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Aviation History
1914
1914 - 0796.PDF
faiGHT en route and made exhibition flights. His actual flying time between the two cities was about 9 hours. Guillaux not only carried a message from the Governor of Victoria to the Governor of New South Wales, but he was also entrusted with a bag of mails. The weather was very unsettled, and Guillaux found flying over the mountains an arduous task. Double Fatality In Russia. WHILE flying in the neighbourhood of Odessa on the 16th inst. a machine piloted by Capt. Firsof fell from a great height, and both pilot and passenger were killed. The Grand Prix Balloon Race. MORE notable than usual was the start of the annual balloon race for the Grand Prix of the Ae.C.F., from the Tuileries Gardens, on Sunday, for a tablet commemorating the first ascent of a gas balloon from the Tuileries, on December 1st, 1783, was unveiled, while 5,000 carrier pigeons were released. Twenty-three balloons actually started, and owing to the calm weather they disappeared very slowly in a north-westerly diiection. One balloon, piloted by M. Blanchet, with M. Duval as passenger, collided with the trees, and the car was torn from the gas-bag. Both the occupants were seriously injured. The majority of the balloons crossed the Channel, and it is probable that M. Rumpelmayer on the " Sagittaire," who landed near Carnarvon 630 kiloms. from the starting point, will be declared the winner, with M. Demuyter, on "Belgica II," who landed at Abergele, second, and M. L. Gerard on the " Reine Elisabeth," who came down at Towyn, third. The next best performances in order were Herr Henoch ("Barmen"), Welshpool; Herr Apfel ("Leipzig"), Foel; M. J. Dubois (" Touraine"), Aberystwith ; Mdlle. Marvingt (" Etoile-Filante "), Aberystwith. ® ® THE EVOLUTION OF THE uninitiated frequently confuse the hydroplane with the hydro aeroplane, the former being a very fast type of motor boat designed to skim the surface of the water, and the latter being, of course, an aeroplane designed for the purpose of alighting on and rising from the water. As it is necessary for any hydro-aeroplane to acquire its flying speed by driving over the water before it can ascend into the air, the ability to skim the surface of the water—thereby reducing the resistance to motion, and so increasing the speed—is a matter of very great importance. It may be interesting, therefore, to refer quite briefly to the evolution of the hydroplane as a type of boat; for some, at least, of JCLY 24, 1914. The World's Distance Record for Balloons. THE F.A.I. has been asked by the German Federation to accept as a world's record, the voyage of Berliner from Bitterfeld to Bissertsk, Perm, in Russia, made last February. The distance is given as 3,052'7 kiloms. A Zeppelin under Fire. . THE Zeppelin "Z 4," which was concerned in the Luneville " incident " in April of last year, strayed over the Russian frontier on the 14th inst. For the past year or so the dirigible has been stationed at Konigsberg, and on the occasion in question she was making a cruise in the direction of Allenstein. The Russian frontier truards promptly opened fire on the " invader," but the Zeppelin was able to get back without being hit. 22-Hour Cruise over North Sea. LEAVING Fuhlsbuttel aerodrome, near Hamburg, at 5 a.m. on Friday last, the German naval airship " L 3 " cruised to Heligoland, where she arrived at 10.30. She was over Nordeney at 12.15, and then after passing Borkum and Heligoland disappeared westwards. She was next reported at Wilhelmshaven at 2 a.m. on Saturday morning, and eventually returned to her headquarters after being in the air for 22 hours. Throughout her voyage she was in communi cation with Fuhlsbuttel by wireless telegraphy. Fatal Parachute Accident at Brussels. ON Sunday and Monday last a series of exhibition flights, in cluding looping, &c, were given at Brussels by Olieslaegers and Chemet. Mme. Cayat de Castella also made two parachute descents from M. Champel's biplane from a height of 1,000 metres on Sunday, but when she endeavoured to repeat the performance on Tuesday, the parachute failed to open, and she was killed. ® ® THE middle of the boat, where the aft part of the bottom of the boat suddenly commenced on a higher level. The fore and aft portions of the bottom of the boat thus served as two inclined planes when the boat was in motion, and these tended to lift the boat out of the water on a level keel. Those who have witnessed modern motor-boat races are very well aware that most of the fast motor boats of the present day have flat bottoms without a step, and it is a characteristic feature of the races that most of these boats go round the course with their bows Clear out of the water. The absence of a step is due to the regulations prohibiting its use in most races that are for motor boats proper, and not for hydro- HYDROPLANE. REV CM-RAMUS FIRST MODEL 1572 SIR J-1 THORNICROFT 5 DESIGN I5TT OW ROPE s; INCLINE. J& REV C M. RAMUS DESI6N 1572 SUCTION "Flight" Copyright. Sketches Illustrating the original design for a hydroplane invented bv Ramus in 1872. Sir John Thornycroft's design of 1877 ts shown, also a diagram illustrating the forces that tend to tip up the bows of a boat that has a round stern. the floats that have been designed for use on hydro-aeroplanes have been intended to belong to this class of water-craft. The inventor of the hydroplane was a clergyman, by name the Rev. C. M. Ramus, who in 1872 held the living of Playden, near Rye, in Sussex. In that year he wrote a letter to the Admiralty informing them of certain experiments he had made, which led him to suggest a radical departure from the orthodox design of ships. The Director of Naval Construction accorded him an interview, and subsequently issued an official memorandum relating to the matter. The hydroplane was described as a ship " formed by two wedge-shaped bodies, one abaft the other." The essential feature in Mr. Ramus's boat was the presence of what is commonly known as the " step." The bottom of the boat was flat, but constructed on two levels, that is to say the fore part of the bottom of the boat ended abruptly somewhere about the planes as such. The restriction doubtless originated through the peculiar character of the early hydroplanes, which did not have the seagoing qualities of motor boats, although they were fast enough to win races in smoother waters. Nowadays, however, the hydro plane boat has been developed on much the same lines as the ordinary motor boat. It is to Sir John Thornycroft that the earlier work in connection with the development of the hydroplane boat is due, but Sir John Thornycroft was also extremely interested in the idea from the time it was put forward by Ramus in 1872. In 1877 Sir John designed his first hydroplane, the outline of which is shown in one of the accompanying sketches. There is also shown a sketch illustrating the general principle on which a boat, and especially a boat with a rounded stern, has its bows raised out of the water even when towed from a point above and in front of the centre of gravity. 796
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