Road Transport Solves Problems for Civil Aviation
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TWO remarkable journeys with awkward loads have recently been made by road transport vehicles on behalf of civil aviation.
Last Sunday the new Armstrong Whitworth jet-propelled "flying wing" started its journey from Baginton, near Coventry, to Boscombe Down, Hamp shire., where it is to be tested. The centre section and fuselage, which are 16 ft. wide, 23 ft. high, and 36 ft. long, were carried by a "Queen Mary." Three other similar articulated vehicles, carrying spare parts and equipment, and a mobile crane, were included in the convoy, which travelled at an average speed of 10 m.p.h.
The work was done directly by the Armstrong Whitworth concern, and the company's transport manager, Mr. P. Lake, was in charge of the arrangements. The route lay through Banbury, Oxford, Abingdon, Henley, Maidenhead, Windsor, Ascot, Bagshot, Hook, Sutton Scotney, and Stockbridge. Cooperation with 12 police forces was necessary in preparing the itinerary, and R.A.F. motorcyclists acted as escorts to the convoy.
Road transport also solved an awk
ward problem for British Overseas Airways Corporation when the flying-boat base at Durban was closed and activities were transferred to Vaaldam, 435 miles away.
A 10-ton launch for towing flyingboats had to be shipped from Durban to Vaaldam, but there was no convenient water route. The boat was too large for transport by rail, and road haulage provided the only solution. After searching for three weeks, the Corporaticin found a suitable trailer chassis, on which was built a skeleton cradle.
The launch was loaded by submerg-. ing the trailer and rnanceuvring the boat into position above it. The trailer was then hauled out of the water and the launch bedded itself safely in its cradle. At Vaaldam the launch was floated by reversing the process that had been employed at Durban.
Two Fordsort 15-cwt. vehicles in tandem were employed to haul the trailer, which, with its load, weighed about 20 tons. In crossing the Biggersburg Mountains, additional assistance had to be obtained from a road-making grader.