THE AIR RACE TO AUSTRALIA
By SQUADRON-LEADER P. R. BURCHALL
IT is safe to say that the Air Race to Australia, which starts from Mildenhall on Saturday, will be the outstanding feature in the Melbourne Centenary celebra- tions. Sir MacPherson Robertson has made a mag- nificent gift of £100,000 " to register his pride in being a citizen of Victoria," and no part of that sum is being turned to better purpose than the £16,000 which will constitute the prizes in the Centenary Air Race. The record air speed stands at slightly over 400 m.p.h., and at this speed Melbourne could be reached from London in 29 hours. There will, of course, be a big gulf between this speed and that which will be reached in the race, and there must be moreover another gulf between racing speed and the speed of regular commercial air transport. But when all allowances are made there will undoubtedly be a tendency to regard the Australia Race almost as a criterion by which to assess the efficiency of British commercial aviation.
In the matter of lag between record speeds and speeds normally attained in commercial operation, civil aviation compares surprisingly well with other transport systems, for while speeds approaching 200 m.p.h. are often achieved on some civil air routes, commercial speeds on land and on sea never get nearly as high as half the records. Speed is the essence of commercial aviation. Other nations are recognizing this obvious fact more responsively than we are. The cautious British policy of slow but sure may be sound and wise and satis- factory, but when American speeds are nearly double ours, and when Holland aims at flying to the Dutch East Indies in half the time that we do, and when a French company offers to provide a service from London to Cape Town. in 41 days compared with the British time of 10'days, there is sonic justification for thinking that the British service might well be accelerated. For, as the Prince of Wales has observed, " People do not fly in aeroplanes because the" seats are com- fortable or to look at the view."
It is certain that the race will focus attention on this question of commercial air-route speed and that com- mercial aviation will benefit accordingly. In order that the race should yield as much value as possible in this respect, every encouragement has been given to make it. truly international in character, and for this reason the American competitors will be particularly welcome. No fewer than fourteen countries have provided between them an entry of more than sixty aeroplanes. Of these it is expected that not more than two dozen will actually start from Mildenhall near Newmarket at dawn on Satur- day next for the greatest air race in history. Freak racing planes will be ineligible, for every machine must satisfy the air-worthiness conditions of competent licensing authorities, and the race will be so much the more useful in consequence.
All kinds of technical problems will be made clearer by performances in the race, but they cannot well be discussed in detail here. Let it suffice to mention that some of the main problems concern the relative merits of single- versus multi-engined machines, of monoplanes versus biplanes, the usefulness and reliability of propellers with variable pitch, the value of retractable under- carriages, and the efficiency of navigational instruments for flying at night, and in cloud or fog, and over feature- less country and long stretches of open sea. How far it will be of advantage to sacrifice some degree of speed in order to carry sufficient fuel to provide a long range is a question that will vary for each competitor, and it will be more accurately answered after the Race performances have been analysed.
But of all the problems the most interesting will be the behaviour of the human machine, for human stamina reaches amazingly high levels when the incentive is sufficient. The race will get more difficult as it progresses and the reaction of the weary competitors to the danger and difficulty of crossing 500 miles of open Timor Sea, and to the navigation of the equally difficult stretch across the almost featureless Aus- tralian continent may well be the decisive factor. The risks involved are by no means inconsiderable and the human endurance that will be exhibited will evoke both astonishment and admiration. Landing at night on strange and none too satisfactory aerodromes calls for a high degree of skill at the best of times, and forced landings in territory where no aerodromes exist, or descents into the sea, are not outside the bounds of probability. Flying can be a monotonous business and the struggle will be between the urge to push on and the tired brain's demand for sleep. If an average speed of 200 m.p.h. is obtained, the flying-time in the race will amount to 58 hours. Allowing two hours at each of the five compulsory stopping places at Baghdad, Allahabad, Singapore, Darwin and Charleville, for control and refuelling, the race is likely to be won in the almost frightening time of less than four days.
Concurrent with, but independent of, the main contest there is a handicap section with compulsory stops every 500 miles or so. The very high cost of entering a machine possessing any possible chance of winning the main speed race has naturally kept down the number of entrants, but the less expensive opportunity of com- peting in the handicap' section has gathered a larger number of competitors, . and by directing attention to the useful potentialities of relatively inexpensive craft will increase the interest and value of the event. Competitors could enter for either or both races.
With the present available data it would be foolish to attempt any forecast of the result. The winner will certainly enjoy good luck and will need in addition to possess the happiest combination of high speed, long range, mechanical reliability and human skill. Among the eleven probable British starters the main hopes are perhaps centred in the three de Havilland Comets specially designed for the event. They will probably show atop speed of about 230 m.p.h. together with an unusually long range. The Dutch, who are familiar with most of the route through operating Hair East Indies service, will hope for success with their Pander S.4, which recently flew the 9,000 miles to Batavia in 46 hours. The seventeen American entries, originally outnumbering those from any other country, from one cause or another have dwindled to five, but they will put up a formidable challenge, and Colonel Roscoe Turner in a Boeing, machine will show how one of the fastest American trans-continental service aeroplanes compares with other entrants. The Irish Sweepstakes authorities are taking a sporting chance with Colonel Fitzmaurice in a Bellanca, and he may well prove to be a dark horse. Most regrettable among those entrants who have dropped out are Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, whose performances on the Australian route . will long be remembered, and Wiley Post, the American wizard of the air whose exploits have earned for him the admira- tion of the whole world of flying.
There is no remaining space to consider the effect of the race on air-mail policy, on the very real political handicaps under which : international air routes are operated, and the meteorological and navigational lessons that will be learned ; but the race will certainly bring fresh interest to bear, and fresh influences to work on these subjects, and on the not far-distant establishment of the Atlantic air route between Europe and America.
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