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Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0210.PDF
AtRIL IO, I909. "Zeppelin I" now "S.M.S." As is the custom in the Navy, the German military authorities have decided to prefix to the names of the military airships the letters S.M.S. (Seiner Majestat Schiff), the equivalent of H.M.S. as used in this country. » New English Prizes. FROM the official notices of the Aero Ciub it will be seen that seven new prizes are being offered by that body for distance flights at their flying ground at Shellbeach. They consist of four prizes of ^25 each to be awarded to the first four aviators who fly 250 yards, and three prizes of ^50 each for the first three aviators to fly one mile in a closed circuit. ' The Kimball Aeroplane. AMONG the many aeroplanes which are being built in the United States, a very interesting one is the Kimball biplane. The two main planes are of 37 ft. spread, have a depth of. 6i ft., and are placed 4 ft. 2 ins. apart. There is a biplane elevator in front, but no rear rudder, although at the ends of the two main planes are controllable extensions measuring 4 ft. by 4 ft. At each end the rear edges of the main planes are connected by a shutter of the Venetian blind type, which can be manipulated by the aviator for steering purposes. The aeroplane is to be propelled by eight large propellers placed between the planes and driven by an endless steel cable, the power being furnished by a 40-h.p. two-cycle engine. For Aerial Visitors to New York. ~ AVIATORS who use their machines over and around New York in the future will be " high-fliers " indeed, and it is announced that a station is being arranged for them on the roof of the Hotel Aster. The cost is said to be ^20,000, and the equipment will include gas tanks from which dirigibles will be able to replenish their balloons. Flying Grounds and Scientific Tests. IN the selection of suitable grounds for flight experi- ments, the Aero Club de France recommend that a straight flight of at least 2 kiloms. is desirable. The Club also propose installing a mono-rail arrangement, on which a truck, connected electrically, is to be mounted for the purpose of testing, under scientific conditions, propellers and planes. A Brussels Aviation Syndicate. THE Union Syndicale of Brussels has created a new body, the "Chambre des Locomotions Aeriennes," which already numbers 60 members. M. A. Vlemincx is President, Count Jacques de Liedekerke and M. A. de la Hault Vice-Presidents, and M. C. Fondu Secretary. The Dynamics of Flight, Illustrated. AMONG the forthcoming papers to be read before the Institution of Automobile Engineers is one by Mr. F. W. Lanchester on " The Dynamics of Flight" (experimentally illustrated). It will be read at the Institution of Civil Engineers, Great George Street, Westminster, on April 28th. Aeroplane Competition at Santander. SANTANJDER, which will shortly boast a Royal palace, is anxious to make its annual regatta, which King Alfonso usually attends, as attractive as possible, and is therefore organising a series of aeroplane com- petitions to take place about the same time as the yacht racing in August or September. Valuable prizes, includ- ing one of ^1,500 and two of ^200, will be offered. Douai Meeting. THE L.N.A. section at Douai announce that an aviation meeting is to be held at their aerodrome from June 28th to July 18th. 20,000 francs have been voted to assist the organisation by the Douai municipality. Airship-Building at Moisson. Two of the airships which are in hand by M. Henri Julliot and M. Georges Juchmes at Moisson will, in all likelihood, be completed early in June. The " Libert ," a new leviathan for the French Army, is to be finished early in May, and the other, ordered by the Russian Government, is to follow in June. Frankfort Exhibition. APPARENTLY in contradistinction to the Paris and London Aero Show, that at Frankfort next July will be largely an exhibition of dirigibles, for it is announced that already arrangements have been made to stage nine of these vessels, including the Zeppelin, Parseval, Schutte, Durkopp, Siemens-Schuckert, Koeln, and Harburg craft. These will represent both the rigid and semi-rigid type of airships. There will also be exhibits of heavier-than-air machines, but nothing definite seems to have been secured in this direction yet. A LECTURE AT LINCOLN. THAT there is a good deal of interest taken in flight in provincial centres was shown at a lecture given in the Central Hall, Lincoln, on March 30th, by Mr. C. E. Wright, M.A. The chair was taken by the Mayor, and although the audience was not very large, it made up for this in enthusiasm. In a not-too technical manner, the lecturer reviewed the early history of man's attempt to master the air, and the performances of the Wrights and other foremost flyers of the present day were dealt with. Perhaps the most interesting part of the programme was a series of elementary experiments to illustrate various points. Mounting a high pair of steps, the lecturer launched his first model airship—a light plane that sailed gaily half the length of the hall amid warm appreciation. Similarly he floated from his summit a series of strips of paper, variously weighted, demonstrating very easily the balancing and counterbalancing effects of each. Miniature ships of mica and celluloid were sent flying across the hall to show the difference in effect between vessels of straight and curved fins. One of them that soared a full fifty feet had a particularly graceful motion, and though it narrowly missed the head of an important corporation official it was given a generous meed of applause. Other gliders helped the lecturer to show a path of an undulating kind as pre-ordained for some of these vessels, and a further one, an aeroplane that actually had the talent of looping the loop. The features of the Wright aeroplane were explained by diagrams, and a model of the aeroplane flown by Farman and Delagrange was sent off from the step ladder with great success. Some of the audience were so interested that they stayed behind after the lecture, and asked Mr. Wright to conduct more experiments and explain them. 212
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