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Aviation History
1912
1912 - 0252.PDF
tfUCHTl the same rules. Concluding, the president offered a prize for a club competition to be held about September for tractor monoplanes or biplanes rising off ground. New members enrolled Messrs. Cole, Collins and Dibbern. Saturday, March 16th, duration trials for selecting team for Ealing inter-club contest. Members may also fly for club certificates from now onwards; rules re same posted in workshop. Lecture same evening on propellers, how to find pitch, &c. Members attending will be presented with a lithographed table of propeller pitches. Relgate, Redhill and District Aero Club (Sec, H. V. MAY, 4, LONDON ROAD, REIGATE). ON Wednesday, Messrs. Norton, Lewis, Osborne, and Cox out with machines. Mr. Cox obtained flights of over 200 yards with new model. On Saturday, Messrs. K. Wilson, May, Lewis, and Norton out. Wilson got good flights, across wind, with monoplane, of 2SO to 275 yards, and from 200 to 250 yards with biplane. May's new 4-0Z. machine got into the branches of a tree when it had covered 350 yards straight flight. Flying, Earlswood ground on Saturday (to-day) at 2 o'clock. St. Mary's Model Aero Club (Sec, H. W. A. JOHNSON, THE VICARAGE, KINGSTON, PORTSMOUTH). Saturday last the monthly competition. The test was a point-to- point contest of about 120 yards by 80 yards rectangle. Results as follows : 1st, B. Restall; 2nd, II. Harper ; 3rd, E. Eburne. The club will hold an open competition shortly. Salisbury Aero Club (Sec, E. M. LEAR, 41, ST. MARK'S ROAD). AT general meeting on March Sth, E. M. Lear, was elected secretary in place of G. J. Robinson, resigned owing to pressure of other business. February Aggregate Distance Competition won by H. Sperring; distance, 4,148 ft., obtained in 14 flights. On February 21st, Besent passed for his second-class certificate, with a flight of 732 ft., in the presence of Messrs. Dickenson and Jennings. On Wednesday, last week, Sperring and Besent obtained good nights. On Saturday, Sperring's " rise-from-the-ground" ® ® MARCH 16, 1912. tractor monoplane got oft and flew 152 ft. ; with his " Mann "-type model he got 300 and 600 ft. Scottish Ae.S. Model Aero Club (6, MCLELLAN STREET, GOVAN). IN the Institute, on Friday last week, Mr. P. S. MacDuft delivered an interesting lecture on " The Action of Air in relation to Rotating Planes." With the aid of an electric fan Mr. MacDuff carried out numerous experiments, some of which gave rise to much discussion by the members. On Saturday a hydro-aeroplane meeting was held at Whiteinch Park before a great crowd of spectators. Mr. Arthur's model was in fine form and got off every time. Mr. Donaldson's model made some hops and showed terrific speed on the water. Mr. Balden did not do so well as usual, owing to float and propeller trouble. It should be noted that Mr. Balden's machine usually rises in 10 ft., and not in 10 sees, as stated in last week's issue. Another meeting of this sort will be held soon. Members will meet in the Institute of Ship Builders and Engineers, Elmbank Crescent, Glasgow, on Friday evenings, when discussions on matters of aviation will take place. The third competition for the aggregate prize, to-day (Saturday), at Barrhead Aerodrome. P>ents, distance, and duration. Members who are not competing will find plenty to interest them at Barrhead. The Committee desire to thank thote dealers who have been kind enough to send catalogues. Worcester Model Aero Club (Sec, S. A. SEARS, VICTORIA INSTITUTE, WORCESTER). ON the 9th ten models out, comprising six " Mann "-type models, three single propeller tail-first models, and one tractor model. Mr. F. Smith's model showed great stability considering the wind. The committee are arranging a special competition for Easter, when it is hoped that members of the Birmingham Aero Club will visit Worcester and help to make the meeting a success. Further particulars later. Meeting to-day (Saturday), on Pitchcroft, at 3 o'clock. ® ® CORRESPONDENCF 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 have appeared in FLIGHT, would much facilitate ready reference by quoting the number of each letter. Human Flight. (1508] On page 123 of FLIGHT, a prize of 10,000 francs is announced for accomplishing the above. It may interest many to know that in Notts and Queries, September 26th, 1908, page 250, reference is made to an article published in the London Journal •describing a manual flight by a Mr. D'Arville, in November or December, 1851, over the Champ de Mars, Paris, in the presence of a distinguished company, whose names are given. It is stated to be on page 222 of London fournal, but does not mention the year. Apparently, it would be November or December, 1851, or early in 1852. Perhaps, some of your readers in London might gain access to a file of the above-named journal, and an attempt might be made to investigate the matter. It is rather a singular coincidence that the prize should be •offered from the very place where the flight is alleged to have taken place 60 years ago. Prestwich Park. JOSEPH CLARKSON. Ergaer and Bird Flight. 1509] I trust you will permit me to reply to "D.T.'s" letter 1497- "D.T." states that I contend "most aeroplanes 'fly' by reason of their planes deflecting a certain mass of air downwards and thus by reaction obtaining support." What I said was the exact contrary. I said that apparently it was the impression (not my impression) "that in order to rise, the aeroplane must be Inclined upwards in the direction of motion, and that the curve must be continually pushing the air down at a certain velocity." 1 would define " soaring" as the art of progressing and rising in the air without (m the case of birds) expending physical effort in flapping, and in the case of machines on the lines of the aeroplane of to-day, without expending mechanical power to propel with pro pellers in the direction of motion. The Wright Bros., I believe, obtained their initial air speed when soanng by being held in the teeth of a strong wind, and they were successful in soaring in this wind which undoubtedly from all accounts had an upward trend, much better. Amerden Bank, Taplow. They will, no doubt, yet do very GEORGE L. O. DAVIDSON. Longitudinal Stability. [1510] I am afraid I cannot understand Mr. FitzGerald's [1496] reasoning. He seems to me to argue that, when an aeroplane is not tilted, the lift on the two planes should be equal, in order that the travel of the c.p. should be a maximum. If this is so, his logic strikes me as somewhat unsound. Further, I do not see how the case in which there is no tilt affects the problem of the prevention of longitudinal instability, which, I take it, is the problem of returning the aeroplane to its flying position, when once it has moved out of it. Mr. FitzGerald has somewhat misunderstood my meaning, I think. The question is not, given the angles of attack and the ratio K, to find the angle of tilt; but, given the angles of attack, K and 0, to find the travel of the c.p., which is, I think Mr. FitzGerald will allow, a determining factor in the prevention of longitudinal in stability. Let us take a concrete example—Mr. FitzGerald's—in which sin a = T\y, sin 0= J ; and jet us give a value—say, 30—to 8. Then, when KJ=i, the ratio of the travel of the resultant c.p. to the distances between the c.p.'s of the planes, --, equals "00998. When t x K-d, -= "00757 ; so that the " tail-in-front" machine has a decided advantage. Mr. FitzGerald mentions indirectly the condition for stability— that H must not be greater than «/—. Where K is the radius of P gyration about an axis through the centre of gravity, in metres, p is the weight in kilogrammes and 6 is the width in metres. These two conditions are absolutely distinct, and must no more be muddled- up, as Mr. FitzGerald says, than the analogous conditions in a ship. O. D. ATKINSON. "Ergaer." [1511] I have read with great interest Dr. Hankin's notes, remarks and deductions relative to the flight of birds, and I resent the somewhat sarcastic remarks of the Manchester Guardian in respect to his views on " soarability " or soaring flight. 252
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