TRANSPORTING FLYING BOATS.
Page 17
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DURING the war commercial motor vehicles were called upon to transport many classes of load which •several years ago would have been deemed to be unsuitable for transport by road. As, however, certain classes of load could not on account of their bulk be carried by rail this method of transport was employed. We have in mind at the moment, the conveyance of flying boats, which form very a.wkward loads.
These machines presented novel difficulties, and really required special types of trailers built for their haulage, but, owing to the scarcity of labour and materials, recourse had to be made, in many eases, to that which, was at the time available. The efficiency with -which big and balky loads were transported by motor vehicles is therefore all the more commendable.
The illustrations which we reproduce on this page show a few exceptional loads which were handled by motor lorrie. The vehicles used for the work were Leyland 5-ton steam wagons, and, they hauled 4-ton trailers built by A. E. Roberts and Co., Ltd., of Preston..
The transport of flying boats very often involved an average journey a 400 to 500 miles, and repeatedly stretched from the extreme south of 'England to the middle of Scotland. The length of the boats was 40 ft., and the width they occupied was nearly 14 ft. Altogether the Leyland vehicles engaged in this onerous task covered a total distance of approximately 40,000 miles, which was accomplished without a mechanical breakdown of any kind. The average distance covered per da.y by the vehicles varied from 60 miles in the winter to 100 miles in the summer..
Bearing in mind these 'facts, especially the distances covered over inferior roads and hilly districts' the performance reflects much credit on the reliability and efficiency of Leyland steam wagon construction.
The first illustration of our composite reproduced below shows a flying boat being handled on a, trailer independently of the prime mover. This could, we understand, very easily be accomplished by three or four men, but the desire to come into the picture on the part of some of the other workers has caused a momentary glut of labour. The illustration to the right of this one shows the method of carrying the lengthy boxes which house the wings of seaplanes. The axle provided for this trailer was taken from a standard 6-ton Leyland trailer, and was arranged to swivel for the purpose of rounding corners easily and backing into restricted spaces with the utmost expedition. The illustration below the lefthand top picture shows a wing box coupled up to the steam wagon. It will be noticed that provision is made in the box for the stora„ae of coke. The remaining illustration depicts a flying boat carried on a 4-ton trailer, the only alteration from the standard equipment being the lengthening of the trailer bar.