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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 0065.PDF
JANUARY 18, 1917. should most like to see, answer, " The man I saw last week." On the face of it this looks like an admission of the imputation directed at me by my other head as set forth above, but it is not so. It is simply that I require a head to pun , to talk to, and that man's head is the one most suited to the purposes of my present mood. Presently, when I am put upon half- rations of ammoniated quinine and pocket handker- chiefs, I shall realise that that man's head would not- have been of the slightest use to me with a view to extracting "copy," but resulted only in my having had to pay a tax on amusement. I have thought sometimes that I should like my third head to be the head of an aviator, with leather helmet and goggles all complete. But this would essentially be the head of a modern, and what can a modern head know of all those wonderful things in which aviation will play such a conspicuous part in the future ? " My Laiiphin^ Philosopher " could tell of the tilings th.it had happened m the past centuries, but in.1 out word of the future. I want a head that shall tell me of that which is to be, and that which will be when I am no more. I want to know about the time when the petrol internal combustion engine, as we know it to-day, will be found only in the British Museum. When steam, or perhaps some power of which we know nothing at the pivs( nt moment, will propel giant aeroplanes and airships across the seven seas and the five continents at hundreds of miles an hour. I greatty fear I shall not find that third head of mine in time to be of any use to me, but here I will bequeath my services to a future generation. If, in a thousand years to come, any person passing along Wardour Street should see exhibited for sale a head that looks a bit dreamy, I counsel them to become the proprietor thereof; I will tell them of the man who could see no future for aviation. FOVRWINDS SUGGESTIONS of the London " Safety First " Council—ofwhich, by-the-bye, Lord Sydenham was elected Chairman on Monday—include a white armlet for night use to lightenthe Zepp. lighting regulations. Coloured lighting schemes for street refuges, &c, is another brainwave, so that in time wemay hope to see London xat night-time remindful of a never- ending Christmas tree. A BRACE of High Flyers in embryo are announced by theLokalanzeiger in the persons of Prince Friedrich Sigismund, the eldest, and Prince Friedrich Karl, the second son ofPrince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia, both of whom have entered the German Flying Corps. " THE Teaching of Flying " is the title of a lecture to bedelivered to members of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain by General Brancker on January 24th, starting atS o'clock, at the Institution of Civil Engineers, Great George Street, Westminster. , :.: ANOTHER point to be noted is that the Institution ofAutomobile Engineers intend to deal with the subject of " Aeroplane Propellers " at one of their remaining four meet-ings of the 1917 session. There are folk who argue that there is nothing commercialin the aeroplane. Yet only last week a telegram sent off from the Daily Chronicle London office to a resident atWitham, Essex, on January 22nd, 1906, at—to be exact— •2.7 p.m., was delivered on January 7th, 1917, a matter of11 years, there or thereabouts. Surely the job could have been done quicker by, say, a Sopwith scout. A REMINDEIJ of the unquenchable flow of humanity whichhas been so apparent in every action of the Huns since they let loose the dogs of war in 1914, is forthcoming in AdmiralSir David Beatty's affidavit in the Prize Court on Monday last, in connection with the Dogger Bank battle on January24th, 1915. and the sinking of the " Bliicher." In his affidavit, Sir David again confirmed the original report ofCapt. Brock of away back in March of 1915, that, in accord- ance with British and civilised war customs, every attemptwas made to rescue the crew of the doomed German battle- ship from drowning, " in spite of the difficulty experiencedthrough enemy aircraft attacking the rescuing ships." Here is another chance for the Hun Kaiser to claim that in theseoperations no doubt his soft-hearted aircraft crews deemed they were helping by thus strenuously dropping bombs fromZeppelins and seaplanes amongst their drowning compatriots and the rescue party. MORE Smiles at Head on. There was much rejoicing onTuesday night of last week amongst all " Urbamtes " who matter in that district, when Geoffrey Michael Smiles, ofGolders Green and Hendon Aviation fame, was publicly pre- sented by the Chairman of the Urban District Council withthe certificate of the Royal Humane Society for having gallantly attempted, at great personal risk, to save a boy fromdrowning in the Silk Stream. " FLIGHT " readers will re-member that Mr. Smiles dived into the water half-a-dozen times before recovering the body. Mr. Sturgess (the Chair-man) said the spot was a most dangerous one, and Mr. Smiles ran grave risk of losing his own life. ONCE again, due to the number of exhibits, the openingdate of the exhibition of " Five Centuries of Aircraft " at the Grosvenor Gallery has had to be put off a little while.In the meantime a few more details as to the promised show are available. In this historical exhibition, showing the complete story ofaeronautics from the beginning to the present day, the Countess of Drogheda has managed to collate a hugely in-teresting collection of pictures, photographs, models, com- ponent parts and complete aeroplanes from the earliest tothe latest times. Included on the modern side, the ex- hibits are an array of Zeppelin relics loaned by the RoyalFlying Corps and the Royal NAval Air Service, such as a machine rifle from th; Cuffley airship, and other machineguns, several petrol tanks, a complete gondola and the intact stern of a Zeppelin. Pictorially the exhibition will be particularly attractive.Hundreds of old prints show the earliest attempts at flight, and the gradual^evolution of the idea that,led to the ultimateconquest of the air is traced ; whilst a complete Fokker of the latest type, brought down by one of our own airmen,will lend an air of actuality to the exhibition. There is an official photograph of the first British-built" Zeppelin" in the air, and official photographs loaned by the War Office and the Admiralty recording last year's brilliantperformances in the air, none of which have been allowed to appear in print ; and these are supplemented by a numberof official photographs of the battlefields on all fronts, taken from the air, also unpublished. The French Aero Club and the Aeronautical Society con-tribute objects of the highest value and interest; and Rae- maeker, Gordon Crosbie, John Lavery, Norman Wilkinson,Joseph Penncll, Herbert Finn and others will be represented by typical examples of their art, all dealing with some episodeconnected with flight, in addition to original drawings lent by " FLIGHT " and other periodicals. The Countess of Drogheda has been supported and assisted
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