COBHAM’S BIG FLIGHT

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12604, 15 November 1926, Page 4

COBHAM’S BIG FLIGHT

' DETAILS OF EXPERIENCES “NO ATTEMPT TO FORCE PACE” " THE USES OF AIR SERVICES LONDON, October S. Sir Alan Cobham, who received a raujt enthusiastic reception on completing bis return flight from England to Melbourne, has given some details of his experiences. The night after his home-coming be broadcasted an interesting story of his flight. Some of his impressions and deductions he gave in an interview. “I did not attempt to force the pace,” Sir Alan said. “We could not afford to take any chances and the fact that we took nearly live weeks for the home journey does not mean that so long a time would always be necessary. There would be relays of pilots and machines on such a route, and passengers and mails would not be delayed 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 airplane to Karachi by train 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 airplane. "Throughout 1 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 be 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 "The crossing of India should, I think, be by airplane; the Persian Gulf is suitable tor either land or sea aircraft. We found two good places not shown in the map for seaplanes on the Persian Gulf, while one or two marked on our map as possible wore quite out of the question. The monsoons will, of course, interrupt, but they often cause a delay of forty-eight 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 fifty times as good as the existing ones. Anyway, the monsoon only lasts about tw*o months, and for all the rest of the year air services would be easy. "The swollen rivers of India make seaplane work hazardous. I have seen a 10-knot current; while in the dry season, in many places, there is not enough water. Between Calcutta ami 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 and regular communication by sea aircraft could be established. ‘ ‘There is no question, at any rate, with any existing airplane 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 hut 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 Ido not know. The airship has not yet been sufficiently tried out, and we do not know enough about it as regards the monsoon regions. But why wait for the airship when we can do good practical work with airplanes and seaplanes (London correspondent "New Zealand. Herald.”)