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Aviation History
1912
1912 - 0723.PDF
AUGUST IO, 1912. and going out for three hours on end. The Hanriot No. I was forced to come down after 2g hours on its first attempt last week owing to a broken valve spring ; it is ready and waiting this morning, but the pilot, apparently, is abed—where we others wish we were. Many of the other machines are still doing their quick assembling test, which in some cases has lasted about four days ! " British built " some of these machines will be with a vengeance— the army sheds being regarded, apparently, by some of the com petitors as free workshops. Doubtless, when the weather clears up a little, there will be less leniency ; in any case, it will be necessary to institute a time-limit, if the trials are to be completed within a reasonable period. If the blue flag flies for nine hours on end it should signify a " flying day," and ten such days ought to be time enough for the competitors to show what they can do. Military aeroplanes, after all, are intended to be used in all sorts of weather, and it is not at all desirable that anyone should be encouraged to wait for an extra-fine day. In the meantime there is little to do but study the notice board, on which are the performances to date. The first in order of publication is the quick assembling test, in which the machines had to be put together after transport and flown over a short circuit to show that they were in a sound condition. There is a very remarkable variation in the times taken for this work, which range from a mere quarter of an hour occupied by the Avro and the Hanriot up to several hours on the part of some machines. The three factors of greatest importance to success in this test are clever detail design, an easy starting engine, and a well drilled crew. The Avro machine possesses all three ; in its design the cleverness of the detail has been equal to the forethought bestowed on the problem, the Green engine started at once although it had never been in the machine before, and the crew consists of a number of enthusiasts who individually and collectively know their job. Decidedly is the firm of Roe and Co. coming very much to the fore ; among wholly British machines (with British engines) it should stand at the top if it comes anywhere near tc expectations. Nine machines took less than an hour to assemble, and one other, in addition to the Avro, was a biplane—the Bristol—which also must be regarded as an excellent performance. Equally notable is the fact that Cody got his big machine together in an hour and thirty- five minutes, so that from the evidence already available there seems no reason why the Army should not have all their machines made easy to dismantle if the point is considered of very great importance. Of the 32 machines entered, only six are officially marked " not j/yGHT] Capt. Godfrey M. Paine, R.N., Commandant of the Central Flying School, and one of the Judges in the Competitions. THE MILITARY AVIATION TESTS.—Vedrines coming to earth en vol plane, after a test flight on the 100-h.p. Gnome-engined British-built Deperdussln monoplane. 723 C 2
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