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Aviation History
1920
1920 - 0052.PDF
JANUARY 8, 1920 WAS it by accident or a coincidence that ex-Kaiser Wilhelm, who wept so copiously at even the thought of his henchmen insisting upon bombing London, selected Amerongen (Am a wrong 'un) for his exiled residence ? Or was it a subtle form of breaking-ii-by-degrees confession ? We wonder ! QUITE a lot is being made in one direction of the badness of the rules governing the Air Ministry competitions. It is quite true they are not all they might be and this is not very surprising having regard to the entirely novel problems which have to be faced in all matters concerning the naviga- tion of the air. At the same time they are nowhere near as defective or harassing as it is sought to imply. That they will in certain details be further adjusted to suit eventualities is not only probable, but most likely. One point put forward as damning first and last is that so far no entries have been made. Again, it's not so bad as might appear. Formal entry certainly has not been made, but before the closing date for receiving these, it may be found that this first and final argument has been neutralised. Therefore is it wise to wait awhile and see. In regard to aircraft engines these will probably not be treated as a " side-line," but will have a show all to themselves. AT last a start has been made to elaborate the placing of names of towns and localities on the station roofs throughout the country. In time every station in the United Kingdom should be so adorned for the benefit of pilots. IT is to be hoped the lectures for teachers upon " Recent Development in Science," which have been arranged by the L.C.C., will be well patronised by those for whom this highly ''Blight" Copyright The new experimental aircraft " Lighthouse "installed at_Hounslow Aerodrome. interesting series has been initiated. By way of an example on January 13 next the subject will be " Aviation,"..when Lord Montagu of Beaulieu will expound his views upon this fascinating science. The meeting will be at King's College, Strand, and the chair will be taken by Maj.-Gen. Sir Frederick H. Sykes. • ' :' •-:.;-•.••-•> LAST week was recorded the performance of M. Pillon', the French pilot, who at a height of between 300 and- 350 yards looped the loop 29 times in five minutes. Now we're waiting for the " record " at a couple of yards above terra firma. . ~.-'•'."• ~~~~-.~/'~'"'•'• THOSE Mahsuds apparently have had enough at last. As we said, nous verrons. FRANCE looks like profiting by her Spanish neighbours' desire to be in the front in aerial progress. By a decree published in the Madrid Gazette of last Saturday, the Spanish Post-master-General is authorised to contract with a French aviation company for the aerial transport of correspondence between Barcelona, Alicante and Malaga, and between the latter town and Algiers. We hope our British constructors will not let too much of this rich Spanish " mine " miss their net. IN quite another direction the aeroplane is being brought into use by France. By this means gold is being transported from the mines at St. Laurent du Maroni, French Guiana, which is separated from the coast towns by a 100 miles' belt of almost impenetrable forest. The first trip was made successfully last October. Hitherto the gold has been taken down in canoes and by porters. As the world now knows, the Rolls-Royce car firm have, through the hustling enterprise of Mr. Claude Johnson, the managing director, established a branch of their company in America to manufacture that super-excellent car for which the company are world famous. It will be one more demon- stration of British supremacy in regard to quality. Mr. Claude Johnson rightly thinks that Britons are far too modest in speaking of their own achievements, and it might well be that in these days we should take a leaf out of our American allies' book in respect of removing the bushel from over our candle. " I don't think," says Mr. Johnson, " we are half proud enough of our engineering ability. Had the Atlantic flying feat and the flight to Australia "been carried out by any other nation than our own they would have been boomed tremendously as great national achievements. Here we have adopted such things almost as a matter of course. The success achieved is a tribute not only to British designers and manufacturers, but to the mechanics. Probably 80 per cent, of aerial failures are due to faulty assembly of parts, and when you get two great flying records established without mishap, it indicates the worth of the workman." So now, all ye constructors of superlatively high-grade goods, go thou and do likewise across yonder, so that—an' our cousins insist on sending us vast quantities of low-priced cars and what not—we can retaliate by teaching them what British-made really means, as understood in the home of the Briton. ONE thing we certainly have got to get down to business in this country a bit better than has been our wont of past years. That is the hustling to return our railway wagon rolling-stock as quickly as ever it be possible. What with increased wages and costs in every direction, the accumulating delay and shortage brought about by traders and others not " clearing " their trucks promptly is becoming a menace to our economic transport and railway working. Possibly the increased demurrage will have a leavening effect, but that by itself is of little use without the whole-hearted co-opera- tion in a hustling spirit of the traders of the country. There- fore for patriotic as well as selfish reasons do we wish to draw special attention to an announcement upon this vital subject which appears in our advertisement columns this week. As
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