AVIATION

Grey River Argus, 11 February 1938, Page 3

AVIATION

CLOUSTON’S PLANE. NICOSIA, February 9. Clouston announces that he is not returning to England by steamer. A repair man and a welding outfit are due on February 11, and there is a sporting chance of getting the plane to England some time next week. CLOUSTON’S PREPARATIONS FOR FLIGHT. LONDON, January 24. In their attempt on the flight record . from England to Australia, by Flying-Officer A. E. Clouston and Mr V. A. Ricketts, the De Haviliand Comet plane will be named “Australian Anniversary.” The name will probably be bestowed by Lady Weigall, wife of the chairman of the Royal Empire Society (Sir Archibald Weigall), at a ceremony at Croydon. Although only a tentative route has been chosen by the flyers, their plans are now taking definite shape. They will cross over France, Germany, Austria, Jugoslavia, Rumania, and Turkey to Aleppo (Syria), where the machine will be refuelled. After spending about an hour on the ground there, the flyers will skirt Bagdad, pass over Basra, cross the Persian Gulf, and follow the Persian Gulf to Karachi, where they will spend another hour on the ground. The next stage will be to Allahabad, where an hour will be spent before the flight to Singapore is begun. The flyers will leave India about 100 miles southwest of Calcutta, and will reach the other coast in the vicinity of Alor Star. An hour will be spent on the ground at Singapore. Then, in the words of Flying-Officer Clouston, “Slap-bang to Darwin across the sea without following any islands.” “This schedule will leave plenty of time,” said Flying-Officer Clouston. “If the winds are favourable we may be able to snatch a sleep for an hour or two on the ground before we reach Singapore. "We aim to log a steady speed of 200 miles an hour throughout the flight. Any following wind will be ‘money from home.’ ” Mr Ricketts, who is aviation correspondent of the “Daily Express,” will send exclusive messages of the flight to Australian papers. Flying-Officer A. E. Clouston and Mr V. A, Ricketts took the De Haviliand Comet, in which they will make the flight, for a test flight to-day. They took off on their test flight today after they had tuned up the new cylinders of the Comet. It was 3.30 p.m. when they left. The machine made a short run and then rose easily and quickly vanished in the east. It returned at 5.20 p.m. Flying-Officer Clouston said on alighting: “It was a grand flight. She did everything she was asked. When a few minor adjustments have been made she will be 100 per cent, perfect.

. “Eor most of the time we flew at a speed of 214 miles an hour and at a height of 7,000 feet. We were flying in strong sunlight, although everything underneath us was blotted out by a sea of clouds which covered the whole of the south of England. This provided ideal conditions for a blind-flying test for Ricketts.

“It was the first time that he had been in the Comet, but he handled the controls for nearly an hour. He was absolutely O.K. at blind flying, and is likely to prove a most capable pilot.

“We have decided to instal new armrests in the cockpit for extra comfort. We shall also take with us on our flight extra thermos flasks for beef tea, tomato soup, and orange juice. “In the next few day’s we shall take the Comet up on a series of flights to complete 10 hours of running-in. Then It will only be necessary to take down and check the engines and we shall be ready to leave for Australia." LONDON, January 25.

Flying-Officer A. E. Clouston and Mr V. A. Ricketts will probably leave Croydon for Australia in their De Haviliand Comet on February 7—five days earlier than had been anticipated. The revision of their plans is due to advice which Flying-Officer Clouston received to-day that the Air Ministry had granted his 14 days leave from February 7.

Both Flying-Officer Clouston and Mr Ricketts, aviation correspondent of the "Daily’ Express,” who will be co-pilot, are finding difficulty in getting sufficient time off duty to complete the necessary preliminary test flying before the engines are stripped for retesting and reassembling in readiness for the flight to Australia.

Flying-Officer Clouston is so busy with his work of testing planes for the Ministry that he proposes to take out the Comet at midnight one night this week for a flight of six hours.

Meanwhile, Mr R. J. Cross is working overtime at Gravesend airport, modifying the seating arrangements of the Comet to increase the comfort in the cramped cabin. Flying-Officer Clouston expects to take the Comet to Croydon on Saturday, a week before the start of the long flight. TRIAL FLIGHT. LONDON, January 26. Accompanied by a press representative, Flying-Officer A. E. Clouston took the De Haviliand Comet plane on a trial flight this afternoon. A gale of 60 miles an hour was blowing when the machine left the airport at Gravesend. The flight lasted two hours. After a short run this afternoon, the Comet rose swiftly to a height of 1,00'; feet, and circled twice over the airport Then it climbed through a dense bank of clouds to 1,500 ft. Still climbing, it came out of the cloud bank at a height of 2,000 ft into brilliant sunshine. A few minutes after it had left Gravesend it skirted South London where clearer sky could be seen .through breaks in the clouds. The airport at Croydon was plainly visible. Then the reservoir at Staines could be seen clearly. Flying-Officer Clouston, who frequently flies over this district, knows every landmark in it. He pointed the landmarks out as the plane continued on its way. When he reached the»aerodrome at Farnborough, where he is engaged as a member of the Royal Air Force, he descended 500 ft, and circled over his home, which is a house with a greenslated roof and is surrounded by a white wall. It is set amid pine trees.

Hearing the plane, his wife ran out of the house, followed by a small dachshund. She waved to her husband. Clouston flew over the house three times and then headed the machine northward, over the Ascot racecourse and Windsor Castle. ' The castle stood out. austerely, with the river winding like a ribbon almost beneath its walls.

Then, assisted by a tail wind, Clous-

ton flew on to London at a speed of 260 miles an hour. He flew over Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, Piccadilly, and Fleet Street, wherethe street lights were already beginning to twinkle, and then circled St. Paul’s Cathedral. He continued the journey along the Thames to Gravesend, where he again encountered clouds. The plane climbed again and came out of the clouds into a gorgeous sunset. Clouston shouted back from the cockpit, “That’s a sight worth living for.” « After a few minutes he made a perfect landing at a speed of 85 miles an hour. Clouston said that the machine had behaved splendidly throughout, and he was completely satisfied. MOLLISON DIVORCED. LONDON, February 7. Amy Mollison, in an undefended divorce suit, was granted a. decree nisi with costs, on the grounds of her husband’s misconduct with a woman, at a Cork Street address. Petitioner’s case was that she and her husband were apart a good deal, owing to work. He became friendly With the other woman after his return from America. She had inquiries made. NEW ZEALAND PILOT. LONDON, February 7. G. J. Piper, who piloted the upper plane of the pickaback composite aircraft, is a New Zealander. Captain Parker piloted the lower flying-boat. They arranged the test by means of a telephone, while flying at about 140 miles an hour. PRAGUE, February 7. Two boys, aged , six, were walking on a road near the city, when one, without warning, wafted like a bird into the topmost branches of a high tree, from which he fell, slightly injured. The explanation is that an aeroplane machine-gunning target was suspended from a cable attached to another aeroplane, when the cable entangled itself around the boy’s legs and hoisted him in the air. RUGBY, February 8.

The two parts of the Mayo composite aircraft, made the first separation in midair, at a height of seven thousand feet. When the pilots took the Mayo craft up they had no intention of parting the ’planes, but conditions were so favourable they decided the time had come to make a vital test. The pilot of the mother craft, Maia, said later that when the upper component, Mercury, separated, the ’plane leaped up for a considerable distance. The ship, however, behaved perfectly.

TRA(\IS-TASMAN SERVICE SYDNEY, February 1. The Minister of Defence (Mr Thorby) commenting on the denial by Mr Savage, on the allegation that delay in the inauguration of the trans-Tas-man air service was caused by New Zealand’s desire that the respective Governments should operate the service said that the Commonwealth Government was not blaming the New Zealand Government, nor anyone else. He added, however, that before the service could be inaugurated, there must be complete understanding with regard to its control. FLYING BOAT DAMAGE. SYDNEY, February 2. One of the Royal Air Force flyingboats visiting Sydney for the celebrations, began to sink at her moorings in Rose Bay last night. She was beached, with the fore portion flooded. . Extensive damage to the hull is thought to have been caused by a small boat crashing into the side.