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Aviation History
1913
1913 - 0131.PDF
FEBRUARY I, 1913. fiJGHf Edited by The Affiliation of Model Clubs. MORE than a year has passed since the affiliation scheme ot the Kite and Model Aeroplane Association was made public, and so far only one club (the Biistol and West of England) has become affiliated. At the present moment, the club which has just become affiliated is in all probability the leading provincial club, and others will, no doubt, ere long follow suit. It is hard to understand the extraordinary hesitancy that has been shown in this matter. Even supposing, for the sake of argument, that the advantages of so doing were of the smallest, the mere fact of the various clubs, both town and provincial, being linked together in this manner gives both of them a standing which they would not and cannot hold individually. Possibly, some of them have waited to see if the base on which the K. and M.A.A. itself stood was a stable one, likely to endure or of the same ephemeral existence that they knew from personal experi ence had too often been the case with respect to other model clubs. Since FLIGHT first came into being (counting both births and resurrections), very little short of a hundred model clubs have been started in the British Isles. How many are in existence at the present time, and how many are doing anything as a club to further the scientific side of model aeroplaning or help forward a national, as apart from a local, interest in the sport ? If the club movement is to do any good in this country, if it is to be worth anything as a national asset apart from a mere holiday pastime of (we are afraid) very local interest, it is undoubtedly the duty of every club to become affiliated to that body which has been for some considerable time the recognised leading club in this country, officially recognised by the one and only body capable of bestowing such recognition. The Association, or to speak more correctly, its indefatigible secretary has worked tremendously hard to raise it to the position which it now occupies, and the present moment is a most auspicious one for aeromodellists throughout the country to show their appre ciation of such efforts by urging on the secretaries of the clubs to which they belong the value of the affiliation scheme from a national point of view. There are, of course, other advantages, and as the hands of the Association were strengthened so these advantages could be increased and added to. But we prefer here to point to only this one—a purely unselfish one from every point of view. To non-club members there always remains the membership of the Association. At least a hundred new members—not mere honorary members, but real practical aeromodellists—are urgently wanted at the present time if the Association is to efficiently carry out the work it has now in hand. In the past it has been compelled to rely very considerably on outside donations, which have been most generously given. Now this should most cer tainly not be the case — any Such Association ought to be in the main self-supporting—able to stand on its own legs. As the secretary said in his letter in last week's issue: " For the past three years the Association has carried out, at con siderable expense, a series of competitions that have done much to foster model aeroplaning in this country." It would not, we are sure, be too much to say that no other similar club in the world is able to show so excellent and progressive a series of competitions. The coming Model Show at Olympia, in which the Association is rendering every assistance in its power, promises in every way to be a record one. If aeromodellists in this country have the welfare of model aeroplaning really at heart, they can do nothing that is better calculated to further the cause than by becoming members of the Association—the yearly subscription to which is $s.—a sum of money so small that no objections can possibly be raised on this score. Scientific Model Testing. We have much plea»ure in publishing the following communica tion from Mr. G. H. Kilshaw, whom, it will be remembered, was quite recently awarded the first FLIGHT Certificate of Merit. " As an aeromodellist, who is of the belief that the properly constructed or scientific model aeroplane can be made the object of experiments with respect to stability, and that it can be sufficiently relied on as a method of benefit to its larger craft, the suggestions contained in the following intended programme may be worth perusal. " Since bench tests are considered unsatisfactory in the light of the present knowledge of the various actions in relation to one another with respect to stableness of design, I have come to the conclusion that since it is hardly likely that a pilot is going to sit mum in an aeroplane set to do a trip on a gusty day of, say, a circular flight JOHNSON, M.A. with fixed controls, that may be a danger to his safety, and since hardly anyone but a madman would attempt to set in full flight* a pilotless full-sized machine for the purpose of testing its stability, the model is the only remaining thing to experiment with. It is my intention to construct a series of wing planes of the various accepted types of stable designs—such as the ordinary upward dihedral angle wing—the upturned wing tip, the washed- out wing tip, the down-pressure wing tip, vertically fitted tins, and others. A single fuselage will be constructed of streamline form and made to fit each of the wings to be tested in turn—which ought to ensure the same conditions of weight, power, and resist ance, apart from the planes themselves and enable the various designs to be tested under similar working conditions, a point too often overlooked when comparison is being made. It is intend- il, since large models are to be used, say of dimensions not under 3 ft. 6 ins. span and of length 3 ft. as a minimum, and also taking into account the fact that it is proposed to save weight of running gear by the adoption of a method of launching after the principle of the Wrights— it will be possible to fit a recording stability device of light design into the fuselage. Designs are to be made and tested for this purpose, and will probably weigh under or a little over 2 ozs. " It is thus thought that records of actual action during flight can be obtained that can hardly be of anything but benefit. Should, how ever, nothing worthy of note result from these proposed tests, it will at least be a step to try and establish or find a method ; that should be the chief aim of every earnest model enthusiast—to make an effort to find to what extent a model aeroplane can be relied on in its action, as compared with that of its larger type—the full-sized machine. Suggestions from readers of FLIGHT would be welcomed and interesting no doubt, and criticism of the above proposals are invited." It is, of course, work of this and a similar character thai is wanted, and we wish Mr. Kilshaw every success in his endeavours, but we are of opinion the span must not be less titan 5 ft., also the lack of a proper rising and landing chassis and the proposed method of launching are open to criticism. Light self-registering apparatus of a weight of about 2 ozs., supposing such can be constructed, would undoubtedly be of considerable value, because a power-driven model (a biplane of some 5 to 6 ft. span) could easily carry such and rise off the ground in the usual way—such registering apparatus must of necessity be extremely fragile and could scarcely withstand the shock of landing. If a hydro-aeroplane were used, and the alighting effected on water, then this risk would, practically speaking, be avoided. It is obvious that the abave series of experiments which our correspondent proposes to attack single-handed could be far more expeditiously handled by a club—but work of this character does not at present, at any rate, appear to appeal to the general run of clubs—of course, there are exceptions ; for instance, we have this week received a copy of the annual report and balance sheet of the Stony Stratford and District Kite and Model Aeroplane Club, which has recently been so fortunate as to become the possessor of a glider, presented to them by Mr. Wynn, of Castlethorpe, and one of whose members is busily engaged in working out the " X" of the most successful models in the club, and who has already made some very accurate calculations with respect to the efficiency of some of his own models ; and there are, of course, other clubs, many of whose members do really take a keen interest in the science of model flying. Still, we are afraid these are the exception and not the rule. Mr. Kilshaw says, in the letter accompanying his communication, " My impressions of model clubs are not of the best. I have been a member of two, and I found that the thunderbolt type of model is given too prominent a place, mainly on account of its spectacular displays." It would undoubtedly be a very good thing if every model club, more especially the smaller ones, owned one (large) model in common, apart altogether from the smaller ones owned individually, with which a series of experiments (with some definite aim in view) were made, so much time being allotted every flying meeting. There are, we know, many difficulties attending such a course, but they are not insuperable, and when once some definite aim or series * No one would, of course, think of setting in free flight a pilotluss full-sized machine in a populous district, and over even a sparsely-peopled land, the experiment would not be without danger ; but if we take the case of a pilotless hydro-aeroplane on the open sea, set to circle, say, first hand knowledge of the greatest value might undoubtedly be gained by such means, with a minimum of L • - -" -V. E J. risk, suppposing even such to exist at all.- i$i
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