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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0246.PDF
248 FLIGHT "Egeria" landing at Khartoum in 1944. There are still faint signs of the Union Jack which was painted on the fuselage just aft of the flight deck and later painted out. ENSIGN CLASS . . . Gibraltar was left at 3.18 a.m. on the 3rd and the flight toBathurst was uneventful until about 12.15 a.m., when the port inner Cyclone began to overheat and loss of oil became abnormal;yet when more oil was poured into the engine it became unman- ageable, and had to be stopped and the airscrew feathered. Later,the port outer Cyclone also began to run roughly and Captain Houston decided that it would be wiser to fly nearer land; alteringcourse, he reached the coast of French West Africa at approxi- mately 1,000ft, but they were losing height at the rate of lOOft/min.He flew on for a while in the hope of finding a suitable place to land, as it was obviously impossible to reach Bathurst, some 300miles away. A flat expanse of sandy desert was sighted about a mile inland and, as the Ensign circled, Captain Houston decidedit was suitable and made a smooth belly-landing within 85 yards of touch-down. The immediate reaction was to burn all codes and secret papersexcept those indicating that the crew were civilians. The "Cyko" machine (for decoding signals) was smashed and buried in thesand. An examination of the Ensign revealed slight buckling of the bulkhead, with some distortion amidships, and the entrancedoor had to be forced open. It was decided that Bathurst should be contacted and the two-stroke generating engine was started upwith difficulty; but the radio officer was able to make contact in clear, giving their position as 018° 30'N, 016° 02'W, near CapeMirik and a town called Ouagshott in Mauritania. They received a coded reply informing them that a Sunderland would be sent tofind them; but, of course, they were now unable to decode the message—so when the Sunderland (of No. 204 Sqn.), piloted byF/L. E. M. Ennis, eventually arrived and circled overhead, they were greatly relieved. A message "Go to beach" was flashed tothe Ensign crew by signal lamp, and when they arrived two dinghies were sent off from the Sunderland, which had anchoredabout 300 yards off-shore. A fairly heavy sea made the transfer none too easy, and all luggage had to be left behind. In almostcomplete darkness they took off and arrived safely at Bathurst a few hours later. Unlike her crew, Enterprise had to be abandoned. Frenchmechanics at Ouagshott and Dakar found very little difficulty in repairing the Ensign, and she served the French as a hospital air-craft at Dakar before MM. Foulachier and Melerard of Air France flew her over to Vichy France. In 1942 they delivered the air-craft to the Centre d'Etudes en Vol du Ministere de l'Air at Marignane, for general inspection and flying trials. Their test pilot,M. Edward Bret, flew her in November of that year and, although he did not complete all flying tests before the German occupationof Vichy France, he reported Enterprise very pleasant to fly and without vice. Eventually she was returned to Air France for theirown use; but the Germans thought otherwise, and the aircraft became the property of the Reichsluftfahnministerium. LikeEttrick, Enterprise was re-engined with Daimler-Benz motors and extensively test flown before taking up duties as a transport forsenior officers. Good reports on the performance of the re-engined Ensigns were given by test pilots and the R.L.M. technical staff.* It is believed that G-AFZV Enterprise received the registrationF-BAMO before falling into German hands, but until photographic evidence is unearthed, this marking cannot be taken seriously.F-BAMO was, in fact, used by an A.A.C.-l (French built Ju 52/3m) before the present craze for re-allocations was adopted.A P.R.U. photograph on page 281, Vol. 2, of Evidence in Camera * Can any reader throw light on the markings, performance andultimate fates of these two Ensigns? The principal routes over which the Ensigns flew on their war-time duties between 1941 and 1945. Delivery flights to Middle East--Gibraltar-Malta-Cairo original route Gibraltar-Bathurst later and alternative routeKnown routes flown by Ensigns on Middle East and India routesEgerias special flight to Leopoldville KMAR.TOU KANO ELQENEINA MAIDOGUB.I EL FASHER
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