FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1910
1910 - 1041.PDF
DECEMBER 17, 1910. More American Speed Records! FOLLOWING on the remarkable speed records which it is claimed Hamilton made last week, a further cable from America states that Menthis Barrier, a member of the Moisant team, covered 23 kiloms. at a speed of 87 miles an hour, or 140 kiloms. We await with interest official confirmation and time of this and also of Hamilton's record-making flights. Doings at Johannisthal. ORVILLE WRIGHT was at the Johannisthal flying ground on the 6th inst, and made a flight of several circuits of the aerodrome at a height of 150 metres. On the following day Brunnhuber repeated his exploit of taking four passengers with him on his Farman machine for two circuits of the ground, while Capt. Engelhardt, on a new Wright biplane, made a cross-country flight at a height of 300 metres, passing over Glienicke, Schoenefeld, Eichwalde, Gruenau, to Aldershof and back. It is a rather curious coincidence that two of the aviators at Johannisthal should have met with trouble through losing their propellers last week-end. On Saturday afternoon Brunnhuber was flying on his German-built Farman at a height of 50 metres when the propeller dropped off, but the aviator was able to land safely and without damage. Two days later Thelen was giving a passenger a trip on his Wright biplane when the starboard propeller fell off. The machine dropped suddenly from a height ot six metres to the ground and although Thelen himself was unhurt, the passenger was rather severely shaken up, while the machine was smashed. Some very interesting figures have just been published regarding the flying at Johannisthal during the month of November. It appears that in the aggregate 287 flights were made, and the total duration of the flying was 56 hours. The largest proportion of this was to the credit of Capt. Engelhardt, who made 81 flights, and was in the air for 18 hrs. 56 mins. He was followed by Meisnner, who made 65 trips. Last week a deputation of Russian military officers paid a visit to the Johannisthal Flying Ground, where they were especially interested in the Albatross Works, which builds Farman biplanes in Germany. It is rumoured that the Russian Government intend to order a number of aeroplanes from this firm. An All-Austrian Biplane. A NOVEL biplane has just been designed by Herr Lohner, the well-known Austrian engineer, and in general appearance the machine looks like an Antoinette body, with its usual tail, mounted on a Farman biplane, with the lower planes shorter than the upper ones and the upper ones fitted with ailerons. In plan, however, it IpjOHT] is seen that the main planes are not rectangular, but placed in the form of a very obtuse V. The tractor, which is placed in front of the machine, has also been designed by Herr Lohner, and as the machine is fitted with a 60-65-h.p. Austrian-Daimler aero motor it is an entirely Austrian production. The machine will be tested shortly by Capt. Umlauff, an Austrian cavahy officer. AIRSHIP NEWS. The Naval Airship. ACCORDING to advices from Barrow, the work of erecting the naval airship has now been completed, and as soon as the weather takes a favourable turn the great dirigible will be brought out of her shed and put through various trials. It will lie remembered that this airship, which is of the rigid type, is over 400 ft. long, the total lifting capacity being about 22 tons. It is anticipated that the speed will work out to about 40 miles an hour. A New Austrian Dirigible. IN addition to the Lebaudy and Parseval airships which now compose the aeronautic establishment of the Austrian Army there will shortly be at their disposal a third airship. This will be constructed on what is known as the Koerting system. The gas bag will be 65 metres in length and have a capacity of 3,600 cubic metres. Two motors, each of 75-h.p., will provide the power for the two four-bladed propellers which will be fitted. The car will be arranged to accommodate eight persons and a new type wireless telegraphy apparatus is to be installed. Military Airship Over Venice. ALTHOUGH a mist enveloped the city on Saturday last, the Italian military dirigible No. 2 was taken from its shed at Canpalto, and cruised over the city of Venice for some time. Russian Government and a Second Zodiac AFTER a satisfactory voyage of three hours, during which a speed of 45 kiloms. an hour was obtained, the Russian Government, on December 9th, formally took over their second Zodiac dirigible known as " Zodiac IX." During the afternoon of the same day a Russian crew, composed of Capt. Nigivesky and Lieut. Bolsouvovsky and the mechanician Naoumoff, took the airship out for a short journey under the supervision of Count De la Vaulx, and cruised over the Fort ot Brest-Litovsky and over the Parade Ground, where the troops were being reviewed on the occasion of the Fete of St. George. CORRESPONDENCE. *.* The name and address of the writer (not necessarily for publication) MOST in all cases accompany letters intended fo> insertion, or containing queries. machine is slow at manoeuvring, even in Latham's capable hands, while the old R.E.P., with its high e.g., was remarkably quick on tumingt But the latter type was very unstable, and the maker of it has at last thought fit to bring the weight lower down—with apparently good results. Note the performances of Pierre Marie and Laurens recently. The above facts seem to suggest that the ultimate position of the e.g. will be neither above nor below the centre of pressure, but lying in the same plane. Or perhaps the weight will be arranged whereby it may be raised or lowered at will by the pilot. I do not see why this idea should not be used success fully on any present day machine. Coventry. " ASPIRING." Correspondents communicating with regard to letters which they have read in FLIGHT, would much facilitate ready reference by quoting the number of each such letter. NOTE.—Owing to the great mass of valuable and interesting corre spondence which we receive, immediate publication is impossible, but each letter will appear practically in sequence and at the earliest possible moment. I AERIAL BRAKE. [954] * read of many interesting things in your paper, but have never come across any device that actually serves as a brake on an aerial machine while in flight. On many of the present aeroplanes this would be unnecessary, but when there are a number of them together, as at a flying meeting, an air-brake would be a valuable accessory, and might avert serious collisions. Leicester. AERIAN. "C.G. AND-C.P." [955] In answer to Mr. le Maitre's letter (895) I feel inclined to agree with him as an advocate of a low centre of gravity, as far as straight flying is concerned. But at the same time I contend that a low e.g. is disadvantageous when turning. To those un acquainted with the practical side of flying this theory of the action of centrifugal force at corners may influence them a great deal, but unfortunately, in practice it seems to be a non-existent quantity. Take, for instance, the "White Eagle," which Grahame-White discarded long ago. It had a low e.g., and since then Blenot has forsaken that type. Also, it is acknowledged that the Antoinette GRAPHICALLY RECORDING ALTITUDES. [956] Referring to the article " How the Altitude of an Aero plane is Measured," which appeared in the October 1st issue of FLIGHT, a description follows of a few suggestions for eliminating the difficulties described in that article. The first is that a theodolite used for this purpose should be fitted with a recording device. This might take the form of a travelling paper ribbon controlled by a time-piece. Secondly, a number of theodolites could be used, say four, placed in the form of a square, if possible, with a mark-post in the centre of the flying ground exactly central to the square. Before commencing the time-pieces on the theodolites would be set exactly alike. When each theodolite was in position it would first be centred on the mark-post and its pointer adjusted to the zero line on the paper ribbon. To each side of this line would be a series of parallel lines indicating degrees. When the theodolite was in use an exact record would be traced on the ribbon showing the angle of deflection of the theodolite to either side of the rero 1039
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
