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"TMOliver" wrote:
The awful truth.... Them dannable Tscherman N*zis and the Hirohito's aggressive pursuit of the East Asian Coprosperity Sphere sealed the doom of the flying boat and sea plane by causing we Merkins to pave or at worst lay steel mat over the majority of the Western World's (and some Eastern's too) long flat places. When there were runways everywhere, planes that floated were relegated to niche market status, quaint curiosites in the midst of a dynamic world. Slightly off-topic. When my brother-in-law (then to be) immigrated out here in 1952 it was a 5 day odyssey aboard a flying boat which stopped at all sorts of interesting places along the way. They landed on Lake Victoria in the late afternoon and had to leave very early in the morning because the heat would rob the engines of the required power to lift off. They finally ended up on the Vaal dam just south of Johannesburg. Must have been close to the swansong of the Empire flying boat service. In-flight movie was sliding back your window and watching the herds of animals as you flew over them at a couple of thousand feet. Way back in 1960 I was privileged to watch a French squadron, 27F Flotille, using Martin Marlin flyingboats operating out of the lagoon next to my home. They had flown from Dakar to Langebaan non-stop some 3600 nautical miles which was considered excellent for that time. On their return they used JATO - the first time it was ever used in South Africa - to get airborne. Also doing so at first light and using an enormous run of 5 to 6km run to get airborne. One of the boats suffered a JATO bottle explosion which ripped a substantial hole in her side. It was slipped at Langebaan using the gear from the Sunderland squadron that used to operate there (and which was still in storage there) and a borrowed tractor to get her up the slipway. Eugene L Griessel Old age is when you find yourself using one bend-over to pick up two things. - I usually post only from Sci.Military.Naval - |
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