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Aviation History
1918
1918 - 0945.PDF
AUGUST 22, 1918. IN Ireland matters recruitingmre shaping much more reason- ably it is rumoured. It is certain anyway that the Emerald Isle is likely to provide a substantial gain fqr the R.A.F. It's hopeless for them to try to keep out of such sporty chances in this direction which are flying *ound in the scrap on behalf of civilisation. MR. HUGHES, the Prime Minister of Australia, does not appear to appreciate much more than we did Col. Grant Morden's claims, to which we referred last week, that prac- tically only Canadians constituted the R.A.F. Opportunity occurred on Saturday at the Dartford Military Hospital for Mr. Hughes to put it his way. This very plain-spoken patriot said : " It is stated in the Press that Canada intends to establish an independent air force. It is a mistake to say that this is the first Dominion Air Force. Units of the Australian Flying Corps went into action at the opening of the Mesopotamia campaign. Our No. 1 Squadron has been" fighting all through the Sinai and Palestine campaigns, and our other squadrons have been working in France for the past year. How many Australians there are serving independently with the R.A.F. I do not know. But this I do know, that whether they are with the R.A.F. or the Australian Flying Corps, airmen from Australia will hold their own on any battlefield." •*° « ' « « FIGURES from Canada itself to The Times as late as August 15th give the total number of Canadians in the R.A.F. as 13,495. IT is appropriate and a happy inspiration, that the resting- places in France of many of our fearless air pilots who have " gone West " should be marked with broken propellers as " headstones." "IN the course of a sober but lively examination of Mr. •JPocock's plan for travelling by means of kites, Liverpool men 9f science have decided against the utility of the scheme and against the possibility that man will ever be able to fly. They remark: The wind, of all things proverbially the most fickle and changeable, is as necessary to flight as breath is to the life of a man. In the use of this agent there is the triple uncertainty of whether you will have it at all ; of its strength ; and of uts direction." DON'T get worried over the above paragraph. Liverpool is right out for aviation just the same. The quotation is not a case of " 10 years ago," but a clipping from No. 304 of the Sunday Times, 90 years ago—-August 17th, 1828—when the price of our present day contemporary was yd. A;nd paper was not rationed then ! R.A.F. MEMBERS and their adjuncts are accused inj manner of directions of being an especially favoured cli in more ways than one. May be, or may not. But now the Farnborough Food Control Committee are up against a definite case, it would appear. The main crime seems to be the tapping of the local profiteers' profits thusly. Soldiers, it is alleged, can buy tinned salmon, which local rampers advertise as cheap at zs. 6d., at the canteen of the R. A. Establishment for is. 3^. ! which is a bit thick. Robbing the poor struggling local buccaneer of close on 100 per cent. But the ques:ion might be asked, Is it even cheap ?t the canteen figure ? Our office cat the other day waxed very savage at the offer of a derelict piece of this unrationed luxury. THE recent article on " Accidents which should' Not ' Happen," by Mr. Thorburn, and the Editorial reference to the same subject, appear to have had the desired efieet. A question was at once put in the House of Commons, and ,in reply it was stated that a special order on the matter of unnecessary flying and " stunting " over town areas had been issued. Since that date we observe many contemporaries, both daily and weekly, have now taken up the pubject, and although personal experience shows that there is still room for improvement, we hope that the foolhardy displays which were becoming all too common, and the fatal accidents which were certainly having some effect on the moral of new pilots, will soon be practically unknown. AT the same time, those who, claim to have just cause of complaint should not spoil their case by ridiculous state- ments, which go far to discount the rest of their " evidence," like unto one, by way of example, signed " H.L.B." in the Eastbourne Chronicle. The following is an extract from this correspondent's letter :— " The complaints one hears are numerous as well as emphatic. I am impelled to -write this letter as at this very Aeronautical Engineering at the British Scientific Products Exhibition, King's College, Strand In addition to the many industries not directly connected with aviation there are, at the above exhibition, numerous interesting examples of various branches of aeronautical engineering, which will appeal to every student of aviation. A fairly representative collection of model aeroplanes and airships affords an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the different types, while in another room a number of aero engines, partly in section, enables one to study the internal mechanism of many of the best-known engines used by the Allies. Specimens of various component parts of an aeroplane line the walls, and altogether one can spend a couple of very interesting hours in the aeronautical section only, apart from the undoubted attractions of the rest of the exhibition, a visit to which should not be neglected by anyone who can possibly manage to spare the time. 943
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