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Aviation History
1918
1918 - 0044.PDF
JANUARY IO, 1918. AVIATION IN IRELAND. As already announced in " FLIGHT," aerodromes are beingestablished in Ireland, and interest in aviation matters is on the increase. Unfortunately labour questions have arisen,the men apparently holding the view that wages should be on the English scale, while the employers based their con-tracts on a figure between the local rates and the English rates. Curiously enough, the publicity given to the prospectsof aviation work in Ireland seems to have stimulated the flow of skilled labour to English aircraft factories, a result whichbears out the contention that more publicity in connection with munition work in general and aircraft in particularwould ease the tension between the two countries. Owing to the custom of doing things by committees, progress in theestablishment of aircraft factories in the south of Ireland is slow. Individual manufacturers on this side are inclined towait to see what their trade competitors decide to do, and in the meantime the contracts are taken up elsewhere. The Air Services Exhibition, with which the Countess ofDrogheda's name is identified, has just concluded a successful visit, making a stay in Dublin before proceeding, it is stated,to America. The novelty of a " Flight Lottery " with is. tickets was greatly appreciated by Dubliners, the winner being entitled to a flight of one hour in a military machinewith return fare from any part of Ireland thrown in. Aero- planes are still so much a novelty in Dublin, that the mosteffective advertisements of the exhibition were two flights over Dublin by a military aeroplane with the Countess ofDrogheda as a passenger. The situation with regard to the flax supply is being com-mented upon, and the Department of Agriculture is holding an enquiry into the subject of flax growing. Farmers arecomplaining that at the fixed prices the crop does not pay, as it is a risky one to handle, but to give another side of thepicture rents of £15 per acre for one year's cropping with flax are being paid. If there Were any certainty that flax wouldalways be required for aeroplanes, one would expect the leading aircraft firms to establish farms for the growth offlax experimentally and on a commercial scale. The yield of the Irish flax (1917) crop was below the average per acre,but the increased area planted resulted in a total production of 140,000 stones in excess of last year's figures. There willneed to be a much greater increase this year if the loss of Russian supplies is to make good. R. H. L. CORRESPONDENCE:. Construction and Factories. [1953] The whole country at length having woke up tothe fact that aircraft is certain to take a much greater share in the future decisions, we beg to unburden ourselves of afew ideas which have been germinating in our minds for some time past. There are rumours that we are about to rely a great dealupon our American Allies for securing preponderance in air fighting. No doubt the facilities of America, not only infactories and man-power, but also in material, are very great, but one's experience, extending over many years, as regardsdelivery of goods, is that our friends on the other side of the " Herring Pond " are very optimistic about dates. There-fore, we beg to suggest that it would be very unwise not to encourage those English firms who, whether as direct con-tractors or sub-contractors, have in the past proved their capacity until at any rate the promise of America's assistancehas materialised in a satisfactory manner. It seems improb- able that on the other side they -will be able to do morebetween now and the spring than get sufficient aircraft ready to act with their own armies. Our feeling is that not only should the established firms inEngland be kept busy to the utmost of their powers, but that they should be allowed to develop as far as possible. Theirfoundations are laid, and they can add a storey while the Americans are getting in their own foundations. One of the reasons alleged for getting aircraft from Americais to save ship-room, it being easier to bring a finished aero- plane rather than timber, a considerable portion of whicheventually becomes scrap. But would it not be better still to build aircraft altogether of British materials so as to saveship-room entirely ? At the present moment the aeroplane designers, to a largeextent, have been working on the assumption that woods, such as silver spruce, are always obtainable ; why should theynot be asked to make their new designs or adapt their old designs to use those timber supplies which are in sight ? Forinstance, spars which are now made out of silver spruce could be made from English ash combined with poplar or beech, theone would add to the strength and the other to the elasticity, these woods being heavier than silver spruce, but of coursemuch stronger per pound weight, the plan of the spar would have to be altered. «*C 33- • Flight Without Wings. ; . ^.; PROFESSOR ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL, the inventor of the telephone, and one of the members of the Aerial Experi- mental Association which produced the " Silver Dart " many years ago, offered a remarkable forecast of the aeroplane of the future in an address before the Empire Club at Toronto on " The Substance of My First Research." " The aeroplane is to be a deciding factor in this war," said the professor. " Men now fly 20,000 feet in the air, and what I want you to note is that theoretically the machine at that height should be more efficient by flying faster and more economically. Supposing your propeller has the same push at that height where the air is rarer, you should get more speed." As only a few designers are now permitted to work on newideas, we suggest that these might be called together occasion- ally at the Air Board to meet one or two experts who areconversant with the qualities of English timber, and also in a position to state what supplies are likely to becomeavailable. Another question which appears to require considerationis the policy apparently now being pursued of building factories in outlying or rural districts, where there is verylittle labour on the spot, when there are numbers of premises to let in districts where the requisite labour lives on the doorstep. In London alone there are many big places, such as motor 'bus garages, electric lighting stations, woodworkingfactories, &c, waiting for tenants, where suitable labour lives all round. The working classes cannot all travel so farafield as the outer districts, where new factories are constantly being erected, firstly, because the travelling loses them severalhours a day on account of the congestion, and secondly costs 5S. or 6s. per week, so that out of their actual earningsat least £l per Week is wasted. They prefer to get along as best they can by working shorter hours in their own districts,where they have the further advantage of getting home to meals. No doubt none of these premises would make a completeaircraft factory, but is not the system globule safer in a district which is likely to be raided by the Hun ? A verylarge factory forms a good mark, especially if not camou- flaged, and is, therefore, more likely to be destroyed entirelyby explosive or incendiary bombs than if split up into a number of sections scattered about at a distance of half a mile orso from one another and indistinguishable from the sur- rounding property. Against this system the cost of transport from one section toanother has to be weighed, but our own experience shows that there is no more time lost in running a load of ribsby motor from one factory to another than in carting the same articles by truck from one portion of the factory to anotherwhen the factory is on the big scale that now seems to be coming into fashion. For and on behalf of THAMES AVIATION WORKS, J. READ BURTON, Director. 141, Curtain Road, E.C. 2,January 1st, 1918. Dr. Bell then gave a scientific explanation why the aero-plane should travel faster at the greater height. A change of gear, as in a motor car, which would make the propeller travelfaster, he pointed out, was the solution of this problem, and he predicted the day when the flying machine would attainsuch speed that wings may be unnecessary. " Now, if we have machines flying without wings, howabout flying without engines ? " added Dr. Bell. " All other things that fly fly without engines. " Consider the albatross, which, without the movement ofits wings, can overtake a ship even when the bird is travelling against the wind. The flying of these birds is a problem opento science. The question is, ' How do they do it ? "
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