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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 0003.PDF
FLIGHT, 4 January 1951 There is also a club in the town, run by the twenty or so Europeans who live there. The R.A.F. detachment is revictualled once a month by Dakota, and at suitable periods of the year Mosquito 34s from" the Far East P.R. squadrons use Labuan as a centre tor air survey work. Refuelling facilities are maintained by the Shell organization for both military and civil aircraft passing through. In the jungle surrounding the airfield crashed Japanese aircraft are still being found. The natives retrieve these wrecks for their scrap-metal value. It is surprising how well Top left: In the background can be seen the old atap (native-built) customs shed which is now being replaced. Left : The RAF. Transit Camp. Above : A glimpse into one of the comfortable bedrooms in the new buildings. The beds are enclosed in mosquito netting. the aluminium structure of these aircraft has stood up to the destructive effects of time and tropical weather. Judging by the condition of a " Lily " bomber, recently found within 200 yards of the airfield perimeter, it might have been shot down only the day previously—yet it must have been there for over five years. [This brie article on a little known but well organized overseasairport is by John Yoxall, Art Editor of "Flight." He visited North Borneo last month during a flight to Singapore in Trans-port Command aircraft, and he is now to contribute a special series of articles on the work of the Far East Air Force: thefirst of these will appear next week r] C. of A. FOR APOLLO A WELCOME New Year's gift for Armstrong WhitworthAircraft, Ltd., was the announcement made last Monday, January 1st, that the Apollo has been granted a limited-categoryC. of A. This will, of course, permit it to carry non-fare-pay- ing passengers. The prototype Apollo, which is designed as a general-purposetransport with normal accommodation for 24-31 passengers on short- and medium-range duties, first flew on April 10th, 1949,at a take-off weight of 29,000 lb. Present normal all-up weight is 45,000 lb. A modified fin and rudder have been fitted sincethe prototype's first appearance. JETS FOR SCOTTISH AUXILIARIES '"THE first Scottish Auxiliary Squadron to be re-equipped with -*- jet aircraft is No. 602 (City of Glasgow), whose Vampire 5s were due to be delivered last week-end. The squadron has been operating at Renfrew for the past 18 months while the runways at their home base, Abbotsinch, were being lengthened for the new aircraft. S/L. H. M. Steven, D.S.O., is No. 602's commanding officer EMPIRE AIR MAIL HISTORY " Imperial Airways (and Subsidiary Companies)—-a History and Priced Check List of the Empire Air Mails." Compiled by N. C. Baldwin. Francis J. Field, Ltd., Sutton Coldfield. Price Is 6d.T HIS informative and well-illustrated little publication, on 80pages of art paper, should be of interest not only to philatelists but to those many enthusiasts who collect historicaldata on aircraft and airlines. It covers the early history of its subject in considerable detail, for very many of the pioneer routesof Imperial Airways and their subsidiaries were opened with combined mail and passenger services, while some were inaugur-ated for mail-carrying only as a preliminary to passenger operations. The period reviewed is from 1927, when Imperials took overthe Cairo-Baghdad service operated by the R.A.F., up to the absorption of the airline into B.O.A.C. in 1940. A remarkable feature of the history is the number of occasionson which mail was recovered from aircraft which had met with misfortune. In such cases, if the covers had been damaged, anexplanatory cachet was usually added; such additions add to the value of the cover from the collector's viewpoint.
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