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Aviation History
1914
1914 - 1224.PDF
weeks later, in the flight from London to Paris and back, his flying time for this notable achievement being 7 hours 3 mins. In the land of the " Huns " several important com petitions were held, but these were more of a national than an international character, organised, as we now clearly see, for the purpose of promoting the art, for utilisation later as a fighting force against the Allies. Perhaps the most important was the Prince Henry Circuit of 1,125 miles, held in May. Forty machines took part in the event, each carrying a pilot and a passenger, the fact, in the light of subsequent events, that fully one half of the machines belonged to the War Department being highly significant. Another foreign event worthy of mention in this section of our review was the Security Competition in France—in which, while the Grand Prize of ^16,000 was not awarded, the Sperry Gyroscopic Co. carried off ^2,000, and the Paul Schmitt biplane, in which the angle of incidence can be varied during flight, .£1,200. Coming to individual performances, the more important of the year include the journey up the Nile by Mr. F. K. McClean (now a Flight Lieutenant) and Mr. Alec Ogilvie on a Short waterplane; Pixton's flight from Brooklands to Farnborough on a Sopwith tractor in January at a speed of no miles per hour; F. P. Raynham's altitude flight of 14,420 ft. on an 80 h.p. Avro in February, beaten by Squadron-Commander E. F. Briggs' altitude record of 14,920 ft. in the following month on a Bleriot; Linnekogel's flight in Germany in April on a Rumpler monoplane to a height of 20,800 ft.; Gilbert's record tour round France on a Morane-Saulnier monoplane in June, covering a distance of 1,875 miles in 39J hours; Bohm's record duration flight on an Albatros biplane in Germany in July of 24 hours 12 mins.; Lieut. Gran's oversea trip from Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire, to Klep, Norway, on a Bleriot; and Oelrich's altitude record of no less than 25,780 ft. on a D.F.W. biplane. From the point of view of weight-carrying, the feature of the year has been the work done in France by Garaix on the Paul Schmitt biplane, and, in Russia, by Sikorsky. Of the many successful flights with passengers made by Garaix, the most notable was one with nine persons on board the machine, in addition to himself, when he ascended with a load of 833 kilos, (nearly i6| cwt.) to an altitude of 5,182 ft. A month or so later he achieved a noteworthy combination weight-carrying and duration flight, piloting himself and five passengers, and remaining in the air with a total load of nearly 12 cwt. for 1 hour 24 mins., covering a distance in that time of 94 miles. Sikorsky's none the less important achievements include a flight of 18 mins. with no less than fifteen passengers— the total load being close upon 24 cwt.—an altitude record of 6,560 ft, with ten passengers, and a duration flight, with six passengers, of 6 hours 33 mins. Needless to say, the war has for the time being speedily put an end to all competitions. Early in the year, con siderable discussion took place anent a projected aero plane race round the world, while the Daily Mail offered a prize of ,£10,000 for a flight across the Atlantic. All such projects have, of course, been either cancelled or are in abeyance, while other events that have met with a similar fate include the annual Gordon-Bennett com petition, which was to have been held in France in September, the Circuit of Great Britain, and the British Empire Michelin Cup No. 2 contest. Notwithstanding the great advances made in aviation and mechanical flight generally, this has not been DECEMBER 25, 1914. achieved without a heavy toll in the way of fatalities, it having been our sad duty during the year to record the death of a number of well-known and promising pilots. Although cut short in venturesome careers, these men, whose loss we deplore, have each done their share in the work of development in aviation, and those who have been left to mourn their loss may find some consolation in the fact that the aviators. no longer with us will, in the time to come, be honoured as pioneer heroes in the great work of the conquest of the air. It is, however, gratifying to know that while accidents still occur—and entire freedom can hardly be expected in aviation any more than in any other section of daily life —their number is extremely small, and is becoming less and less in relation to the aggregate mileage flown. With the cause of each accident carefully investigated by the Accidents Investigation Committee of the Royal Aero Club, the expectation may reasonably be held that the percentage of accidents to miles flown will continue to be further and further reduced. A number of important contributions to the literature associated with aircraft have during the year been made through the medium of the valuable papers read before the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain, amongst which may be mentioned " The Development of Military Aviation," by Lieut.-Col. F. H. Sykes ; " Propellers," by Mr. F. H. Bramwell, B.Sc.; " The Lessons Accidents Have Taught," by Col. H. C. L. Holden; "Three Years' Experience of Flying," by Mr. B. C. Hucks; " The Value of Ballooning as a Training for Flying," by Mr. Griffith Brewer, and another on the same subject by Lieut. J. N. Fletcher; "The Rational Design of Aero planes," by Mr. Arch. R. Low; and " The Develop ment of the Aeroplane," by Dr. Glazebrook. Reference, too, must not be omitted to the valuable paper read by Mr. F. W. Lanchester, at the Institution of Civil Engineers, on " The Flying Machine from an Engineering Standpoint"; the one by Major Brancker on " The Aeroplane in War"; and Dr. Orville Wright's con tribution to the Franklin Institute, in America, on "The Stability of Aeroplanes." <•> * • Having regard to subsequent developments, The no review of the aeronautical year would Naval and be complete without some reference to the Air Services. lengtny discussions which took place in Parliament with regard to our Naval and Military Air Services. The Estimates for both these Services showed a marked increase over those for 1913-1914, and while they were agreed to, it was not with out many questions being asked as to the condition and efficiency of our Fifth Arm. While those at the head of our Air Departments, both Naval and Military, are to be congratulated on the way they have carried out their work since the war began, it cannot, we think, be denied that the Parliamentary discussions had a valuable effect in spurring them on to greater efforts, and thus had some share in bringing about a state of efficiency which, as Field-Marshal Sir John French, in one of his greatly- appreciated despatches, was able to chronicle, has resulted in our flying officers being able to secure an individual ascendancy over those of the enemy. Apart from the War, the two principal events of the year in connection with the Royal Naval Air Service was its complete reorganisation in accordance with the new regulations issued in June, and, in July, the important part it took in connection with the Naval Review at Spithead, where, for the first time, special provision was 1224
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