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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 1404.PDF
14 May 1954 623 Two views, taken recently of "Golden Hind" on the mud at Harty Ferry. In the right-hand photograph it can be seen that the hull is resting against the concrete of the hard. On Thursday of last week, we learn, engineers from Kent County Council came to inspect the alleged damage—not, be it noted, to the aircraft, but to the concrete. ON THE BEACH AT Harty Ferry in the Isle of Sheppey—just over two miles from the spot where the three Short brothers first produced L aircraft on a commercial basis—lies Golden Hind, last of the three "G"-class flying boats built by Shorts at Rochester in 1939. With each high tide, the concrete causeway which forms part of the original ford across the River Swale grinds more gaping holes in her planing surfaces; the beautifully panelled cocktail bar on the once immaculate lower deck is coated to head-height with a thick layer of mud and slime. Launched at Rochester in 1939, Golden Hind was the first of three "G"-class flying-boats built for Imperial Airways. With a wing-span of 134ft and an all-up weight of nearly 33 tons— including 11^ tons of fuel—the boat was designed for Trans atlantic mail flights. Her four Bristol Hercules VI air-cooled engines each developed 1,380 h.p. for take-off. During the war, Golden Hind—together with her sister boats Golden Horn and Golden Fleece—was taken over by the Air Ministry and used to transport V.I.P.s to all parts of the world. Among her distinguished passengers was the present Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill. After the war she was employed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on flights to Africa and Australia. In 1948 she was sold by B.O.A.C. and for the next five years was moored near the old Short buildings on the Medway at Rochester. She has had no C. of A. since 1948, although she has been the subject of negotiation by several interested parties who had hopes of getting her back into the air. Shorts announced in February last year that spares were no longer available and that the jigs and tools used during her construction in 1939 were no longer in stock. A few months ago the flying-boat was towed to a new anchorage near Sheerness Dockyard, but stones in the mud on which she rested at low tide punctured her planing surfaces. She was taken in tow again and anchored near Harty Ferry—a spot that may well prove to be her last resting-place. Spring tides combined with a strong westerly wind to drag her anchor and Golden Hind lifted her twenty-odd tons, swung beam-on to the wind and crashed into the concrete causeway. Mr. F. C. Bettison, an Australian who is at present in charge, made an unsuccessful effort to refloat her by filling every available space on the lower deck with empty 40-gallon oil drums. Although (writes a local correspondent) Sunderlands sustained far greater damage during the war—and were flying again within a matter of weeks—present appearances suggest that this giant of the pre-war era, built at an estimated cost of £150,000, is likely to come to an untimely end as scrap metal. LAND OF THE ORINOCO: CANBERRAS IN VENEZUELAN SERVICE From a reader in South America come these pictures of English Electric Canberras (two Rolls-Royce Avons) in service with the Venezuelan Air Force. The aircraft are taking a mid-day siesta (as the vertical shadows prove) against a background of typical national terrain. The pilot on the right— Lt. Luis Leon, senior pilot of the Venezuelan ^Canberra unit—was the first member of his Service to go solo on the new bombers.
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