FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1920
1920 - 0214.PDF
FEBRUARY 19, 1920- Interior view oi the cabin of the three- engined Curtiss " Eagle " eight-seater aerial limousine, which was described in a recent issue of " Flight " s no room to launch a seaplane, and again, where is the sea- plane to be kept when it is not in use ? Aviation in the Antarctic must be done from the land or the ice. Sir Ernest says there is little known land in the Antarctic from which extended flights can be made. To that I would reply there is the sea ice, and the ramps which are found all round the coast. " Sir Ernest says that in his opinion it is impossible to fly to the South Pole unless depots have been laid for 300 miles inland. I, however, can see very little advantage in laying depots on the ice barrier for 300 miles. " Again, Sir Ernest Shackleton declares, ' To attempt to fly to the South Pole without a line of depots, to fall back upon in the event of anything happening to the aeroplane necessitating a forced land ng, would be, in my opinion, impracticable and suicidal.' Of course, that is merely Sir Ernest Shackleton's opinion. Under the plans which have been drawn up for the flight, even though a forced landing is necessary after the men have passed 840 South, they will be able to march back as men have done on previous expeditions. " ONE impression which Sir Ernest appears to be under," continues Mr. Cope, " is that we are contemplating the flight to the Pole and back in one stage. Nothing could be further from the facts. I do not think that at present such a flight is possible. It is our intention to attempt the flight to the Pole and back in four stages. We shall fly to 840 South, lay a depot, and then on to the Pole. After taking observations, we shall return to our depot, and then fly back to the base of the Bay of Whales. " I am hopeful of maintaining wireless communicationwith our base for the whole of the journey to 840 South, and it may be possible to maintain communication for a stillgreater distance. Great stress is laid by Sir Ernest upon the climatic conditions, and he points out that 900 miles of theflight will have to be made at an altitude of 10,000 ft., where the temperature dips to 400 below zero. Weather conditionsare, needless to say, a most important factor, but to suggest that 40° below zero is normal in the height of summer iscertainly far from the case. " To fly to the South Pole is a dangerous adventure, but danger has never deterred Britons from undertaking a task. The machine in which we shall make the attempt is specially fitted with ski to allow of its taking-off or landing on the ice, and on snow deeply furrowed. All the experts agree upon the practicability of the scheme which we have prepared, and they are assisting me to make the attempt. Among those who are helping me, I might mention the Air Ministry, the Royal Aeronautical Society, Gen. SirHugh Trenchard, and Brig.-Gen. Living- stone." FORTY-THREE millions of yards of aero- plane linen, it is true, is no bagatelle, but this week Mr. L. J. Martin, who purchased this little roll from the Government about six months or so ago, announces that he has re-sold the last yard (we wonder if it was a lonely yard, by way of a memento, all on its own). Thus is completed in half a year a deal which Government and the ex- perts claimed wcral'd occupy many years to close down. But that's the difference between officialism and a business man. Judging by some of the methods of the Disposal Boards officials we can well believe in officials' hands it might easily have run into the next century, with the " jobs" of the present r&gime, passed on as legacies to their sons, cousins and aunts. So although Mr. Martin may have made a good round sum for him- self he must certainly have saved taxpayers many hundreds of thousands of pounds in salaries, pensions, and what not. QUITE a fascinating little story comes from America of robbery and an attempt, with the help of an aeroplane, of proving an alibi. According to the scribe, it appears that a bank at Benson, Minnesota, was the scene of a daring hold-up and robbery of ^25,000. The thieves got away, and no trace could be found of them. When two brothers were charged at St. Paul with the theft, they advanced an almost " ironclad" alibi by proving that they were in St. Paul, a hundred miles from Benson, on the afternoon of the bank raid. The attorney, however, said he had evidence that the men possessed an aeroplane. You would have thought that would have finished the case. But not a bit like it. A remand was ordered so that the machine might be found, so finis to the little drama has still to be written. , - .-, TRULY this episode opens out wonderful visions of the burglar of the future. This side we've got fairly used to the Rolls-Royce daring criminal who conducts his operations upon the grand scale. That their enterprise should soar to such heights as the 'plane brings within their reach had certainly not occurred to us before as a commercial develop- ment of the realm of the air. At least it suggests that avia- tion must be forging ahead pretty strongly in the States ii the coming and going of aircraft are as little noticeable as is suggested by the tactics of these progressive thieves. THAT man in the moon rocket so airily launched the other day seems to have fizzled out pretty badly. But one bold " airman " has grabbed the opening for self-advertisement and offered to form the " cargo " inside the rocket when it is dispatched on its mission. Unfortunately the conditions attached to this offer rather discount the boldness of this hardy sport. " I hereby volunteer to attempt this interplanetary leap," says Capt. Claude Collins, who from New York is described as " a member of the New York City Air Police and President oi the Pennsylvania Aviators' Club," " and offer to do so gratis in an attempt to realise these great aims of science." Capt. Collins then hedges with no uncertain hedge. Apart from insisting that he be allowed to assist in planning the rocket, he imposes the condition that " communication either by radio, light, or other means shall have been estab- lished with Mars, and a rocket similar to that in which I am to make the leap shall have been constructed, launched, and landed on that planet before my start. Also a board of ten prominent scientists shall agree on the practicability of the rocket as finally designed and on the possibility of it success- fully reaching the planet with me inside." Then apart from such minor details as the obligation of the organisers to ensure his life, the intrepid " airman " lets the cat out of the bag as to his real objective by requiring payment of his expenses of a lecture tour by aeroplane which he proposes to undertake through the great American cities before " taking off " in his attempt to rise to fame. Evidently an air man, and a hot-air one at that. 214
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
