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Nice. I love history like that. The Bristol Blenheim has a cruise speed of 198 mph. Assuming friendly wind direction this will be about 52-54 flight hours.FWIW as a baby I flew from the UK to Singapore in the mid 1950s and we used a Handley Page Hermes with four Bristol Hercules engines to drag us along. It took four days I am told and some of the stops were Brindisi and Karachi plus some more.
HiEarlier this year I posted a possible route to fly twin-engined RAF bombers from Britain to Singapore in early to mid 1941, Why so few single engine Hercules applications?.
Here's the route I chose using RAF airfields then in use, A map from Great Circle Mapper. I used the Bristol Blenheim's 1,460 mile range, but we should consider Bostons, Blenheims, Marylands, Hudsons, Wellingtons, etc.
1,000 miles Cornwall ,UK around neutral Spain to Gibraltar
1,870 miles to Mallam Aminu Kano in Nigeria (was used interwar for passenger flights and as a ferry base during WW2)
1,140 miles to Sudan
1,325 miles to RAF Aden
975 miles to RAF Oman
1,100 miles to RAF Bombay
920 miles to Trincomalee, Ceylon
1,335 miles to RAF Butterworth, Malaya
376 miles to RAF Seletar, Singapore
Assuming 100 to 130 bombers were to be flown what would it take to pull this 10,200 mile transit flight off? Fuel and spares will need to be prepared for in advance enroute. What of the torpedoes and bombs for these aircraft, do they bring them along and thus impact range, or are there sufficient stores in Malaya? We must put aside that if 100-130 bombers are available that they may be of better use in North Africa or elsewhere. RAF Malaya Command has asked for aircraft, and this is our attempt to get them. Was such as long ferry flight of a fleet of twin engined aircraft ever attempted?
I'm posting this here rather than in What'If as I'm not asking what if we did this, but instead what would actually be necessary when considering such a mission. But Mods go ahead and move to What'If as you decide.
You think so? 50-60 flight hours isn't a huge period of use. TBO was about 3,000 hours for Bristol radials, IIRC.I can't speak to routing except to suggest those planes are probably going to be pretty tired on arrival, and in need of refurbishment.
You think so? 50-60 flight hours isn't a huge period of use. TBO was about 3,000 hours for Bristol radials, IIRC.
They'd need some work, sure, but not a refurbishment. Ferry time was probably the least stressful type of operation on an engine - continuous power settings and long legs.But you're exposing the engines, and planes, to a variety of salt-water, desert, and dusty regions in rapid sequence, and then wanting them to do combat. It's not about the transit time, it's about the transit conditions.
They'd need some work, sure, but not a refurbishment. Ferry time was probably the least stressful type of operation on an engine - continuous power settings and long legs.
The Mossie we had here was put into storage immediately upon receiving it from ferry flights - it had a total of 85 hours. the inside of the engines was just broken in. So unless the engines were tired to begin with (and you wouldn't be using tired engines for this type of operation), I'd think they'd just need their routine 50 hour inspections carried out.
I'm not a technician in any fields related to Aviation, but somehow, IMO, by 1941, A long and big area from Egypt to India was under British and other Allied powers control, why not any stops in any of these countries???Earlier this year I posted a possible route to fly twin-engined RAF bombers from Britain to Singapore in early to mid 1941, Why so few single engine Hercules applications?.
Here's the route I chose using RAF airfields then in use, A map from Great Circle Mapper. I used the Bristol Blenheim's 1,460 mile range, but we should consider Bostons, Blenheims, Marylands, Hudsons, Wellingtons, etc.
1,000 miles Cornwall ,UK around neutral Spain to Gibraltar
1,870 miles to Mallam Aminu Kano in Nigeria (was used interwar for passenger flights and as a ferry base during WW2)
1,140 miles to Sudan
1,325 miles to RAF Aden
975 miles to RAF Oman
1,100 miles to RAF Bombay
920 miles to Trincomalee, Ceylon
1,335 miles to RAF Butterworth, Malaya
376 miles to RAF Seletar, Singapore
This area was in heavy combat with the Italians and DAK. There's a good chance the bombers could be damaged, would stress the already stretched supplies of RAF North Africa, or attempt to be seized by the local RAF.I'm not a technician in any fields related to Aviation, but somehow, IMO, by 1941, A long and big area from Egypt to India was under British and other Allied powers control, why not any stops in any of these countries???
I think using any of these places, would be much more safe and also shorter journey.
There's not much salt at 20,000 ft. Engine oil absorbs salt out of the air, and as long as its changed at the normal interval there isn't a problem.Even with salt air over the Atlantic or Indian oceans, hot high-altitude airfield ops in Africa, and so on?
Good point. If we focus on fuel and range the route I chose should work.You'd have to send ordinance by sea prior. Otherwise you're flying them 10,200 miles each way to drop one load of bombs?
Malta is under siege, not exactly a good marshalling point for refueling and ferrying a fleet of bombers.It's 1,103 miles from Gibraltar to Malta as the crow flies...