FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1913
1913 - 0001.PDF
Flight, January 4, 1913. First Aero Weekly in the World. Founder and Editor: STANLEY SPOONER. A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport. OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE ROYAL AERO CLUB OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. No. 210. (No. 1, Vol. V.)] JANUARY 4, 1913. [Registered at the G.P.O, L as a Newspaper. J rWeekly, Price 3d. L Post Free, Hid. Flight, Editorial Office: 44, ST. MARTIN'S LANE, LONDON, W.C. Telegrams: Truditur, Westrand, London. Telephone: Gerrard 1828. Annual Subscription Rates, Post Free. United Kingdom lis. od. Abroad CONTENTS: 20J. od. Editorial Comment: The Army Ban on the Monoplane Coroners' Juries and Aviation Accidents Men of Moment in the World of Flight : Mr. F. W. Lanchester, M.I.C.E., &c Christmas Flying at Hendon The Martin-Handasyde Monoplane (with scale drawings) The Yorkshire Disaster Royal Aero Club. Official Notices Eddies From the British Flying Grounds Foreign Aviation News ... ... Aeronautical Engines Models. Conducted by V. E. Johnson, M.A , Model Club Diary and Reports Correspondence 1' 18 24 85 EDITOEUAL, COMMENT. Shortly before the House of Commons The rose for tne Christmas recess, Col. Seely, r^y tne in replying to a question regarding the Monoplane, use of monoplanes by the Royal Flying Corps, said that the War Office Committee which was enquiring into the question of the safety or otherwise of the type had practically finished its work and that the report might be expected very shortly. In the light of the unfortunate happenings of the closing days of the old year, we trust that the report will not be much longer delayed, for whether it be favourable or un favourable to the type, its publication at the present juncture cannot be otherwise than a desirable alter native to the misgiving engendered by the long con tinuance of the official ban in the Army. Our reference to the happenings of the old year applies, of course, to the deplorable accidents which caused the deaths of Lieut. Parke and Messrs. Hardwick and Petre. It is most unfortunate that both the accidents in question happened when monoplanes were being flown, and it is thus possible that the dog which had already been given a bad name may, as a result, be given a worse. Now, we are not greatly concerned at the moment with the exact local causes, if we may call them so, of these two accidents. Those will be a matter of inquiry for the Accidents Investigation Committee of the Royal Aero Club, and, until all the evidence has been heard and sifted, they must remain largely a matter of speculation anyway. But, before judgment is passed upon the preliminaries, so to say, it may be as well to point out that, having due regard to all the circumstances, it is impossible to say at the moment that either was caused by any inherent disabilities of the monoplane as such. In fact, there is nothing in the records of either accident, so far as we know at present, to even give rise to the simple thought that any other type of machine would have behaved better under the circumstances of wind and weather. Indeed, if we consider the accident in which Mr. Petre lost his life, it is possible to hazard the opinion that on such an occasion every square foot of wing area was a handicap. But we do not desire to enter into argument or comparison, which can really lead us nowhere in particular—our purpose is simply to indicate that there is at the moment no ground whatever for assuming that the two accidents which saddened the end of 1912 have left the case for or against the monoplane qua monoplane with any different aspect than it bore at the time the War Office Committee was appointed after the autumn manoeuvres. There is, on the surface, no more evidence to go to the Committee as a result of these occurrences, and there is, therefore, no logical reason why the issue of its report should be delayed on their account. In the interests of the country and of the industry, the report should be made available at the earliest possible moment, so that we may know where we stand with regard to the matter. If the mono plane is to be banned altogether—which we cannot conceive to be possible—then we should know it at once. If the Committee considers that it needs improvements along certain definite lines, and is able to indicate them, then the sooner we know what those lines are the earlier we shall be able to set about the work of improvement. It is a common practice for coroners' juries to add riders, of one sort or another, to their verdicts. Sometimes these riders contain a great deal of common-sense, while, on the other hand, they often trench upon matters of which the jury individually or collectively know nothing at all, and thus they simply achieve the end of making those whose work they are look ridiculous in the eyes of people who know 13 2 Coroners' Juries and Aviation Accidents.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
