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Aviation History
1913
1913 - 1063.PDF
OCTOBER 4, 1913. appears to be to the spectators. So much confidence does Pegoud inspire, however, that instead of having one's heart in one's mouth at such a critical moment one is perfectly content to know that it will be all the same whether the machine completes the circle or just tumbles down backwards. In short, in the four manoeuvres that Pegoud carries out, he covers practically all the possible contingencies in which a pilot might accidently find himself, either through the mismanagement of his machine or excessively severe weather conditions. So calmly and so perfectly does Pegoud handle his machine, that his amazing flights are almost devoid of sensationalism. Viewed through field glasses, which obscure the general environment, Pegoud's flights look almost commonplace. True, his machine is upside down, but what of that ? It goes through the air so easily and so gracefully that it is impossible to get up any excite ment over the mere fact of its inverted position. Viewed as a whole by the naked eye, however, the spectacle presented by Pegoud's performances is quite the most wonderful thing that ever has been done in the air, and it is quite capable of impressing one in this sense. The moral of it all is, firstly, the fundamental importance of flying at a sufficient altitude to be able to [/UGHTj recover in safety. Apart from that, there is the funda mental necessity for keeping calm, and for being so secured in the machine as to be capable of retaining control of it in any conceivable position that it may assume. It seemed to us that Pegoud's successful and quick recovery from his terrifying positions depended far more on his nerve in letting the machine take care of itself, than in what he did personally in the way of control. There is very litde doubt that many disasters have taken place through pilots having locked their machine into some awkward position through holding the control in the wrong place. Pegoud never jerked his machine in any of his manoeuvres. Every action was dignified, slow and graceful. He never appeared to force the machine to do anything, and even in the tail slide, when the aeroplane had to all intents and purposes been tossed up like a pancake to come down whichever way it might, there still remained about the whole affair that same easy assurance and absence of effort. And now, if Pegoud wants to do a real service to aviation, he should sit down and try and describe in detail exactly what he does with his control lever, so that pilots may have something definite to work upon. ® ® ® ® AEROPLANE TYPES. THE SYKORSKY THE Sykorsky " Grand " biplane, the work of a young Russian designer, is exceptionally interesting on account of its enormous size and disposition of power plant. Unfortunately few details are obtainable, but the accom panying sketch plan and elevation, together with the principal dimensions, should give a general idea of this remarkable machine. It certainly constitutes the first successful attempt at a large, multi-passenger machine or aerial 'bus, for it has been flown by its designer for 1 hour 4 mins. with seven passengers, thus demonstrating its practicability. It has a long rectangular-section metal fuselage having a large glass-sided cabin forward accom modating the pilot and passengers. The foremost portion of the fuselage forms a cockpit in front of the cabin. Various systems of engine mounting have been tried ; in its original form, four 100 h.p. Argus motors were mounted on the lower plane, these being arranged tandem fashion on each side of the/uselage—two at the leading edge and two immediately behind them at the trailing edge, and each driving independent tractors or propellers. The rear motors were afterwards brought alongside the front ones, so that all four were on the leading edge. Latest particulars to hand show that only the two motors near the fuselage are employed. The chassis is extremely strong, and consists of four sets of skids, two long ones supporting the fuselage and two shorter ones under the motors. A small skid, carrying two pairs of running wheels, is mounted (by rubber springs) between each of the inner and outer skids. Lateral control is obtained by ailerons hinged to the rear spar of the top plane extensions, and longitudinal control is obtained by a rear elevator hinged to a large lifting tail. Dual wheel ailerons) and column (elevator) control is fitted. The principal dimensions are as follows : Span 28 m., length ® ® BIPLANE. 20 m., supporting area 120 2,700 kilogs., speed 85 k.p.h. sq. m., weight (empty) "VEB JAY." Thursday Meetings at Hendon. ARRANGEMENTS have been made by the directors of the London Aerodrome, Hendon, for a series of competitions to be held every Thursday afternoon, in addition to the usual weekly ® ® meetings on Saturdays and the exhibition flights on Sundays. For next Thursday a dispatch-carrying relay race is being arranged, while on the following Thursday there will be a handicap race for Morane-Saulnier machines, the winner to receive a silver model of his machine. IO89 C 2
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