FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1917
1917 - 0066.PDF
throughout in her labours to make the exhibition a big successby Brigadier-General Brancker, Director of Air Organisation, and by Commodore Murray Sueter, of the Air Department ofthe Admiralty. The opening date will be announced shortly, arid onceagain it should be noted that the proceeds of the exhibition are to be devoted entirely to the benefit of the Flying Servicesand the Irish Hospitals Supply Depots, working for and under the British Red Cross Society. " FLY Expert, Tigris Corps." " Waging War on theSoldier's Pest." " Mr. Candler in a new Role." " The Mesopotamian Fly." WHEN all the above headings and sub-headings caughtour eye in the Times last week, all sorts of visions and doubts instantly sprang into relief in our mind. Edmund Candler,the great war correspondent, had turned " airman " with a vengeance, was the first thought. Or was it he had suddenlydeveloped into an anti-aircraft enthusiast ? Either way, the result should be instructive, emanating from so observant awriter as the Times Correspondent. But our emotions after all were wasted, as the first paragraph revealed the fact thatMr. Candler had been appointed to investigate the claims put forward for thoroughly strafing the winged fly of the Tigrisdistrict, to the benefit of our fighting forces contained there. The last atom of romance disappeared when this " FlyExpert " mused upon his appointment thusly : " It is a noble aim, and people who realise this inherent nobility raiseme to the dignity of ' O.C. Flies.' To the ribald I am merely the Bug Strafer." IN the opinion of Sir John Knill, sitting at the MansionHouse, in cases where the business premises of large rms are illuminated so as to contravene the lighting regulationsof the Metropolis, it is the occupiers or owners who should be summoned and admonished in person, not housekeepers,office cleaners and such like lesser lights. Which seems common sense up to a point. But why not have both up toexplain who's who and settle the question in Court ? It's a remedy worth a trial, anyhow. COLCHESTER MUSEUM is the latest institution to receivefrom the W.O. a Zeppelin relic in the form of a machine gun, besides portions of the girder-work aitd wreckage of " L 33."Makes one wonder whether one of these mammoths may have come to rest somewhere in the neighbourhood of that city. THE following rtsumi from the Surrey Herald of the 5 thinst. of a visit to Staines has been sent us by a " Nine Years' Reader." We wonder why ? (N.B.—There is no prize forsupplying the answer.) : " About noon on Wednesday a 110 h.p. Sopwith biplane came safely to earth in a field betweenthe river and the Staines and Chertsey Lane, rather nearer the Staines end of the thoroughfare than the Chertsey partof it. The pilot had flown from Northolt, near Harrow, to visit a friend in Prince Rangi's hospital. He was met beDr. Batchelor and proceeded in that gentleman's car to thy institution. After lunch the airman returned to the field,entered his self-lifting machine and flew home. Two lads and a young man were on guard when one of our representa-tives was able to make an inspection of the machine. The Rev. A. C. Tranter, accompanied by his little son Paul anda little girl, were also interested spectators of the marvellous JAXUAKY little airship, the engine of which was small but mostelaborately constructed. Verily we shall soon be setting our affections on things above, and at this rate it looks as thoughthe light self-lifting biplane will become a popular mode of travelling after the war. Evidently Cruikshank, the famouscaricaturist, proved himself a bit of a profit sic) when'in the fifties his jocular pictures forecasted universal travelling byflying machines." " THE Super-Huns," by Paul Louis Hervier, translatedand published by Eveleigh Nash, gives a gaunt silhouette, amongst other notable Huns, in Count Zeppelin. Whilstaccording the Count a large mead of praise for much of Kis career, M. Hervier is very caustic upon the developmentthrough the war of Zeppelin's character. He regrets that a man who started life as an honourable soldier should havepassed into the category of a criminal when such opposite opportunities were offered him of utilising his invention morein accord with the benefits which humanity naturally looked to derive from the navigation of the third element. It's abit rough though that the source of the Count's inspiration— America—should come in for some of the ignominy whichnow .'attaches to the name of Count von Zeppelin. But there are many stories and light touches to relieve the otherwisesombre side of the sketches. DEAR OLD LADY ; •' I suppose you'll follow in your father's footsteps when you grow up ? " . THE BOY: "I can't; he's an airman."—London Opinion. TEN YEARS AGO. . - Excerpts from the " Auto. " (" FLIGHT'S " precursor and sister Journal) of January, 1907. " FLIGHT " was founded in 1908. . - __ '^ £ #* THE DE LA VAULX AIRSHIP.THE latest trials of the De La Vaulx airship give the greatest satisfaction to the Count. On the 9th inst. he made twoascents at Sartrouville, going out at a quarter past two, and executing a variety of manoeuvres at an average height of200 metres for a quarter of an hour. At 3.39 p.m. the air- ship went out again, attaining about the same height, andmanoeuvring with great reliability. There was a very con- siderable wind during the experiments, and the fact that theairship proved to be thoroughly controllable in spite of it, with the relatively small-powered motor—a 16 h.p. Ader—which provides the driving power, is the best possible testi- monial to the efficiency of the lines on which she is built. M. SANTOS DUMONT'S PROCEEDINGS.M. Santos Dumont's new aeroplane is advancing rapidly. As compared with its predecessor, there are several new andimportant alterations in structure. The total lifting surface will be only 13 square metres which, it is calculated, willhave sufficient lifting pow«r at the increased speed that the new 100 h.p. Antoinette motor should provide. The sur-faces, instead of being varnished canvas, are to be of wood, and one of the wings is already finished. M. Santos Dumontanticipates attaining a speed of at least 40 kilometres per hour, and hopes to get off the ground after a run of 14 metres,which with the new machine is to be accomplished on a single • wheel instead of on two, as in the case of the former " Bird ofPrey." CORRESPONDENCE. The Aerial League. [1932] Allow me to direct your attention to the reflectionwhich, no doubt inadvertently, you cast upon the Aerial League in your publication of the 4th inst. ; for in yourissue of April 6th, 1916, on page 299, reference is made to a development of the League in conjunction with the OverseasClub for the establishment of branches of the Overseas Aerial League throughout the Dominions and Colonies, one of theprincipal objects of which is the provision of landing grounds for airmen wherever practicable. This development has been attended with most satis-factory results. A branch has been started in Canada under the auspicesof the Governor-General (The Duke of Devonshire, K.G., &c), and with the support of the Rt. Hon. Sir Robert L.Borden, G.C.M.G., P.C., and other influential gentlemen. A commencement has also been made in Australia withthe assistance of the Governors in each State. Branches will also be organised in various outlying, but important, outpostsof the Empire which will be of great importance to this Imperial movement. This alone will prove to you that theAerial League is in anything but a moribund condition. I would also refer to the Royal Flying Corps Families'Relief Fund which we have organised at the special request of General Sir David Henderson, K.C.B., for the relief of thedependants of non-commissioned officers and men of the Royal Flying Corps who lose their lives on active service,from which we have assisted a large number of families. This fund was recently registered under the War CharitiesAct, 1916. The paragraph which you inserted in your issue of Decem-ber 26th referring to the Royal Aero Club applies equally to the Aerial League, viz. :— " Again it falls to be recorded that although the RoyalAero Club has still had to hide its light under a bushel, so far as public activities are concerned, it has, nevertheless, accom-plished a great deal of very useful work during the year." I shall be glad if you will kindly insert this letter in yournext issue. , H. T. ARBUTHNOT,Major-General, Chairman. Windsor House, Kingsway, London, W.C., Jan. 15th, 1917. 66
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
