ALONG THE SKYWAYS

Waikato Times, Volume 118, Issue 19663, 24 August 1935, Page 22 (Supplement)

ALONG THE SKYWAYS

“ALL RED” ROUTE. AN IMPORTANT FLIGHT. ENGLAND TO SINGAPORE. A large four-engined British military flying-boat is scheduled to begin from Mount Batten seaplane station, Plymouth, shortly on a flight of outstanding importance in the future of Empire aerial communications and defence. For the first time, the route selected for the journey from England to Singapore, where the boat will be

taken over for service with a squadron already stationed'there, is an “allred” roulc, with scheduled halts only at points under British control. Thanks to recent big advances in the British technique of flying boat design and construction, such flights by machines carrying full service load 'have become practical possibilities. Before long the all-red route, will be

PROGRESS IN AVIATION

adopted as a matter of course, bringing vital advantages in war emergencies that might forbid the use of foreign territory to British ’planes. The aeroplane, a Short, Singapore biplane powered with four Kestrel supercharged engines, will be commanded by Squadron Leader W. N. Plenderleith. With him will be PilotOfficer 11. J. Hobbs, a flight-sergeant, a sergeant and two airmen, making a total complement of six men. Apart from testing .the feasibility of the all-red route the flight is intended to give further experience of the trans-India route during the period of the south-west monsoon. The route takes the boat across India by way of Karachi, Gwalior, and Chittagong; in-

land the boat will find alighting and take-off room on the surface of rivers and lakes which are known to pro- | vide ample space for the operation -of large flying boats. Non-Stop to Gibraltar. The plan for the journey provides for the first stage, from Plymouth to Gibraltar, to be made in one> hop. In ■a direct line the distance to be flown ■to Gibraltar is 1,070 miles. Should unexpected adverse winds slow the boat it would alight at Lisbon, where moorings and supplies of fuel and oil have been laid down, but if all goes to plan it, will accomplish the first nonstop flight in history from England to Gibraltar. From Gibraltar to Malta, 985 miles, is the next scheduled nonstop stage. Two days later the journey will be continued from Malta to Aboukir 920 miles. On to Basra, the next scheduled hall, is 1.070 miles. A three days stay at Basra will be I oil owed by a flight lo Ras-al-Kbaimah, in the Persian Gulf 650 miles. Another 630 miles will take the boat to Karachi. Thence it will cross by way of Gwalior 625 miles, and Ghittigong 880 miles, within 9 days. A threedays stay at Chittagong will be followed by a flight of 830 miles to Mergui, and the Anal stage of 830 miles to Singapore. The itinerary is provisional to an extent not usually associated with Royal Air Force flights, because the flight is a pioneer one. No stage will be undertaken unless a favourable weather report is received, a reasonable precaution on a journey made up almost entirely of stages in the neighbourhood of 900 and 1,000 miles. Supplies of fuel and oil have been established at intermediate points on the longest stages, for use In emergency. Open-Sea Reconnaissance.

'The Singapore is a.recent addition to R.A.F. equipment. It is designed for long-range open-sea reconnaissance duties, and is furnished and fitted in a. fashion to enable the crew to live on board in comfort for weeks or months at a time. The four RollsRoyce Kestrel liquid-cooled engines are mounted in two tandem nacelles between the planes. Each engine is rated to give approximately 560 h.p. at normal engine speed at a height of 2,000 feet above sea-level, giving the ’boat a maximum level speed of 1A 5 m.p.h. and a range in still air at cruising speed of 105 m.p.h. of more than a thousand miles. The all-metal hull has a bomber’s position in Die nose, with a ring mounting for a machine-gun and stowage for mooring gear. The enclosed pilot's •seal, and control unit arc detachable. A central gangway between 'the seats gives access lo the bomber’s station forward, and aTI lo the comparlment used as the officers’ quarters’ which is filled with two bunks and houses Hie navigator’s chart, table and oilier gear, the compartment occupied by the radio operator and engineer, and Hie crew's quarters, fitted normally with three hunks. Included in equipment is a cooking apparatus, a work bench with vice,'stowage for sea anchors, a dinghy, engineer’s folding ladders, and oilier tools. A midship gun station gives vertical flee on either side of Hie fuselage. In Hie extreme aft end of the hull, behind the tail, is another ignn cockpit for defence against attacks from astern.

ICE ON AIRCRAFT. METHOD OF PREVENTION. A now way of preventing the formation of ire on aeroplane wings and control surfaces was demonstrated recently at Croydon. Unlike earlier methods, which consisted of pneumatic contrivances tilled along Iflo leading edges of wings and agitated the pulsating currents of air or gas for the purpose of dislodging the iec crusts, the new system provides for the deposition of small quantities of ethylene glycol on the edge of the wing lo moll Hie base of the ice deposit and so loosen it that il may ho blown away by the air-stream. The idea lias been well tested in flight by a Hawker Hart and a l’airey Gordon aeroplane. In both cases ice to the depth of from 2in. to 3Ain. built up on the leading edges of the wings and was dispersed in I lie course of about five minutes after the anti-freez-ing solution was turned on. After a further 30 minutes’ flight the important parts of tin: wings were still free iContinued in next column.)

Egypt to Baghdad, where a serious rising was feared among Assyrian levies attached to the Iraqui army. The heavy transport aeroplane is also used to maintain squadrons on active service far from the base. In actual operations, a British squadron has been sustained several hundreds of miles from its base 'by the work of heavy transport aircraft which kept up a continuous service between the base and the squadron, carrying fuel, ammunition, spares, provisions and other essential supplies. Their place in aerial strategy and tactics is 'Obviously of great importance. The bomber-transport machine Is intended primarily for the conveyance of troops or of a heavy bomb load. It must also be fitted to perform efficiently many other duties, such as the carriage of spare engines, fuel, stretcher cases. It must be able lo work from the restricted area of improvised (lying fields, such as are near a war front. The fuselage must be large and roomy, provided with hatches and gear for the quick loading and unloading of bulky goods. Row the British designer manages to combine these service demands with high performance and robustness is admirably illustrated in the design of the ‘Handley Page 51 monoplane, which is one of the three craft now under test. This is a high-wing monoplane, powered with two Siddeley Tiger 760-BJO h.p. engines. The undercarriage struts and wheels are fixed, but they are carefully streamlined, with faired casings to diminish head resistance. The fuselage is of good aerodynamical form, with no unessential excrescences to disturb the airflow, and the engine nacelles merge harmoniously with the lines of the wings. Room for Thirty Troops. The structure is extremely robust, to withstand the arduous service conditions met out east. In the nose of the fuselage is the forward gun-tur-ret and the bomb-aimer’s hatch. Just aft is the enclosed cockpit for pilot and navigator. Aft again is the roomy cabin and in the tail is a second gun cockpit for defence against hostile aeroplanes. Uses of the cabin are many and varied. It may be fitted with quickly detachable canvas seats for the transport of up to 30 fully armed infantrymen. .Special ventilators provide frequent changes of air, making the machine more comfortable than earlier troop carriers.

For ambulance work the Type 51 can carry 10 stretcher eases. The stretchers arc arranged five on each side, three above and two below. Hoisting gear and floor attachments facilitate the carriage of three spare engines. In loading, each engine is slung up with the hoisting gear and swung into the fuselage, where it is bolted to stands attached to the floor. Three removable tanks are provided for the. carriage of fuel, each with a raporily of 173 gallons. On bombing expeditions, I lie Type 51 carries a normal load of iooolb. of bombs, which arc launched liy electrical fusing and release, gear. The two gun emplacements enable the machine to go out. on bombing raids without an escort, because il ran be. defended by the crew against hostile aircraft. Finally, the automatic wingslots improve the speed range of the aeroplane and help enormously in operations from small aerodromes and from aerodromes located high above sea-level. They are valuable also when Hie machine is asked lo carry an emergency overload, because they increase lift, and improve control at ihe lower end of Die speed range and thereby give marked assistance in the lake- off.

from ice and on oilier portions only a few crystals could be observed, fl’lie elhylefic glycol is led to the wing edges ! by means of a rubber lube punctured j at jin. intervals along its length. The | liquid forced through this lube moistens a. poms leather covering stretched i along Ihe edge of Ihe wing. As long ■as this remains moist there appears to he little danger of ice forming in any ! quantity. This apparatus makes very little difference lo the profile of Hie wing and adds little lo Ihe structural weight of (ho aeroplane. In Ihe Hart the tilting weighed about 151 b. Half a gali lon of liquid, sufficient for two hours' ! Hying, weighed 61b.. and its container ' 91b. The total weight for such an ; aeroplane is therefore about 3n||>. The demonstration was arranged by the Dunlop Rubber Company.