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Aviation History
1911
1911 - 0576.PDF
[fijcm) JULY I, IOII. THE GERMAN NATIONAL CIRCUIT. CONTINUING the story of this event from where we had to break off in our last issue, the half-dozen aviators who had journeyed from Hamburg to Kiel on the 17th ult. were added to on the 20th by Koenig, who covered the 83 kiloms. between Hamburg and Kiel in an hour and a quarter. On the 21st ult. some good flying was seen at Kiel, Hirth beating the German altitude record by rising to 2,200 metres, while he was also flying with a passenger over the bay at a height of 600 metres. The fifth stage in the Circuit, from Kiel to Luneburg, was made on the 23rd ult., and of the seven starters from Kiel four completed the journey of 147 kiloms. in good time, Lindpaintner being first, Buchner second, Volmuller third, and Thelen fourth. Saturday last these same four started out for Hanover, this stage of 124 kiloms. being deemed the most difficult of the whole Circuit. Three succeeded in getting through, Lindpaintner being first, Thelen second, and Volmuller third. The last mentioned had to make a stop at Ehlershausen, while Buchner, who also set out from Luneburg, only succeeded in getting a very short distance before capsizing and seriously damaging his machine. The seventh stage, from Hanover to Munster, with •controls at Minden and Bielefeld, was undertaken on Monday last by half a dozen competitors. Lindpaintner considered it sufficient to get as far as Minden, Volmuller went on to Bielefeld, and Schauenburg also stopped at Minden, while the others failed to make any substantial progress. During the morning Dr. Wittenstein left Luneburg, accompanied by a passenger, in an endeavour to catch up the other competitors, but the machine tumbled into the River Ilmenau, and although the occupants escaped with a wetting, the aeroplane was considerably damaged. On the 27th ult. both Volmuller and Lindpaintner succeeded in completing the stage to Munster, the former flying the 77 kiloms. from Bielefeld in 1 hr. 8 mins. Lindpaintner, as a matter of fact, lost his bearings through the mist and flew about 20 kiloms. beyond the official station at Munster and had to return. Thelen also attempted to go on from Minden and met with a most extraordinary run of bad luck. He was about 14 kiloms. from Bielefeld when he landed suddenly in a wheatfield, and 3 kiloms. from Bielefeld he was thrown out of the machine which then ran along the ground until it capsized. Fortunately the aviator escaped with a few bruises. On Wednesday the competitors were to fly to Cologne calling at Weser and Neuss on the way. ® ® ® ® 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 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. Sir William Bull and Aviators. [1239] With reference to the leading article, entitled " Repres sion up to date," in your issue of June 10th, I shall be much obliged if you will allow me to defend my " woeful ignorance." I may say, to begin with, that I fully appreciate the great importance of aviation, and am wholly averse to legislation which would in any way hive the effect of hampering or throttling a healthy and growing British industry. Having thus digressed, I come to the point. You take me to task for suggesting that before a person could receive an aviation licence he should be guaranteed in a sum of .£100, so that there would be something to draw upon in the case of the aviator causing an accident. I respectfully submit that this is not unreason able. Nobody will dispute that it is only fair that the innocent spectator at a cricket match, a race meeting, or any crowded function not directly connected with aviation should be entitled to receive some compensation in the event of injury caused to him by an aeroplane accident due to (a) recklessness on the part of the aviator, (b) faulty •design of the machine, (c) faulty construction and material. Assuming that such an accident were to take place, resulting in the injury of a spectator, is it certain that he or his executors would receive compensation ? Has the R. A. C. any special fund to meet these contingencies ? As far as I know it has not. If " Monsieur Icarus," a mechanician representing the " Daedalus Aero Gesell- schaft," comes a cropper, breaks his ownneck, andinjurestwoorthree persons at the same time, is there any certainty that the latter will obtain any sort of satisfaction for their wounds? "Monsieur Icarus" would be repudiated by the " Daedalus" firm, and as he was dead, and without any relations to speak of, litigation in foreign courts would be a futile and highly expensive pastime. I do not consider that the provision of financial guarantees should in any way hamper the trade. The moneyed amateur could easily find the necessary guarantees himself. The professional flying man who did not display criminal lunatic tendencies, whose machine was well designed and well formed, would similarly I find little or no difficulty in obtaining the necessary guarantee by means of insurance at an almost infinitesimal premium. The public would, in my opinion, be somewhat safeguarded, and at the same time no impossible conditions would be imposed on the aviator. King Street, Hammersmith. WILLIAM BULL. being not strong enough to stand the strain, collapsed, thus showing that it was necessary to build strong chassis as well as to design machines to manoeuvre well in the air. The facts of the case were, that the magneto became retarded, by itself, and Ogilvie was forced to land through the engine dying out. He happened to be over that rough road across the ground with the pond straight in front of him. In turning close to the ground to avoid it, the right-hand propeller struck the earth and broke. The remaining propeller, still turning, spun the machine round sharply before he had time to switch off, and swept the tail outrigger and back half of the skids off, sideways. The machine finally fell back on to the trailing edges of the planes and practically nothing else was broken except, of course, the other propeller. It was only a three days' job to have the machine ready to put the engine in again. Eastchurch, June 21st. V. LE CREN. Steering by Compass. [1241] In answer to Mr. Green (1216), the reference to the Jeanneton instrument in my article was merely a quotation from an article published a few weeks before in FLIGHT. It is obvious that at present the only exact method of measuring speed over the ground is by taking time between points that can be recognised in the map. Hampstead Norris. R.A. (Retired). " Usque ad Coeium." [1242] Re Mr. Gainsford's letter reproduced by you from the Pall Mall Gazette. It would be interesting to know the size of Mr. Gainsford's cabbage patch. Is it large enough to fly over and is Skendleby anywhere near a recognised flying ground, because I have no doubt some of us will give him an opportunity of testing his rights usque ad coeium ? Everyone who has made any study of the subject is fully aware that the day is not far distant when the very safety of this country will depend as much on air as on sea supremacy. Apologising for the length of my letter, possibly we both, Mr. Editor, pay too much attention to Mr. Gainsford's epistle. Taking this opportunity of congratulating you on the well deserved success of your journal. JACK HUMPHREYS. Mr. Ogllvie's Wright Biplane. IX240] In regard to your Eastchurch correspondent's account of Mr. Ogilvie's smash last Thursday, he says that Mr. Ogilvie landed on rather rough ground, and the chassis of the " Baby Wright,," Man-Carrying Glider. [1243] I am shortly going to build a monoplane glider of 26 ft. span, having a forward elevator but no tail. If the chord of the main planes is 5 ft. what should be the distance between the leading edge of the main plane and the elevator ? Also what section wood should I use for the outriggers and main spars ? Would silver spruce be the best ? I should be much obliged if you or some reader of FLIGHT would answer these questions. Marlborough. R. MALLET. 578
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