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Aviation History
1914
1914 - 0284.PDF
(7ycH?3 M- Farman's Weekly launt. FOR his usual weekly excursion, Maurice Farman, on the Sth intt,, accompanied by his daughter and Senoucque, went from Buc to Chambord. They returned to Buc during the afternoon, passing by Ktampes en route. Helen After Parliamentary Honours. HELEN, the well-known pilot of the Nieuport machine, is a candidate for the Chamber of Deputies for the Boulogne-sur-Seine division. If he is returned he intends to make a special effort in defence of the interests of aviation. Double Fatality at Vienna. WHILE an aeroplane piloted by Lieut. Esner was being flown at the Aspern aerodrome, near Vienna, on Monday, it fell, and both the pilot and the passenger, a non-commissioned officer, were killed. Sikorsky Machines for Russian Navy. IT is announced from St. Petersburg that the Russian Naval authorities have purchased Sikorsky's latest giant biplane, the " Ilia MouranieU," and intend to transform it into a hydro-aeroplane by fitting floats. It is also stated that the Russian Government has ordered five similar machines. Good Flight on the Sikorsky. ON the 4th inst., Sikorsky, on his latest machine, made a flight of 55 minutes' duration, in a snowstorm, carrying eight passengers. The average altitude during the flight was 6oo metres. Mr. Hawker has a Smash. A BRIEF cable message from Sydney, N.S.W., announces that while making a flight at Albury on Sunday last, Mr. Hawker's machine suddenly fell to the ground and was partly wrecked, but fortunately the pilot escaped unhurt. The Dunne Biplane in America. THE first Dunne biplane built in the U.S.A. has just been turned out by the re-formed liurgess Company of Marblehead, Mass., who have the right to build the machines in the States. This first machine takes the form of a hydro aeroplane, being mounted on a narrow punt-shaped central float, with auxiliary floats under the ends cf the main planes. Cause of Lieut. Post's Accident. A REPORT has been issued by the Committee officially ap pointed to enquire into the accident which befell Lieut. H. B. Post, while making an attempt to beat the American altitude record. The conclusions of the Committee are :— "Lieut. Post descended from an altitude of approximately 12,000 ft. to an altitude of 1,000 ft. in a normal manner and from that point to a point approximately 6oo ft. above the ground at an increasingly steeper angle, the machine ultimately assumed a vertical head-down position, falling into the bay. The board was unable to determine the cause or fix the responsibility for the accident, but is of the opinion that the cause was due to the machine getting into a vertical head-down position, causing excessive pressure on the planes which resulted in the collapse of some part or parts of the machine." Another Trial by the " Schutte-Lanz." A SECOND trial trip was made with the new " Schutte-Lanz " military airship on the 5th inst., when with 25 passengers on board she made a cruise of an hour and a halPs duration, passing over Mannheim, Spire and Heidelberg, and returning to her hangar at Cologne. ® ® ® ® The London Aerodrome Dinner. IT is evident that the First Annual Dinner of the London Aerodrome, Hendon, which is to be held at the Royal Automobile Club on Friday next, will be a very brilliant function. We learn that among those who will support the Earl of Lonsdale, who will preside, will be :—The Duke of Rutland, the Earl of Drogheda, the Earl of Portarlington, Lord Herbert Vane Tempest, Lord Edward Grosvenor, Lord Carbery, Sir Archibald Sinclair, Sir Bryan Leighton, Hon. Arthur Stanley, M.P., Sir Charles Henry, Admiral Lord Charles Beresford, Admiral Sir Edward Seymour, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Alfred de Rothschild, Signor Marconi, W. loynson-1 licks, M.P., H. G. Wells, Major Baden- Powell, Richard T. Gates, Commander Samson, R.N., Lieut.-Col. Sykes, Lieut. Spencer Grey, R.N., Capt. A. G. Fox, R.F.C., L. BWriot, Mervyn O'Gorman, Gustav Hamel, B. G» Hucks, Brindejonc de Moulinais, R. O. Crawshay, T. Sopwith, A. V. Roe, F. P. Raynham, Sidney Pickles, J. Valentine, P. Verrier, Robert Loraine, E. T. Willows, H. Salmet, and C. Grahame-White, as well as a number of the foremost foreign pilots. MARCH 14, 1914. THE PEMBERTON BILLING SUPERMETER. AN instrument that will indicate to a pilot when about to alight, the St his machine is from the ground from, say 20 ft. down- the neigm nis "' ,, te valuab e addition to the outfit of an "' „^ne°for it In truly be said that alighting is the most difficult, noI'"y £geroaus tasl the pilot of an aeroplane has to contend -^rh Great iudgment is required in determining the smaller he ghts ffomh ground, whilst has been found that tins is a far mofe difficult mafter when alighting on water instead of land. If Xhting on either land or water under normal conditions is difficult; it is considerably more so at night or m fogs. Such an instrument referred to above is the Pemberton Bilhng Super- meter, the invention of Mr Pemberton Billing, who is we known to most of our readers for haying taken his ticket one day before breakfast some little time back. The P.B." Super- meter is decidedly simple and ingenious, consisting, as it does, of a hollow metal sphere (A) attached to a fine wire cord (B), which when not in use is coiled round a drum (c), the sphere being housed in a suitable cup. When the pilot wishes to alight he releases the A sectional sketch of the Pemberton Billing " Supermeter." drum by means of the lever (D), permitting the wire to run out, and regulating its speed by a hand brake attached to the same lever. The sphere now remains suspended beneath the aircraft, the wire being of such a length that when the machine is approximately 15 ft. above the surface of the water the sphere floats on the water so that the motion of the aircraft causes the wire to move backwards and assume an angle which varies with the height of the machine. This movement is transmitted through the tube (F) and quadrant (G) to a rotary indicating drum (H), SO calibrated as to record the height above the surface of the water, readings being given for every three feet. A gong (.1) and electric bulb (K) are operated simultaneously, the former attracting the attention of the pilot, and the latter pro jecting a beam of light through a transparent scale, thereby facili tating observations at night. This instrument can also be adapted for use over land as well as water, in which case an attachment is fitted to automatically sever the wire should any resistance sufficient to affect the stability of the machine be encountered 284
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