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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 0866.PDF
FLIGHT, 4 May 1950 CIVIL AVIATION NEWS"-; that Stratocruisers must use alternative airports and in somecases operations with aircraft of this type will be seriously affected. P.A.A. is diverting its aircraft to Goose Bay inLabrador, which is considerably off the course for New York am! will entail a reduction of nine passengers per payload. * * * Barrier Reef Airways (in which Ansett Transport Industries has a controlling interest), have purchased two Short Sandring- hams from T.A.A. They will replace the Catalinas at present in use, thus doubling passenger capacity on the company's services. .. > * *.'•'- To meet the heavy increase in traffic expected in 1951 plansare now being made for the extension of the existing passenger buildings at London Airport. Although full details are notyet available, it is known that the intention is to provide an additional channel in both the arrival and departure buildings, , so that a greater number of services can be handled at thesame time. Some re-allocation of accommodation used by the operating companies will also be made, starting next montli. » * * Lockheed have announced a new version of the Constella- tion; it will be designated the L-1049 and a gross weight of 116,000 1b is envisaged. The aircraft will be powered by Wright R-3350-C-18CA1 engines. The fitting of jet-type exhaust systems is expected to add up to 13 miles per hour to the cruising speed. * * * A £5,000 scheme to provide iacihties for animals landed atLondon Airport is being planned by the R.S.P.C.A. The Air Ministry is understood to be willing to provide the necessaryspace, approximately two acres, on which suitable premises can be erected. At the moment animals are often left in air-craft all night because they are in quarantine. The question of animals being carried at various altitudes is also occupyingthe attention of the Society. One little known fact is that an average of 300.monkeys arrive weekly by air. BY SAILPLANE to the CONTINENT Crossing the Channel in an Elderly Gull of Modest Performance By F/L. L. A MILLER THE location of the Reserve Command Gliding Instructors'School at Detling, some 30 miles west of the Straits ofDover, makes long-distance flights to the Continent a fre- quent possibility in unstable westerly to north-westerly winds. Tentative arrangements were therefore made some weeks ago for aero-tow retrieving facilities from the Continent to be available should a successful Channel crossing be made. On Wednesday, April 12th, the personnel of R.A.F. Station Detling were on delayed 'Easter*' leave, and at 10 a.m. on that day I saw that conditions seemed favourable for a high, long-distance flight towards the east. Arriving at Detling at 11 a.m., I prepared for a winch launch in an old Gull I—a sailplane of pre-war vintage by Slingby's, and of similar design to the one flown across the Channel in 1939 by Mr. Stephenson. As most of R.A.F. Detling was on leave, it was not until 12.15 t^iat I was able to get away, being winched off to 1,000 feet by the Kent A.T.C. Wing Adjutant, F/L. Emberley. After releasing, I circled to cloud-base at 4,000 feet and then iound that the wind was carrying me too far northwards of my desired track to Folkestone. From a position three miles north of Canterbury, therefore, I started to work my way south. This proved a difficult operation in the Gull I, which has limited powers of penetration (it was designed in 1937, I believe), and at one time I thought I would be forced to land However, soon after 1.15 p.m., 1 found a narrow but strong thermal which took me to cloud-base at 5,000 feet, by which time 1 was seven or eight miles south-west of Folkestone. I eventually reached the coast at North Folkestone at 2 p.m. and flew two or three miles out over the Straits of Dover. 1 was experiencing very slight icing just beneath the cloud, and recalled that the meteorological forecast had given severe icing in cloud above a freezing level of 3,000 feet. However, conditions were such that I could utilize the cloud lift to gain height, and this I decided to do. Entering cloud, 1 climbed in smooth lift of about 6 ft/sec to 9,000ft, at which height the turbulence became quite severe. As the machine was then heavily iced, with clear ice an inch or more thick on the leading edges and struts, I straightened up on a course of 120 deg magnetic The cockpit cover was, of course, also coated with' ice, and the air-speed indicator had stopped working. Instruments remaining in use were the electric turn-and-slip indicator, altimeter, inclinometer, variometer and compass. Under these conditions I descended to 7,000ft, and saw that I had left a line of cumulus clouds which extended up the Straits of Dover. I checked the surface wind from the white- caps and found that in order to reach the French coast— which I could see beneath a clear blue sky some eight miles to the south—it was necessary to make good a track almost at right-angles to the wind. My position at that time was approximately north-west of Calais, from where the coast recedes eastwards. The coast looked very far distant in view of the ice which the machine was carrying, the strong cross-wind, and the probable performance of the Gull I under such conditions. Still without A.S.I., 1 flew to get a rate of sink of two metres "down" on the variometer (about 4 ft/sec). Keeping Calais in view, I finally crossed the coast west of Calais at an indi- cated height of 900ft above sea level. After flying over the wide stretch of sands 1 found a thermal and climbed to cloud- base at 3,800ft, whence I made off down a wind which was blowing straight up the coast towards Belgium. The actual Channel crossing had taken slightly over one hour. The late start which I had made from Detling now pre- vented further flight for, at 900ft with nothing but "dead" sky ahead 1 was forced to look for a landing place. I saw an airfield below (Coxyde) and landed at 3.50 p.m. at a dispersal point near to the runway in use. 1 found that Coxyde was a Belgian Air Force base, com- manded b^ Colonel Arends, and I became the guest of No. 1 Fighter Squadron (Commandant Roger de Weser) during my enforced stay there. I was later retrieved by an Auster from England. In the past I have been employed for some years as a long- range heavy transport pilot on trans-ocean flights. The weathei experience which I gained during that time in the Bay of Bengal during the monsoons, coupled with two years' transatlantic flying, has helped considerably in my gliding activities. To others who will undoubtedly wish to attempt long-distance flights to Europe, 1 would stress that instrument- flying experience is essential. Given a sound knowledge of meteorology, good instrument flying and good planning, even low-performance sailplanes are possible record-breakers in the higher wind speeds and unstable conditions of winter weather. FROM OVERSEAS TO I.O.W. ,? STUDENTS from Egypt, India and the West Indies, inaddition to many English club-members, are now under- going flying instruction at Cowes Aero Club, and are benefiting by the recent M.C.A. approval which reduces the hours required for a licence. Special rates are announced for members under- taking a minimum of 25 hours' flying; £1 par hour dual and £1 10s solo is now being charged. Aircraft are available for daily hire at £7 7s and £5 5s. The air display which is to be held on August 6th is now being planned, and the programme will include a number of original items, full details of which will be published in due course. A "SPIRITED" RALLY f SPONSORED by the Bureau National du Cognac and. theAero Club de France, " Les ">Ailes Cognacaises" (the Cognac Flying Club) is organizing its first international air rally for July 14th, 15th and 16th, at the Cognac-Chateau- bernard airport. The number of competitors will be limited to the first 75 entries, and entry fees are from 5.000 to 12,000 francs per aircraft, according to power. Crews will be the guests of the Bureau National du Cognac. Twenty-one prizes in cash, total- ling more than 500,000 francs, and 78 prizes in kind, are being awarded. According to the organizers, this means that no crew will depart with an empty cockpit and that old bottles of the famous cognac will console those who do not receive a cash prize. Further details are' obtainable from the club secretary at Cognac (Charente), or through the R.Ae.C.
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