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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 0534.PDF
246 FLIGHT IN HONOUR OF THE FLYING-BOAT Its Advocates Entertained by James V. Martin Among well-known flying- boat protagonists and exponents present were (top left) Sir Arthur Gouge, Major R. H. Mayo and Mr. £. C. Gordon England ; (below, left) Mr. G. A. V. Tyson, Mr. J. Lankester Parker and Capt. A. S. Wilcockson. AMOST unusual but nevertheless enjoyable dinner took place at Londonderry House on Wednesday of last week, when the host was the pioneer American aviator and designer, Mr. James V. Martin. Unfortunately he could not be present, owing to ill-health, but at his wish the dinner took place in his absence. Mr. Martin was an early member of the Royal Aero Club and received Flying Certificate No. 55 on February 7th, 1911. The guests at the dinner were described as advocates of the flying-boat, a type of aircraft in which their host has taken a special interest during recent years: readers will recall an article in Flight of January 2nd, 1953,in which were outlined Mr. Martin's opinions on the Catamaran type or twin-hulled flying-boat. In the early days (as the previous Editor of Flight, Mr. C. M. Poulsen, recalls for us) James Martin was associated with Claude Grahame-White Aviation at Hendon airfield. In 1919 he was responsible for a stubby little machine called the Martin K III Scout, which was flown with a 45 h.p. A.B.C. Gnat engine. His works by that time were at Elyria, Ohio. This machine was remarkable for several innovations, particularly its semi-rectract- able undercarriage. It was a biplane with a span of only 18ft, yet the designer estimated its performance in a high-altitude fighter role and, with a 60 h.p. engine, as 97 m.p.h. at 25,000ft. With this duty in mind provision was made for oxygen and electrically- heated clothing for the pilot. Mr. Martin also produced a twin- engined bomber at this period. There were 27 guests at the dinner, and Lord Gorell took the chair. Everyone present was, in fact, an advocate of the flying-boat, and the majority of guests were well-known designers, test pilots and operators of these craft. It was signi ficant, perhaps, that one absent guest was Mr. Barry Aikman, the managing director of the only British company operating flying- boats. He was unable to attend because every seat was sold on the Aquila service which was to have brought him to London. Lord Brabazon was also absent—being engaged, it was learned, on activities on the Cresta run. Speeches and Tributes After LORD GORELL had proposed the toast of Her Majesty the Queen and the President of the United States, AIR CHIEF MARSHAL SIR ARTHUR LONGMORE proposed "The Flying-boat Designers." He spoke of his experiences from the time when, in 1911, he had been at Eastchurch, and recalled such events as his visit to Monte Carlo to examine a single-float Curtiss "boat" and his association at Calshot in 1914—shared by Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Bowhill—with the Sopwith Bat Boat, which he described as most successful. He paid a special tribute to Cdr. Porte, who, after being invalided out of the Royal Navy with T.B., returned to the R.N.A.S. to perform his out standing work on flying-boats. Of the twin (Anzani) engined Curtiss boat, Sir Arthur said that the take-off was "like a submarine at first," but that it finally managed to rise out of the water. He recalled the later Curtiss H boat (two Rolls- Royce Eagles) in which many successful patrols had been made from Felixstowe. The more powerful F.3s and F.5s which followed were good for both Zepp-hunting and sub-stalking. He spoke of his memories of F.3s, built by Maltese boatmen in Malta during 1918, and of the Maltese ladies who sewed the wings fabric. These aircraft were well built and gave good service in the Adriatic. Sir Arthur paid a special tribute to R. J. Mitchell and his work on the Schneider machines, and to Rex Pierson's Viking amphibian, with which he had been associated in Africa during 1927 and 1928. He added that it was Alan Cobham's flights that had first demonstrated the real versatility of the flying-boat. Another of his own experiences had been with J. D. Rennie's Blackburn Iris (three Condors), which even in the heat of the Persian Gulf left the water readily, though it took a run lasting 55 seconds. His first experience of cross-country flying in boats had been in 1933, in a Rangoon with three Jupiters as its power. A memorable flight to him was one in an Italian-operated Dornier between Malta and Rome; the boat took off from the calm waters in a circle. On his arrival he had been met by General Balbo, whose name would always be associated with a remarkable Atlantic flying-boat formation flight. After referring to various other military flying-boats, the air marshal said that it was in 1939 that he met the real flying-boat, the Empire boat in which he flew home from Australia. During the last war and since, Sunderlands had done wonderful work. He made a particular point of the fact that whenever an emergency arose there was always work for the Sunderlands. More recently Sir Arthur had had experience of the Catalina, in which he flew to Iceland (having a noisy and uncomfortable journey), of the PBMs and Mars, and the Sandringhams as flown on the trans-Tasman services. Finally, the time had come when he took a memorable trip with Geoffrey Tyson in the Princess. In conclusion, Sir Arthur said that he was convinced that the flying-boat would come back into its own, perhaps particularly in the atomic age. When there was trouble with other countries the sea routes became more important than ever. The response for the flying-boat designers came from SIR ARTHUR GOUGE, who also recalled earlier days, but added that the evening was by no means a funeral service for the flying-boat. Ajnong his recollections were those of the good work done by Mr. Baker and the N.P.L. tanks in producing the first good hull-shape; hitherto this matter had been one of the defects of the flying-boats. Sir Arthur said that the Southamptons designed by Mitchell were "streets ahead" of their competitors at that time. Saying that one could do the safe thing too often and so make no progress, the speaker paid tribute to the flights made by Sir Alan Cobham, and added that flying-boats would be in use on long-range services today if the landplane people had not been given ready-made airfields. But the flying-boats must have the right engines. With them the Princess could do oversea jobs with a payload-to-a.u.w. ratio at least equal to that of any landplane. Flying-boats did not need much in the way of facilities, as Mr. Barry Aikrnan of Aquila had proved. Referring to the twin-hull flying-boat advocated by Mr. Martin, Sir Arthur thought that this sacrificed something in drag and that the retractable wing-tip float arrangement was preferable. His studies had shown that twin-hull boats came out heavy, yet he admitted that in their day Balbo's Savoia-Marchetti S.55s had "shaken him." Sir Arthur was another speaker to refer to the bright future which he saw for flying-boats and to associate them with the use of atomic power, which he thought was not so far away. It seemed that protective materials for the crew and passengers would involve a big weight penalty. He foresaw the first application of atomic power as the provision of heat which would in turn make propellers go round, but this would not be for long, and there were much greater possibilities. Now we were flying just on the skin of the earth. He felt that the use of atomic energy in the form of a jet would come in the future, and he liked to think of it as a controlled explosion. This would open the way to flights outside the atmosphere with nil resistance. Vehicles of this sort would probably fly to Australia in three to four years' time; and they might need some simple form of power to help them off the water. Such machines would be mainly flying-boats, and the Powers today should be investigating this possibility. The tapping of atomic energy already foreshadowed the end of the jet power of today, said Sir Arthur. The toast of "Flying-boat Pilots" was proposed by SIR ROY FEDDEN. He spoke of the pilots of several of the aircraft mentioned by the earlier speakers, of Mr. Gordon England's association with the Porte boats of American origin, of the fine record of the Walrus, of the anti-submarine work of flying-boat pilots in the last war, and of the death of A.Cdre. Brackley, which had been a serious loss to the cause. Sir Roy referred also to the faith in flying-boats shown by such men as Woods-Humphrey, Major Mayo and Sir Hudson Fysh. He went on to say that it seemed to him that flying-boats had always been the butt of vested interests and subject to matters of politics. Sir Roy was the third of the evening's speakers to assert his faith in the future of the flying-boat. He said that when the American hydroski was perfected it would lead to fighters which were faster than their landplane counterparts. Future development would depend upon the foresight of the Ministry of Supply and the civil operators; only they could give the flying-boat pilot scope. He had noted the remarks about atomic power for flying-boats, but he felt there was still a big future for the gas turbine in marine aircraft. He still doubted if it was possible successfully to produce an engine in small quantities solely for civil use without it being proved militarily. Two brief speeches, one in response to the toast of the flying-boat and another to "our absent host" were then made by AIR CHIEF MARSHAL SIR FREDERICK BOWHILL and LORD GORELL. Sir Frederick thought that flying-boat pilots were the salt of the earth and that flying-boats were essential for the internal and external economy of the British Empire. The modern boat was as good as the landplane today, and could be just as fast. Lord Gorell said of the absent host: "Mr. Martin will be able to feel that his hospitality was not misspent tonight." He asked all present to drink his health, adding the hope that he wou'd be able to enjoy the successes of the flying-boat in the future.
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