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Aviation History
1914
1914 - 0582.PDF
The Scandinavian Waterplane Circuit, DETAILS are now to hand regarding the competition for water- planes, which is to be held next August, over a course from Schwerin, in Germany, to Christiania, in Norway. Starting from Schwerin, the daily stopping places are : August 21st, Warnemunde, 100 kiloms.; August 22nd, Copenhagen, i8okiloms. ; August 23rd, Aarhus, with a stop at Helsingborg, 190 kiloms. ; August 25th, Aalborg, 140 kiloms. ; August 27th, Gothenburg, 150 kiloms. ; August 28th, Tonsburg, 190 kiloms. ; August 30th, Christiania, 80 kiloms. August 24th, 26th, and 29th will be spent at Aarhus, Aalborg, and Tonsburg respectively. The prizes total to ^3,200, of which ^280 will be distributed equally among those who get to Warnemunde, .£320 among those who reach Copenhagen, ^600 at Aarhus, ,£400 at Aalborg, ^400 at Gothenburg, ^400 at Tonsburg, and j£8oo at Christiania. ® ® ® ® 35-Hour Voyage by the " L3." THE new Zeppelin airship " L3," built for the German Navy, left Friedrichshafen at 7.16 a.m. on the 22nd inst. for a trial trip, which it was intended should occupy 36 hours. After cruising over the neighbourhood of Lake Constance for some hours, the airship passed over Basle at 10 a.m., at 6 p.m. she passed Frankfort, at 9.30 p.m. Metz, at 10.30 p.m. Bingen, at 2 a.m. the next morning Bremen, at 4 a.m. Heligoland, then back to Hamburg, and reached Potsdam at 9.30 a.m. After cruising over Berlin for some time a visit was made to Stettin, while the vessel landed at Johannisthal at 6.15 p.m., having been in the air for 34 hours 59 mins. Between Metz and Bingen the airship is said to have covered 150 kiloms. in the hour. New French Airships. DURING the next few months the French Army hope to have several new dirigibles in service. At Toul a new Lebaudy airship, which will be equipped with three groups of 150 h.p. Salmson motors, is being inflated, while next month at Epinal a new Astra- Torres will be inflated. She will be of 23,000 cubic metres capacity, and will have four 250 h.p. Cbenu engines. ® © CORRESPONDENCE. Brakes on Aeroplanes. [1862] It seem to me a surprising thing that up to the present so little has been done in the way of controlling the speed of an aeroplane after landing by means of a brake. With the exception of the Bristol, Albatros, and Sanchez-Besa machines, no real endeavour appears to have been made in this direction. It is obvious that, in many cases, machines and even lives may be saved by the use of a brake acting on the chassis wheels to cur tail the length of "roll" following upon landing. For military and cross-country machines I consider brakes a necessity. Within certain limits, a pilot never knows how small a field he may have to land in, and having landed, how quickly he may require to pull up. As an instance, let us take the recent accident at Northallerton. According to evidence, the machine touched ground well inside the field, and I am convinced that a prompt application of a brake to the wheels of the machine would have greatly reduced its speed, and would very probably have prevented its overturning. In case of a landing being made where no help could be obtained to hold back the machine or start the engine, tbe brakes could be put hard on. The pilot could then start his engine, get into his seat, release his brakes, and get away. I have designed a brake, which can be fitted to any wheels, and used on any chassis. I intend to offer the designs to the Royal Aircraft Factory, and I shall also be pleased to give particulars and sketches to any constructor who cares to apply, for I feel that the universal provision of a brake to the chassis wheels would be another step onward towards the ultimately perfect aeroplane. St. Mary's Mount, Leyburn, FRANK BROOK. Wensleydale, Yorks. Turbine Blade Camber. 1863] The enclosed cambered section (full size) will perhaps interest your readers as it represents the blade of a modern Parsons steam turbine. I re-visited these works, where I was once a pupil, a few days ago, and was naturally much impressed with the great increase in the size of the engines now being constructed compared ^^^^^^ with those that were built whilst I J& |^^^ was working in the shops. Incidental ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ t0 this increase in engine size is an ^r ^^^ increase in the size of the blade and those now used at the low pressure end of a 20,000 K.W. Set are sufficiently large to indicate the profile of the camber with great distinctness. I took away with me a section Map of the Scandinavian "Waterplane Contest. ® ® of one of these blades and had Sir Chas. Parsons' permission to use it as an illustration in a lecture that I gave in Newcastle that evening. Under the circumstances, I am sure he would have no objection to its publication in FLIGHT. [j Coventry, May nth. A. E. BERRIMAN. Climbing Speeds of Machines. [1864] As Mr. S. C. Shepley-Part has "challenged" the accuracy of the conclusions I drew with regard to the climbing speeds of aeroplanes in letter 1854, I should like space in your columns in which to vindicate the same. Your correspondent in letter 1857 accuses me of making the absurd mistake of neglecting the fact that the speed of the machine must be measured relative to the air. I beg to state that I did not fall into this " trap," as Mr. Shepley-Part terms it ; but I stated that a propellor working efficiently on a machine whose air speed is 60 m.p.h., would not work efficiently with a following wind of 40 m.p.h., and so the machine would not attain 60 m.p.h. air speed ; or, as I expressed it in my last letter, 100 m.p.h. land speed. So the reduction of propeller efficiency would cause a reduction in climbing speed. It would also be of interest to know on what grounds your corre spondent bases his theory as to a machine being virtually heavier when climbing than in horizontal flight. Ely. ALFRED M. COATE. Flying Accident Fund. [1865] Having accepted the Honorary Treasurership of the Flying Accident Fund, inaugurated by the Women's Patriotic Aerial League for the assistance of the widows or dependents of pilots killed or permanently disabled, and of which Field Marshal Lord Roberts and the Marquess of Tullibaidine, Chairman of the Royal Aero Club, are patrons, I venture to make an appeal on behalf of an undertaking the necessity for which has been so painfully brought home to us during the past few weeks. I have already had to thank you, sir, and your readers for assist ing me in the collection of ^330 for the widow and orphans of Lindsay Campbell, the Australian aviator, and ^1,420 for the family of the late Col. S. F. Cody, to which Her Majesty Queen Alexandra was graciously pleased to contribute £zp. All contributions received by me at 25, Denison House, Victoria, S.W., will be thankfully acknowledged in the Press. H. S. MASSY, Colonel, May 26th. Hon. Treasurer. <;82
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