FROM LONDON TO AUSTRALIA BY AEROPLANE 



235 



For the first two stages bad weather 

 was my only apprehension. 



As far as Calcutta, passable aerodromes 

 existed, and I could rest assured of Royal 

 Air Force assistance at almost every 

 landing place. 



From Calcutta onward we would be 

 entirely dependent on our own arrange- 

 ments. I considered these last two stages 

 the most hazardous of the flight. Owing 

 to the dense jungles and rough ground, 

 landing places were few and far between, 

 and even those at which we contemplated 

 stopping were very small and unsuited 

 to landing a big machine. 



After leaving Calcutta, I proposed 

 landing on the race-course at Rangoon, 

 from which I would fly across the moun- 

 tain ranges to the Siamese aerodrome at 

 Bangkok. I then proposed to skirt south- 

 ward down the coast of the Malay Penin- 

 sula to Singapore, where once more a 

 landing would be made on a race-course. 



The next stop would be made at the 

 hangars of the Dutch Flying School, near 

 Batavia. There would then be no fur- 

 ther aerodromes until Port Darwin was 

 reached, a distance of 1,750 miles. I 

 knew that the Yickers Vimy was quite 

 capable of carrying out a non-stop flight 

 of that distance, for this had been dem- 

 onstrated by the late Captain Sir John 

 Alcock, K. B. E., D. S. C, on his famous 

 transatlantic flight ; but I was also aware 

 that to attempt such a long flight with 

 engines that by that time would have 

 done over 100 hours running and cov- 

 ered nearly 10,000 miles would be much 

 to expect. 



I therefore decided that, in order to 

 make more nearly certain my chances 

 of success, an aerodrome must be con- 

 structed midway. General Borton had 

 selected an admirable site at Bima, on the 

 island of Sumbawa, in the Dutch East 

 Indies. If a landing could be made there, 

 the long stage of 1,750 miles would be 

 halved and the possibility of success more 

 than doubled. 



a valuable: ally 



When on my previous visit to Java, I 

 had had the honor of a lengthy interview 

 with His Excellency the Governor-Gen- 

 eral, Count Van Limberg Stirum, con- 

 cerning the aerodromes which General 



Borton and I were selecting in the Neth- 

 erlands Indies for the proposed aerial 

 route to Australia. His Excellency was 

 most enthusiastic over the development 

 of commercial aviation, and I found him 

 particularly well informed on all aerial 

 matters. He also stated that any aerial 

 route passing over the Netherlands In- 

 dies would receive his whole-hearted sup- 

 port and the assistance of his govern- 

 ment. 



In the course of the conversation I 

 mentioned that I hoped, personally, to 

 attempt the flight from England to Aus- 

 tralia a few months later. He said that 

 he would be gratified to assist in any ca- 

 pacity. Remembering this while in Lon- 

 don, I decided to ask His Excellency if 

 he would prepare an aerodrome at the 

 selected site at Bima, and sent off a pri- 

 vate cable. 



LENGTH OF THE LONGEST NON-STOP STAGE 

 REDUCED TO I. OOO MILES 



Ten valuable days elapsed before I re- 

 ceived a reply, but when it came I was 

 overjoyed to learn that he was not only 

 having Bima prepared, but also another 

 aerodrome at Atambcea, in the island of 

 Timor. This greatly eased my mind, for 

 it meant that instead of having to accom- 

 modate our machine with a petrol capac- 

 ity for 1,750 miles, we need only install 

 tanks for a non-stop flight of 1,000 miles. 

 This greatly added to the buoyancy of 

 the machine, and, through the saving in 

 space, to our personal comfort. 



The machine was an ordinary Stand- 

 ard Yickers Vimy bomber, similar to that 

 used by Sir John Alcock for the trans- 

 atlantic flight, and, apart from the install- 

 ing of an extra petrol tank, we made 

 practically no alterations. 



The machine was powered by two 

 Rolls-Royce "Eagle VIII" engines, each 

 of 360 horse-power. The wing-spread 

 was a little over 67 feet and the total 

 weight, loaded, was six and a half tons. 



Yickers' factory, the home of the 

 "Vimy," is at Weybridge, about 20 miles 

 distant from London, and is built by the 

 side of the famous Hrooklands Motor- 

 racing track. After completing the office 

 work in London, the four of us moved to 

 Weybridge and practically lived on the 

 machine. 



