In the sea off Cornwall

摘要

In the late 1950s, maybe even the early 1960s, I cannot remember the exact year, I purchased a copy of Flight and read with interest an article relating to an episode in World War Two. It centred on a rescue of a downed pilot off the north coast of Cornwall. A Supermarine Walrus was scrambled from RAF Portreath in not too clement weather and found the pilot. They landed, took him aboard, then taxied to take off again. Unfortunately, due to the extra weight of the pilot and the state of the sea, which was running somewhat high, they could not take off. The pilot then decided to cruise back to Portreath harbour, thereby taking the designation 'flying boat' to the extreme.