54 AH march 2016
long-distance record, with the same crew. Meanwhile, between
September 27 and 29, 1929, the Breguet 19 Point d’Interrogation,
piloted by Dieudonné Costes and Maurice Bellonte, had estab-
TQ[PMLIVM_LQ[\IVKMZMKWZLWN !UQTM[ÆaQVOJM\_MMV8IZQ[
and Manchuria.
After various tests and trials, Jones-Williams and Jenkins
departed Cranwell in the LRM at 0800 on December 16,
headed for the Cape of Good Hope. All seemed to being going
well eight hours later, when a radio transmission was received
giving their position as 50 miles northwest of Sardinia, indicat-
ing a faster than expected average groundspeed of 112 mph.
An Italian report put them over Cagliari on the southernmost
tip of the island around 1730. But soon after that the weather
deteriorated, bringing high winds with snow and low clouds,
and forcing the LRM to lower altitudes.
Nothing further was heard of them until the Arab horseman
UILMPQ[ZMXWZ\<PM.ZMVKPI]\PWZQ\QM[VW\QÅML4WVLWV\PI\
the machine’s wreckage lay at 2,300 feet on Mount Ste. Marie
du Zit. Recovered from the debris were the airplane’s clock,
stopped at 2140, and two barographs that showed the LRM
_I[ÆaQVOI\NMM\I\I\QUM_PMV\PM\_WXQTW\[WJ^QW][Ta
thought they were much higher.
One theory was that the discrepancy between the barometric
pressures in England and North Africa had caused the accident.
There might also have been a fault in the altimeter, as a late entry
in the recovered log stated that they were in clouds at 5,000 feet.
Conceivably, the disaster was caused by a downdraft on the lee
[QLMWNIZQLOM\PMaPILÆW_VW^MZUWUMV\[JMNWZM\PMQUXIK\
The cause of the crash was never precisely established, and
might well have been a combination of all those factors. There
was also an outside possibility that, at the critical moment, the
pilots were involved in the complicated maneuver of changing
[MI\[:MOIZLTM[[\PM:).PILTW[\\_W^MZaM`XMZQMVKMLÆQMZ[
Although the Air Ministry was determined to press ahead
_Q\PIVW\PMZTWVOLQ[\IVKMZMKWZLI\\MUX\WٻKQIT[LMKQLML
that the cost of its most favored option, an entirely new design,
_W]TLJMXZWPQJQ\Q^M0MVKM\PMaQ[[]ML;XMKQÅKI\QWV \W
Fairey Aviation for a virtual carbon copy of the original LRM.
Completed within a year, LRM K1991 was delivered to the
:).WV2]Ta!!7]\_IZLTa\PMWVTaWJ^QW][LQٺMZMVKMbetween the two LRMs was
that K1991 had streamlined,
drag-reducing spats on its
undercarriage. Internally,
PW_M^MZ[QOVQÅKIV\QUXZW^M-
ments had been made to the
N]MT[a[\MUIVLÆQOP\QV[\Z]-
mentation had been aug-
mented, including a more sen-
sitive altimeter. Navigation
had been enhanced by the
inclusion of a drift indicator
and provision for taking sex-
tant sightings. Later an auto-
pilot, better known then as a
“pilot’s assister,” would be
Å\\MLXW_MZMLJaI_QVLUQTT
driven pump.
Squadron Leader Oswald
R. Gayford and Flt. Lt. D.L.G.
Bett were selected to pilot and
navigate the new LRM non-
stop to the Cape of Good
Hope. Gayford had already
had a colorful service career,
having joined the Royal
Navy as an ordinary seaman
in 1914. Two years later he
trained as a Royal Naval Air
Service observer and was
awarded a Distinguished Fly-
ing Cross in 1918. After the
war, he served during the
Allied intervention against the
Bol sheviks in southern Russia,
and then in 1919-20 he par-
ticipated in the campaign
against the “Mad Mullah” in
Somaliland. Following that,
he retrained as a pilot, hold-
ing various appointments
before taking charge of the
RAF’s Long Range Flight in
September 1931.
Meanwhile, between July
23 and 25, 1931, Americans
Rus sell Broadman and John
8WTIVLW PIL ]XXML \PM
stakes by piloting a Bellanca
28IKMUISMZ UQTM[
between New York and
Constantinople for a new
long-distance record.
It was decided that before
the actual record attempt,
the LRM should undertake
IXZW^QVOÆQOP\\W\PM5QLLTM
East. Accordingly, on Octo-
ber 27-28, Gayford and Bett
ÆM_\PMIQZKZIN\NZWU+ZIVTHE MAGNIFICENT
FEAT OF ENDURANCE
BY THE AIRMEN AND
THEIR UNFALTERING
NAPIER LION ENGINE
HAD BROKEN THE
DISTANCE RECORD
BY 298 MILES.
WELCOME HOME
British officials pose with
K1991 and its crew—Gilbert
Nicholetts (left) and Oswald
Gayford (third from left)—at
Farnborough on May 2, 1933,
following their record flight.