AERIAL SURVEY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 11 January 1928, Page 9

AERIAL SURVEY.

FLIGHT TO THE CAPE. SIR A LAN COB HAM'S MISSION. LONDON, Nov. ID. Sir Alan Cobliam, with Lady C-abham, as “a working member ot' the crew,” left the Medway at Rochester on. November IT otx the first stage of his -0,000 miles aerial survey of Africa, writes the London correspondent of the Wellington “Evening Post.” Thousands of Londoners along the Embankment about 2 p.m. stopped to see the giant, machine as it roared its way to Heading and Southampton. Sir Alan waved his hand from the cockpit in response to the cheers. Before starting, Sir Alan said his mascot was a miniature of a spider, given him by a little Rochester girl. Prior to departure there was a farewell luncheon in the old Rochester, with Sir Charles 'Wakefield ia the. chair and the Mayor of Rochester on his right. Sir Alan and Lady Cobliam were naturally the guests of honour. Sir Alan made a brisk and business-liko little speech. “I am rather flustered, ’’ he said, “with all the speech-making I have had to do ia the last few days. It is not our custom to speak before doing anything. ” He stated that he had received the present of a spider as a mascot from a little Rochester girl. The child declared that she sent the spider for luck because the spider never falls, because it makes webs' like Sir Alan hopes to make by Ills air journeys in Africa, and because she was a direct descendant of Robert Bruce. Giving some interesting facts about the trip, Sir Alan said the amount- of power developed would be sufficient to lift the steamship Majestic one and a half times’ as high as Mount Snowden. The distance flown would bo 20,000 miles, flying time would be 250 hours, the amount of petrol used would be 100,000 pounds weight, the total number of magneto sparks would 'be (184 millions, the total distance that the pistons of the engine would travel would be 100,200 miles. If it were found possible to open up air services between Capetown and the Gold Coast, one of their regular loads would be a ton of gold a day! Sir Charles Wakefield declared that the characteristic of Sir Alan Cob ham’s aerial adventures was that they were as practical as they were heroic. A “Rest Cure.’’ “Are you nervous?’’ Lady Cobliam was asked. “Not at all,” she replied. “Do you expect to'find the journey tiring?”—“l expect it to bo a rest cure. ’ ’ She is taking seven dresses with her —as well as a manicure set. She has signed on in formal manner, and will take her full share in the routine duties of the journey. Everyone went t.o the landing stage in cars and char-a-bancs to see the flying boat lying in the river before she took off. One of the last, pieces of ceremony was that the flag was hoisted from the castle flagstaff, an honour which places Sir Alan Cobham’s departure on something like the same level as a Royal arrival. At 1.20 the' two propellers were ticking quietly over, and the launches and rowing boats were fussing around. At ].30 there came a tremendous roar as of some great organ note, clear and firm, showing that the engines were running perfectly. A second or two later the flying- boat began to cut across the water, and in about .300 or 400 yards had risen into the air. In another minute it was circling easily and confidently over the town before sotting out for London and Southampton. The occupants of the machine number six. Besides Sir Alan and Lady Cbbliam there are Captain H. G. Warrell (assistant pilot and navigator), Messrs. Green and Conway (engineers), and Mr. Bonnett. (cinematographer). This is the first Empire flight Sir Alan has planned with a flying boat. The itinerary is:—Southampton: Bordeaux (177 ’miles), Marseilles (1050), Malta (1805), Benghazi (225), Aboukir (3050), Luxor (3440), Wady Haifa (3740), Khartum (4500), Kismu (5940), Kigonia (6610), Beira (7900), Durban (5750), Capetown (9650). On the return journey the West Coast of Africa, will be followed via Benguclla, Lagos, Freetown, Bathurst, and Gibraltar.

Details of the Machine. p The machine is a Short ‘ ''Singapore, ” -4 all-metal flying-boat, iitted with two “Condor” engines, each of 700 h.p. It ' is a big boast, but not the biggest, L there being two British types with 50 per cent, more power. The “Singapore” was designed for service purposes, but the makers are now building •’ a similar machine for commercial use, j with accommodation for fifteen pas- 1 stingers. The machine which Sir Alan is using on this flight, a flight made 11 possible by the generosity of Sir Charles Wakefield, is equipped for a long absence from Home. It has four sleeping bunks and apparatus for cook- | ing. Lady Cobham will have a type- t writer, and she will include in her duties the clerical work of the expedi- ) tion. . i In addition, the “Singapore” can , carry plenty of fuel for the longest , stages intended, and will have no diffi- , culty in taking-off from liigh-altitude j lakes in Africa, one of which is 4000 ft . above sea level, where, owing to the | decreased density of the air greater , speed on the water must be attained in order to got lift, or, in the alternative, , a lighter load must be carried. The reconnaissance of the Cairo-Cape route from the point of view of regular services by flying-boat, and of the West Coast, hitherto almost entirely new country for aircraft, is the main object in view, and the West Coast route, with eastwards branches from Lobito Bay and Wallisch Bay to Tanganyika and Rhodesian territory is perhaps the most interesting of the expedition’s tasks. I n this connection the aerial survey now being carried out in Northern Rhodesia asd over the country between Livingstone and Lobito Bay by the Aircraft Operating Company, for the special purpose of studying possible railway and river transport developments, shows that the airplane is l beginning to play an important part in Africa. Sir Alan Cobham, at the instance of the British Empire League, has undertaken during his flight to convey letters ■ •ontniriing greetings from the Lord .Mayor of London to the Lord .Mayor of Capetown; the Lord -Mayor of New-cas'tle-on-Tyne. to the Mayor of Newcastle, Natal; and the Mayor of Salisbury, Wiltshire, to the Mayor of Salisbury, Rhodesia.