SIR ALAN COBHAM’S FLIGHT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19947, 15 November 1926, Page 12

SIR ALAN COBHAM’S FLIGHT.

SPECTACULAR HOME COMING. SCENES AT WESTMINSTER. DEVELOPMENT OF EMPIRE COMMUNICATIONS. (From Oue Own Coeeespondent.) LONDON, October 8.

London and the iine of the Thames proved to be an exceedingly good “ final straight ” for Sir Alan Cobham’s flight to Australia and back. The hundreds of tall buildings along \the Strand, along the Embankment, and abutting the river in the vicinity of the city proved to be ercellent grandstands for the thousands of people who witnessed the homecoming. The flat tops of the buildings, the elevated windows directed towards the river all had their sightseers. Sir James and Lady Parr and a number of the statf of the High Commissioner’s department assembled for a few minutes on the top of New Zealand House to see the aeroplane arrive. It was sharp to time. Flying at an average height of 100 ft to 150 ft, Cobham passed the Tower Bridge at 2.12; he waved a greeting to the thousands standing on London .Bridge, and swept along over Blackfriars Bridge to see another mass of spectators lining the Victoria Embankment in an ever-thickening wedge, until around Westminster itself there could hardly have been a vacant viewpoint anywhere. The police had planned to keep Westminster Bridge clear for ordinary traffic, but the Londoner would not be denied, and when the seaplane passed over the up-river pavement was packed with people, and tramcars and omnibuses all came to a standstill. The promenade in front of the County Hall was crowded with sightseers, white-aproned nurses at St. Thomas’s Hospital outlined the upper parts of the buildings, while the river' frontage was a mass of people. River steamers moored in front held more cheering spectators, and on the terrace of the House itself a large and distin. guished company had gathered to await the formal welcome to the aviator and his companions. From the top of New Zealand House a splendid view could be obtained of the river beyond Charing Cross Bridge and up to the Houses of Parliament in front of which the aviator came down. Suddenly the plane appeared from behind the Hotel Cecil, and from there on it was visible until it had almost reached Hammersmith. On returning, the aviator circled once over the landing area, and then came again to a point over BlackLiars Bridge. Here the aviator put the nose of the plane down, and fh a steadyglide crossed Westminster Bridge, barely 20ft so it seemed, above the jam of tramcars, omnibuses, and spectators, '•side-slipped 1 ” a little over the water to lose more height, and, finally,' let the floats sink on to the river for the piano to come to rest at the upper ena of Westminster Palace. RECEPTION ON THE TERRACE. A motor boat waiting for him was quickly alongside, and he had another triumphal progress down river to the steps of: the speaker's house, where the first, and' private, reception was to take place. Here, standing with the Speaker, Sir Samuel Hoare (Secretary of State for Air), Sir Charles W akefield, and Sir Sefton Brancker, was Mrs (now Lady) Cobham, and Sir Alan’s parents, and as the pilot clad in much-worn khaki drill clothes, sprang ashore, another outburst of cheering came from the packed pavement of Westminster Bridge. Captain Geoffrey de Haviland (the designer or the aeroplane) and Mr A. S. Butler (chairman of the De Haviland Company) were present, and there was a characteristic London touch when the crowd on the bridge, seeing only the aviator, shouted: “Where’s the sergeant?” meaning the R.A.F. non-commissioned officer who so efficiently acted as mechanic after Elliott’s tragic death. ‘‘He is coming along. Wo are still keeping together,” was the prompt reply, and soon after Sergeant Ward and Mr Capel, having seen the seaplane in safe hands, were also brought alongside the steps, to the accompaniment of further cheers.

la tile meantime all the distinguished guests, who included members of both Houses, representatives of the dominions and the colonies and of organisations, such as the Air League of the British .Empire, the Royal Aeronautical Society, the Royal Aero Club, and the Institution of Aeronautical Engineers, grouped themselves round a dais in the centre of the terrace. Sir Alan Cobham sat on the right of Sir S. Hoare, with Lady Cobham on his left. Sergeant Ward, Mr Capel, and their friends were accommodated on chairs facing the dais.

After mox-e handshaking, Sir Samuel Hoare firmally handed the following message from the King:-i-“On your sate return from Australia I offer you a cordial welcome homo and congratulate you heartily on the successful termination of vet another historical flight.—GEORGE, R. 1.” PRACTICABILITY OF FLYING.

Sir Samuel Hoare and the Mayor of Westminster then formally welcomed the aviators. It had been their ambition, ho confessed, to get back to land there, as they had thought it would bring home to the British people that “this flying game” was not so much a “stunt” as many thought, but was a new development which would bring the far distant parts of the Empire much closer together. They had flown to Australia to gather information about long-distance Imperial routes and they had gathered much useful information. He wished to make it clear that this flight could not have taken place without the help of many people, and .at least 25 had contributed to the finance, whjle all along the route he had asked in advance for, and had obtained on arrival, the help of people who, in many cases, had never sflen an aeroplane before. He paid a hand.some tribute to the work Sergeant Ward had carried out single-handed on the journey from Basra to Australia, and said that the added assistance of Mr Capel was invaluable when he was trying to make a quick flight homo and cover two stages a day instead of one. He hoped, Sir Alan added in conclusion, that the success of the flight did not. end there, but that the people of Great Britain would realise the great importance of flying to the future of the British Empire. .... On several occasions since his arrival Sir JUan has given some details of his experiences. The night after his home coming he broadcast an interesting ,stcry of his flight. Some of his impressions and deductions he gave in an interview. DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENGLANDAUSTRALIA ROUTE.

“I did not attempt to force the pace,” he said. “Wo could not afford to take any chances, and the fact that wo took nearly five weeks for the homo journey does not mean that so long a time would always be necessary. There woulfl bo relays of pilots and machines ,on such a route, and passengers and mails would not be delated as we were. But at first ■ sections only of the route would be linked by air, and the traveller would go by train to Marseilles, by boat to Egypt, by Imperial Airways aeroplane to Karachi, bytrain to Calcutta (although an air link should soon be established to that city), then by seaplane or flying boat to Port Darwin, and across Australia by aeroplane. Throughout I found the greatest keenness for air services, and although it is not to be expected that such services would immediately be profitable, the part they would play in the making of new countries should he considered. A railway is built in a new country at great cost, not because there is enough traffic to support it,, but because it will open up the country and gradually create the traffic. “The crossing of India should, I think, be by aeroplane; the Persian Gulf is suitable for either land or sen aircraft. We found two good places not shown on the man for seaplanes on the Persian Gulf, whilst one or* two marked on our map_ as possible were quite out of the question. The monsoons will, of course, interrupt, but they often cause a delay of 48 hours in the existing steamship services, and the seaplane will be no worse off: on the contrary, I should say that with aircraft we could provide communications 50 times as good as the existing ones. Anyway, the monsoon only lasts about two months, and for all the rest of the year air services would be easy. MONSOON STORMS AN OBSTACLE. “The swollen rivers of India make seaplane work hazardous. I have seen a 10knot current ; while in the dry season, in many places, there is rot enough water. Between Calcutta and Rangoon it is easy for seaplanes, for there are innumerable creeks and sheltered coves, and one can use either side according to the direction of the wind. Right on to the north of Malay and to Australia quick atyl regular communication by sea aircraft could be established. “There is no question, at any rate, with

any existing aeroplane of flying through monsoon storms. At Rangoon and Victoria Point we had four or five inches of rain a day for four days. It simply went through everything There was nothing for it but to come down and wait.. Coming home we tried to get past a monsoon storm near Singapore; we could not get through it or over it. Whether an airship would be better able to circumvent such an obstacle by virtue of its greater duration of flight I io not know. The airship has not yet been sufficiently tried out, and we do no,t know enough about it as regards tbe monsoon regions. But why wait for the airship when we can do good practical work w-*h aeroplanes and seaplanes now? AIR-COOLED ENGINES. “We were not hindered by mechanical trouble anywhere, and this fact alone is a matter of technical interest, especially as we were using an air-cooled engine often in weather hotter than the tropics. From the time we left England the engine has not had to have a complete overhaul. At Melbourne we had the cylinders out; but no repairs were necessary, only the usual routine grinding. And we never had the slightest difficulty about getting tlie engine started in the morning. The use of the air-cooled engine for the two long flights—for it was the same engine which 1 had on the African flight—was an experiment, and a completely successful oue. Also we ware using a new type of seaplane float, and it has not once given us any trouble.

“In Australia the aeroplane is regarded as the solution of many serious problems. I met farmers and farmers’ sons getting about from place to place by aeroplane quite easily where, without the aeroplane, the journeys would have taken many days. The problem of the lonely settler can now be overcome. Flying clubs are already formed at Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide. In Great Britain, where it is more difficult to find an immediate profitable use for aircraft, we must nevertheless get busy, otherwise we shall be left behind by countries which are not confronted by our difficulties.”