a tiled bath for washing with clean water any 'chutes which might have become soiled during use. Lieut. Serpa, who had previously taken me up for a flight round the aerodrome and Rio, was to be my pilot and friend for the demonstrations. With the aid of a sort of deaf and dumb language which we invented we were soon chatting upon topics in general. In order to land near a desired spot for a demonstration drop it is essential to work in conjunction with a really good pilot. This officer was one hundred per cent. With our thumbs- up and thumbs-down business and a bit of mind-reading he kept a good course, and I was able to leave the Not a case of cause and effect, but just a successful landing to get a close-up view of somebody else's unsuccessful one. incident happened at Campo dos Afonsos, near Rio. The
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