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Aviation History
1910
1910 - 0546.PDF
1/liGHT Holding back Captain Dickson's Henry Farman machine Bournemouth Meeting, difficult to judge actual values—and slows down the engine until the power developed is only just sufficient to sustain horizontal motion. Slowly and rather majestically the biplane circles the course, and while he is still aloft Radley starts off on his Bleriot monoplane for the speed prize. Three machines are now in the air, and all are progressing at different velocities. Christiaens, still flying low and piling up miles, overtakes Rolls, while Radley, at about the same altitude as Christiaens, gains a little in speed on the biplane. After a few laps Radley planes rapidly to earth, vaults off his machine in the approved manner of monoplanists, and runs alongside. His fastest lap was 2 mins. 51! sees. = 37*4 m.p.h. Rolls also descends after a really fine demonstration of slow speed flying, and the notice board credits him with a slowest lap (3,140 yds.) of 4 mins. 13 sees., which is equivalent to about 25\ miles an hour. 1 Boyle then takes out his Avis, but the wings not being properly adjusted, he descends between the first and second mark-posts before getting on to the bad ground at the far end, which is generally regarded by the aviators as certain to break up the chassis of any machine that is so unfortunate as to have to come down on it. With but a few minutes' delay after his descent from the slow speed test Rolls remounts his machine for the speed prize and gives a fine demonstration of turning at the corners that is in marked contrast to the drifting of Christiaens, who is still solemnly adding to JULY i6f 1910. his mileage. Armstrong Drexel on his Bleriot monoplane is the next out, and as his effort is for the altitude prize there are now four machines in the air each competing for one of the four prizes that are alone open for competition in to-day's pro gramme. Drexel is speedily aloft and flies wide of the course; very soon he is high up in the grey sky, lost to view by some of the spectators who have tried to follow all the machines at once. The spectacle now presented is unique in British flying, and even before Drexel descends to earth by a steep glide, Dickson gets up on his Farman and is followed by Grahame-White. B:>tli these latter attempts are short-lived although successful in kind, and after a spell of comparative excitement the scene once more resolves itself into the inevitable Christiaens stolidly circling round like some great bird patiently waiting for its prey. At last even he sinks to earth at the end of 47 laps that have lasted 2h. 20m. 52|s., and have totalled to his credit a distance of 83 miles 1,500 yards. His intermediate official times are as follow :— h. m. s. h. m. s. 10 laps in o 30 2o£ 40 laps in I 59 6§ 20 ,, o 59 46I 47 „ 2 20 52^ 30 ,, 1 29 oi His descent was due to failing engine power j the Gnome rotary engine having begun to show- signs of stickiness about the atmospheric valves in the pistons, which were subsequently taken out and cleaned. Other official figures at this period are :— Altitude—Drexel, 1,950 ft. Speed— Grahame-White 5 laps in 14 mins. 48f sees. ,, fastest lap ... ,, 2 ,, 53* ,, Rolls 5 laps .. ... ,, 14 ,, 50* ,, ,, fastest lap ... ,, 2 ,, 52! ,, Thus Rolls is exactly one second slower than Radley in the record for the lap speed, and is a little slower than Grahame-White on the five laps. The lap speeds of the Farman and Wright biplanes are sensibly equal, and about 374 m.p.h., which compared) with Rolls'slow test of 25\ m.p.h. would seem to show a useful range of speed for the Wright machine of approximately I to ij under exactly similar weather conditions. From the scientific point of view the flights of Rolls are the best product of the morning's proceedings, although it is possible that their real significance may escape general observation. The Wright biplane has an engine that, although the bore and stroke are 110 mm., is said to be incapable of developing more than 25-h.p. at 1,400 r.p.m. for any length of time. A test in Germany of one of the earlier engines showed that the power fell to 18-h.p. after 10 mins. run, and if the present Bariquand and Marre motors are a better job, as seems to be the case, the design itself would appear to suffer from great limitations. If we allow that the power is that stated " Flight" Copyright. IN FRONT OF THE BOURNEMOUTH AEROPLANE SHEDS.-The Humber and Avis monoplanes are standing in the foreground, 544
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