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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 2407.PDF
NOVEMBER io/ra, 1942 FLIGHT 549 plant and lateral stability-aid arrangements, have been used. It would appear from established practice that the high- wing monoplane flying boat most nearly fills the require- -i ments demanded by the conditions of operation of the . * Aerial Mercantile Marine. This statement is confirmed by reviewing the equipment being used at the moment and projected designs for future use. For instance, British Overseas Airways have used, for long-range operation over water, flying boats of the Short Empire cla,ss, the modified C class (see details in table), and the larger G class. D.L.H. have for many years used flying boats of Dornier design. The Wals (whales), 18s. and 26s were familiar sights over the South Atlantic, working in conjunction with the depot ships Westfalen, Schwabenland and Ostmark, but in general only mail was carried. Flying Boat Chosen Pan American Airways chose the flying boat to carry its flag far and wide over the oceans. Thus the Glenn Martin 130 China Clipper, with its revolutionary features, set new standards of design for oceanic transport aircraft alongside the Sikorsky S.42 which, in conjunction with Cambria and Caledonia (Short Empire, boats) carried out the successful . survey flights across tb€ North Atlantic. Air France used A Latexoere, Liore-et-Olivier and Breguet flying boats as the mainstay of their over-water services. And long ago, in 1933, I^ly nad developed the Savoia S55 X flying boats with the view in mind of using them for a future aerial armada—or mercantile marine. Twenty-four of them, carrying a hundred airmen, under command of General Balbo, flew in formation across the North Atlantic in June of that year—and 23 of them came back. # How do matters stand now ? We have the Empire boats, the C-class (modified) boats, and the G-class boats of .^ B.O.A.C. in regular operation over the Atlantic and \n parts of the Commonwealth, notably Australia, supple mented by three Boeing 3i4As, the Bristol (flagship of B.O.A.C.), the Berwick (in which returned the Prime Min ister from the U.S.A. in January last), and.the Bangor. Pan American Airways still have in service some of the Martin and Sikorsky Clippers, bat their main fleet is com posed of Boeing 314 and 314AS bearing the names of Pacific Clipper,, Yankee Clipper, Dixie Clipper, etc. The slight differe'hces between Boeing Models 314 and 314A are clear from reference to the table, but this does not reveal a change made by the designers—namely the repositioning ot the main step in the planing bottom to a location farther aft in order to cure porpoising tendencies. The '' Lieutenant'' The Latecoere 521 (Lieutenant de Vaisseau Paris) oper ated by French interests (Air France) had a very exciting, if short, career. On one occasion this boat was lifted from its moorings and turned over in a gale. There were subse quent Latecoeres of similar design, such as the 522. The 523 was also alike in general appearance and performance, s . but was assigned eventually to naval duties. Three of the ** ** type were constructed and named Altair, Algol and Alde- baran. Recently test flown in France, after a chequered stop-start constructional career, the Potez 161 was origin ally designed for transatlantic passenger duties, but it would appear now to be intended for operation of a freight service across the Mediterranean. It will be remembered that at the Paris Aero show of 1938 a small six-engined model of this flying boat was exhibited, bearing the type number Potez 160. It was a two-seat scale model powered by 40 h.p. Train engines. From the second week in June this year a new star in the firmament of long-distance ocean transport appears. American Export Airlines, a company'formed towards the close of 1937 as a subsidiary of American Export,lines (the i steamship company which for some years operated shipping routes to the Mediterranean), have placed in service on the Atlantic run the new Sikorsky S.44A Excalibur flying boat. Permission to operate the service was obtained after much negotiation delay with the American C.A.B. (Civil Aero nautics Board), but now that the long-projected service is Two of the 24 Savoia-Marchetti S 55 X flying boats which, in 1933, crossed the Atlantic under General Balbo. The four-engined Sikorsky S.42 was used on Atlantic and Pacific survey flights. The sponsons of the Martin China Clipper may be compared with the wing floats of the S.42 above. The Blohm und Voss Ha 139 had four Junkers diese! engines. This one was named the Nordwind. The Short flying boat Cambria was equipped for refuelling in the air.
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