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Aviation History
1912
1912 - 0111.PDF
FEBRUARY 3, 1912. Vedrines as Lecturer. ON Friday of last week Vedrines appeared in a new role, that of lecturer, at Toulouse. Naturally the subject was " Aviation," and in the course of his remarks he stated that he hoped one of these days to start from Pau in the morning and reach Calais in time for tea. He hoped with the new machine which he had on order to be able to get up to a speed of no miles an hour, and before very long to increase it to 125 miles an hour. Flying to His Lectures. IT is perhaps only to be expected that, when engaging on a lecture tour like this, Vedrines would hardly find the piosaic means of travelling by chemin de fer to his liking, and so, by way of practising what he preaches, he flew on his Deperdussin monoplane from Pau to Toulouse on the 25th ult., stopping on the way at Tarbes and St. Gaudens. On Saturday he left Toulouse to fly to Castel- naudary, where he gave a second lecture. On Monday he was to continue his journey to Marseilles, but only got the 36 kiloms. to Carcassonne, where he was delayed by the weather. The Kat^er Offers a Prize. ON the occasion of his birthday, H.I.M. the German Emperor offered a prize of 50,000 marks to be awarded to the maker of the best aeroplane motor made in Germany. The prize will be awarded on the next anniversary of the Emperor's birthday, Jan. 27th, 1913, on the recommendation of a commission consisting of representatives of the Imperial A.C:, the Imperial Aero Club, the Association of German Aeroplane Makers, Charlottenburg Univer sity, and the Ministers of the Interior, Navy, Army, and Public Instruction. A Reliability Trial for Germany. UNDER the presidency of Prince Henry of Prussia a conference was held on the 29th ult. at the Kaiserlicher A.C. for the purpose of considering the possibility of organising a national endurance competition in the Upper Rhine district. It is probable that a number of military aviators will take part, and that three dirigibles, at least, will be present. Passenger-carrying will be an essential part of the competition. Austrian Aeroplanes for China. THE Chinese military authorities should soon have at their disposal quite a strong corps of aviators. In addition to those which have been trained in Great Britain, France, and the United States a couple of officers have spent some time at Wiener Neustadt learning to fly the Etrich monoplane. One left last week for China with two Etrich machines, while the other officer will shortly be returning home, also with a couple of similar planes. Flying from Brussels Show. ON the 29th ult. Crombez on his Deperdussin monoplane left l/ygji) the Berchem flying ground, near Brussels, and flew to Geneck, about 116 kiloms., hi.s time for the journey being an hour and a quarter. .« In the afternoon of the same day, Lanser on the biplane which was on view at the Brussels Salon, and which was flown there by him, started to fly back to Kiewit-Hasselt, taking M. Sualart as passenger. He reached his destination safely after an hour and five minutes flying. Aeroplane Stations in Morocco. AT both Fez and Casablanca the French military authorities are to establish aviation centres, the organisation of that at Fez being undertaken first. Lieut Clavenad will be in command of the two centres, and he leaves Marseilles for Morocco with the first detachment, consisting of three officers, fifteen mechanics, and four aeroplanes on February 16th. President Taft on Aviation. AT the annual dinner of the Aero Club of America, on January 28th, the guest of honour was President Taft, who in replying to the toa.t of his health said that his presence was an assurance of the attention which is being given to aviation by the American Government. Like other nations, the United Stales must this year make a great effort to place itself in the front rank. The presi dent of the club, Mr. R. J. Collier, drew attention to the great amount of money l>eing s]>enl in France on military aviation as compared with what was being done in America. The French Ambassador also spoke, paying tribute to the splendid work which had been accomplished both by American and French pioneers. The Curtiss Hydro-Acroplune. THE new hydro-aeroplane with which Glenn Curtiss is ex|>eri- menting at San Diego, California, presents several radical differences to the earlier machines. In the first place the hydroplane is fitted close up to the lower main plane, and the motor, a 60-h.p. water-cooled Curtiss, is mounted in the hydroplane just in advance of the aeroplane's leading edge. The machine is fitted with twin tractor-screws, both driven in the same direction by chains. At the hands of Curtiss himself the machine at its first trial on January 10th, showed a speed of 60 m.p.h. in the air and 50 m.p.h. over the water. The engine is fitted with an auto matic starter, designed by Curtiss, and it also has a clutch. The hydroplane is 20 ft. in length, and is substantially built, so that it can stand a good deal of knocking aliout on choppy seas. The pilot's seat is arranged in the hydroplane, towards the trailing edge of the main planes. There is no elevator in front. Wireless Experiments by U.S. Army. ONE of the Wright machines at the U.S. Army winter flying headquarters at Augusta, Ga., has been fitted with a wireless telegraphy apparatus designed in the Signal Office, Washington, and an extensive series of experiments are shortly to be made with it. THE NEW HENRY FARMAN BIPLANE.—Extensive changes have been made in the construction of this new machine, the top and bottom pairs of tail outriogers being arranged in triangular form, and the tail surface itself being purely a monoplane type of organ with single vertical rudder. The posi'ion of the engine has also been changed and by virtue of its present position midway between the planes the constructors have been enabled to reduce the height of the landing chassis, thus contributing to its robust construction. Ill
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