Land and Seaplane Distance Records Gained Two Remarkable British Inventions Justified London, Dec. 29.
URING the year now closing two world record distance flights have established Britain's leading place in aeronautical achievement. In October, the float-plane Mercury, the upper component of the first Short-Mayo composite aircraft, flew non-stop from Dundee to the mouth of the Orange River, a distance of 6,045 miles, beating the previous sea-plane distance record by more than 800 miles.
In November the long-range development flight of the Royal Air Force accomplished a flight without parallel in the history of aviation. Three of the long-range flight monoplanes—standard service aircraft with minor modifications for journeys of maximum range—set out from Ismailia to fly to Australia. Two of them flew non-stop to Port Darwin, having covered 7,158 miles by a great circle and 7,350 miles along the route actually flown. They had broken the distance point-to-point record by 853 miles.
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