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Aviation History
1946
1946 - 0418.PDF
2l8 FLIGHT FEBRUARY 28TH, 1946 Air Survey of West Africa Expedition to Qold Coast, Nigeria, Qambia, Sierra Leone By MAJOR F. A. de V. ROBERTSON, V.D. IN the issue of February 14th last, we published anaccount of the photographic survey now being carriedout by the R.A.F. of the United Kingdom. The photo- graphic side of the Service is also about to embark on another, survey of very great interest but of a totally different character. It is an old cliche that the sun never sets on the British Empire. It follows almost inevitably from that fact that nobody knows all that there is to know about that Empire, and that there are parts of it of which the knowledge is all too scanty. The West African colonies come under that heading. Parts of Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and Gambia have been surveyed on the ground ; but really comprehen- sive surveys of those colonies are non-existent. Nobody is to blame for that. Much of the country is forest and could only be properly surveyed from the air. It is only within very recent times that an air survey has become possible. But now the Colonial Office has arranged with the Air Ministry for such a survey to be undertaken. Even yet things are not so simple as one could wish. The R.A.F. possesses plenty of pilots who have much experience in photographing for the purpose of making mosaics of enemy defence lines. But a still higher degree of accuracy is needed for a photographic survey of practically unknown country, where there are no ground "fixes," Fixes can be established by radar, when the aircraft is apparently lost in the blue; but the pilots who work it need to be experienced and carefully trained men. A number of pilots are now going through a course, in order to discover which are skilled enough to undertake this work. In addition ta the difficulty about pilots, there is also a problem about aircraft. One would imagine that the R.A.F. had enough and to spare, especially when one reads of unwanted machines being dumped in the sea. But what the survey party would prefer is twin-engined machines like Dakotas, and of them there is no surplus. They are all busy. So the survey party has to accept Lancasters. The type is not ideal for survey work. A four-engined machine is unnecessarily extravagant, and unnecessarily large. Six machines of this type have been handed over to the survey. Four of them are going out with the first party, while two are being held in reserve in this country to be fitted with the radar equipment. There are, of course, tracts where ground controls can be arranged. The Gold Coast is the colony which is to be tackled first. The base of the expedition is to be at Takoradi. During the war it was developed as a station for receiving aircraft from the American continent and despatching them across to East Africa and the Middle East to play their part in the great campaigns of Wavell and Montgomery. 145,000 Square Miles The R.A.F. survey organisation reckons to be able to photograph 80,000 square miles per annum for the next ten years; but it hopes to be able to improve on that. The Colonial Office has drawn up a provisional list of 145,000 square miles which it wants surveyed. That means nearly two years' work at the present estimate. It includes all the four colonies. Only selected areas are to be sur- veyed, and the Colonial Office has made out a list of priorities. Areas to be surveyed include those suitable for hydro-electric schemes, gold mining, water supplies, fores- try, geology, and the making of new maps and the revision of old ones. Nigeria has some sociological problems, as it is over-populated in some parts. Soil erosion in the Gold Coast needs to be studied, and in the same colony there is a campaign against trypanosomiasis—which is a parasite . that causes sleeping sickness in human beings and tsetse disease in ruminant animals. R.A.F. photographers are going out to Takoradi, and a ground party will be accompanied by Col. Humphries of the Colonial Office, who will investigate ground survey requirements. The heavy equipment has already been despatched by ship, and it is hoped that the party will leave in the middle of March. r FORTHCOMING EVENTS March 1st.—*Akroyd-Stuart Lecture, Nottingham. March 4th.—*James Clayton Lecture, Newcastle. March 12th.—R.Ae.S., Belfast branch ; " Model Tank Testing of Flying-boat Hulls and Floats," by L. Smith. March 28th.—R.A.F. Club annual meeting at 128, Piccadilly, London, W.I, at 6 p.m. April 4th.—*Metropolitan Region luncheon meeting, 'nsti- tute of Motor Industry (London). April 25th.—* R.Ae.S., Manchester Branch. * Lectures by Air Comdre. F. Whittle. \" Flight " ^holographs. Two hitherto unpublished views of the Fairey Prince (P24) engine. It is made up of two independent I itcyhrldet unliteach driving its own airscrew. The Prince originally flew in a modified Fairey Battle. Bore S.2Sin. Stroke 6in. Capacity 3,117 cu. in. Dry weight 2,180 1b. Power (normal) 1,550 h.p. at 2,600 r.p.m. (Maximum) 1,750 h.p. at 3,000 r.p.m. (Take-off) 1,800 h.p. at 3,100 r.p.m.
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