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Aviation History
1948
1948 - 0275.PDF
FEBRUARY 2OTH, 1946 FLIGHT 235 By Lincoln to Argentina An Account of a Familiarization Flight ^* 7 By Capt. DAVID BRICE, A.R.Ae.S. 7 IT had b'^wi a job that we'd discussed in the summer,made some rough plans and then rather forgotten.Then suddenly it had come up again, and in a matter of a few days the necessary people had been up North for a course on the Lincoln, the travellers' cheques had been prised out of the Bank of England, and almost before we could say "Buenos Dias," runway 28 was slipping below us at London Airport and vanishing into an icy November mist, as we climbed up on course for Casablanca and all points south. On board were two junior captains of Skyways, Messrs. Hagues and Iveson, who were to be responsible for further delivery nights of Lincoln bombers to the Argentine, and my job was to give them essential route familiarization and sort out any incidental snags which might arise over hand- ling, refuelling, etc. We also carried • a navigator, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Eeake, a radio officer. ^?t was my first experience of the Lincoln, and knowing that its all-up weight was as high as 73,000 lb, and had even been cleared for special work above 80,000 lb, I expected a pretty "heavy" aircraft. I was mistaken, however, -because the controls were lighter than those of the Lancaster, and as we climbed up through the murk above Woking, I found it an easy aircraft to handle, and the flying instruments stayed where they should be without undue effort. Our take-off weight was about 69,000 lb, and at this we climbed quickly with a power setting of 2,850 r.p.m. and +9 lb/sq in boost. The power plant of the latest Lincoln is the Merlin 621, more or less the same as that installed in the Tudors, and for this reason it was of some interest to fly behind, or rather Rio de Janeiro with the famous Sugar • " Loaf mountain in the background. in front of, four of them. It seemed to me that a remark- able range of power settings was available; they extended from 2,850 r.p.m. and +9 lb/sq in boost down to 1,800 r.p.m. and +g lb/sq in boost. The latter engine speed caused me a few twinges, because I instinctively felt that the B.M.E.P. must be " way up." However, the makers recommend it, and I always feeHhat they should know best. Setting Course We continued our climb to 10,000 ft and then settled down on course for Cape Finisterre, which is on the N.W. corner of Spain. This involved a slight detour, but the direct route over the mountains promised to be too turbu- lent for comfort. Having little practical experience of airframe or engines,
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