FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1912
1912 - 1097.PDF
Flight, November 30, 1912. A Journal devoted to the Interest!, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport. OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE ROYAL AERO CLUB OF THE UNITE! KINGDOM. No. 806. (No. 48, Vol. IV.)] NOVEMBER 30, 1912. f Registered st the G.P.O.T rWaaJtly, Prioa 8 L M a Newspaper. J L Pont **••, Sid 8d Isptat. Editorial Office: 44, ST. MARTIN'S LANE, LONDON, W.C. Telegrams: Truditur, Westrand, London. Telephone: Gerrard x8a8. Annual Subscription Rates, Post Free. United Kingdom ... 15J. od. Abroad 20J. od. CONTENTS: Editorial Comment : Military Aviation at Home and Abroad Men of Moment in the World of Flight: Lord NorthclirTe Eddies. By " Oiscau Bleu" The Caudron Biplane (with scale drawings) The 1913 Anzani Engines The Royal Aero Club. Official Notices From the British Flying Grounds Notes on the Work of Gordon England, Designer of the latest Bristol Biplane Week-End Flying at Hendon British Notes of the Week ... Bristol and West of England Aero Club Annual Dinner Airship and Balloon News .. Foreign Aviation News Models. Edited by V. E. Johnson, M.A Model Club Diary and Monthly Reports Correspondence 1007 1099 1102 1104 nuS 1114 HIS 1116 1118 11 iS 1119 1122 I I23 1124 KDHTOMIAL COMMENT. Military Aviation at Home and Abroad. In many respects the speech delivered by Sir George White, at the annual dinner of the Bristol and West of England Aero Club on the 21st inst., was a remarkable one. In the first place it was remarkable for the story of development he had to tell his audience when speaking of the business enterprise of which he is the head. It is flattering to our national pride to know that, however much we have lagged, industrially, behind our rivals in past years, we have really made up so much of the lost ground as Sir George White assures us we have. And the figures he was able to give his audience were quite sufficient guarantee that he was speaking strictly within the facts, when he said that this country was well up with the rest, so far as the design and the manufacture of the aeroplane is concerned. It is surely an encouragement when the head of such a concern refers to machines already manufactured and delivered to Russia, Germany, Turkey, Spain, Bulgaria, Roumania, and Italy, and to learn that the latter country has already taken sufficient interest in the type to warrant the establishment there of a factory for their manufacture. An initial order for some fifty Bristol machines has already been placed by the Italian Government, where the activities of the authorities have been largely stimulated by patriotic financial support. It is not our practice to particularise individual firms when dealing with general progress, but it is a fact that the Bristol Company plays an exceptionally important part in the British aeronautical industry, and it is at least proper to take the measure of their development as a sign and assurance of the scope for increase that lies before those whose means do not as yet, perhaps, permit them to attempt to cover an equally wide field. When it is put on record by Sir George White that his firm has executed orders during the past year to the amount of ^£70,000 in value, it should surely give pause for reflection. Such a turnover is no insignificant amount of business. It already assumes dimensions that forecast good dividends to lucky shareholders, and when any sort of business enters this state it is a foregone conclusion that it need no longer suffer from lack of financial sup port. We draw particular attention to this aspect of the situation, because very recently we had occasion to emphasise a fundamental principle in manufacture which appears to be overlooked in some quarters. Sir George White, be it noted, refers to the prosperity of his com pany in terms of turnover; the whole tone of his speech implies profit as the result of the magnitude of the business. He does not say that after many arduous months of costly experiment his engineers succeeded in evolving one or two very fine machines that his Sales Department ultimately succeeded in disposing of at a profit. On the contrary the impression is that they have evolved certain types that everybody seems to want and that, as the result of the number of orders, they have been able to do a remarkably substantial business. We consider that it is of the utmost consequence to the flight industry as a whole that this aspect of the matter should be thoroughly appreciated by all. It is not the production of a single special machine that is going to make the money, but the number of orders a firm can secure whether it happens to have a special machine or not. We have an interesting case in point in the example of Messrs. Hewlett and Blondeau. Here is a firm who do not at the moment identify themselves with any par ticular machine, and one of their principal orders on hand is for-a number of Hanriot monoplanes, which are being built for the Hanriot Company and are going to be delivered in France. Now, it is not to be supposed that Messrs. Hewlett
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
