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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 2030.PDF
42 FLIGHT. JULY 14, 1938. LONG-RANGE FORMATION Flight " photograph. THE longest non-stop flight ever made by a formation of aircraft was accomplished last Friday by four Vickers Wellesleys (Bristol Pegasus engine) of the Long-Range Development Flight. Though the existence of the Flight and the nature of its equipment and objects had been known for some months, details of its first major trip had been kept secret (except for applications to fly over foreign territory) and the first news was in the form of an Air Ministry announcement signalling its success. The four Wellesleys left Cranwell, Lincolnshire, at 4.15 last Thursday morning and took the Great Circle route to Ismailia, thence to Shaibah, Irak, and back to Ismailia, after travelling a com paratively short distance in a south easterly direction from Shaibah. Their route took them over Belgium, Western Germany, North-Eastern Italy, Yugo slavia. Albania, Greece and the Mediter ranean. The total time spent in the air was about 32 hours and the average ground speed was 135 m.p.h. Weather seems to have been good, as forecast, and the machines flew at an average height of 10, oooft. The Wellesleys will remain in Ismailia for a few weeks before returning to Eng land. Later in the year they will possibly attempt a non-stop flight from Egypt to Australia. The flight was commanded by Sqn. Ldr. R. Kellett and each machine had a crew of three, each member being a qualified pilot and taking turns at the controls. Organisation was under the direction of Wing Cdr. O. R. Gayford, who is in command of the Long-Range Flight and who, in company with Fit. Lt. Nicholetts, flew from Cranwell to Walvis Bay, South Africa (5,309 miles), in 57 hours. This latter figure stood as the world's record for distance in a straight line until August 7, 1933. Four Wellesleys of the Long-range Development Flight Fly 4,300 Miles An aerial close-up of the Wellesley used by the Bristol Company for research. This is almost identical with the long-range machines. The Wellesleys used for the flight are essentially similar to the general-purpose machines now in use in the R.A.F. The engines are specially tuned Pegasus XXIIs with Rotol hydraulic-type constant-speed airscrews. The noses of the machines have been modified to suit the latest Bristol long- chord cowling with controllable gills. Wellesleys in service are fitted as standard with short- chord cowling. The cooling characteristics of the installa tion were planned to cover the extremes of working conditions to be expected on long-distance flights overseas, i.e., high air temperatures and low air density on the one hand and low power operation in a cold atmosphere on the other. The Wellesley is, of course, built on the Vickers-Wallis geodetic principle, which gives an extraordinary good ratio of gross to tare weight. As a crew of three was carried in each machine, fuel tanks probably occupied most of the wings. The normal all-up weight of the Service-type Wellesley is 10,900 lb. Crews of the four machines were as follows, pilot, navigator and radio operator being given in that order in each case:— L.2638.—Sqn. Ldr. R. Kellett, Fit. Lt. R. T. Gething, P/O. M. L. Gaine. L.2639.—Fit. Lt. H. A. V. Hogan, F/O. R. G. Musson, Fit. Sgt. T. D. Dixon. L.2680.—Fit. Lt. A. N. Combe, Fit. Lt. B. K. Burnett, Sgt. H. B. Gray. L.2681.—Fit. Lt. P. H. Dunn, Fit. Lt. A. T. D. Sanders, Sgt. B. N. Phillips. A sketch-map showing the route taken by the four Wellesleys. (Right) Ministering to the Pegasus in the experimental Wellesley at Filton. The clean design of the Rotol airscrew is apparent.
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