WesWorld

Having Breton and Braton in the same group was confusing... The Mexicans pull out some tequila and made sure to point out that the "100mph" slower airplane won the air race...

Nice write-up, Hood. Will be looking forward to more.

Regardless of the randomness of the matchups, pilots who fly together regularly, have similar aircraft, and talk the same language are going to have a massive advantage. Stay as a pair to provide mutual cover, split up the opposition and take them one at a time. Main problem is that real-life tactics won't work here as the aircraft don't get destroyed but are able to continue.

BOMBING
The targets this year were one well camouflaged emplacement with a fake fighter-sized plane inside and one tank as a mobile target. Each pilot could freely choose which targets to hit and he had two runs to drop his bombs and two strafing passes with the gun camera on the aircraft. Bombing height and method of delivery was left to the pilot’s discretion. The bombs were two 12.5lb smoke bombs. The weather was fine with high cloud and a gentle northerly wind. Two 37mm AA guns were firing practice tracer rounds to put off the pilots and generally show if their bombing runs were effective or not.
The pilots entered for the bombing contest (limited to fighters that can carry bombs and have trained pilots) bombed in number order.
Planes: 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 23, 25, 26, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 41, 44, 46, 47 and 48

Major de Aero Valdez bombed first; he made a 50 degree dive from 15,000 feet, making his aim at the emplacement. He dropped his bombs at 700 feet and pulled out at 400 feet. Both bombs overshot by 3 metres. He made two excellent strafing runs however against the tank. Major de Aero Carlos Cisco followed with a similar dive from 17,000 feet and he dropped his bombs at 900 feet but missed by a large margin. He made one good and one fair strafing run. Captain Peters in the twin-engined CAC-39 made a forty degree dive and dropped one bomb at 1,500 feet which undershot by nine metres. He then jinked to avoid the tracer fire and made another run in at 40 feet at high speed which scored a direct hit with the second bomb. He then made two excellent strafing passes against the tank with good jinking to avoid the AA tracer fire.
Rear Admiral Breton was next to make his bombing run. He made a fifty degree dive from 18,000 feet releasing both bombs at 14,000 feet which resulted in one near miss and one miss 15m over. He then made two strafing run against the emplacement, which were both rated as very good. First Lieutenant Joachim Edid made a seventy degree dive pulling out at 1,500 feet. One bomb hit the emplacement and the other was just 2 metres short. He made two very low strafing runs against the tank with some good defensive manoeuvring. Captain Antilles made a low fast pass at 100 feet dropping one bomb first on the emplacement which bounced over; he then strafed the tank while making his second run which scored a near miss at just 50 feet altitude. Antilles then made another strafing run against the emplacements; both strafing runs were judged as accurate. Comandante Alencar made a very low fast attack, one bomb was 4 metres short and the made a direct hit on the dummy plane. He then made one good strafing run. Capitão Santos flying the other Brazilian Milan tried some ‘skip-bombing’ and dropped both bombs so they bounced into the emplacement, unfortunately his timing was slightly off and both tumbled over the emplacement but landed within 5 metres. He made two excellent strafing runs on the moving tank.

Thai Navy pilot Captain Kamol Arthit being a bombing specialist was eager to repeat his performance this year and made two dives, one at fifty and one at sixty degrees and both bombs scored a direct hit on the emplacement. Both strafing runs were against the tank and they were judged to be very good. His teammate Jainukul in the Fw190 made a shallow thirty degree dive and both bombs landed just short of the target but were within three metres. He made one strafing run against the emplacement. The AA gun crew however judged that they shot him down owing to his poor approach without sufficient jinking. Oberleutnant Heinrich Bär made a very low 50 feet attack and strafed and bombed the emplacement on each run, the first attack was very good and the bomb hit the plane inside the emplacement, the second bomb was three metres over. His teammate Feldwebel Anton Hafner made his attack on the tank, both bombs missed by about four metres but it was an impressive performance against a moving target. The strafing runs were judged as excellent. The Yugoslav pilot Captain Mihailo Bodi dived at 50 degrees and released both bombs at 800 feet just pulling out in time but both bombs were a near-miss. His first strafing run against the tank was average but the second was rated very good. Lieutenant Djorde Popovic followed this up with a seventy degree dive releasing both bombs at 1,000 feet but both bombs went wide. His strafing run against the tank was rated as very good.
Sauvage flying the Mistral made a very elegant diving attack and dropped his bombs in a shallow dive, one undershot and one was just 1 metre short. He then made two excellent high-energy strafing runs with good accuracy. Comandante Carlos Matta made a fast pass strafing and dropping both bombs on the same run. The bombs both overshoot, one by as much as 10 metres. The strafing was judged t e accurate though. His teammate Mistral made a fifth degree dive from 16,000 feet and made a rather low pull-out but both bombs were rated as hits. Both strafing runs were judged as good but judge’s points were lost due to his rather flat approach near the AA gun.
Lt. Colonel Tyrus "Bulldog" Hadrian dived at 60 degrees angle releasing one bomb at 3,000 feet which missed the first emplacement by 12 metres. The second dive was at 55 degrees and he released at 800 feet this time scoring a near-miss of 3 metres. His first strafing pass against the emplacement was excellent but the second against the moving tank was judged inaccurate. Yarbay Gökçen made an excellent dive from 15,000 feet releasing both bombs from 2,000 feet and both bombs drifting some 16 metres wide; her strafing runs against the tank were rated good. Vecihi Hürku followed and made a horizontal bombing run at 50 feet but the skip-bombing again was misjudged and both bombs leapt harmlessly over the target. Both strafing runs were judged to be excellent. Captain Kenan Sunay made a 70 degree dive and dropped his bombs at 2,800 feet and both missed. He only made one strafing run against the tank which was judged as being good. Tural in the other Sp-40 made two combined strafes and bomb drops against the tank, the first bomb landing 5m short and the other was further away but it was a fine effort against a moving target. The strafing was judged as very good.

The Italian Barton made a fast pass dropping one bomb which was a near-miss and then pulled up to make a shallow dive with the second bomb. It overshot but was within 5 metres and his strafing was judged very good. Sacconi attempted a skip-bombing run and he got both bombs to land directly into the emplacement. He made one excellent strafing run. The American Boyington made good use of his rugged Corsair to make a seventy degree dive to score one hit and one near miss and he made two excellent strafing runs against the tank. Porucik Lidiya Ivanova in the rugged Fairey Firefly entered the dive at 15,000 feet releasing both bombs from 2,750 feet and both bombs drifted some 18 metres wide; her strafing runs against the tank were rated excellent as the Firefly proved a stable platform. Captain Huber made his first ever bombing contest appearance at Talons. He missed with both bombs from shallow dives but made one good strafing run. Gehrig did a little better with one near-miss within 4 metres and he made two very good strafing passes on the emplacement. Kapitán Karel Kuttelwascher was last to compete and he dropped his bombs in a dive from 2,000 feet but both bombs landed about 15m over, both strafing runs were very low and judged good. The top ten point scoring places in order went to; Arthrit, Sacconi, Santos, Mistral, Boyington, Edid, Alencar, Bär, Peters and Sauvage.


FINAL SCORE
After totting up the points and successes the top three pilots were;
1) RCNAS Captain Reginald Antilles was awarded the Gold Talon Eagle Trophy
2) Capitano Sacconi was awarded the Silver Albatross Trophy
3) Capitaine Edmond Marin La Meslee was awarded the Pilot’s Silver Plate
The Gold Eagle Winged Trophy for the Grand Duel Winner was awarded to Lieutenant Ilmari Juutilainen
The judges also awarded a Silver Medal to, Vecihi Hürku, Enseigne Roger Sauvage, Yarbay Sabiha Gökçen and Major de Aero Cisco whose skill enabled them to compete to a very high standard.
The Aviones de Militar Trophy for outstanding piloting skill was awarded to Flt. Lt. Jonnie Johnson whose piloting skill enabled him to reach the Grand Duel and come second in that event despite having one of the slowest and least powerful fighters at Talons.
The Lieutenant Y. Yucuman Memorial Trophy to the pilot who succeeded against the worst odds has been awarded again to Captain Kamol Arthit who despite his relatively low-powered fighter still flew with skill and kept on going despite the odds against him and succeeding in the bombing completion to achieve a respectable score.

The points table:

RCNAS Captain Reginald Antilles 45
Capitano Sacconi 42
Capitaine Edmond Marin La Meslee 38
Vecihi Hürku 37
Enseigne Roger Sauvage 33
Yarbay Sabiha Gökçen 32
Major de Aero Cisco 29
Flt. Lt. Jonnie Johnson 27
Capitano Barton 27
Capitão Manoel Santos 25
Capitan de Corbeta Patricio Mistral 25
Comandante Gaspar Alencar 24
Captain Kenan Sunay 23
Flt. Capt. Bertus Brase 22
Flt. Capt. Emil Trubshaw 22
Lieutenant Ilmari Juutilainen 21
Flt. Lt. Bob Stanford Tuck 20
First Lieutenant Joachim Edid 20
Capt. Andreas Schrieber 20
Oberleutnant Heinrich Bär 19
Lt. Colonel Tyrus "Bulldog" Hadrian 19
Second Lieut Gregory Boyington 19
Rear Admiral Carlos Castillo Breton 18
Major de Aero Valdez 15
Captain Kamal Arthrit 15
Colonel Fabris "Jester" Lavidicus 15
Kapitan Dobri Kolarov 15
RCNAS Commander Mark Stele 14
Stabsfeldwebel Anton Hafner 13
Lt. Bo Qvist 13
Capt. José Fernandez-Hermosa 13
Comandante Carlos Matta 13
Flight Lieutenant Nurettin Tural 12
Porucik Lidiya Ivanova 12
Capitan Maurice Huber 12
Captain Robert (Bobby) Gibbes 11
Major Amnuay Jainukul 10
Episminagos Ionnis Leventis 10
Lt. Marcel Gehrig 10
Lieutenant Djorde Popovic 9
Major Henry Pillichody 9
Second Lieut. Charles H. MacDonald 9
Captain Peters 8
Capt. Sanchez-Arjona Courtoy 8
Teniente Delfín Torres Duran 8
Captain Mihailo Bodi 7
Kapitán Karel Kuttelwascher 7
Group Captain Otto Larsen 6


Antonio Allegro’s Press Cuttings

Past Winners
1931
Colonel Oonishi "Crash" Manzo won the Gold Talon Eagle Trophy
Colonel "Oni" Goto Sachio won the Silver Albatross Trophy
Captain Dominic Balbossa who won the Pilot’s Silver Plate

1932
Lt Colonel Ringu Yii won the Gold Talon Eagle Trophy
Maj. Gen Carron-Gomez won the Silver Albatross Trophy
de Benardi won the Pilot’s Silver Plate
Argentine pilot 1st Lieutenant Y. Yucuman was killed during the speed event that year. He had finished his high speed run in the FMA I-100 and looped the loop to please the crowd when his starboard wing dropped and he spun into the ground crashing into a hangar and igniting two parked fuel tankers. His death gave rise to the Lieutenant Y. Yucuman Memorial Trophy.

1933
Engineer Lascurain won the Gold Talon Eagle Trophy
de Benardi won the Silver Albatross Trophy
Marco Alabastro won the Pilot's Silver Plate

1934
Fluglieutenant Werner Moelders won the Gold Talon Eagle Trophy
General Ernst Udet won the Silver Albatross Trophy
Major Doolittle won the Pilot's Silver Plate

1935
Event not held

1936
Lt. Bart Hawk won the Gold Talon Eagle Trophy
Colonel Ling Chunhua won the Silver Albatross Trophy
Flight Capitan Castro won the Pilot’s Silver Plate
That year de Benardi was killed in the FIAT G.50 when his fighter was hit by compressibility problems and his tailplane broke up

1937
Captain C.F. J. Boers & Wing Commander Endress tied on points and so both won a Gold Talon Eagle Trophy
Fluglieutenant Adolph Galland won the Silver Albatross Trophy
Lt. Bart Hawk won the Pilot’s Silver Plate

1938
Colonel Fabris Lavidicus was awarded the Gold Talon Eagle Trophy
Flugkapitan Werner Molders was awarded the Silver Albatross Trophy
Flying Officer T.B McGowan was awarded the Pilot’s Silver Plate

1939
Fluglieutenant Adolph Galland was awarded the Gold Talon Eagle Trophy
General de BA Bergamini was awarded the Silver Albatross Trophy
Fluglieutenant Walter Oesau was awarded the Pilot’s Silver Plate

1940
Tenente Salvi was awarded the Gold Talon Eagle Trophy
Capt. José Fernandez-Hermosa was awarded the Silver Albatross Trophy
Vecihi Hürku was awarded the Pilot’s Silver Plate

Nicely written as always, Hood. Thanks for writing this - I'd not have the interest or patience to do something like it.

3rd and 5th for France - that's a result to be pleased with right there. Though I knew the VG.60 was a hot ship, I'm surprised that the Milan showed to such advantage. The Chileans are pleased with the results, too - one pilot in the top 50% counts as victory in my book.

I agree w/ Brock, nicely done old chap. Huzzah!

Greece is beginning to feel the P.94 may be better suited to an interceptor role than a true fighter. They are, of course, looking forward to the future.

Thanks James, I'm very surprised that Cpt Sacconi made it into second place. It looked like the Centauro wasn't dominating as much this year from the write-ups.

Antonio Allegro’s Heavenly Pursuits Press Cuttings

Just for fun the judges added up which fighters were propelled by whose engines to discover the most popular engine manufacturers.

Spartan 8, Rolls-Royce 7, BMW 5, Hispano-Suiza 3, Pratt & Whitney 3, Gnome Rhone 3, Orenda 2, Mitsubishi 2, FIAT 2, Daimler-Benz 2, Saurer 2, SAAB 2, Ripon 1, Continental 1, Isotta-Franchini 1, Minerva Avia (licence built Hispano-Suiza) 1, Stuart 1, BMG 1 and Austral 1.
This year Spartan has topped the charts again with an increase in Rolls-Royce engines and a modest increase for BMW. Hispano-Suiza’s share has shrunk but there are several smaller firms now entering the chart. If we included the licence built Minerva Avia engines into Hispano-Suiza’s figures the total would by 4 and if Orenda’s Rolls-Royce based engines were added to its parent the Rolls-Royce would score 9.
Ten nations this year participated with foreign-designed and/or built fighters, the other nations having indigenous aircraft.

The Argentine camp was very confident this year. Not only was this Major de Aero Valdez’s fourth year but now they had the new FMA I-02-II Pulqui alongside the original and with the kind of performance promised in the pre-event warm-ups the team was hoping for a big impact. FMA made sure all the necessary spares were ready and indeed they had a special team of twenty mechanics ready with a huge array of spare parts. This mechanical help was also on offer to other users of the I-02 family. This year the Argentine team claimed seventh and twenty-fourth, a good result given the edge the I-02-II gave Cisco. Valdez did not score as highly as he had hoped but then four other pilots were also flying I-02/ Sp-40 aircraft too. Cisco said of the I-02-II, “it’s a beautiful plane, it flies well with crisp controls and the extra 200hp is like having a sports car pulling you along. It makes the whole fighter much better, overall it feels more energetic and you can tell that the plane was always meant to have this engine.”

The Italian team returned with two new graduates of the Bergamini School and the whole team had the justified belief that they would be taking home some silverware. The Centauro III looked great and the pre-event warm up went very smoothly with plenty of neat ground crews in white overalls on hand to sort any minor snags. Self confidence in the entire team has never been higher and indeed the ground crew managed to win three of the ground crew rugby matches after the day’s events. Second and ninth was a great reward to the team, certainly Italy looks set to continue dominating the top level of this event.

Flt. Lt. Bob Stanford Tuck has taken over command of the team on his second appearance and Flt. Lt. Johnnie Johnson is the newcomer. Both are pilots with RAF Fighter Command. Scoring twenty-fifth and twenty-seventh on the scoreboard last year has had a powerful effect. The Hawker Tornado and Typhoon were ditched this year in favour of the Supermarine Spitfire. This sleek beautifully shaped aircraft with its Rolls-Royce Merlin purring has made a huge impact on the crowds this year and indeed its sleek handling despite its modest performance has made a huge impact on the current generation of newer, but less agile competitors. Designed for the dogfighting age the Spitfire has proven it has the performance in combat to match the newer fighters. The new Mark IB was unable to come to Talons this year but it has vastly improved performance and so promises much for next year. The ground crews again played regular cricket matches organised by the RAF ground crews in between events and a series of international games of Rugby after each day’s events, the champions this year were British ground crew.

Germany has returned with the team from last year. Oberleutnant Heinrich Bär and Feldwebel Anton Hafner are both from Jagdgeschwader 51 and both men know each other very well and so they fly well together as a unit. Scoring twenty-sixth and twenty-ninth wasn’t pleasing last year but the whole camp was as orderly and calm as usual and the technicians talked in hushed tones and the two pilots were confident of success. This year twentieth and twenty-ninth was a partial improvement. Certainly the fielding of other Focke-Wulfs had an impact with more pilots chasing points in the same group and aircraft. The Focke-Wulf is perhaps lacking an edge over some of the opposition, the Iberian team performed rather worse than the German team overall despite their combat skills and the Thai pilot Jainukul, despite his public praise for his Fw-190 “it’s like an angel with a radial engine, it flies well and is a delight to fly,” his thirty-seventh place might not seem that good. Even so it’s a respectable fighter and there is no denying its export success.
The Luftwaffe ground crew brought no less than fifty kegs of beer this year of no less than thirty different types and this got shared out among the various nationalities in the pilot’s bar and the ground crew’s bar. They won the best dressed ground crew prize too with their immaculate uniforms and smart appearance at all times.
Heinkel was happy with the performance of the two Turkish He-100B-6 fighters with more top finishing places. The Turkish team has improved further with a fourth and sixth place (last year was third and twelfth). This correspondent wonders out loud, what could the experienced German pilots do at Talons with a couple of He-100 fighters?

The French team was confident of success this year, La Meslee looked on top of his form, he had the new VG.60 fighter and his new teammate Sauvage was not only exceptional in terms of skill but he had the Milan carrier-based fighter with him. Fewer new types have had so much hype than the VG.60 and MB.1050 and both seem likely to put France back on the map in terms of world-beating fighter designs. The Brazilian team also fielded two new Milans so this new fighter could make a huge impact on its debut year. So a third and fifth place this year was of no surprise. Right from the opening day if you asked anyone in the French team they would have said they could win. The Milan helped give Brazil a tenth and twelfth place finish too thanks to a combination of experience pilots and at long last some competitive fighters. At a time when Britain’s new generation is still perhaps two years away from Talons and the when the Germans are still mired in mid-field performances the French look set to challenge the Italians for the top spot. The French ground crew though played some fine rugby with flair against the other ground crews in-between events and brought with them several cases of wine and this year the Champagne was not only opened but all consumed in one night.

The Atlantean team badly wanted to follow-up l938’s win this year but scored twenty-first and twenty-sixth, much worse than last year’s sixth and seventh. The team seemed convinced that the new Sp-40A based on the I-02-II together with the Sp-35 would give them an unbeatable combination. A mixture of bad luck, indifferent flying and the much tougher nature of Talons this year resulted in one of the worst results ever for what was a few years ago one of the top teams. Lavidicus and Hadrian remained convinced that dogfighting is the best tactical option and that agility should not be sacrificed purely for climb performance but this year fighters like the Milan and VG.60 have taken the Spitfire mix of agility and pace and taken it to a new level. Doubtless they will return next year determined to erase this poor performance.

The South African team returned this year with newer fighters, the F-11C and F-12D, both products of a continual development. The two new pilots in the team, Flt. Capt. Brase and Flt. Capt. Trubshaw are both combat experienced pilots. Not as famous as some of the previous pilots their presence made less impact on the local crowds due to the recent memories of the war. This meant that the team was certainly more welcome and indeed Brase and Trubshaw were eager competitors against each other and they tied on points at the end of the contest to take fifteenth and sixteenth.

Nice writeup, Hood.

Quoted

Originally posted by Hood
Certainly the fielding of other Focke-Wulfs had an impact with more pilots chasing points in the same group and aircraft. The Focke-Wulf is perhaps lacking an edge over some of the opposition, the Iberian team performed rather worse than the German team overall despite their combat skills and the Thai pilot Jainukul, despite his public praise for his Fw-190 “it’s like an angel with a radial engine, it flies well and is a delight to fly,” his thirty-seventh place might not seem that good. Even so it’s a respectable fighter and there is no denying its export success.

Speaking as one of the export customers, I think that a lot of the Fw190's greatest strengths won't be as apparent in a contest of pure performance. The 190's at the head of a class of aircraft that I call "Work Boots" fighters: simple and solid, can take a few dings, and is very useful for delivering a heavy blow. The P47 and F4U's in that class, too, and I designed the Milan to be there as well. On the other hand, there's the "Ballet Slipper" fighters, which look good and can dance all over the sky - the He100, the VG.60, the Spitfire, planes like that. Each of the two types of fighters have their own sort of strengths and weaknesses, and Talons, with its emphasis on the crowd-pleasing dogfight, is going to slightly favor the Ballet Slipper fighters over the Work Boots fighters. The countries that have bought the Fw190 are the sort that need the Work Boots planes - they've got rough airfields, prefer the maintenance simplicity over bleeding-edge performance, and want something that can be used on more than a few special occasions. That's why the Irish, who can't afford multiple types of aircraft for different roles, bought the Fw190 when they headed to Afghanistan, and they've put the "Approved by Combat Pilots" stamp on the Fw190.

Quoted

Originally posted by Hood
The French team was confident of success this year, La Meslee looked on top of his form, he had the new VG.60 fighter and his new teammate Sauvage was not only exceptional in terms of skill but he had the Milan carrier-based fighter with him. Fewer new types have had so much hype than the VG.60 and MB.1050 and both seem likely to put France back on the map in terms of world-beating fighter designs.

Heh - and here's the ironic and funny thing, from my perspective: I didn't design either plane to be a world-beater! What I wanted was a happy medium of performance and suitability for high production runs. As I've stated in previous quantity-versus-quality discussions, I come down squarely in the middle: there's no point making an extremely limited production run of a Really Hot Ship (plane, tank), nor is it worthwhile to produce ten thousand pieces of absolute junk. I seek out a sweet spot of "Good Enough", and that's what the VG.60 and MB.1050 are, in my eyes: Good Enough to make a good show, and in the quantities to make it count.

Nicely written, James. Thanks for sharing.

Quoted

Originally posted by Hood
The South African team returned this year with newer fighters, the F-11C and F-12D, both products of a continual development. The two new pilots in the team, Flt. Capt. Brase and Flt. Capt. Trubshaw are both combat experienced pilots. Not as famous as some of the previous pilots their presence made less impact on the local crowds due to the recent memories of the war. This meant that the team was certainly more welcome and indeed Brase and Trubshaw were eager competitors against each other and they tied on points at the end of the contest to take fifteenth and sixteenth.

I´d like to comment on this analysis because there probably is more to consider than the final tally of points. Brase suffered some bad luck with his engine during the races and could not score. Because of the damage he also missed the navigation run and a chance to score. Finally, neither SAE design carries bombs. They are designed as fighters, a category Talons originally asked for. So again they could not score. In the end one wonders what ranks the SAE pilots would have achieved on even terms. For Brase, that would be like taking the navigation run and the bombing out of the equation; for Trubshaw the bombing run.

As a sidenote, one has to keep in mind that Talons favors fighter (bomber) aircrafts that are good at low or medium altitude. The SAE designs send this year, and also the F-6H in the past, are more of the medium to high altitude type because of their intended roles - long range bomber escort and high altitude interceptor/fighter. But neither range nor high altitude performance (or armor) gains a contender much for Talons, but at least range and armor bite into weights and cost you agility. No critics, just my observation.

So we will see how the F-14 will do next year if she will be send. That bird`s a true fighter bomber, designed for good low to medium altitude performance, and capable to carry lots of bombs with a dedicated sight to do so.

Quoted

Originally posted by HoOmAn
I´d like to comment on this analysis because there probably is more to consider than the final tally of points. Brase suffered some bad luck with his engine during the races and could not score. Because of the damage he also missed the navigation run and a chance to score. Finally, neither SAE design carries bombs. They are designed as fighters, a category Talons originally asked for. So again they could not score. In the end one wonders what ranks the SAE pilots would have achieved on even terms. For Brase, that would be like taking the navigation run and the bombing out of the equation; for Trubshaw the bombing run.

Well, if you look at the top three single-engine contenders this year (the G.55, the VG.60, and the He100), only the G.55 participated in the bombing run.

Antonio Allegro’s Heavenly Pursuits Press Cuttings Trans Oceanic Airlines

Another year has past and there was further news of the new Trans Oceanic Airline setup by the famous former foes and now best friends and business partners Major de Aero Philippe Carlos Roja and Wing Commander Michel Endress. The final day of the event witnessed a low flypast of the Marwijk Clipper prototype. The test pilot made three passes in all and banked the prototype so those on the ground could get good photographs of its lines. Shortly aftewards Roja and Endress held a joint press conference in one of the display tents. They confirmed that the "fuselage of second production Clipper is ready for final assembly. It is true that the lower hull form underwent several modifications to enhance sea keeping and we thank the Durban Technical University for loaning us their water tank for model trials. Also trimming issues on the prototype caused a minor redesign of her tail plane but Marwijk confirmed that this was nothing unusual in a new type. The engine tests proved very sucessful and are now nearly complete. As to the airline itself a new hangar has been recently finished for the home base. The negotiations for a small emergency base in Libreville have stalled due to local politics and the shortage of capital. We are pleased to annouce though that for training of our new crews we have founded a small academy for training at Cape Town which is adjecent to our base there. We hope to train all our staff there for flight duties and also undertake Stward and Stewardess training there too."

The coastal lines served by the smaller TMD Mariner flying boats are;
Bahia Blanca-Montevideo-Rio de Janeiro three times weekly
Bahia Blanca-Viedma-Rawson-Comodoro Rivadavia-(Ushuaia in summer months only) three times weekly
Cape Town-Libreville-Douala four times weekly


[Apologies to Hoo for the lateness of this item!]