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^ < * \ * 1 > ^ « V • V • * > p^ • * V ^: V V hfâ€""*^ British Air Ace, Sir Alan G>bliamy Out Travels the Famous Lindeburgh Knowledge of Flying Together With Careful Thought and Attention to Details Overcomes the Usual Dangers STUPENDUOUS DISTANCE National Geographic Maigazine Carries Wonderful Story While the American press U full of the exploits of Col. Charlea Llnd- borgh It Is interesting to read In the current number of the National Oeo- graphic Magrazine an article from the pen of Sir Alan J. Cobham, England's peerless air pioneer, who at present is clrcumnarlgatlng the African con- tinent to plan air routes for England. Sir Alan is accompanied by his wife, Lady Cobham, and four assistants, in an all steel sea plane and is blazing new and progressive air paths which will forerun the establishment of per- manent air coommunications with the vast British possessions in the "Dark" of Expert Marksmen. On our homeward Jonmey throng India we were the guests of the Ma- haraja of Datla, where' we stayed a few days. The Prime Minister told us that, when he had arrived in Datl* some years before, he had found the place infested with monkeys, which were rapidly destroying the roofa of all the buildings. These cunning creatures were addicted to the de- lightful pastime of tearing heavy tiles oS the roofs of the houses and throwing them down on the passers- by in the streets, sometimes with fa- tal results. In the course of time they conUnent. His article tells the story had develop^ a breed of monkey of air development In part as follows: In the course of my work during the past five or six years I have seen many parts of the world. My wanderings have taken rae over every capital In Europe and over the length and breadth of the great Afri- can continent: More than once I have traveled over the great Syrian Desert to India, Burma and back, and only recently I Journeyed all the way to Australia and return via Rangoon, Singapore, and the Dutch East Indies. Yet with all these wanderings it was ^not until a few months ago that I made my first steamship voyage, when I crossed from Southampton to New York. Hitherto my Journeys had been made in the air, and my mode of transport was an airplane or seaplane and when 1 reflect on my various ex- ploits, somehow I feel that my mem- ories and impressions of the coun- tries I have visited are far more> vivid and realistic than are the memories of the Individual who has traveled by steamship, train, or motor car. Studying Archeology By Air. Early in 1923 I made a circular tour, covering about 12,000 miles, over Europe, Egypt, Palestine, Al- geria, Morocco, and Spain. My pas- senger was an old friend whose great- est hobbies were travel and the study of ancient civilizations. We had flown many thousands of miles together on previous occasions, but this trip was a little more ambiti- ous. From London we flew to Parl^, through France, along the Riviera then over the Mediterranean to .\frlra coast line, across Italy to Greece, and and Egypt. Then, for the flrst time la history, we flew across the whole breadth of Africa, from Egypt to Morocco, after which we crossed the Strait of Gib- raltar and by way of Spain and France returned to London. The final stags of our journey, from Madrid to London, was made In one day. We breakfasted in Madrid, had lunch in Bordeaux, sipped afternoon tea on the airdrome of L^^npne, thus completing with a wartime machine a tour of more than 12,000 miles with out any preliminary orgauizatioa or sot route. Planning a Fligiit to India. In the autumn of 1924, Air Vice- Marshal Sir Sefton Brancker had to make a Journey to India in connection with the allotting of a port of call and the building of a mooring mast for the future airship service that may eventually run through to .\ustralla. As Director of British Civil Avia- tion, Sir Sefton Branckner maintain- ed that he ought to fly to his destina- tion; but the Treasury urged that Government officials should travel by the cheapeest route, and as the cost of a special airplane to fly to India and back was far in excess of the cost of a flrstclass steamship passage and return, the Treasury could not see its way clear to grant the sum of money necessary. However, on learn- ing that the aviation industry was . willing to support the flight, the Treasury became more lenient and a good portion of the expense of the Journey was allotted. The Director decided that, as we were going to fly to India, and pos- â- ibly beyond to Rangoon, in Burma, he would make It a flight of survey and would endeavor to ascertain the best air route. We had a depressing and tedious Journey through Europe la the win- tertime, for we left London In Novem- ber, and it was not until the Persian Oulf was reached that we met the sunshine. 1 wA greatly Impressed by the many weird and wonderful rock formations along the hundreds of miles of forbidding coast line from Iraq down the Persian Gulf, then over 'Jte Gulf of Oman to India. It was winter In India and the weather was perfect As Sir Sefton Brancker wished <to visit one or two places where it would be impossible to land an alrplan*. he went oa by train from Karachi, which was our first port of call la India. Here a big mooring mast la being erected for the future airship service, and this port la also the terminus ot the air line that U now in operation between Blgypt and India. Our flight from Karachi to Delhi was via the Thar, or Indian. Deeert and Judhpur. On the flrst da/ we suo- cessfuUy crossed the desert, a Jonraej ot several hundred miles, and, harlnf lovated a big river, .1 began to look nliead for the town ot Jodhpur. Monkeys o' Oatia Developed a Breed marksmen who seldom missed. Now Datla Is a Hindu state, and the followers of this religion have a tenet which forbids the taking of life of any sort; so the monkeys were left unmolested. The new Prime Minister decided that something must be done, and so he advised the Maharaja to of- fer S rupees as reward for every mon- key captured and brought alive to the cages outside the palace. The news of this drastic action spread all over the countryside and was strongly condemned by the Ma- haraja or a neighboring state. The critic even went so far as to say that he was fond of monkeys, and that they were allowed to roam about his domain unmolested. In the meantime at Datla hundreds monkeys were being captured daily, and very soon there was not a simian left roaming free. The Prime Minis- ter was now faced with the problem of disposing of them. He hit upon the bright idea of having them packed in baskets and loaded on board a spe- cial train which was dispatched to the neighboring state of the Maharaja who professed a liking for monkeys. â- When the train arrived in the chief town, several hundred miles from Datla, the animals were unloaded and let loose as a special gift to the po- tentate. It was a huge practical Joke, and was talked of all over India. The poor Maharaja who had condemned Datia's action could say nothing, although In- wardly he must have been furious. A Longitudinal Survey of Africa By Air. After more than three months away from home I landed on the Croydon airdrome in the early sprli^g, com- pleting the flrst of a series of three big flights of survey ot Empire Air Routes. Our next big flight was from Lon- don to Cape Town and back. For this trip I selected the Identical De Havil- land type 50 plane that had taken us to Rangoon and back, but instead of the old-type engine, we installed a We bad been zigzagging over the swamp for some time and were near- Ing the more or less deflnite southdrn coast when, while flying at a height of about 20 feet from the water, we passed over a low strip of land that jutted out Into the lake. At that mo- ment there was a violent ezp lesion in the cabin! | Instantly I thonght of Are and sni^- mised that, owing to the great heat In which we were flylnc, one of the earV ridges for our rocket pistol had ex- ' ploded. This would be very •«rloiu, { for it would most certainly hare set ! us on Are. | I yelled throush the connecting' t window from my cockpit to Elliot and asked him if we were on fire. He shouted back: "No, but a gas pipe has burst and hit me on the arm." I could see that he ioolced very pale aad It wa.s difficult to shout above the noise of the engine, which I could not shut off to glide, aa I was flying only 20 feet from the earth's surface, 1 handed him a pencil and paper. He handed me back a message written la a shaky hand to say the gas pipe bad burst and hit him In the arm and that i he was bleeding a pot ot blood. i "What's Best for Elilot." I had to decide what to do. If Both Audience and Stage To Revolve in Theatre Berlinâ€" The theatre of the ta- tare will have not only a rerolTln* stajge, but a revolving audience as well. In the opinion of Walter Oropins. noted architect of Dessao. He is at work devising a new tyve of theatre for Edwin Placator, o( Berlin, director of the only Com- mnnlst theatre In Germany. Oropins plana to build a theatre 1b which the parQuet, with its andl- enc«. can be turned at an angle of 180 degrees. The spectators will thus suddenly find themselves tranaporied to another part of the round theatre, wherj they will see a different stage setting from that upon which (hey gazed at the pre- vious angle. InsMe, and when I climbed on board and inspected the inside wall I pulled out a mall bag and a dispatch case each ot which had been drilled by a missile. It suddenly dawned upon me that we had been shot at and that it was not a burst gas pipe that had wound- I ed Elliot. A buiiet had passed ; landed to reader him first aid I ran through the dispatch case, right great risks: flrst, of getting stuck in through the ga.^ pipe, thpii had enter- tho mud, la which case we should be I unable to get off again, second, of being unable to start the engine sin- gle-handed, owing to the terrific hsat ot the district. I could see that If I landed In this wild and desolaxo spot, scores of miles from any sort of liabit-ittion. it would be a very serious matter if I were un- able to start up and get away from it again. I could not look around me. I had to concentrate every second while I was flying, owing to the den- sity of the dust storm. I decided the best thing I could do would be to race on to Basra, which was about 100 miles farther oa, where I knew there would be hospitals, white people, and proper organization. Soon after this we got through the ed ICiliofs left arm. shattering the bone, passed on into his left side, pierced both lobes of the left lung and finally buried itself In his back. We had been shot at by an Arab and the noise of the explosion that we had heard had been the firing of the gun at iloae range. I received an order from the Air Force directing me to go out to the airdrome, about 20 miles away, so that on the following morning, at dawn. 1 could lead a squadron of air- planes to the place where the tragedy had occurred. About twelve o'clock that night there was a telephone call from the hospital. When l^answered It I could not understand, or, at least, could not believe what the operator was telUag me, and so handed the receiver over to the commanding officer, who slow- ly repeated the words: "Elliot passed storm and I was able to give the en- Tbe new statue of Cecil Rhodes upon which John Tweed has worked for jjjjq fjjjj throttle, so that we covered months iu England. It will be erected iu SalisbuTv. Rhodesia, South Africa. ; that 100 miles in about 45 minutes. When I arrived at Basra I searched ! away at 11.43. for a mud bank where I might beach j y^^^^ ^g^^ was a terrible shock to the machine without damaging the ; me, for I had no idea that he would to the wounds. what had happened: the spray was so heavy that water had entered the car- buretor. It was an unpleasant moment, for beneath us was the deep chasm and the turmoil of waters, while on the within a few feet of the river bank. We flew for many miles in thU fag- floats, but 1 knew that it was golaj | succumb to be a one-man job. | The Arab Assassin Is Captured. I spotted a place, came down, and j j waited until 4 a.m., and then, as the moment I touched the water I- dawn came, we took oflT, and by re- made straight for this bank and ran , tracing my route ot the previous day my floats high and dry on the shore, jj came to the spot where I felt sure Elliot, Mortally Hurt, Thinks First ; tjje gun had been tired. of the Engine. ; Q^g ^j jj^g officers, who was in aa- I climbed out of the cockpit and; other machine, on a signal from the commanding officer, landed. He as- I the storm might clear. .\3 soon as we i Elliot was in a terrible condition, certaiaed from a local encamptnant ^ alighted, I turned the machine to- Ha sat huddled in tha corner, so pale ' that tribes had been there the pre- : warl the bank and beached it in the that ho vrif almost green. He could ivious day. That started the investiga hlon, skimming low over the river and talcing our direction from the bank, which showed up a little mora clear- ly than anything else through tha one side we had the River Zambezi dust-laden air. flowing toward the brink, and on the: Oust Storm Forces a River Landing. other a dense forest jungle; and for. At last, the air got so thick that I miles around no earthly chance of decided to land on the river and wait finding a cleared space on which to for a little while with the hope that ' nfted the lid of the cabin. land. I gave the engine full throttle, and while it banged and spluttered we soft mud. I shall always remember hardly speak. He just murmure.l to tion which resulted in the ultimate ; Elliott's enthusiasm for the seaplane j^e that he was sure that he hai'. a ' lapture ot the culprit, who later cou- because. as he re- iioi^ tn dis side from which he was fessed. his only excuse being that ha marked, it was so practical and saf**; ' breathing. ro;ildnt have climbed away and headed for our air- drome at Livingstone. Fortunately the carburetor cleared itself ot the at that moment, drops ot water, and once more our motor began to purr smoothly. j we could take refuge at any moment ^ j managed to lift hini in my arms ' he had had any idea that he was All the way through .\frlca we sur- oa the water beneath us. ; out of the cabin, then on to the wings tag to be found out. veyed the possibilities tor air routes, j There was a police hut near by and and so down to the floats. I some ot these tribes have been In and finally reached Cape Town with the native sergeant in charge, after! There is one little epUoda which I ' ^jje habit ot raiding the villages Id the flrst airplane to make the cross- i putting a guard in our machine, took shall never forget: it goes to prove : ^^^^^ p^^^.^ ^^f ^^^ world for centuries, continent fiight. Then , after a brief , us inside where, sheltered from the ' ' " ' "•" - ' "-'- ''- ' ommitted the crime II o I Jaguar. In order to negotiate easily | overhaul of the motor, we turned dust, we rested on native beds that the high-altitude airdromes in the [ about and flew home, making the re- : were quickly put up for us. Tropics, where the atmosphere is turn trip in 15 days. 1 He then sent a horseman off. with much rarefied. It was necessary to It was barely three months later the note that I gave him. to the near- when we again set out on another ] est telegraph station, so that the long flight of survey. This time It authorities would know of our where- have the extra horsepower. We had traveled nearly 3,000 miles up tUe River Nile from the Mediter- ranean coast, yet at Mongalla we were only about 1,000 feet abore sea level. In the next two or three hun- dred miles, however, the ground rose suddenly, and at Jinja, on the shores of Lake Victoria, we found ourselvee on the high plateau of central Africa, more than 4,000 feet above sea leveL Owing to the heat, the altitude and other local conditions, the density of the atmosphere was very different how devoted Elliot was to his Job. ; jj^ recently they have had their __ It so happened that, with our air- 1 tivtiles curtailed by the Royal Air cooled engine, the bottom cylinders ; Force. Thus many have no love for were upside down In order to pre- ; airplanes, and this, I suppose, was vent the oil from draining into them j the animus back ot the action, when the engine wasn't running; it; j^fj^^ ^j^jg ,„rrible tragedy, which '••as necessary to turn the oil off iai- nj^.-int the loss of one of the world's abouts and progress, .\fter this wa mediately the etiglne stopped. There- slept from 9.30 to noon, then enjoyed fore, one ot Elliot's jobs on landing a refreshing meal of tea and melon. | was to turn the oil o5 when the mo- ; .\t about 'i o'clock the storm had \ tor stoppeii. As I had him in my cleared somewhat, so we decided to arms, staggering down on the floats, ' make another attempt. , he turned to me and said, "Don't for Sky and Water Melt Into One, | get to turn the oil off." We took off safely and continued from that ot northern Europe. At siddeeley Jaguar engine was to be Australia and return, but Instead of going with an airplane wa decided to do the Job with a seaplane. A Fight to Australia With the Engine That Flew to the Cape. This meant very little alteration In our outflt, however, for all we did , was to take our Identical De Havll- We took off satelv and continued "^""^ ''*' * "*'*• •"'"ing agonies. Und type 50. that had already dona down the Buphrafee. but after about : l**'"'!^^ *'''® '" ^^^^^ *'^<^ y" ^^ the Rangoon and Cape fllghU. and fit 1 50 miles wo ran Into another bad ': '^°"'** remember to tell me to perform it out with a pair of Shorts' duralu- dust storm. As we neared the head ot]^« routine necessary to maintain mln all-metal floats. Using the same [the great Hammar Lake I could see ^** aircraft: ,^ ^ I had to lay Elliot down on the mud times the air in central Africa on soine of the landing grounds was equivalent to the atmosphere at 10,- 000 feet In England, and It was here that we found the need for our extra horsepower In ot]der to take off and climb away on the rarefled air. Near JlnJa we saw the Rlpon Falls, the source of the White Nile .and the only outlet to the great Lake Victoria. Flying Through the Mists of Victoria Falls 50 Feet Above the Brink. Of our Journeys through Tanganyi- ka and Northern Rhodesia there Is no space to tell in this article. But we cannot pass by the Victoria Falls without describing how the Zambezi, which Is a mile and a quarter wide at this point, flows gently on Its way and tha Malay Peninsula. We wanted to find out whether It would be pos- sible to fly through the torrential rains of the Burma coast, thus mak- ing our survey report all the more sound. Tragedy Mars the Australian Flight. The Australian flight was marred by disaster. Arthur Elliott, my cap- and when seen from an airplane ' able and ever loyal engineer, lost his seems suddenly to disappear Into a life, dying in the hospital at Barsa, in crack In the earth. This great African river falls for 360 to 400 f(iet Into a narrow chasm. Iraq. For some unknown reason, possibly the result of overwork In preparing In the center of this cleft Is the only tor the flight, I had been suffering outlet, a narrow gorge through which from depression, both mental and , all the mighty waters have to escape. On this flight to Cape Town I had with me a professional cinemato- grapher, Emmott, in addition to xaj engineer ot the England-to-lndia trip. physical, ever Rochester. Elliott, on the other hand, had been most cheerful. j Wa took off from Baghdad In the I early morning, with the intention ot | finest aircraf'aiaintenanco engineers, 1 did not want to continue the flight, but cables received from England, es- ipecially those from Sir Samuel Hoara. Sir Charles Wakefield, and from my wife, all expressing sympathy, urged me to proceed. I decided that i would cotnplete the job. The Air Force sent me a substitute niechanlc. Sergeant Ward, of the Royal XiT Force, who was serving with his squadron near Basra. .\nd so, a fortnight later, we continued the journey. Owing to the lack of sunshine be- youd Iraq, we fuund it difilcuit to get any aerial pictures on the .\ustralian flight, and it was not until we anivod in Java that we met with regular sun- shine. I shall always have a. vivid memory of our arrival in Melbourne, where i more than 130.000 people had gather- were traveling at about 100 miles an; ouicklv we went to another native i «<! ^° "n^et us. It was with dltilculty hour. 1 felt that if I went out over ; house, and this time I put my foot In that we could find space enough to the open lake I might run the risk ot the door and took the Qrst bed that I 5^^ down on the airdrome, for wo h.id flying into the water, owing to the I could find. | changed over from a seaplane to similarity of color in every direction! i think the naUves were frightened ; '^''lee's on arrival at Darw.n. in north- and the absence of any visible hori ' at the sight of blood, as we had dit- ' ^""^ Australia. Bon. ruder these conditions it was I acuity in getting them to help us. I " >t had not been for the police necessary for me to hug the swampy | very soon we had lifted Elliot on to ! ^n'i ^he Australian Air Force I shud- shore line ot the lake, so that I might : the Improvised stretcher and had him!'**'" '» think ot what might have been have a view of some sort of land that; on board the launch, and tea minutes \ o"»" '^te had the enthusiastic crowd would give me my equilibrium. later he was inside the manager's Kot hold of us. And so we found ourselves ligzajg- bungalow, with cool air and all hands. Torrential Rains Impede Return working. I to London, Tho doctor arrived and all that | .j-],^ homeward Journey, when our could be done was done. It could not ' ^.^^ft ^as once more converted back have been more than an hour and a ' that had , that It was going to be most difficult I done the Cape flight, we took off from I for me to And my wa.v, especially if 1 the River Medway at Rochester, 33 ' i wont over the open water. The air ', miles east of London, on our 28,000- above mo, owing to the sand storm, 1 mile cruise to Australia and back. was a dirty mud color, and the water [ It was difficult to get pictures oa beneath was tha same. In tact, all ; the .\ustrallan flight, because we had [ around there was sand and one could purposely chosen to fly through the ' not see more than 100 yards ahead. I dry weather periodâ€" that Is, the hot { An Explosion In the Cabin, weather In Iraq and India, combined j y.,^j, ^j^,, p^^^ visibility, it w„ ' bank and get him some cotton wool \ from our flrst-aid bag. 1 did what 1 j could to dress his wounds. There was | a hole in his left side beneath the | arm, as well as in the arm itself. • I wanted to get a stretcher and ran to a house where the natives : closed the door In my face. Just at | that moment a launch came along i and In it were some offlciald ot the !:'^.r..r3r" .!!.,^'l^.!.yr;'<n-t difficult to fly ,especi-a!ly as we j Anglo-Per.lnn Oil Co. ing In and out along this swampy shore, feeling our way around the southern edge of tha lake in an ea- since the start at ' '•e"^"'- '" Set through that dust storm and hoping there would be clear air beyond. and while EmmoU took the motion following the course ot the Euphrates pictures, Elliott used to try to take to Basraâ€" near the head ot the Pei^ | the still plcturea. Whan w had slan Quit. I had ^t felt fit to start ' flown beyond the talla tha sight was at the early hour of 5 a.m. Elliott and \ so magnificent that wo decided to come down low and take a close-up picture of the brink. This manoeurre was Interfered with br the contlnunl banks of spray, which kept rising and completely en- several ot the Air Force boys had been looking over the machine while | I endeavored to pull myself together. | By S o'clock I was able to ollmb Into ! the ship, but was feeling Tory weak. I Wa headed southward from the ' Teloped our machine in heavy clouds Rtrar Tigris, seeking the Euphrates, ot mist aa we aklmmed along only SO I It was fair weather when we start- feet abore tho brink, ed, but after we had gone about ISO While we were flying at thia low miles we ran into a dust storm, which altitude orer this perilous country, ' became worse and worse as wo pro- our engine faltered and started to ceeded. Finally, in order to And my splutten Elliott and I both realised way, I was forced to come down to Home Accident Deaths Elxceed Motor Car Toll More people are killed and ii>- jured by falls, bums, euflfocation and poisons in their homee every year tl^an suffer death or injury in automobile accidents, accv^rding to figures compiled by the National Safety Council. This was especial- ly emphasized last January, when a total of 1,700 persons were killed by and in automobiles iti the Un- ited St-atjs and 2,0'iO met their deaths in honw accidents, accord- ing the cour.cii's figures- half after the accident that Elliot was in the hospital and all help possible was being rendered. Then I turned to my machine, which had been tow- ed up info a backwater near tho Air Force depot In Basra. The Mystery Solvedâ€" A Bullet. The commanding ofllcor asked me to reilate tha experience and I told him exactly what had happened, and beforel finished my story two young oflloers left the room. Soon they re- turned and a.4ked me to follow them down to the machine. "Mrst," they asked, "why should a gas pipe, with no pressure in it what- ever burst?" I I couldn't imagine how It had oc- curred. Then ihey pointed to a hole In the side of tho cabin and told me to look to a seaplane, was beset with dlfflcul- ; ties, especially when we were caught ; in tho monsoon storms in tho region ot Victoria Point. Hero the rain tell ; five inches a day, and at times it waa impossible to see more than 20 yards â-  ahead. Whereas the rainfall In Eng- : land averages about 30 Inches over 'the twelve months, the annual rain- fall along tho Burma coast, where It all comes within a period ot abont ' five months, is anytliing up to S0# Inches! ! At last we got back to London, aa4 ' ended our 23.000-raile flight ot surrey by landing on the Thames oppoalto the Houses ot Parliament. I look forward to the day when 11 will be possible for all mankind ta enjoy the delights ot flying such at have been iny privilege durlrg tha paat seven yean. j.Hilwrri 'i ii:; '