Flying-Boat Cruise Will Last a Year

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 166, 4 October 1927, Page 9

Flying-Boat Cruise Will Last a Year

ENGLAND TO AUSTRALIA AMBITIOUS SERVICE TRIP British Wireless —Press Assn. —Copyright Reed. 10.28 a.m. RUGBY, Monday. Further particulars are available of the 25,000-mile cruise from England to India, Singapore, Australia and the Far East, to be undertaken this month bv four Royal Air Force seaplanes. The machines are of the Southampton type, and each is equipped with an albmetai hull, which is about 9001 b. lighter than the old wooden hull, and having two 450 h.p. Napier-Lion engines. They leave Plymouth on Octo’ I r 17 and axe fitted to fly independent of shore help, except for mooring and refuelling. Thus the crews will cook their meals anti sleep aboard, and rations and spare parts will be carried. Group-Captain Cave-Brown-Cave will command, and In addition to the pilots, mechanics, riggers and wireless operators will be carried. The tour is undoubtedly the most ambitious service flight yet ccntemjn the early stages of the flight the machines wUI fly to the French seaplane station at Hourtln, near Bordeaux. and go overland to Berne, continuing via Naples, Brindisi and Alexandrer.ta, across the Syrian Desert to the Euphrates. The machines will stay some time at Karachi before beginning the cruise of the Indian coastline, calling at Colombo en route for Calcutta. From there they will proceed via Rangoon to Singapore, where they will make a halt. Afterwards they will go via the Dutch East Indian Islands to the Australian seaboard, flying round Fremantle and proceeding via Melbourne to Port Darwin, and afterwards back to Singapore. The programme will occupy about twelve months.—A. and NJS-Sun. ,■