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Aviation History
1920
1920 - 0428.PDF
APRIL 15, 1920 The 12-cylindered 425 h.p. Sunbeam-Matabele Aero-type engine fitted in the Despujols record-breaking skimmer. cinematographs staring within a few feet of him, and with the huge horns of the ' Magnavox ' in front of his face, this .instrument carrying-the sound to the farthermost parts of the immense building. To add to his worries three aero- planes made a deafening hum, and the photographers began snapshotting." H.R.H. must indeed be a wonder, as deponent sayeth that he " bore himself splendidly, showing no nervous- ness and speaking clearly and bravely into .the abominable instrument and arousing cheers from the most distant people." MORE information and " straight talk " to the United StatesHouse of Representatives Military Affairs Committee have been forthcoming from Col. Hensley, who was on board R 34on her Atlantic return journey as the American observer, and whose warning as to the aerial activity and efforts of the•Germans we recently referred to. Col. Hensley, upon first- hand information, affirms that had the armistice been post-poned for 10 days, a Zeppelin loaded with deadly bombs would have sailed over New York City and attempted to demolishher skyscrapers. Col. Hensley states the Zeppelin was ready to make the flight on the day the armistice was signed,and was due there on November 21. He talked to the pilot •of the airship while in Germany, and obtained some interestingdetails which would have restrained members of the Military Affairs Committee had they heard them from talking " of oursplendid isolation and complete immunity from attack." The colonel told the committee that America might just aswell scrap all her air fleet, because it is hopelessly obsolete, and every airship the United States possesses is a namingcoffin. Even the dirigible being purchased by the United States from England is obsolete, he claims, because the Ger-mans have revolutionised airship design and have developed an all-metal tj-pe. WE suppose our complacent vote-snatching masters will,one of these days, in face of these various warnings, get a move on to preserve what little there is still left of Britain's " para-mount power in the Air." WHY, presently we shall be having our dearly-belovedIrish brethren putting up a rival bid to their German friends for first place in the air. Their adventurous spirit distinctlyinclines that way, as witness the use made out in America by their sisters and their cousins and their aunts, of the channelof the air to emphasise sympathy with the cry for Irish inde- pendence. At first these gentle sympathisers contentedthemselves with displaying banners before the British Embassy at Washington, but this proving somewhat tame in its results,and, moreover, authority stepping in with a veto upon the methods adopted, new tactics were resorted to. Two of themore venturesome obtained an aeroplane, and for several hours they circled above the Embassy, dropping leaflets andan occasional challenge to the police to come up and stop them. Unfortunately for the enterprise, a snowstormscattered the leaflets everywhere about Washington, and none reached the target aimed at. FELTHAM District Council appears to be up in arms in con-nection with the closing by the Air Ministry of the bridle-path through Hanworth Park when it became an aerodrome underGovernment auspices. The dispute as to the continuedNinter- ruption of Feltham's inhabitants' right to cross the park bythis ancient right of way has now become acute,"and members of the Council have decided to assert the public's right byforcing a passage, first notifying the Air Ministry of their intention. Councillor Parker, a bit of a boy of 75 years ofage, is a prominent mover in this assertion of right, and it is he who proposes to lead the local " forces " to the attack.If continued by the Government authorities, now that the war necessity for its use has passed, the closing of this right ofway would appear to be but another instance of bureaucratic methods of never letting go of a "thing it has once grabbed. THAT must have been a weird experience of Lieutenants Parer and Mclntosh, of the Australian Air Force, when, during their little jaunt from England to Australia by air, they flew over'the crater of Vesuvius. The heat waves caused The Sunbeam-engined Despujols skimmer, which recently put up a record speed of 75 m.p.h. on the Seine. On<h left the boat at rest, and on the right at speed. In the centre Mr. Louis Coatalen is seen in conversation with M. Despujols. 428
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