The Goodwill Mission

As the four Canberras of No.12 Squadron R.A.F. go from country to country in South America, public interest and enthusiasm continues at an even greater pitch. They reached Bogota, Colombia, on November 7th, after covering the 1,245 miles from Lima, Peru, in about two-and-a-half hours.

After their arrival at Bogota's Techo Airport - which lies at 8,400ft above sea level - they flew over the district in company with the two Hastings Transports which are servicing the flight. On the following day the leader of the mission, A. V-M. D.A. Boyle, demonstrated one of the Canberras over the city, the main streets and squares of which quickly became packed with dense crowds of excited spectators. The mission left on Monday for the Carribean countries and Mexico.

Gannet Flies On Diesel

That the Armstrong Siddeley Double Mamba turboprop is able to run on ship's diesel fuel has long been public knowledge; what is news is that a Fairey Gannet carrier-borne anti-submarine prototype has actually been airborne with this fuel in use. The fuel concerned is 47 cetane, used in the Royal Navy for all diesel-powered generating plant and other auxiliary engines in aircraft carriers. No modifications are necessary to the Double Mamba.

The Long Run

A Dakota of the R.A.A.F., carrying four crew-members and two scientists of the Commonwealth Industrial Research Organization, was reported missing on October 27th after flying 50 miles out to sea from Sydney to observe a rainstorm; the scientists, R.S. Styles and F.W. Campbell, were engaged on rain-making research. Later, air/sea rescue craft found an empty dinghy, evidently swamped by heavy seas. By a strange coincidence, on the same day, an American pilot, Gordon Clauser, disappeared while flying out from Miami, Fla., to "attack" an approaching storm. He was the owner of a hail-prevention company in Oklahoma.

Source: Flight International