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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 0322.PDF
APRIL J, 1917. (Official Copyright Photographs. Published by special permission of the Ministry oj Munitions.) THE DILUTION OF LABOUR—On the left, woman operating No. 9 Herbert combination lathe : finishboring and facing accurately to length cylinders for the Clerget rotary aero-engine. On the right, woman operating a centre lathe : cutting off to length and chamfering the end of cast-Iron cylinder for aero-engine. , chief centres of industry. When dealing with the problem•of the dilution of labour it is so much better when it is possible to give concrete examples of not only what can be done, butwhat has been accomplished. And the exhibition certainly showed that women workers can be entrusted with work whichhas not hitherto been thought possible. Thus in the section devoted to aero engines, there was seen a Clerget cylinder invarious stages of manufacture, from the solid billet of steel to the finished cylinder, all the operations being carried out bywomen. The turning out of small details on automatic lathes is a sphere of activity in which female labour has provedeminently successful, but women are also capable of marking off, bending, riveting, welding, boring and drilling and othertechnical processes. Many of the examples of work of this description had been done by women who eighteen monthsago knew nothing about engineering. Wood is not by any means an easy material to work, but here again women haveproved their worth in a remarkable way, and, as our photo- graphs show, extensive dilution of labour can be allowed in the carpenter's shop, where it has been considered thatmap was irreplaceable. Not only are women doing stich work as the making of the parts of ribs, but they are BOW under-taking with complete success the assembling' of the ribs, and also the building up of complete wing-flaps, tailplanes, &c. One of the examples of assembling was a some- what complicated tail-skid in which the whole of the work,wood, metal and assembling, was done by womem. It is gratifying to know that the efforts of the Ministryof Munitions to increase output by the dilution of labour has met with a sympathetic response from the men, who havedone all in their power to make the women efficient producers, and in opening the exhibition Mr. Kellaway said no praisecould be too high for the patriotism and enthusiasm with which the great body of trade unionists had enabled them totrain the vast army of women workers—there being about 700,000 now employed. He also paid a tribute to thepatriotism and good sense with which the great majority "of the employers had assisted the efforts. Fatal Accidents. A VERDICT of " Accidental Death " was returned at aninquest at Aldershot on March 28th on Lieut. J. Leask R.F.C., who was caught in a blizzard while flying in a single-seater aeroplane. Witnesses stated that the wind swung the machine completely round, but the pilot regained control.The machine was swung round a second time, turned two somersaults and nose-dived from a height of 500 ft. Thepilot's neck was broken. Whilst practising aerial fighting at Upavon, Lieut. A. P.Long, Middlesex Regt., attd. R.F.C., and 2nd Lieut. P. Sellers, Wore. Regt., attd. R.F.C., were killed. Lieut. Longwas flying up and down about a mile from the aerodrome, and Lieut. Sellers was to mount above him and dive towards himas in an attack. In this operation one of the machines appa- rently struck the other machine on its tail. A verdict of" Accidental Death" was returned at the inquest on March 28th. At a Leicestershire town on Mach 29th an inquest washeld on 2nd Lieut. G. H. Boorne, 24, of the R.F.C., who died the previous day as the result of an accident whilstflying over the Midlands on March 8th, and a verdict of "Accidental Death " was returned. 2nd Lieut. Boorne wasa native of Ottawa, Canada. Lieut. E. Wallace, R.F.C., was killed while flying in Berks,on March 27th. The machine nose-dived and came with a terrible crash to the ground, falling from a considerableheight. Lieut. Wallace was instantaneously killed, and at the inquest the following day a verdict of " AccidentalDeath " was returned. An inquest was held at Hendon on Maroh 28th on Mr.J. B. Fitzsimmons, who was killed on March 26th through one of the wings of his machine breaking when at a greatheight. A verdict of " Accidental Death " was returned. While flying in Warwickshire on March 29th Lieut. Boone, R.F.C., was killed through his machine suddenly nose-diving and crashing to the ground. A Fatal Accident in Australia. MR. BASIL WASON, who will be remembered by many of our readers as having qualified for his pilot's certificate at Hendon in 1915, was killed in an accident on March 28th after a flight over Melbourne, in the course of which he looped the loop at a height of 2,000 ft. The aeroplane appeared to break and fell into the bay, where the pilot was found dead in •• the water beneath the wreckage of his machine. This is the first fatal flight accident^ in Australia. Prince Frledrlch tfar! a British Prisoner. « SOME details of the capture of Prince FriedrichJ^Karlhave been given by M. Andre Tudesq, the special representa- tive of Le Journal at the British Front. He states thatthe Prince had left for a reconnaissance over the British lines, and was overtaken by a British aviator who was returningfrom a night bombardment. A duel with machine-guns took place at the height of 2,000 metres (about 6,500 feet), theGerman's reservoir leaked, and the hostile machine dived slowly towards earth. Several soldiers were the only specta-tors of the descent, and saw a tall young maa leaving the machine. Without taking the precaution to burn theaeroplane, he began running at full speed across the fields, attempting to escape. The British soldiers shouted " Stop!"but the Prince continued to run. .Then an advanced-post sentinel in a crater fired two rifle shots, twice wounding thePrince, who fell hit in the heel and the chest, shouting, " I am Prince Friedrich Karl." Ambulance men carried him toa dressing station, and papers found left no doubt as to his identity. The Prince is now in hospital. Theinternal wound is serious, but does not seem likely to prove fatal. 322
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