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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 1141.PDF
NOVEMBER I, 1934. FLIGHT. "43 The Outlooks A Running Commentary on Ait Topics The R.A.F. Areas the Wessex Bombing Area ceased to exist some time ago, and the bomber squadrons were rearranged in two new Areas, the Western Area and the Central Area, from both of which titles the ominous word " Bombing " (so out of favour at Geneva) was care- fully omitted, there was a general grouping of night bomber squadrons under the Western Area, and of day bomber squadrons under the Central Area. The grouping was not completely harmonious, because Andover was the H.Q. of the Western Area, and at that station there were two day bomber squadrons, No. 101 B.S. (" Sidestrand ") and No. 12 B.S. (" Hart "). These two remained under the orders of the Western Area, although they were the only day bomber units in a night bomber organisation. It is now announced that No. 101 B.S. is to remove itself and its " Sidestrands " to Bicester, where it will come under the Central Area. Room will be made for it by transferring No. 33 B.S. from Bicester to Upper Heyford. Room is being made at Upper Heyford by moving No. 99 B.S., a night bomber squadron ("Heyford ") from there to the new station of Mildenhall. Upper Heyford will thus become a homogeneous station of three " Hart " squadrons. The '' Heyford '' squadron leaves the Central Area for the Western Area, thus adding to the harmonious grouping of the day and night bomber squadrons. There are rumours, however, that Mildenhall, which is no more in the West than is Manston, will ultimately become the first station of a new Eastern Area. New Names for R.A.F. Machines rT~lHE Fairey night bomber, which has been adopted _£ for use in the R.A.F., is to be known as the " Hen- don," a name which was once given to a Handiey Page aeroplane, but which has died out as the type ceased to be manufactured. It may be noted that both our latest fly-by-night types have names beginning with " H," as has the now obsolescent " Hinaidi." We hope that there is no suggestion that the bombs of the night bombers may be dropped with disastrous effect where they ought not to be dropped. The new Blackburn torpedo-spotter-reconnaissance machine is to be known as "Shark." It is not at all a bad name. The fish of that name is not popular with bathers, but naturalists tell us that it is a most useful scavenger, which clears the seas of a lot of undesirable matter. We do not want undesirable matter in our seas, and if it should appear, the "Shark " will be an appro- priate agent for dealing with it. - - ' .' , - Sportsmen Allr HE newspapers of two non-competing nations accused us of unsporting conduct in the Australia race. Their accusations were based on error and were unim- portant. We British do not see eye to eye with all races regarding sportsmanship, and it is significant that we can give the American and Dutch competitors full marks in this matter. Roscoe Turner put sportsmanship in a nutshell with hi= famous remark to Scott, " It sure was an honour to take the fumes from your exhaust." Then the Dutch ; not only the pilots and crew of the K.L.M. Douglas, but the whole nation have behaved like true sportsmen throughout. At Mildenhall, just before the start, Van Brugge, the "3 genial wireless operator, peeped from the cabin door with a wink and shouted to an English colleague, "I'll be bring- ing you some spicy yarns from Melbourne, George! " That was the last we heard from the Douglas, and it is so English—or so Dutch. No last-minute heroics, no " pour la patrie " stuff. All along the line the Dutchmen met with the sports- manship they appreciated so much, and it all culminated at Albury when they were temporarily out of luck. The local sportsmen there used the town lighting system to signal them and brought their motor cars to light up the racecourse, and thereafter spent the night digging the Dutch machine from the mud. Meanwhile the good ship " Suffolk," in defiance, no doubt, of Admiralty regula- tions, shone her searchlight on the skies to help them. The True Spirit TIfHEN Scott and Campbell Black landed in Melbourne yy the first floral tribute handed them was from the K.L.M., and the first thing Parmentier and Moll did after arriving was to dig the victors out of bed to con- gratulate them over a celebratory drink. Enthusiasm in Holland was genuine when the British " Comet " came in first, and a poster was printed by the K.L.M. bearing the words " Bravo Scotty! " During the height of the enthusiasm in the Hague, where crowds collected to hear news of the race, somebody called for two minutes silence when news came through of the accident to Gilm'an and Baines in Italy. It is probably not treasonable to regard the act of Her Majesty the Queen of Holland as essentially sporting, for she made all four of the K.L.M. crew Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau and made no distinction of rank at all. Lastly, a rumour has reached this country that the Royal Dutch Air Lines have presented whatever prize the Dutch entry has won to the Australian hospitals. If the race has taught us no other lesson, it has at least shown us that there are many good sportsmen in the aviation business. The Irish Swoop(mi)stake A FTER facing a very gentle barrage from an Italian _f~JL paper and from Dr. Goebbel's special daily in Ger- many, the unsporting people in this country can be permitted a faint smile at the results oi Col Fitzmaurice's final attempt. Had the Washington Department of Com- merce allowed the Bellanca to start in the race, with its five'hundred gallons of fuel, the machine would still have shed vital portions of its anatomy during the first few hundred miles of the journey to Baghdad. It was certainly better that the " shedding " should have taken place on -a mere record attempt rather than in a race, when the crew might have made up their minds to carry on until forced to put down in some part of the world where the terrain was aeronautically uncivilised. Everyone feels sorry for Col. Fitzmaurice, just as they did at the time of the fuel reduction, and he himself would be the last to impute any suggestion of favouritism to the decision of the Royal Aero Club Race Committee. He and his co-pilot, Mr. Bonar, who, incidentally, handled the Bellanca so well, have hoped for great things, and these great things may still come about. The Bellanca appears to be an unusually interesting aero- plane that has been " spoilt for a ha'porth of tar/' and there is still time for Rollason's to make any modifications —though every week of delay makes the flight to Aus- tralia more difficult.
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