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Aviation History
1919
1919 - 0720.PDF
MAY 29, 1919 COMMERCIAL AVIATION ADDRESSING the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce on Monday on some aspects of commercial aviation, Maj.-Gen. Sir F. H. Sykes, Controller-General of Civil Aviation, emphasised once more the importance of ensuring a very high standard of efficiency and trustworthiness in British pilots. In order to achieve that standard it would be necessary for the pilot to pass through a school of " aerobatics," although he would never " stunt " except for practice, and on such occasions he must be alone and well away from towns. It was the intention of the Ministry severely to discourage " stunting " in the popular sense of the term, and he mentioned that of the accidents reported since the 1st inst., when the restrictions on civil aviation were removed, only three cases of injuries had occurred in " civil " machines, and none of those was fatal. Speaking of the methods of assisting the air navigator which remain to be developed, he said the first was directional wireless, which entailed the setting up of large wireless stations — the only safe means by which aircraft on long-distance oversea passages may safely know their position." It was hoped, in the course of the development of our meteorological service, to discover consistent wind currents analogous to ocean currents, and thus furnish the airman with air charts. Gen. Sykes said that one very practical way in which the railway companies could greatly assist navigation was by having the name of every station marked in very large letters in a way which could best be seen from the air. It should also be possible for the more important stations to have the lettering lit up to assist night travel. Another suggestion had been made that wireless rays should be directed upwards from towns giving their names at night. A very serious drawback to many aerodromes from a com mercial point of view was their distance from the towns they served. The termini of our air routes must be as accessible as those of our great railway systems. It might be that landing would have to be permitted first in parks and <e> <s> Honours for Naval Work IT was announced in a supplement to the London Gazette on May 24 that the King has been pleased to approve of the following awards :— Distinguished Service Cross Flight-Lieut. C.G.Bronson,R.N.A.S. (now Capt., R.A.F.). —For carrying out a determined bombing attack on the " Goeben " on January 24-25, 1918, flying low down under heavy anti-aircraft fire. Meritorious Service Medal C.P.O., 3rd Class, E. A. Boyd, R.N.A.S., O.N. F3632. The following decoration has been conferred by the Presi dent of the French Republic for distinguished services ren dered during the War :—• Croix de Guerre "'Eng. Lieut.-Commander E. F. Briggs, D.S.O., R.N. (now Lieut.-Col., acting Col., R.A.F.). The Flight to Australia FROM the full rules of the competition for the ,£10,000 prize offered by the Australian Government for a flight from Great Britain to Australia which are printed in full on page 700, it will be seen that there is only one difference from the sum mary given in our last issue. This is in the matter of controls, of which there will only be one—at Singapore. Two entries have been received, one from Mr. Bert Hinckler of a Sopwith Dove, with Le Rhone engine, and the other from Lieut. C. Kingsford-Smith and Lieut. V. Rendle of a Blackburn Kangaroo with two Rolls-Royce Falcon engines. A Handley Page Endurance Test A VERY satisfactory endurance flight was carried out last week from a Royal Air Force aerodrome in Norfolk by a four-engined (Rolls-Royce) V/1500 Handley Page service machine. Carrying a crew of five officers and three other ranks, the machine left the aerodrome at a few minutes before eight in the morning and did not land again until twenty minutes to eight at night, completing n hours 33 mins. in flight. The total distance flown over the ground was 836 miles, corresponding to a mean speed of 72.8 miles per hour, with a load of 24,890 lbs. all on. In the course of the flight, Birmingham, Southport, Man chester, Lincoln, London, Felixstowe, Yarmouth, and Hun stanton were visited. other open spaces in large towns, or, later, that the roofs of central railway stations should be constructed so as to form overhead landing stages. Gen. Sykes said that a few of the concrete problems to be faced by manufacturers may be summarised as follows :— Reduction in the quantity or weight of fuel necessary per horse-power ; simplification of design of engines ; production of machines capable of landing in small space and rising again from it; increase in comfort of crew and passengers ; the silencing of engines ; and the attainment of increased stability. Security and regularity are the essence of the problems. Great speed and climbing power relinquish their importance until real security and regularity have been achieved, when, of course, their claims will again rise. But though much assistance would be gained by improve ment in the directions he had indicated, yet he did not know if they felt with him that they had arrived at a point denning the end of a particular and abnormally steep " curve " in advancement. There seemed to be what he could only describe as a " gap " in front of them. They could mentally pick up the probable future curve of progress some little way ahead. But there was some very important present link missing. If he was right it was for our inventors and designers to search, and while they, as he knew they would, gradually find and fashion the link, it is for them to consolidate and improve their present position, to move forward steadily and firmly, but with caution It was possible that the airship might help them to advance in many directions whilst the " gap " was being bridged. At all events, both the heavier- and lighter-than-air types of aircraft had their appropriate places in aviation. He hoped it might not be long before a British airship would cross the Atlantic. Much knowledge would be gained by such a flight, and it would help to cement the excellent' relations which had grown up between the British and American Air Services during the War. <$> <S> England to Hold Schneider Trophy Race AMONG the decisions taken last week at the meeting of the International Aeronautic Federation was one asking the Royal Aero Club to organise the international seaplane race for the Jacques Schneider Trophy and £1,000 in England next September. The race will be for a distance of 200 miles over the sea, with a minimum circuit of five miles. Entries are promised from Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain, U.S.A. and Belgium. It will be recalled that the trophy was won for Great Britain by Mr. C. Howard Pixton, on a Sopwith seaplane, at Monte Carlo in April, 1914. The race will probably be held on the South Coast. No Gordon Bennett Contests this Year. THE International Federation has decided not to organise any competitions this year for the Gordon Bennett Aviation Trophy, or the Gordon Bennett Balloon Trophy. The last contests for both these trophies were in 1913, the former at Rheims, in 1913, when it was won for France by M. Prevost, while the competition for the latter started from Paris and was won by Mr. Ralph H. Upson, one of the American representatives. Next Meeting of the F A.I. LAST week's meeting of the International Aeronautic Federation in Paris was an extra-ordinary one. This year's annual meeting is to be held in Brussels, the date to be fixed later. Geneva has been selected as the meeting place for next year. The Aero Clubs of Japan and Brazil have been admitted to membership of the Federation. The French Height Record IMPROVING on his performance of May 10 M. Sadi Lecointe, on his Spad-Herbemont, fitted with 300-h.p. Hispano-Suiza motor, climbed to a height.which his barograph recorded as 8,800 metres (29,040 ft.).* The barograph is being tested by the Aero Club of France. French Aviation Losses FROM official figures published in Paris, it appears that from the outbreak of War until the Armistice the losses of the French aviation service in the Army zones were 1,945 pilots and observers killed, 1,461 missing whose death is certain, and 2,922 wounded. In the interior zone the losses were 1,927 pilots and observers killed and wounded. The total number of airmen in the French Aviation Service on December 1, 1918, was 19,219. 720
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