Abstract
MBS. MOLLISON compieted her flight from Cape Town to London by the East Coast route (see NATURE, May 16, p. 821) on May 15, when she landed at Croy-don at 1.36 p.m.; her time for the flight was 4 days 16 hours 17 minutes, which is more than a day and a half better than the previous record. The time for flying from England to southernmost Africa and back has thus been reduced to eleven days, three of which were given to rest in Cape Town. This flight, in a Percival ‘Gull’ aeroplane with a De Havilland ‘Gipsy Six’ engine, inspires an interesting examination of the technical development of air travel since the first flight between London and South Africa was accomplished. The pioneer flight was made by Wing-Commander H. A. Van Ryneveldt in a Vickers Vimy, two Rolls Royce engines of total 750 horse-power, taking 45 days, early in 1920. The increase of speed that primarily has made this possible comes from progress in aerodynamic design in reducing resistance that absorbs horse-power in overcoming it, and improvements in engine design, both in efficiency giving low fuel consumption and reduction of weight per horse-power. Thus, it has been possible to increase the air endurance of the average aeroplane, giving longer flight stages between stops for refuelling.
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England to South Africa Flights. Nature 137, 858–859 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137858b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137858b0