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Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0611.PDF
OCTOBER Z, 1909. Aero Club of the U.K,—Subscription to be Increased. IN view of the way in which the membership of the Aero Club is rapidly increasing it has been decided, as will have been seen from the official notices of last week, to raise the subscription and to charge an entrance fee after the membership has reached one thousand. These first thousand members will be designated "Founder Members." Those who contemplate joining should not therefore delay only to find themselves amongst those who will be called upon for the increased payment. Aerial League President. ON Thursday last, a general meeting of the Aerial League was held at the Carlton Hotel, at which Lord Esher was elected President of the League and the formation of an Advisory Council was decided upon. £1,000 for a British Aero Motor. HOLDING the belief that the solution of the aerial problem is being retarded by the want of a reliable motor suitable for aeroplane work, Mr. Patrick Y. Alexander has offered a prize of _^i,ooo for the first British aero motor oi 20-h.p. which, under certain conditions, shall run con- tinuously for twenty-four hours. The competition is to be held under the joint auspices of the" Royal Automobile Club, the Aeronautical Society, the Aero Club of the U.K., and the Aerial League. Mr. Cody's Progress. As a result of his motor trip from London to Man- chester, Mr. Cody has been able to lay his plans for his intended flight for the Daily Mail ^10,000 prize. He was back at Aldershot on Saturday and twice flew round the plain, on one occasion with a passenger. Monday saw Mr. Cody actively at work on his aeroplane, and during the early morning Mrs. Capper, wife of Colonel Capper, was taken for a flight lasting about 4 mins. The fitting of a large lubricating tank occupied a good deal of time in the afternoon, but Mr. Cody made three more flights before night fell. In one he oarried Commander Osborne, R.N.,- and then Mr. Rogers, the Secretary of the Midland Aero Club, had a trip of four minutes, after which Mr. Cody went up alone, and kept going for about eight minutes. He had previously pared out a distance of half a mile, and marked this by flags, and in the course of his flight he reckoned that he covered that distance in 35 sees. Large crowds of spectators are being attracted to LafTan's Plain, and Mr. Cody is often in jeopardy from the careless way in which some of these people place themselves in dangerous positions. If this continues no doubt some steps will shortly have to be taken for policing the plain, in the same way that the military do at Issy and Chalons. Mr. Moore-Brabazon's Success. ALL interested in the cause of aviation in Great Britain will join in congratulating Mr. J. T. C. Moore- Brabazon on the success he is meeting with in his experiments with his new British-designed-and-built biplane. It has been built by Messrs. Short Brothers,) and is similar to the machine which was exhibTtea by them in skeleton form at the Olympia Show, the designer being Mr. Horace Short. In spite of the fact that he was handicapped by using a heavy motor car engine, Mr. Moore-Brabazon easily flew a mile in a semi-circular direction on Monday Lyjtjand he intended to compete for the 250 yards, the half mile, and mile prizes offered by the Aero Club on Thursday of this week. When Mr. Brabazon has his new " Green " engine, which weighs about 200 lbs. less than the present motor, he is confident that he will make up all time lost in waiting for his present machine. Success of Mr. Maurice Farman. AT last Mr. Maurice Farman, brother to Mr. Henry Farman, has met with success with the biplane with which he has been experimenting at Buc since the beginning of the year. On Friday of last week he succeeded in flying for a quarter of an hour, during which he made a wide circuit over the surrounding country. Starting from the Plateau of Chateau- fort at Buc, he flew over the farm at Tousons and then along by the aqueduct for some distance. Gujan- court was then made for, and a wide sweep brought the aviator to Voisins, where a sharp turn was made, and he flew back to his shed. The trip was carried out without the slightest hitch, and on the way farmhouses, trees, &c, were passed over without difficulty. The machine, which follows the general lines of Mr. Henry Farman's flyers, but is much smaller, was fitted with an 8-cyl. Renault motor. It was illustrated on page 161 in our issue of February 6th. Clement to Build "Demoiselles." AT the opening of the Paris Salon it was announced that arrangements had been made by the Clement-Bayard firm to build 200 monoplanes to the same design as Santos Dumont's "Demoiselle," and the machine is exhibited at the Paris Show under the aegis of this firm, who are selling the machine complete at 7,400 frs. (,£300). These machines will be fitted with a special engine built by the Clement firm, while the manufacture of the flyers is to be supervised by M. Santos Dumont. DISASTER TO THE " REPUBLIQUE." As a matter of history it is our painful duty to record the disaster which overtook the French military dirigible, " Republique," on Saturday last. After the successful completion of its work in connection with the army manoeuvres at La Palisse, the airship started on her 200 mile journey to her headquarters at Chalais Meudon. Her crew comprised Capt. Marchal, in command, Lieut. Chaure, and two mechanics. The vessel sailed safely over Varennes and Moulins, but soon after, when passing Avrilly, those who were following the dirigible in motor cars saw something flash in the sun and tear its way through the envelope. It was .one of the propeller blades which had broken off. The gas escaped from the envelope with startling rapidity, and the disabled vessel fell like an arrow to earth. All the members of the crew were instantly killed by the tremendous shock. As to what caused the propeller blade to break is not clear, but it was apparently due to hasty repairs and the paramount duty of those in charge to obey military orders, however much their own doubts may question the wisdom or safety of those orders. We refer further to this matter in our leader on p. 602. Immediately after the disaster a fund was opened to replace the damaged airship, and not only so, but Messrs. Lebaudy Freres came forward in a public spirited manner and offered to present another one to the Government. 615
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