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Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0071.PDF
Flight, February 6th, 1909. A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport. OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE AERO CLUB OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. No. 6. Vol. I.] FEBRUARY 6TH, 1909. ("Registered at the G.P.O."]L as a Newspaper. J rWeekly. Price Id.L Post Free, ljd. FLIGHT. 44, ST. MARTIN'S LANE. LONDON, W.C. Telegraphic address : Truditur, London. Telephone: i828Gerrard. SUBSCRIPTION RATES. FLIGHT will be forwarded, post free, to any tart of the world at iht following rates: — 36 12 UNITED KINGDOM. Months, Post Free ... ,, ,, s. I 3 6 d. 8 3 6 36 12 Months, ,, » ABROAD. Post Free... ,, ,, 2 5 IO d. 6 0 o Cheques and Post Office Orders should be made payable tothe Proprietors of FLIGHT, 44, St. Martin's Lane, W.C., and crossed London and County Bank ; otherwise no responsibility will be accepted. Should any difficulty be experienced in procuring FLIGHT from local newsvendors, intending readers can obtain each issue direct from the Publishing Office, by forwarding remittance as above. NOTICE.—Advertisement instructions should reach theoffice, 44, St. Martin's Lane, W.C., by first post, Thursday. The latest time for receiving1 small alterations for Advertise-ments is 12 noon, Thursday. No alterations can be made after that hour. Two letters will be found in our correspondence columns this week which are singularly appropriate to the subject selected for editorial comment on this occasion, since both "Ignoramus" and Mr. A. P. Portway ask us to publish special articles of an elementary and basic kind explaining the broad principles of aviation. The two requests do not relate to precisely the same thing, inasmuch as theory and practice are referred to respectively ; but there is nevertheless no need for us to draw any distinction whatever between them here, inasmuch as we fully recognise that both our corres- pondents are voicing the desires of hundreds of readers. One reason why we welcome the two communications at this particular time is that their receipt happens to coincide with the publication in FLIGHT of our first article of this broadly elementary nature. But, although we are taking this opportunity of drawing attention to " How Men Fly," and of assuring our correspondents that similar articles will continue to appear from time to time as a regular feature of our columns, the main point upon which we wish to speak just now is much more general in character. It affects, in fact, the extent to which it is possible for any journal to satisfy all the individual . demands that are apt to be made upon it; and the reason why we deem it advisable to deal with this very broad subject at the present moment is to forestall any exceptional requests that might be made to us by those who do not stop to think. Some enthusiasts taking up a new subject for the first time are apt to imagine the editorial " we" imbued with almost supernatural know- ledge by virtue of " our " connection with that marvellous " cold print," which proverbially cannot lie ; while other ardent seekers after facts on which to start their own researches, are prone to overlook the essential difference between a journal and a text-book. We would, therefore, in all humility, remind readers of FLIGHT that if the editorial " we " now knew the best way to fly, and how to construct machines in the way that they will be built at the end, say, of ten, five, or even two years from now, the probability is that " we " should be busying ourselves in the shops and in the air rather than with the inkpot. Similarly, too, referring to text-books, " we" appear week by week for all and sundry ; and our primary duty is to keep every reader conversant with the very latest doings and aspirations of the day. There is, of course, a vast amount of already-acquired knowledge that needs to be imparted, before an intelligent interest can be taken by anyone in the happenings of the moment; but that knowledge will continue to be required by every fresh reader, as he enters the field of flight, for quite a long period yet to come; and hence our pro- gramme must be drawn up accordingly. As we pointed out a few weeks ago, the wonderful science, of which the present generation has been so fortunate in seeing the dawn, and with which we are exclusively concerned in these columns, constitutes a new art and a new industry of which very few people know overmuch at present. FLIGHT is growing up with the flying era, and its mission is a great one. As regards the aeronautic student, whether he be a prospective user or constructor, no long-continued serial" can replace for him the reading-up of text-books written from certain specific standpoints. But rather is it for us to bring, before his notice the various views that are held by different authorities on the subject, to draw his attention* to those works in which abstract questions are thrashed out by reliable men in greater detail, and to record failures and successes, with their causes, long before that all-important information can find its way into any text- book. That, then, is a plain statement of what we deem to be a reasonable—and, indeed, the only possible—- policy. B
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