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Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0694.PDF
OCTOBER 30, 1909. Activity at Issy. THE end of last week saw quite a lot ot experiment- ing going on at Issy. M. Gabriel Voisin was trying the new Voisin model, the Ovier-Vendome and Clement- Bayard machines were undergoing practice spins, and four new owners of Bleriot monoplanes were putting their new mounts through their paces. Among the last were two men who have made their names on the cycle track —Olieslagers and Verheyen. The next day a fifth , - '-, Bleriot was under trial by its —— happy possessor, M. Henri Speckner, of Geneva. | London to Cologne by Zeppelin. THE latest proposal of the Zeppelin Aerial Naviga- tion Co. is to institute a service between London and Cologne. Under favourable conditions, it is estimated that the journey could be made in eight hours, while at present the quickest time in which it can be accomplished is thirteen hours. The service would not be regular on account of the vagaries of the weather, and as the period of eight hours is based upon the prevalence ot westerly winds, it is quite likely that the voyage would often take considerably longer. French Military Dirigibles. CONSEQUENT upon the disaster to the "Republique," it is stated that the French military authorities are making some extensive " Flight Copyright Photo. Although many would gladlyhave seen more " fly " at Blackpool, Col. Bosworth,tbe genial Chairman of the Automobile Association,complains that he saw quite enough fly. Secretary "A.A."Stenson Cooke was fortu- nately handy to relieve himof the intruding " mono - plane." alterations in the design of the " Liberte " which will delay the completion of that vessel till next June. In addition to having a wooden propeller instead of a steel one, this will be surrounded by a light metal rim, which, in the event of a blade breaking, would prevent it piercing the envelope. Then the whole of the interior of the envelope will be divided by cellular partitions, which will have a very small perforation at the centre, thus allowing the gas to pass from one compartment to another in case of need, but very slowly. Thus, should one compartment be damaged, the others would be sufficiently buoyant to allow of a safe descent. When these alterations have been made, it is believed that the "Liberte" will be practically indestructible. " Espana " Launched. THE latest of the Lebaudy airships, the " Espana/ which has been built for the Spanish military authorities, was taken out for its first trial from Meaux on Friday of last week. It was intended to fly over Paris, and then on to Rouen, but clutch trouble caused a descent to be made at Coulommiers. After the completion of repairs the airship returned to her shed, which was reached without incident. " Zeppelin III" Improvements. HAVING been fitted with the third motor and an additional pair of propellers, "Zeppelin III" was taken out for a speed trial on the 21st inst. As far as could be ascertained, the speed has been improved by the new arrangements to 34 miles an hour, as against 30 miles an hour, which was the best speed previously attained. Italian Military Dirigible. -—1 A LONG journey was made with the Italian military dirigible on the 21st inst. Leaving Bracciano, the airship was first headed for Civita Vecchia and then on to Grosseto, about 55 miles from the starting point. From there the Island of Monte Cristo, which is about 30 miles out to sea, was visited, after which the return journey was made without incident; altogether the vessel covered about 170 miles in the six and a half hours it was in the air. . LJ. :-.•-•.•,.'-'\:.r-i.'...• --... .'. :•... .>. CORRESPONDENCE. *#* The name and address of the writer (not necessarily fof publication) MUST in all cases accompany letters intended fof insertion, or containing queries. SAVE US FROM OUR "FRIENDS." To the Editor of FLIGHT. SIR,—In reply to your Editorial Notes in this week's FLIGHT, may I, as one who has suffered from this greatly overdone activity on the part of the Aeroplane Club, be permitted to say a few words as a warning to others, and of interest, I think, to all your readers. It was in the early part of this summer that I received an invita- tion to join " The Aeroplane Club of Great Britain and Ireland," and being caught by the grandness of the title and the brilliance of the prospects so largely set forth in the syllabus, I joined, thinking that this must be " the '' club of Great Britain, and not " one" of the clubs as I afterwards discovered. The subscription is not large, and is within the reach of everybody, and in consequence the mem- bership is really a large one ; and so, of course, the Club funds run to a very considerable amount, and each member might expect to get good value for his money ; but in practice this is not so, and I say that members (provincial members especially) get practically nothing, except the privilege of membership, from the Club. I have kept in as close touch as possible with the Club and yet all this time the only privileges I have received have been a few letters praising the possibilities of the Club and the privileges which the members will enjoy, and I am sure that the expenses of the Club on my behalf have not in any way exceeded is. ; so what becomes of the other gs. ? Perhaps it goes to pay for the stamped postcards, &c., and the hire of the Mansion House, &c., but I cannot say. But this I can say, that if Mr. Windham and others are making a glorious splash, it is at the sacrifice of the " Aeroplane Club," and perhaps, if it is permitted to continue, at the sacrifice of the progress of aviation in this country ; and so I echo, as I hope every other true Britisher does, your thoughts so clearly set forth in this week's FLIGHT, and sincerely hope that we may band together before it is too late anfl save those interests for which we are all so dearly striving. . Yours faithfully, . A MEMBER OF THE AEROPLANE C.G.B. AND I. Liverpool. FAKED FLIGHT PHOTOGRAPHS. 7o the Editor of FLIGHT. SIR,—Really people should be warned against the wiles and dodges of the newspaper picture maker. A daily journal that is becoming popular in the North and the Midlands—and, generally speaking, deserves its success—published yesterday (October 21st) what was meant to be a photograph of the Comte de Lambert circling the Eiffel Tower. It was an excellent " upward looking" picture of the tower ; but the Count's Wright was coming head-on directly towards the camera. He was heading d-iwnwards to destruction at an angle of about sixty degrees. Of course, the artist had gummed an ordinary facing picture of a Wiight machine on to an ordinary picture of the tower taken (the latter only) from underneath. Yours, &c., A. E. O. 696
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