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Aviation History
1910
1910 - 0384.PDF
(/JJGHT] MAY 21, 191©. THfc MARATHON OF THE- AH UP to the present moment no definite announcement has been made of the conditions under which the second of the magnificent ^10,000 prizes offered by the Daily Mail is to be competed for. Nor is it a question which can be settled off-hand, because, if the prize is to attain the object for which it has been offered, it is evident that there are many points to be taken into consideration before the donors and those they take into their confi dences over the matter can commit themselves to the laying down of precise conditions. When the first of the ,£10,000 prizes was put up, flight was a very abstract proposition. Some relatively small things had been achieved which had set the world wondering ; and Lord Northcliffe and his advisers, with a very fine perception of the needs of the future, made their conditions difficult enough to ensure that the aeroplane must be improved out of all knowledge before the prize could be won, while not making them too difficult for the inventor of the day to aspire to success. Now the position is that in the light of our present knowledge of the science of flight with the heavier-than- air machine, a journey from London to Manchester or its equivalent in distance is no longer an epoch-making achievement, as indeed both Paulhan and Grahame- White have shown us, apart from the numerous other cross country trips that have been performed by numerous other airmen. Therefore, the utterly impossible of five years ago has become the comparatively easy of today, and hence arises the difficulty of framing regulations for the conduct of the competition for the second of these splendid ten thousand pound prizes. If it were the intention of the Daily Mail merely to provide a spectacle, the bill would be filled, and filled admirably, by giving the prize for a simple straight-away flight from London to Edinburgh and back or from Paris to London—as have been suggested. But such a journey would in our opinion be far too similar in character to the merely shorter London-Manchester flight to merit the award of a prize of the magnitude of that with which we are dealing at the moment. We can, in fact, take it as proved, that if it is possible—as has been shown—to fly from London to Manchester in really unfavourable weather and to fly across the Channel, then the journey to Edin burgh and back, or between Paris and London, under anything like decent flying conditions, is just as easy of accomplishment. What is really required, and what is doubtless being aimed at by the Daily Mail, is a type of task which shall be as difficult to overcome relatively as was the first of these contests at the stage of development when the prize was originally offered. The difficulty is, of course, to hit upon the very best set of conditions for encouraging speedy progress, although we have no doubt that something will shortly be evolved which will be satisfactory to everyone concerned, and will ensure the prize not falling into the lap merely of a lucky aviator who may happen along in a casual sort of way. In common, possibly, with most others who have given the matter any serious thought, we ourselves have our pet idea as to the conditions which would provide the required type of test, besides affording a most sporting competition and a highly exciting spectacle—a hint of which we gave a couple of weeks ago. First, let us see briefly what the flights of Paulhan and Grahame-White between London and Cottonopolis demonstrated to us. Everyone will, we think, agree to the following interpretation on the matter :— (a) that it is practical, and even easy, under proper conditions, to make a long distance cross-country flight of sufficient duration to cover 200 miles of straight-away course in two flights, or even in one, and (0) that the control of the aviator over his machine is as near perfect as reasonably can be, so far as its ascensive properties and its horizontal direction of travel are con cerned. That is to say, the flying man can proceed in any direction he pleases, and—subject to the limits of fuel-capacity and human endurance—for any distance within reason. This is excellent up to a point, but it is not enough for a flying public. If the aeroplane is to prove itself of real utility for the purposes of either peace or war, it must also possess controllability in respect of horizontal speed; that is to say, in regard to rate of progress through the atmosphere. A machine which can only travel at one invariable speed, no matter how reliable or how controllable in other ways, is but half-way or even less towards the complete solution of the problem of man-flight: and it is the possession of this controllability of speed that seems to us next to need practical attainment and public demonstration. Hence FLIGHT'S suggestions for the consideration of the Daily Mail are that the prize should not be awarded for a single out-and-back flight between any two points, but for two successive out-and-back journeys over the same cross country course, and that there should be an arbitrary rule imposed as to relative speed on the second trip. On the first to-and-fro journey the speed may be either as high or as low as the aviator chooses. But if, on this first trip, the average speed for the actual distance traversed worked out at say 40 miles an hour, then the second journey would have to be made (with the same machine, of course), at an average of either less than 30 miles an hour, or more than 50 miles an hour—a difference of 25 per cent, one way or the other. Possibly, too—but from a very different point of view —it might be wise to enforce an interval of a few days between the two performances. Obviously, the object of these big prizes is to assist in the development of the science of aviation, and almost equally to awaken the popular mind to the vast potentialities of the aeroplane, which may well work fundamental changes in our national life and future, unless we, as a nation, face the possi bilities of the future .with an open mind and a full under standing. Paulhan's flight to Manchester served to stimulate popular interest to a degree bordering on enthusiasm; but, if anything, the interest was not sustained long enough to produce as lasting an effect as it might have had under more prolonged circumstances. It was a case of he came, he saw, he conquered—and he went away—all within 24 hours. The above suggestions lend themselves, we think, to this deep and sus tained public interest. As was the case with the London- Manchester flight, it is scarcely likely that when the time comes that man and machine are perfect enough to go for this further rich prize there will be but "a single Richmond in the field." Imagine the interest and the excitement that would pervade the country if two, three, or even more flying men were to succeed in making the first trip at about the same time! The country would simply be seething with excitement and speculation as to which of them, if any, would ultimately prove the victor in this new Marathon of the air within the stipulated period. 382
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