'File 2/10 1 II. AVIATION. ROYAL AIR FORCE. (1) Reconnaissance of Basrah, Aden, Muscat, Masirah, Murbat, Sauqrah Bay Etc. AIR ROUTE.' [‎169r] (348/474)

HEADqUARTlHS,
British Forces in Aden.
8 th June 1©29.
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Pear Burnett.
Many thanks for your letter S.10451 dated
22nd Kay. The present position is as follows*-
MUKAILA<>, Our most easterly landing ground at the
moment is at Kukalla. We keep a supply of petrol there,
and there is no difficulty about putting further supplies at
Kukalla as a steamer goes there from Aden about once a fort
night. There is no harbour at Kukalla,but it is an open
roadstead and is quite suitable for seaplanes except in the
monsoons. The monsoons end about the middle of September.
I vls&ted Mukalla last October and at that time a fairly heavy
swell gets up about midday. It was quite calm upto midday.
I went there in a warship and they ilew their seaplane at
about 5.0 p.m. quite successfully,with the exception of a
damaged float caused by the swell when getting off. This
machine was a single seater Fairly and I do not think the
swell would have affected a big machine like the flying boat.
Therefore,there should be no difficulty at all about refuelling
Muk$lla. shall want a few weeks notice of your requirements
in petrol and oil,etc. and we can arrange to send some
machines to Kukalla and will make all the necessary arrangements
for boats etc. for refuelling. There are,of course,no permanent
moorings,but 1 presume you can make arrangements to anchor
the boats while refuelling. Kukalla is 340 miles from Aden,
so you will be able to get from Kukalla to Men in one hop.
2. Beyond Mukalla the last place in the Aden
Protectorate is kxfex Kishn,which isl75 miles east of Mukalla.
We hope to get a landing ground there within the next two
months. The difficulty is,that the Sultan of Kishn is also the
Sultan of Sokotra and he lives at Sokotra. The Resident
recently visited the Sultan at Sokotra and asked him about
the possibility of making a landing ground in Kishn. The old
man gave a non-commital answer,and in fact 1 do not think he
quite understood what it meant. *.e are now trying to get in
touch with him again about it,but it is a very lengthy
process as no steamers run to Sokotra and the only communication
is by dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. . However,we hope to get an oifleer down to Kukalla
in August,and from there he will endeavour to get a. Irnding
ground/Tn Kishn. He will also look for a suitable refuelling
spot for flying boats. If we are successful in this Project
I think we shall be able to get supplies ox petrol and oil
to Kishn by sending it in a dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. from Kukalla. I hope to be
able to give you more information about this place later on.
3, Beyond Kftdlhn we are outside the Aden Protectorate
and the Resident wrote to the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. ,husoat,about the
possibilities of getting landing grounds further east, xhe
P.A. replied that there should be no difficulty in getting
a landing ground in Dhaufar. The place Kurbat mentioned in
your letter is situated in Dhaufar. he Resident is lilting
again to Muscat,and I hope the P#A. Muscat,will be able to
arrange this definitely and that we can send an officer down
there. If we can get on with this we will investigate
possibility of a seaplane refuelling station at Kurbat. xhe
main difficulty,! think,as regards Dhaufar will be getting
supplies of petrol and oil there,as no steamers aipe i o
mn there. It may have to be done by chow which will be
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