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Aviation History
1912
1912 - 0769.PDF
"•" mm Ommm AUGUST 24, 1912. (/JJGHT] A DAY BY DAY DIARY WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14TH.—Shortly after 5 o'clock this morning a strenuous effort was made by four more of the competitors to get through their three-hour qualifying flight, which includes the necessity of attaining an altitude of 4,500 ft., of continuing to fly at not less than 1,500 ft. for a total of three hours' duration, and of starting oft with the machine duly charged with fuel and oil for a 4J hours' journey. Incidental to the test, an automatic record is taken on a barograph of the rate of ascent for the first 1,000 ft., and either then or on another occasion the pilot must show that he is capable of climbing at the rate of 200 ft. a minute from the ground to that altitude. The little instrument used for this purpose is an extraordinarily neat affair, and can be carried quite conveniently in the pocket. It is a flat rectangular case containing a small window at one end, behind which is a visible chart over which moves the recording pen. A very ingenious clockwork apparatus causes the pen to be lifted off the paper except for a mere instant of time at each half minute, when it allows the pen to settle for sufficient time to make a dot against the scale that registers the altitude. Thus, the instrument is set in action when the machine starts its flight, and if within that portion of the scale representing the first 1,000 ft. of altitude there are more than ten dots, signifying ten intervals of half a minute each, the machine has climbed at a less rate than 200 ft. a minute and consequently must try again. Of those who went out this morning for their three hours' test, Pixton alone succeeded in completing the required duration on his Bristol monoplane No. 15—an excellent performance, seeing that the pilot had only taken over the machine last Monday. Macdonald, on the Vickers monoplane, tried hard to get through also, but had to come down when less thin half an hour remained, as the wind was rising rapidly to a seriou, gustiness. For the same reason, Gordon England, on the Bris-tol biplane No. 12, and Lieut. J. C. Porte, on the British-built Dep., were also unable to complete their qualifying flights ; and the latter had some difficulty in landing, although happily it was effected without damage. A more alarming incident occurred in connection with the landing of Capt. D. Connor of the Royal Flying Corps, who broke up the undercarriage of the Army Nieuport monoplane and jammed a few splinters in amongst the engine cylinders of the rotary Gnome in a manner that caused the result to be an extraordinary puzzle to know how some of them got there. The pilot was quite unhurt. During the early calm, Perreyon took the second Bleriot No. 5, which is the sociable machine, over to Knighton Down, there to undergo its speed trials. The Bristol monoplane No. 14, in the hands of " Busteed of the cloud alleys " likewise journeyed thither for the same purpose. Bielovucic's Hanriot No. I, went for its gliding tests and Raynham, who is appointed to the Coventry Ordnance biplane in succession to Sopwith, went out for practice. The high wind that came on about breakfast time con tinued through the forenoon, and was still blowing hard about 5 o'clock in the evening when Perreyon took out the Bleriot tandem for a wind test. A dauntless pilot in matters of this sort, his only concern was lest he might lose the roof off the shed, as the Coventry Ordnance did one memorable day last week. Thursday. Wind and rain held back all competitors rom attempting the tests, so the flights by army officers of the Royal Flying Corps afforded the only interlude. A diversion in the form of rifle practice at a captive balloon, towed by a motor car was brought to a premature conclusion by the escape of the balloon, and so once more a day's work has been invisible to the outside world. Some of the government " factories," by courtesy called hangars, temporarily on loan to aeroplane constructors, still continue to be hives of industry and much of real interest ought to result therefrom if the bad weather continues long enough. The A.B.C. engine specially built for the Flanders monoplane arrived yesterday and is in process ol being fitted to-day. Being not only brand new, but having come down from the works without even so much as a preliminary bench test, it is more than likely to suffer from the common complaint of engines hereabouts, namely, lost revolutions. There is a wit, who shall be nameless, who dearly wanted to post up among the lost and found notices that support the results pasted on the windows of the judges' office, an announcement to the effect, " lost, a few hundred revolutions," and to add thereto the names and amounts of those who have been so plaintively seeking them during the past ten days. In the evening, a little before six, Perreyon, who flew the Blciiot tandem yesterday, took out the HU riot sociable for a similar per formance. Me had a noticeably busy time keeping the machine in order, and hearts came up as the machine dipped down in the treacherous passage over Fargo Wood. All was well, however, and a quarter of an hour later he had brought one machine back safely, and taken out the other for a change. Friday. The Avro biplane is back in its shed, having returned from Manchester, whither it was sent for repairs after the bad smash that attended Lieut. Parke's landing from an excellent flight on Wednesday, August 7th. The repair is a piece of smart work for which A. V. Roe and Co. deserve real credit, and all are undoubtedly pleased to find the machine back again and apparently in good trim. It is one of the most interesting machines in the trials, and having a Green engine is one of the few wholly British machines that were entered. Indeed, with the sad loss of the Mersey and the mysterious seclusion of the Aerial Wheel, the Avro remains the only machine in this class. It was not until half past six in the evening that any machine came out of doors, but then, the weather bung a little quieter, Sippe and Perreyon took their re-pective aeroplanes, the Ilanriot and the Bleriot, for trial flights. It was unpleasant weather, for although the wind was down to twelve miles an hour, a Scotch mist prevailed which made flying a joy to few. Somewhat later, Bielovucic took out the other Hanriot, and flew over to the plough, whereon he landed so delicately that the machine ran for more than a hundred yards withou: stopping. Subsequent rising from the sticky furrow, however, proved a more difficult matter, but with some manoeuvring was at length accomplished. Saturday. At last some progress has b;en made in the weighing of the machines, an operation of the utmost importance, seeing that it is by no means uncommon for the actual measurement to be two or three hundred pounds out as compared with the maker's estimate. The officials have been chary of weighing the machines in the wind, owing to the sensitiveness of the wing surfaces to slight gusts, but the most careless of results thus obtained would probably be found nearer the mark than the figures that have been otherwise supplied. The weighbridge has been erected outside "Flight" Copyright. THE MILITARY COMPETITIONS AT SALISBURY.—On the left the French Deperdussln monoplane completing the transport test, On the rtght Prevost and Capt. Dawes starting out for a flight on the same machine. 769 C 2
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