XIII. WHY KLM TOOK PART IN THE MELBOURNE RACE

It is barely ten years since the first Dutch airliner, the famous H.N.-A.C.C., took off from Amsterdam for Batavia with Thomassen à Thuessink van der Hoop, Van Weerden Poelman and Van de Broeke. This glorious achievement proved, despite every hardship, that an air link between Holland and the Indies was a possibility. It was followed by successful return flights by various other Dutch aviators. One thinks of the 1927 round trip by Geijsendorffer and Scholte with the American millionaire Van Lear Black, the flight of the ‘Postduif’ by Koppen and Frijns, and later the first trial flights by KLM and KNILM.

I do not intend to provide a detailed description of these flights in this book. They serve merely as a brief reminder, for they represent such significant milestones in the development of air traffic between Holland and the Indies.

Much has changed in aviation technology since Van der Hoop flew to the Indies in October 1924 in a single-engine Fokker F VII with a cruising speed of 130 km/h. Speed has doubled, engineering has improved, and the use of multi-engine aircraft has reduced the risk of emergency landings to a minimum. Meteorological services and radio stations along the entire route now allow pilots to maintain regularity, while safety has increased substantially. Airfields, accommodation, and ground organisation have also improved remarkably compared to a decade ago, when Van der Hoop was occasionally forced to land on a racecourse for lack of anything better.

The great importance of a regular air connection between the motherland and the Indies has been argued so frequently, and by those more qualified than myself, that there is no need to dwell on it further. Experience has already proven that this air route possesses not only an ideal but certainly also a great commercial value.

Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij voor Nederland en Koloniën opened the scheduled Amsterdam–Bandoeng service on 1 October 1930; initially a fortnightly service, it later became weekly.

I have had the privilege of contributing to the establishment and operation of this new service from its inception. I made six journeys as second pilot, and on 9 June 1932, I was instructed to make my first flight to the Indies as captain, with C. van Brugge as radio operator and B. Prins as flight engineer. Eight further flights followed with the same crew.

I have always found the Indies route the most pleasant service to fly. Nowhere else can one gain as much general experience, and nowhere are the rapid advancements of air traffic and its practically limitless possibilities so clearly revealed as on the airway between Amsterdam and Batavia.

While this air route has already achieved great regularity, and the weekly arrival of the Indian mail is quite rightly regarded as a matter of course, I must note that ten years ago, even in certain professional circles, a regular service to the Indies was deemed impossible from both a technical and commercial standpoint.

Among the many convinced of the contrary was the director of KLM, Mr A. Plesman, who pressed ahead with his plans despite every objection and seemingly insurmountable difficulty. It is to express my great admiration for his energy and enterprising spirit that I dedicate this book to him.

The current state of aviation is only the beginning. Not long ago, Mr Plesman remarked: ‘If international politicians succeed in preventing a war in the coming years and we can continue our work undisturbed, world air traffic will develop to unprecedented heights.’

It goes without saying that KLM had long recognised the possibility of a connection with Australia, which must be regarded as the hinterland of the Dutch East Indies. However, international political conditions, which so often act as a brake on the proper development of trade and transport, made it impossible to extend the Indies line to that continent. One could not even obtain permission for a trial flight.

Consequently, when entries opened for an international air race from England to Australia, KLM decided to seize the opportunity.

The initial intention was to participate with two aircraft: the Fokker F 36 and the Douglas DC 2. The F 36 was intended to compete solely in the handicap class with a large number of passengers on board, while the Douglas was to undertake a high-speed mail flight, for which it would be fitted with extra fuel tanks. Unfortunately, the Fokker F 36 could not be completed in time, and no other aircraft were available.

Thus, KLM could only compete with an American aircraft. They used the occasion to demonstrate to the whole world, and to Australia in particular, that large airliners carrying mail and passengers can bridge three continents in a matter of days. It was a chance to show that Dutch aviation was ready to play a significant role in global air traffic.

When the F 36 was unable to join the handicap race, it was decided that the Douglas—though entered in both the speed and handicap events—would make a normal passenger and mail flight. This was to be a purely commercial flight; no modifications were made to the aircraft to increase its speed or range. No extra tanks were installed. Instead, the machine was deployed as a standard airliner, with fourteen seats in the cabin, comfortable sleeping arrangements for the passengers, and all the amenities a modern passenger plane can offer. It was not without reason that the Uiver was dubbed the ‘flying hotel’ abroad.

Entering an airliner in an international speed race might, in some respects, be compared to entering a coach in a race for motorcars; it was a rather unequal contest. This was not only because its speed was lower than that of a purpose-built racing plane, but primarily because carrying a paying load and mail naturally reduced the weight available for fuel.

The maximum distance the Uiver can cover in still air without a stop is 1,800 kilometres. By contrast, the ‘Comet’ aircraft had a range sufficient to fly the distances between London and Baghdad (4,105 km), Baghdad and Allahabad (3,700 km), Allahabad and Singapore (3,570 km), and Singapore and Darwin (3,353 km) in single hops. The Uiver was therefore forced—also due to the location and spacing of airfields—to follow a route that was 1,825 km longer, making its nineteenth landing upon arrival in Melbourne.

However, as the preceding explanation makes clear, KLM was by no means intent on winning first prize in the speed race. The costs of the flight had to be covered as far as possible by carrying passengers and mail. Consequently, the Uiver had to concentrate primarily on the handicap race.

The Panderjager, piloted by Geijsendorffer and Asjes, was entered exclusively in the speed race. Had it not met with such great misfortune at Allahabad, this Dutch machine would certainly have secured second prize in the speed class.

The fact that KLM participated in an international air race with a standard airliner and flew from London to Batavia in 52 hours, eventually crossing the finish line in Melbourne in second place, sparked unprecedented enthusiasm among the Dutch people. It also caused astonishment throughout the world—proof that many did not yet fully realise what modern air travel is capable of achieving.

The great interest in the Indies and the Netherlands, and the enthusiasm with which the Uiver’s flight was followed—as a sporting expression rooted in national pride—has left us all deeply grateful.

The crew of the Uiver feel fortunate that this flight drew the world’s attention to Dutch aviation, and we are most appreciative of the excellent assistance and cooperation encountered at every airfield along the route.

The primary objective of KLM’s participation in the MacRobertson Race—to prove that a fast air link between Holland and Australia is possible with comfortable airliners—was achieved by the Uiver’s flight. It is to be hoped that we have thereby moved one step closer to a Dutch air service to Australia.