Going down to Rochester (as one does ...), to the ramp into the River Medway in front of where the Short works was, it surprises me the quite short distance available for all the aircraft produced there to take off. I am conscious that the high M2 motorway viaduct, about a mile upstream, was not there then, but the river is quite curving, and almost immediately downstream is the old Rochester Bridge, which must have concentrated minds if taking off easterly. It wasn't only factory takeoffs with minimum fuel and payload, as some substantial trips by the Empires, and even the Mayo Composite, were made from there.