AVIATION NOTES

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 13, 7 September 1931, Page 6

AVIATION NOTES

IMPORTANT SURVEY . WORK r ' SIR A. COBHAM'S MISSION. - > • One of the most Important survey flights of recent years— -a j.ourney A 12,000 miles from England into the heart of Africa — will begin withtn the next few days. Flylng with a crew of flve in a big monoplane on floats, which is t'he largest marine aircraft of this type yet ■ built, Sir Alan Gobham, world-famous for pioneer survey flights to India, Africa and Australia, has planned to follow a. route which will take him by way of the Mediterranean and Nile Yalley to the great high altitude lakes of Gentral Africa, and may in the' future constitute the essential link in a big new system of transcontinental airways. In addition to his survey work Sir Alan Gobham is commisisoned to test thoroughly the Short "Valetta" seaplane, which. is an experimental machine designed to provide a comparison yvitb> a flyingboat of equal power arid size. The unusual importance of the flight lies, in the fact that should Sir Alan flnd satisfactory conditions all the way to the most southerly point of his voyage, the pietxiresque Lake Kivu, located in the mountains 5000 feet above sea leyel, hre would establish the immediate possibility of operating flying machines regularly right across Africa from east to west. Suc'h a route would provide for alr-borne goods coming from India, the Far East and Australia, an alternative to the Mediterranean and the Straits of Gibraltar, but up to the present the essential oonnecting stages between the Belgian ' Congo and East Africa nlong the line of the high-altitude lakes has never been thoroughly surveyed by air. The lakes are also a magniflcent tourist centre, a naturai playground unsnrpassed in the world for ever-changing heauty and varietv of wild life. There is undouhted scope here for local seaplane services, which would enable the region to he reached in a fraction oi the time taken !>y ground transport. Further, there seems liltely to he immense traftlc wixiting for- the estahlishment of links with air services already operating in the Belgian Gongo. The "Valetta" is a big monoplane oraft, measuring 107 feet from wingfip to wing-tip, and weighing when fully laden more than 10 tons. On the water it moves on two immense °oats each of which is nearly 40 feet long. In normal use the big saloon 'abin has luxurious accommodati"on for 16 passengers and their baggage. Power is derived from three 490 h.p Bristol "Jupiter" air-cooled radial motors. These give the big 'plane a rnaximum speed of 135 m.p.h., a muising speed of 110, and carry it •vith full load on board to a."ceiling'' • f 16,000 feet. Sufflcient fuel is car"ied normaliy for a flight non-stop \)f 520 miles. An exceptionally powerful wireless transmitter ^nd receiver and . laborate navigational equipment a-e •arried in the crew's cabin. Rudders on each of the floats enable the pilot to manoeuvre the 10 tons of seaplane on the water with the ease and certainty of a small speed-boat.