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Aviation History
1911
1911 - 0766.PDF
Tk IGHT THE VALKYRIE PROPELLER. MR. H. BARBER has invented and patented in most countries a clever process by which wooden propellers can be covered to any desired thickness by a skin of copper. The wooden propeller is treated primarily by his process' and then coated with finely divided graphite on which the copper is deposited electrolytically. When a sufficient thickness has been deposited the propeller is removed from the copper bath, burnished in the usual way and highly polished. The copper skin not only covers the blades but also the boss, so it is impossible for the sheathing to become detached when subjected to high engine revolutions. In addition to increasing the fly-wheel effect of the propeller and reducing its skin friction, this brightly polished skin of copper has the effect of strengthening it to a remarkable degree and rendering it impervious to extremes of temperature and humidity. SEPTEMBER 2, 1911. A NEW SHORT BIPLANE. THE latest biplane to be built by Messrs. Short Bros, is considerably- larger than the standard type, but its chief characteristic is that it i& fitted with two 50-h.p. Gnome engines ; but it is also distinguished by the fact that it has three propellers. The two engines are mounted fore and aft, and can be used either together or inde pendently, and either furnishes sufficient power to keep the machine in the air. The combined engines can be used for rising from the ground and also when great speed is required in the air. One great advantage of such an arrangement is that it minimises the risk of a serious accident through the engine suddenly stopping. The new machine is now very nearly completed and will be put through its trials very shortly. It will be remembered that a prize of ,£3,000 was offered by Mr. Edwin Gould, through the Scientific American, for a competition among machines so arranged, but so far no entries have been forthcoming. SCHOOL ® ® AERO ® ® CLUB NOTES. By ROBERT P. GRIMMER, General Secretary, Bntish Federation of School Aero Clubs. JUST a few words of warning about the cheap foreign-made aero models, which seem to be almost universally stocked by dealers in preference to those of British make. In the first place, the Teutonic produced article is marked at a very tempting price—usually under 5s.—and its general appearance seems to leave nothing to be desired. A closer inspection will reveal it to be fitted with a tractor screw, and to be a modified copy of a Bleriot type of monoplane. This usually convinces the purchaser of its flying capabilities, and the machines—and I am tempted to say not only the machines—are sold in large quantities. The would-be model flyer wends his way to a convenient field, and duly winds up. The rubber is so characteristically foreign that it seldom stands more than a hundred turns, the result being a sudden breakage. Our aero modelist, however, is perhaps of a careful disposition, and successfully winds up to sixty or seventy. He launches, and almost invariably one of two things happen. Either the machine goes up " a la helicopter " and falls on its tail, that caudal appendage suffering severely in the process, or, as more frequently is the case, it dives headlong to earth, completely smashing its tin tractor. The buyer is naturally disgusted, he feels inclined to use language which, if he were a Boy Scout, would ensure copious supplies of water being poured down his sleeve, and he goes away with the sincere conviction that model- flying is all rot. and that even Wilbur Wright himself could not make the silly things fly ! It certainly is irritating to have thrown away five shillings or so, but the obvious remedy is the patriotic one of purchasing only British-made machines. I can strongly recom mend the products of Messrs. Bragg-Smith, Burge-Webb, Ding and Sayers, Fairey, Fleming-Williams, Mann and Twining as being thoroughly reliable and scientifically designed machines. " I regret that we cannot see our way to allow our boys to take up model aeroplane flying, as we consider that this sport does not supply any appreciable amount of physical exertion, and is only a pastime for the slacker." I wish the worthy headmaster who addressed these lines to me some weeks ago could be induced to spend a day in model flying with me, as, indeed, I invited him to. He would certainly considerably modify his views, even in the course of the first hour. In the first place, the case of models, 4 ft. by 3 ft. by 1 ft., has to be conveyed to the aerodrome—a three miles walk, with the temperature somewhere in the nineties. By the way, only the other day I had the pleasure of carrying this case over twenty miles to a competition by cycle, the train service being discontinued on account of the strikes. Next, a herd of some fifty animal bo vines has to be " persuaded " half a mile out of the way, and a similar number of human bovines induced to retire to a spot where they will not continually trample on winders and lubricant Helpful Signals for Dirigibles. INSTRUCTIONS have been issued by the military authorities at Aldershot that when an airship is seen close to the ground and flying a signal consisting of a red cylinder hung below or flying behind (meaning " I am going to land and need assistance "), troops in the immediate vicinity will help in any way that may be required. They will usually be wanted to catch a rope which will be dropped, and pull the vessel gently to the ground. Silence must be maintained so that any instructions shouted from the airship may be heard. The King of Italy Ventures Aloft. WHILE attending the manoeuvres at Casale Monferrato on Tuesday afternoon the King of Italy visited the dirigible sheds, and after inspection of " P. 2," went for a cruise of about half an hour, passing over the Castle of Romara. bottles. Winding is a distinctly backaching task, and involves two thousand turns per machine. Now the model is off—and so am I—on a run of seven or eight hundred yards. The sun beats down furiously, the perspiration streams in torrents, one longs vainly for iced lemonade, but the model must at all costs be kept in sight. I see her execute a graceful vol plane' into a tree some 60 ft. up, with no boughs for at least 12 ft. A rail is borrowed from a fence—I hope the omission was not noticed—and placed against the trunk, and up I go, expe riencing in the course of the ascent one or two painful reminders of the presence of rails. The branches are reached and duly nego tiated, and when one breaks and deposits me on a second bough some 6 ft. below, it is only an interlude and reminiscent of an air pocket I once experienced in the course of a passenger flight. The model is reached, lassooed with string, and duly glided down to my friend below. I commence my own descent to the keen and unappreciated interest of a crowd of the great unwashed, and end by "pancaking" at the feet of a specially slack-looking specimen of the genus Weary Willie, who has languidly been watching the recovery of what he terms " the airship." Space forbids me to chronicle the wading, the swimming, the episode with the game keeper, the incident of the fat market woman and the altercation' with the landlord, as well as a few other events of lesser interest,, but seriously I ask, " Can this be only a pastime for the slacker ? " Mr. Cooper's glider, as referred to last week in the School' Aero Club Notes, being tried down the gliding bill. ® ® Explosion at Chalais Meudon. AN unfortunate accident occurred at the Aeronautic Park at Chalais Meudon the other day, when, while two workmen were carrying a tube of compressed hydrogen, it exploded, killing them both instantly. Chalais Meudon, it will be remembered, is the headquarters of the French military dirigibles. The Austrian Parseval Dirigible Out. ON the 23rd ult. the Austrian Parseval dirigible left Fischam end at twenty to seven in the morning and after a voyage of 2 hrs. 40 mins arrived at Brunn, Moravia. After circling over the town the dirigible landed on the military parade ground and remained there until 2 o'clock in the afternoon, when it returned safely to its head quarters at Fischamend. 768
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