FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1917
1917 - 1056.PDF
051CHT IT is about time our " Specials " had steel helmets passed out to them for raid wear. Judging by some of the chunks of shrapnel which have come our way, the Specials who are so busy warning others to " take cover" are assuredly entitled to this official consideration. The E. Division is the first to receive the distinction, and it is to be hoped the entire force will not be long before it has similar protection. FOR the direction of aeroplane production in the United States, an Aircraft Board Bill has been brought into being by President Wilson, providing an Army and Navy com- mission of officers and civilians. . :..; : A COUPLE from the last raid ':— From a boy's point of view:—The guns had hardly commenced firing when two boys standing near a doorway were heard to remark, as the shrapnel splinters rattled in the road : " What a bit of luck. Now we're certain to get a bit." Not the Government Brand :—The conductress of a tramcar becoming faint, a man ran into his house near by to get some brandy, and on bis return she partook of the contents of the bottle, afterwards remarking : " That's funny- tasting brandy, but I feel better." After the tram had proceeded on its journey the man discovered to his astonish- ment that he had brought from his house a wrong bottle, containing " quinine and iron," his sister's tonic. AND a raid trio :— Hymn for Huns :—While an air raid was at its height the juvenile members of a London family were heard singing, " All good things around us are sent from Heaven above." Statistics :—" It took two men 22 hours to chisel a 12-in. hole through the 3-ft. flint-concrete roof of the London Opera House," says an announcement outside that building, as an evidence of its bombproof nature. His name is Washington :—George Washington's expla- nation was accepted to-day at the Guildhall when he was summoned for failing to shade lights on the night of an air-raid. In the excitement, he said, he took cover in a tube and forgot one light in his office. IN our issue for September 6th reference was made to a round robin which had been issued by a retired Dutch . Major-General, for subscriptions wherewith to present to Sergt. Lok some souvenir of his bringing 'down at Beerta in the Groningen province .on August 18th a Hun aero- plane which had violated Dutch neutrality. That the kwartje (5A.) asked for from 600 sympathisers was more than promptly forthcoming is now made clear in the announcement that the testimonial has been duly presented, consisting of a gold watch and chain and ^54 subscribed for by 1.225 persons. OCTOBER 11/1917. THAT the American nation is working for a record hustle over their new war policy there is daily growing evidence. Some of the efforts being put forth fairly take away one's breath. What the effect will be upon some of our fossil administrators it is beyond the reason of the ordinary man to grasp. Driving them into lunacy is about the most probable result. Take by way of instance the latest announcement of Mr. Baker, the Secretary for War, in regard to a new aeroplane motor which he states has been perfected the other side for equipping the stupendous aeroplane fleet which our new Allies have under construction. This is how Mr. . Baker describes the coming into being of this new motor :— " Two of the best engineers in the country, who had never before seen each other, were brought together at Washington, and the problem of producing an ail-American.. engine at the earliest possible moment was presented to- them. Their first conference, on June 3rd, lasted from the. afternoon until 2.30 o'clock in the morning. They were charged with the development of an aeroplane motor for American airmen over the battlefields of Europe. " For five days neither of the men left the suite of rooms engaged for them. Consulting engineers and draughtsmen^ were brought to Washington to assist them. Work in the drafting room went on continuously day and night. Each. of the two engineers in immediate charge alternately: worked a 24-hour shift. The engine was promised before . July 4th ; and on July 3rd, 28 days after the drawings wer& started, it was set up." WITHOUT doubt, some hustle ! IT has been decided that the erection in France of the monument to Wilbur Wright decided upon before the war is not to be delayed because of present hostilities. The work is to be proceeded with, and it is hoped that arrange- ments will shortly be made for the monument to be erected at Le Mans, the spot associated so intimately with Wilbur Wright's first flights in France. PROFESSOR G. H. BRYAN, F.R.S., of the University College of North Wales, who is so interested in helping forward: the future of avaition, has secured from the Industrial Research. Committee of the Board of Education, a grant which will enable him to devote the whole of next session to the carrying on of a piece of aeroplane research of national importance. In the first instance, Professor Bryan proposes, to carry out the work at the University of Bristol. THE series of photographs taken by the R.F.C., which in the main have already been seen in London, now on view as a leading feature of the Royal Photographic Society's Exhibition in Russell Square, is quite a study for those who are interested in photography from above. Indeed there is material to study for anyone with a sense of appreciation of the unique. What our aircraft means to our fighting staffs can in a small way be realised from these pictures, including m w m.The 300 h.p. Fiat engine fitted to Capt. the Mar- quis Laureati's S.I.A. biplane. It is fitted under a bonnet and behind a radiator, and, in fact, the fore portion of the fuselage resembles a motor car body. The engine is a standard type Fiat, with six separate steel cylinders having welded on sheet - steel water jackets, and four inclined valves in ,the head, operated by a single over- head camshaft. A twin carburettor is employed, and there are two mag- netos firing a pair of plugs in each cylinder. 1 he propeller is mounted direct on the crankshaft, and runs at a speed of 1,200 revolutions a minute. 1056
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
