ONE-DAY FLIGHT

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 27, 13 November 1935, Page 5

ONE-DAY FLIGHT

ENGLAND - AUSTRALIA.

STRATOSPHERE! ATTEMPT. The Air Ministry is seriously considering backing a venture to regain the long-distance record held by the two Frenchmen, Codos and Rossi, of 5657 miles, writes C. W. A. Scott by airmail from London to the Sydney “Telegraph,” It is to be done in the stratosphere! It will be quite a new departure to attack a long-distance record in the stratosphere. In the first place the aeroplane will have to be something very different from what we know this country already posseses to get into the stratosphere level at all. Then, secondly, this aeroplane will have to get to this level with a load that will enable it to fly thousands of miles. Nine thousand is, I believe, the distance aimed at. I confess that to me this appears very Jules Verneish, but on the other hand where is them a limit in these days to possibility? Such an aeroplane certainly conjures up the most wonderful suggestions. Nine thousand miles range at 350 miles per hour. Australia, by great circle, is about that distance from England, and as it is along the arc of tiie great circle that these records count, it would appear mathematically that Port Darwin (or some point in Australia) could be reached in the amazing time of just over a day. The Mystery Zone. There is no doubt in my mind, that even if we dismiss the possibility of this machine at the present time, it will be aircraft of this nature that will supply our aerial services over great distances some time in the near future. But so little of the stratosphere is yet known.

There was one man who had immense faith in stratosphere flying, and that was the late Wiley Post. His untimely end will without a doubt have a retarding effect on this type of experiment. So' little is known of the stratosphere that one-hesitates to give any opinion of it. Reduced resistance is one claim. In other words, rarefied air that gives aeroplanes an easy flight without resistance. But Ido not believe it ends there,

It seems to me that one day the upper airs will be charted as perfectly as the seas of this w'orld. That there will be known air currents at various times of the year, and that these will be known exactly the same way that wo know of tlie peculiarities oi me trade winds, the monsoons, and other weather of more earthly levies. But perhaps this machine is only i’pr one or the other oi these two records, height or distance.

I cannot yet believe that wo can attempt both at the same time with the same machine.

Airships are Germany’s.

Then one learns of Germany's new airship. More sumptuous and faster than her. predecessor, the “Graf,” she is nearing completion, and will soon be off on her world travels. Germany has faith in these leviathans of the air. It is five years ago since our faith in this type of craft was burnt to a twisted and horrible skeleton on a hillside near Beauvais, and with her commander and crew and all the knowledge of airship design that we possessed. The memorial to our attempts with this type of air machine is the mooring mast at Karachi, where RIOI was to have moored when she reached India. But she got no farther than a few miles outside of England. Yet Germany has progressed whero other nations have all failed. Surely it is not possible in these advanced times that one country can have such a monopoly over such a science ? But Germany .has been the pioneer of airships, and still continues forward when no other nation dares afford tlie price in human lives. I was talking to someone the other day about Abyssinia. Someone (of the very, very few) who lias actually had flying experience in that strange country. “Wliat are conditions there like?” I asked, “the country a«d the atmosphere and so on?” It was from the militaristic point of view that I wanted information, and none other. In the first place, I was told, the country offer practically nothing sufficiently vulnerable to justify aircraft attack from point of view of effective destruction of strategic points, Hard to Find.

Even Addis Ababa itself, nearly 300 miles from Jibuti, along a funny railway line, is.very hard to find, ana aircraft that reached there to destroy would have a demoralising effect alone, though it was admitted that this might bo extreme.

For tho main part, from the coast (where hostile aircraft have to operate) to the plateau of DOCK) feet on which Addis Ababa lies, the country consists of precipitous gorges, quite unsuitable to aircraft, and offering no scope lor attack.

The main peculiarity about the country from the pilot’s point of view is the absolute unreliability of maps. A range of mountains 12,000 feet high was not even marked on a map. Aeroplanes have to operate mostly from a coast level. Here conditions are extremely hot, and water-cooled engines are in for the very deuce of a time. It is full throttle work from the moment the machines are off the ground, and I can foresee a lot of engine tUfcble with machines heavily loaded vTth war equipment and bombs.

The entire absence of aerodromes except at Addis Ababa will not make matters any easier either, and as Addis is at 9000 feet, operating of such an aerodromo will not be fun. It seems to me that the sphere of use of the aeroplane is going to be strictly limited in this campaign. I am writing this in Aberdeen. 1 travelled here by train. There is a train that brought mo as far as Newcastle, 2GB miles from London, in exactly four hours. That was from the centre of London to the centre of Newcastle. At -this rate, with trains performing these amazing runs in ail weathers, aircraft will have to show a marked improvement if they are to hold their own against the railway services.