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Aviation History
1920
1920 - 0615.PDF
JUNE IO, 1920 which is admittedly a rough estimate only, would give awing loading of 5-7 lbs., which is certainly not excessive, andfa power loading, taking the engine power at cruisingspeed as about 30 h.p., of 34-2 lbs. h.p., which, again, is not beyond practical possibilities. At this loading the LONDON-TURIN : Diagrammatic Sketch Map of the Route speed for the average machine (as shown b ? the speed-power loading curve in Professor Bairstow's paper) would be about 68 m.p.h., which would be sufficient, taking into account the diminution of the load as the fuel was consumed, to take the machine from London to Turin. Add to this the proba- bility of a following wind part of the journey, and it will be seen that from a technical standpoint there is nothing impossible in the flight. So long as the engine keeps doing its work, and that is one thing which the Green engines have a reputation for doing, such a flight is certainly a practical possibility. The Significance of the FlightWhether or not the flight was indeed a non-stop one, it provides a practical demonstration of the potential possi-bilities of the small, low-powered machine. During the War it was performance at all costs which was required. Forcommercial and civilian aviation, however, this is not so, and it is high time this was realised. There is apparently adifficulty in getting reconciled to the idea of carrying 30 lbs. or more per h.p., due, no doubt, to the habit formed duringthe War of considering anything above 10 lbs./h.p. a heavy power loading. For the sake of economy in commercialaviation this habit has simply got to be broken. Not that there will not always be a demand for the fast machinealso. There will, just as there is now a great demand for the fast train de luxe, but the main bulk of passengers andcargo to be carried by air will be satisfied with a far lower speed than 130-140 m.p.h. We know perfectly well thatthe average machine with a cruising speed of round about 70 m.p.h. can carry a load of somewhat over 30 lbs. h.p.,but figures like these are not nearly so likely to convince the man in the street as is a sporting flight giving a practicaldemonstration. It is for this reason that the world, and especially the aviation world, should be grateful to thoseresponsible for this splendid flight. London to Turin in y$ hours would have been impossiblein any other vehicle than an aeroplane, and this particular flight was made, not on a machine costing thousands ofpounds, and with an expensive organisation, but without special organisation of any kind and on a machine costingsomewhere about £500, or the same as a light car. The running expenses of the journey cannot have been much over£6, and certainly less than £10. Actually it may be taken that the cost to Mr. Hinkier has been lower than it wouldhave been travelling by train and boat in the ordinary way, by the time hotel and other expenses are taken intoaccount. It would be difficult indeed to find a better refuta- tion of the popular idea that travelling by air is and alwayswill be an expensive luxury, and even if the courageous pilot fails in his attempt at flying to Australia, his flight to lunnwill always rank among the famous flights of the years following the War. We extend to Mr. Hinkler, and to themakers of the Avro Baby, and of the Green engine with which she is fitted, our heartiest congratulations, and wishthe pilot the very best of luck on the coming stages of his great flight. FARMAN "GOLIATH" GOES FOR A WORLD'S RECORD ONE of the famous Maison Farman " Goliath " type machinesmade an attempt at the world's duration record on June 3. This record, it may be remembered, is still to the creditof a German pilot, Herr Boehm, whose unofficial flight of 24 hours 12 minutes, at Johannisthal, July 11, 1914, was not,for time in the air, beaten even by the trans-Atlantic flight, which only occupied 16 hours. The French claim that therecord still stood with Herr Landman (also German), with 21 h. 48 m. 43 s. (June 28, 1014). The pilots of the Farman" Goliath " were the Farman pilot, Bossoutrot, and the Salmson pilot Bernard. ' The 100-kilom. course flown m theattempt was Etampes, Orleans, Gidy, Etampes. The machine carried 3,300 litres of petrol and 400 litres of oil. The twopilots took watches of 6 hours each, and a small bed was provided so that the pilot not on duty might lie down to rest.The engines fitted were two Salmsons of 260 h.p. Starting in mist at 5.38 a.m. on June 3 from Etampes, theGoliath made after the first circuit a steady pace until the end beating the French duration record of Poulet (10 fc.23 m., April 24, 1914), Seguin's distance record of 1,021.2 kiloms. (October 13, 1913), and Fourny's speed records of. 1,000 kiloms. (13 h. 1 m. 12 s., September 11, 1912) and 1,500 kiloms. (16 h. 42 m. 8 s.). After the nineteenth circuit, - owing to the bad weather and a fear that their oil would giveout the pilots considered it wiser to descend, having at the finish covered i,i97 miles in 24 h. 19 m. 7 s., thus handsomelybeating Landman's duration record, as well as, ^oehm s ••'• unofficial time, in the event of the latter being ultimately recognised by the F.Ae.I. . , Owing to the moon being entirely hidden during the sixteenth tour, Bernard, who was then piloting kept in reach . of the Etampes Aerodrome for a long period Hence the sudden jump in the time for this circuit from about 1 hour, the normal time for most of the circuits to over 3 hours - During the day a maximum height of about 2,000 m. was '-maintained, and during the night 500 to 700 m. ;; The fuel consumption was 44 litres per hour per motor. The following are the official times per circuit, for speed and for total duration :— Circuit and time.* — h. m. s. 1 1 49 55 2 156 3 1 7 53 4 1 8 42 5 1 7 33 6 1 4 50 7 1 4 47 8 1 1 39 9 1 o 40 10 o 58 51 11 112 12 11 42 13 10 18 14 , o 58 24 15 1 10 46 16 3 7 10 s 17' 1 14 29 18 I 6 35 19 1 4 51 Duration total, 24 h * 100.88 kiloms.f Time of passing in flight j Time from taking off. Speed Time.f h. m. s. 1 49 55 2 55 1 4 °2 54 5 " 36 6 19 9 7 23 59 8 28 40 9 30 25 10 31 5 11 29 56 12 30 58 13 32 40 14 32 5« 1.5 3i 22 16 12 8* 19 49 18 21 3 47 22 10 22 23 15 1319 m. 7 s. Duration Time.J h. m. s. i 57 2 3 2 8 4 IO I 5 iH 43 6 26 16 7 31 6 8 35 53 9 37 32 10 .38 12 11 37 3 12 38 513 39 47 14 4° 5 15 38 29 16 49- 15 19 5° 25 21 10 54 22 17 29 23 22 20 over the starting line. America After Records FROM Hartford, U.S.A., it is announced that Leo Mons, piloting an aeroplane with six passengers, flew on May 31 from Atlantic City to Philadelphia and back (120 miles) in 59 minutes 39 seconds. , • . 615
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