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Aviation History
1913
1913 - 1185.PDF
Flight, November 8, 1913. ^ r. ^Cr First Aero Weekly ia 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. 254. (No. 45, Vol. V.)] NOVEMBER 8, 1913. ("Registered at the G.P.O.T L as a Newspaper. J TWeekly, Prioe 8d. L Post Free, 8|d. Editorial Office : 44, ST. MARTIN'S LANE, LONDON, W.C. Telegrams : Truditur, Westrand, London. Telephone : Gerrard 1828. Annual Subscription Rates, Post Free. United Kingdom ... 155. od. Abroad ... ... ... 20s. od. CONTENTS - -—•• _ Editorial Comment: FAGR Touring by Air 1211 Next Year's Round Britain Race 1212 Men of Moment in the World of Flight: W. L. Brock ... 1213 Flying at Hendon ... . ... 1214 D.F.W. Military Biplane (with scale drawings) 1216 Passenger Airships in Germany 1219 Royal Aero Club : Official Notices 1222 From the British Flying Grounds 3 British Notes of the Week 1225 Armchair Reflections. By The Dreamer 1226 Catastrophic Instability in Aeroplane^. By F. W. Lanche-ter, M.I.C.E. 1227 Foreign Aviation News ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1230 Models. Edited by V. E. Johnson, M.A 1233 Correspondence 1236 EDITORIAL COMMENT. _ . So much has the Naval and Military side Touring: ...... / , by Air °' aviation, aided to a great extent by the sporting interest, obscured all other phases of the movement, that we are afraid the commercial and other possibilities of flying have very largely been lost to sight. It is true, moreover, that privately aviation has not made the progress in this country that we had hoped it would, once the initial difficulties had been over come and flying had been demonstrated to be at least reasonably safe as a pursuit. Perhaps it is that as a nation we are deficient in that species of imagination which leads us to take up the thing that is new, and that we are awaiting a lead from others. Or perhaps it is that our much-hampered industry has been so intent upon securing Government orders, which have so far not materialised to the anticipated extent, that it has had neither time nor thought to spare upon the education of the casual private customer. Whatever the cause or series of causes, it is a melancholy fact that what we may call private aviation, to distinguish it from the flying done either directly for business or for the gaining of money prizes, has made very little headway hitherto. We do not care always lo be contrasting what is happening in other countries with the history of development here at home. But we should not be true to our task if we did not call attention to what is going on around us day by day—that is the function of such a journal as FLIGHT. We have once more to turn to France for our lesson. It is significant of the progress that is being made across the Channel that we find a French daily contemporary deciding that aerial touring has now attained to such importance as to warrant a special heading being devoted to its interests and records daily. In announcing this departure, our contemporary makes the point that, although there is a great deal of flying being done by enthusiastic amateurs, it is liable to escape notice among the records made by military and other professional pilots. In order that amateur flying should really take its proper place in the records, continues our French contemporary, it has thus been decided that " tourisme aerien " shall have its own section of the journal. We would that we could justify a weekly section of FLIGHT to be devoted entirely to British aerial touring and purely amateur flying generally, but we fear that at the present rate of development it will be long ere we can make such an announcement as that with which we are dealing. However, it is always the unexpected that happens. We go on year after year apparently apathetic to all that is going on around us, and then, oft-times quite suddenly, we appear to wake to a realisation of what things mean, and then we go ahead with rapid strides. It was so in the recent case of the motor industry. The car had been brought to a state of, we will not say even relative perfection, but certainly to a practical stage of develop ment on the Continent by the time people in this country awakened to the knowledge that there was such a thing in existence as a really practical mechanically- propelled road vehicle. For long after that the interest was restricted to a small but enthusiastic pioneer band, who worked away at what was at once a hobby and a business. And so it went on for quite a number of years, as the history of the automobile movement is reckoned, until one day the public realised the fact that automobilism had really arrived, and that in an extremely practical form. The ultimate story of its development is written large for us to see. That development has proceeded so rapidly that for years this country has been in the position of being the largest and most valuable market for cars, save and except the United States. Once the British public grasped the full possibilities of B 2
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