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Aviation History
1913
1913 - 0133.PDF
FEBRUARY I, 1913. Mr. Bertram G. Cooper. The club paid a visit to the South Kensington Museum on Jan. 25th, where a temporary collection of aeronautical apparatus is on exhibition. A very enjoyable and instructive evening was spent amongst the aeroplanes, propellers, and various instruments connected with aviation. A wind tunnel containing a model B.E. biplane excited considerable interest every time it was operated by the attendant. Other objects of interest were the illuminated negatives illustrating the flow of water round obstacles and aerofoils. Those interested in engines had an opportunity of closely inspecting the Gnome and Green aero engines. The R.A.F. four-bladed propeller acted like a magnet on the secretary- With the store of information gained by members during the past month, considerable advancement in model construction is anticipated during the coming season. Retgate, Redhlll and District (8, BRIGHTON ROAD, REDHILL). Monthly Report.—The past month has seen much active work. The quarterly competition for Col. R. H. Rawson's (the President's) fine silver challenge cup was held on Dec. 21st. Mr. J. W. Burghope succeeded in winning it with 226! marks, Mr. W. Key was second with 147;, and Mr. M. H. Wilson was third with III. The weather was vile, a very high and gusty wind blew, which exactly suited the heavily-loaded models flown. Despite the adverse conditions, Mr. Burghope's machine succeeded in covering over 250 yards, and Mr. Key put up a duration of 35; sees. Had the latter s model flown straight it would have won the trophy ; r.o.g. machines were flown, the average weight being iooz>., and the average loading 1202s. to sq. ft. In future the competition will be held three times a year. Eight machines are under construction for Olympia. A branch of the club has been formed at East Grinstead by Messrs. H. Moon (late of this club) and Mr. H. Smither (of the Croydon club). Mr. Moon is branch hon. sec. A great deal of flying has been done at East Grinitead lately by these two members. A good deal of flying has been done during the month by Messrs. Norton, Sutton, Key. R. and M. Wilson, Burghope, Oram, Hoyle and Hooton. Mr. G. Morris testing a novel glider. Social teas are now a regular feature of the club's " work." Scottish f\e.S.("ROCHELLE,"LlMESIDE AVENUE, RUTHERGLEN). FEB. IST, r.o.g. competition at Paisley racecourse. Feb. 8th, hydro aeroplane demonstration at Maxwell Pond. Feb. 15th, monthly competition at Paisley racecourse. Feb. 22nd, hydro-aeroplane meeting at Maxwell Pond. Scottish Model Records. Hand-launched Distance... J.S.Gordon ... 2,006 ft. Duration... Jas. Myles 65 sees. Off-ground Distance... Wm. Craig Boyd ... 739 ft. Duration.. Wm. Craig Boyd ... 33! sees. Tractor, single screw— Off ground Duration... T.S.Gordon ... i6| „ Hand-launched Duration... J. S. Gordon ... 10^ ,, Hydro-aeroplane Duration... C. F. Arthur 2i| „ Monthly Report.—During the month of January little outdoor work has been done owing to the miserable weather conditions. On Jan. 3rd Mr. C. F. Arthur was practising with his hydro-'bus at Whiteinch Pond, the model doing several fine flights of 20 sees. On 4th Mr. J. S. Gordon gave a display of the same nature at Maxwell Pond, nth and 18th were blank dates owing to wet weather. On 25th, a hydro-aeroplane meeting was arranged to take place at Maxwell Pond. Again there was disappointment for the)members and spectators owing to the pond being frozen over. Mr. Gordon, however, luted his machine with small steel runners, and the new "aerosleigh " made about a dozen flights from the ice, the duration averaging 20 sees, each flight. Several speed trials were made with the planes removed and the terrific pace shown caused great excite ment among the spectators. Notwithstanding the small amount of outdoor work done the workshop has been well attended and the usual monthly supply of new- ideas has been forthcoming. The Drummond lathe is now nearing completion, the patterns being made and the castings finished off,by the members, which work has proved both interesting and instructive. Sheffield Model Aero Club (35, PENRHYN ROAD, SHEFFIELD). Montldy Report. — The second annual general meeting was held at Broomhead's Dining Rooms, on December 28th, 1912, the following being elected for the present year:—President, Mr. E. W. Colver ; Vice-President, Mr. H. Slack ; Treasurer, Mr. G. H. Dewsnap ; Hon. Secretary, Mr. C. F. W. Cudworth (35, Penrhyn Road); Hon. Assistant Secretary, Mr. R. E. Raynes <i, Baker Street) ; Committee, in addition to the other officers, Mr. J. P. Worrall and Mr. \V. H. Bagshaw. The past year has proved a record one for the club. A special meeting was held on January 16th, when Mr. E. W. Colver sprung a great surprise upon the members by presenting a Silver Cup, to be known as " The President's Challenge Cup for Hydro-aeroplanes." This is to be competed for annually by club members only. Mr. Colver was heartily thanked by all the members for his generous gift, this being the second cup he haspresented to the club, with the object of encouraging enthusiasm in aeronautics in Sheffield. The other cup is the " Colver Cup" for self-rising models. The club at present holds three Sheffield records—-distance, duration, and self-rising models. S. Eastern Model Ae.C. (i, RAILWAY APPROACH, BROCKLEY). FEB. IST, at Kidbrooke, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 2nd, at Biackheath, 7.30 a.m. to 10 a.m. ; at Lee, 10.15 a.m. to 12.15 p.m. Other flying will also take place at the Cricket Ground, Chislehurst, by the local branch, and on Mitcham by members of the East Surrey branch. Monthly Report.—During the past month several members have been parti cularly active, although wretched weather has considerably curtailed the available time for outdoor experiments. One of the important incidents has been the successful debut of Mr. A. C. Rippon's large tractor monoplane. This resembles the "Antoinette" to a great extent, both in design and in the actual flying. The total weight of this machine is 12 oz;., and although it is driven only by a single skein of rubber, weighing 25 <«s-i it nas repeatedly flown a distance of [fjjGHT] CORRESPONDENCE:. Correspondents communicating with regard to letters which have appeared in FLIGHT, would much facilitate ready reference by quoting the number of each letter. The British Industry. [1714] There is much truth in what "A Believer in Aviation and in England " says in letter 1709 about the difficulty in securing financial assistance. At the same time I think if one can put a proposition before a body of intelligent gentlemen of good financial standing which appeals to them as being sound, there should be no difficulty in getting the necessary cash to carry the matter through. Within although some trouble has been experienced with the landing chassis, due to too rigid construction. Mr. R. W. Prance with his "Dep." tractor ai.d a r.o.g. twin-propeller monoplane has made some good flights at Ulaekncath, and Mr. E. Campbell is obtaining Iwtter results from his tractor. He now propose! fitting a 4-bladed screw instead of the 2-bladed one at present in use. It will be interesting to watch if this gives better results as has proved to be the case with several other models where 4-bladed screws have been substituted for a-bladed ones. Mr. A. D. Nicholl* has been endeavouring to solve the problem of the lateral Stability of his tractor biplane (it persists in side-slipping) by the aid of a fin and without resort to a large dihedral angle on the matn planes. Mr. G. Brown has made numerous flights with his " racing' model, and lias recently turned out a small ami very interesting tractor biplane, which contains several new points in model construction. Mr. u. H. Westwood has made nice flights on ]!lackhe»th with a new " covered-in-body " tractor mono., which " gets off" in a remarkable manner, leaving the ground after a very short run, and gene rally finishes its flight with a glide. Mr. S. Hunt has been experimenting with his " power " tractor monoplane, which is driven by a t-cyl. rotary steam engine, but success has not yet been attained. Mr. S. Grimston has been flying a tractor monoplane, and an " A " frame twin-propeller model; both machines Hew well at the Nunhead ground. Mr. F. O. Peter, with his automatic stabOtty tractor monoplane (4-bladed screw), has done an enormous amount of work, anil the continuous success of this model speaks well for his careful tuning up. Anew tractor biplane constructed by Mr. Peter has also made successful (light- at l.ee and Crofton Park. Mr. K. Hock has made some fine flights wilh a tra< tor, and Mr. 1.. B. Morris has been flying his very original single-propeller monoplane and a tractor mono, at Kidbrooke. The first mentioned—the only model of Its kind in the club—is one of the most interesting on account of its splendid climbing angle and it invariably terminates its flight with a good glide. Dr. G. McMunn has again been making excellent flights with his 4-ft. "racers at Mitcham Common. At this ground Mr. F. Plummet has also met with success. In open distance competitions, promoted by the Croydon and Distil, t Aero Club, Mr. Plummer succeeded in gaining both first prizes. In the first event this member's twin-propeller model flew 558 yards, and in the second contest his tractor monoplane made a straight flight of 152 yards. Mr. Hell (of the Croydon and District Aero Club) was runner-up in the former event, and Mr. W. Martin's tractor mono, was a good second t" Mr. Plummer s with a flight of 142 yards. Mr. W. G. Killinghursi has obtained some very good results with his monoplane and biplane—bjth tractors—on WMCP Mr. Billinghurst is conducting some special tests with a new type of tractor- screw. Messrs. F. Dixson, V. C. Wheeler and 1.. Hrough are busy constructing models. Several members of the Chislehurst Hranch have been active with their tractor models ; Messrs. R. Dodd, F. Packham, A. Kemsley and S. Dodd giving creditable performances. Mr. R. Dodd is now making a "scale" Deperdusiin, which should be a nice flyer. Mr. F. M. Bailey and Mr. H. Sution have been testing tractors and Mr. G. H. l.ee a twin-propeller model. Mr. W. R. Hainan has been obtaining nice flights with the secretary's tractor monoplane— A.B.C. 76—which is still going strong despite its age. Mr. A. B. Clark has been using his tractor biplane, which on one occasion made a flight of 150 yards. In addition his " Groves " biplane has been very successful, making good nights off the ground at Biackheath and Lee. The subscription to the MODKL SECTION is now due and the secretary will be pleased to receive remittances. iouthgate County School Ae.C.(72,NATALRi).,NE\vSooTHOATK). FEB. tst, tests for certificates. Feb. 8th, novices competition. Mar. ist, hydro-aero competition. Monthly Report—Several good flights during the month. With the excep tion of some of the younger members the " flying-slick " is extinct. Results of r.O.g. competition, Jan. 18th: tst, J. Keed, 521 ft. ; and, F. Kllinghaus, 307 ft- Jan. 25th : Certificates issued to J. Reed (ist class), 350 yards, G. Kedottee and A. Herring (2nd class), each with flight of 40 sees. Stony Stratford and District Kite and Model Ae.C. (OLD STRATFORD). Monthly Report. January, 1913.—A members' general meeting was held on Wednesday, January 15th, when the members present were excitingly discussing the joys, &c., of eliding ; this was the result of the secretary reading out a letter be had just received from Mr. Wynn, a local gentleman, who has been conducting experiments with the heavier-than-air machines. Members have not got into full stride yet for model flying, but the secretary is glad to report a little progress, and that members are building new machines. The next meeting il Wednesday, February 12th, at the clubroom. It has been proposed that, for the benefit of the junior members, the discussion take place before the consideration of business. Members please attend the above meeting, as there is a great amount of business to transact. The particulars to hand re glider are as follows : 32 ft. span, in three sections, fitted with an elevator ; weight, 50 lbs. Windsor Model Aero Club (10, ALMA ROAD, WINDSOR) Monthly Report.—During the past month work has been confined to the glider and the show models. Extensive alterations have been carried out on the former, and its efficiency and appearance much improved. The tail boom system which was previously the machine's weakest point, is now its strongest, and much resembles the Caudron. After this machine has been finished with, it is the club's intention to build a controlled glider on Caudron lines. Experiment carried out with the present machine, show that a span of 32 ft. is excessive for body control alone, and on this score, somewhat dangerous. The club would like any enthu siasts in the locality to come forward and join them, and thus ensure a successful season's work. ® ® ® ® the last four months I had occasion to look for financial assistance to build an aeroplane engine with novel valve gear, &c. ; my experience was, no one seemed anxious to find the cash until I had clearly stated my case and showed master patents as security for their money. Having satisfied themselves, with the assistance of outside expert advice, that there was a reasonable prospect of making money on the venture, the necessary money was immediately put up, and the engine is now nearing completion, of course, it is not a scheme on paper, an experimental engine has been running for nearly a year. It was described and illustrated in FLIGHT, June ist 1912. 88, Pall Mall, S.W. WILLIAM COCHRANE. 133
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