§ Mr. Perkinsasked the Secretary of State for Air whether Imperial Airways, Limited, have experienced any engine trouble due to ice in carburettors, with any flying-boats in Europe during 1939; and what steps have recently been taken?
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Captain BalfourI understand that three of the flying boats belonging to Imperial Airways have, during 1939, experienced slight engine trouble, attributed to ice in the carburettor, while flying over Europe. In each case the pilot of the aeroplane was able to restore full normal power by appropriate use of the throttle and mixture controls. The steps recently taken in regard to this matter include a special check of the functioning of the carburettor heating systems on all flying-boats operating in Europe, flight trials with modified types of hot air intake designed to improve the reliability of the carburettor in icing conditions, and flight trials with fuel containing a proportion of alcohol. Pending the completion of these trials Imperial Airways have issued instructions that their pilots shall avoid flying through severe ice-forming conditions, and that when such conditions are forecast and cannot be avoided by a change of route, services are to be delayed until conditions improve.