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Aviation History
1910
1910 - 0101.PDF
FEBRUARY 5, 1910. More German Airship Manoeuvres. IT is reported from Berlin that the German Govern ment will not purchase any more dirigibles for some time, until, in fact, it is seen which direction the develop ment of aeroplanes will take. Next month those airships which the German Army have at present will take part in a series of manoeuvres from Metz, as headquarters, instead of Cologne, as on the occasion of the last series of operations with dirigibles. Zeppelin Polar Expedition. PROFESSOR HERGESEJX is making a good deal of progress in connection with the organisation of the Zeppelin expedition to the North Pole. At present the project calls for the construction of two dirigibles 150 m. long, with 25 to 30 separate compartments, and capable of carrying 25 persons, although during the actual Polar journey only 12 persons would be carried. The base of the expedition would be at Spitzbergen, and it is estimated that the trip to the Pole could be accomplished in 30 to 40 hours if the winds were favourable. While the first vessel will make the attempt to fly to the Pole, the other one will remain at Spitzbergen and keep in touch with it by means of wireless telegraphy. The cost of the expedition will probably be supported by the German Government* but it is also stated that the Prince of Monaco will take part and contribute ^160,000 towards the cost. A Municipal Airship Garage. WITH a view to assisting the'company which has been formed to run aerial excursions in the neighbourhood of Munich, the municipal authorities there have just voted 60,000 marks towards the cost of providing an airship garage large enough to house a Zeppelin, if necessary. [/OGHT) The airship for the passenger service will probably be a new Parseval, which is now under construction. French Balloon Meetings. FIVE events for spherical balloons are to be organised during this year, and their dates have been fixed as follows : March 26th, distance competition ; May 29th, landing competition; June 19th, Grand Prix; Sep tember 17th, distance event; October 23rd, landing contest. Gordon-Bennett Balloon Race. A CONFERENCE of American Aero Clubs was held at St. Louis on Saturday last to consider the question of venues for the competitions for the Gordon-Bennett Cups this year. Kansas City, Indianapolis, Phila delphia, Baltimore and Washington all wished to have the honour of having a flying meeting with the Gordon- Bennett Flight Cup as its chief event, and the final choice will probably not be made for a month. Mr. Cortlandt F. Bishop, President of the American Aero Club, has, however, stated that St. Louis will be the starting place of the Gordon-Bennett Balloon Race. Records of Wind Velocity. BY the courtesy of Dr. Shaw, Director of the Meteorological Office, the Advisory Committee on Aero nautics have been able to make arrangements by which a selection of current autograph records of wind velocity from the twenty-three anemograph stations will be on exhibition, together with other records, at the Meteoro logical Office, 63, Victoria Street, Westminster, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, except Saturdays, when the office closes at 1 p.m. To enable visitors to better understand the results arrived at, a number of models have been constructed. CORRESPONDENCE,. The name and address of the writer (not necessarily for publication) MUST in all cases accompany letters intended for insertion, or containing queries. Correspondents asking questions relating to articles which they have read in FLIGHT, would much facilitate our work of reference by kindly indicating the volume and page in their letters. NOTE.—Owing to the great mass of valuable and interesting corre spondence which we receive, immediate publication is impossible, but each letter will appear practicallv in seqtience and at the earliest possible moment. PROPELLER THRUST. [331] Could you kindly answer through your correspondence columns the following question :—What is the maximum thrust that can be obtained from a propeller 6 ft. 6 in. in diameter ; also at what speed will it drive a monoplane of 500 lbs. weight, and what will be the horse-power and revs, per min. required to drive the propeller ? San Francisco. EUGENE SPEYER. [The thrust obtainable from a propeller depends so much on its design and the speed at which it is run that it is quite impossible to say what are the limits to a propeller 6 ft. in diameter. If the weight of the monoplane mentioned above is exclusive 01 the pilot, it would hardly be advisable to try making experiments with less than a good 20-h.p. engine. The proper sequence in design is to decide the type of machine desired, to estimate the weight, and from that deduce the probable thrust required for flight. The product of the thrust and the speed of flight determine the horse-power that will actually be utilised in flight, and an allowance of say as much again must be made for losses in transmission. Thus is the nominal h.p. of the engine required arrived at, whence the estimates for weights must be checked and the same sequence of calculations repeated, and so on until the error is slight according to the theoretical basis of the calculations adopted. Unfortunately, there is very little data available for these calculations, but various articles and informa tion contained in back numbers of FLIGHT will be of assistance to those who wish to follow this line of investigation.—ED.] AERO PORTS. L332] Some weeks ago I noticed the proposal to make an aero- way from London to Brighton at enormons cost. Here is an alternative scheme that need not cost one tithe of that. I suggest that fields and plots of land more or less in line from place to place, say, London to Brighton, be rented, or otherwise arranged for, as " ports " for alighting or starting. These might well be fitted up with one or more aero sheds, a petrol store, a " pylon," and a caretaker. A strip might be asphalted, but the main part could be turf, mowed or grazed. These ports need not be in line, but close enough together to be within gliding distance from a moderate height. The use of these would be obvious. One could start from either place, choose a course more or less direct, fly high where ports were scarce, lower where desirable, keeping " under your lee," so to speak, one or more ports that could be reached if engine stopped, or anything else went wrong. Comparatively small port dues would meet the case when planing is common. Landowners, parish councils, and other bodies might well use their land this way. It might soon become general when it " pays." T. OSBORN SMITH. PAPER GLIDERS. i333l Being greatly interested in aviation, and having taken in your valuable paper for some months, I would be much obliged if you or any reader could inform me as to the record flight of a glider made from one sheet of notepaper. I have just made a bird-shaped one, weighted with sealing-wax at the front, which has flown &4 ft. on a gentle slope in a light breeze. This seems a fairly good distance for one of this size, as I only held it at arm's length above my head, and gave it a very small push. Hoping this will prove of some interest to your readers, I am, Teignmouth. STURNUS. 97
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