Page 24 - Cranwell Photographs

HilH.·hliffc's lo.atsle tn~ht .... en ondergang l
Above: One of the station's former wartime instructors, Captain W G R Hinchcliffe, returned to Cranwell at the end of February 1928 with Endeavour, his Stinson SM-1 Detroiter mono- plane X4183 (not 41831 as painted on the aircraft), serial no.223, to prepare for an east- west crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. Hinchcliffe took off at 08.35am on 13th March, and was last seen heading into the Atlantic from the coast of Ireland. Nothing more was ever heard of him or his passenger, the heiress Elsie Mackay. His disappearance caused consider- able speculation at the time, especially in Holland, where his wife and family remained. John Underwood collection, via Chris Salter
Top right: Cranwell again became the scene for a long distance record attempt on 24th April 1929. The purpose-built Fairey Long Range Monoplane J9479 took off from a specially prepared runway, made of rolled ash, for its first attack on the record. Fifty hours and 4,130 miles later the flight ended at Karachi due to bad weather and fuel shortage. This set a new England-India record but did not achieve a world distance record. via J D Oughton
24 Cranwell