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Aviation History
1920
1920 - 0834.PDF
V JULY 29, 1920 THE MACHINES IN THE AERIAL DERBY ALTHOUGH the majority of the machines entered for the Aerial Derby will be familiar to most of our readers, a few notes briefly recapitulating the main points of the various designs may not be without interest. Nos. 1 and 2, the Avro " Babies," ! 35 h.p. Green Engines Itwas.it may be remembered, on an Avro "Baby," 35 h.p. Green engine, that Capt. Hamersley won the handicap of the Aerial Derby of last year. On Saturday last Capt. Hamersley repeated the performance on the same type, although a newer specimen, of machine ; while Mr. Bert Hinkler, whose magnificent non-stop flight from London to Turin will still be fresh in mind, also on an Avro "Baby," 35 h.p. Green, obtained second place in the handicap. This is a feat of which all concerned may well be proud, and is one more proof of the excellence of the Avro-Green com- bination. The machine has shown that a very high-powered aeroplane is not essential to aerial touring, and that, even at the present day, it is possible to produce a machine which will do 70 m.p.h. cruising speed at 1,000 ft., and that for a petrol consumption of over 30 miles per gallon. This, it will be seen, at once disproves the old contention that flying is necessarily an expensive game, especially bearing in mind that the Green engine in Mr. Hinkler's machine is about 12 years old. By the time one has spread the original cost over that span of time, the engine must be considered cheap, and even if-one had worn out, in the meantime, a couple of machines, or even three, the depre- ciation per year will prove extremely reasonable. One is thus justified in hoping that during the next few years the number of owner-pilots will increase by leaps and bounds, as it most assuredly will once it is thoroughly realised how much quicker and more enjoyable it is to travel by air than by road. Constructionally the Avro " Baby " is a straightforward, clean, commonsense piece of work, and its merits lie not so much in any striking originality in design as in a happy co-ordination of well-tried details. The engine, although heavy as compared with some of more modern design, gives the machine an excellent performance, while the very fact that it is sturdily built gives it a reliability which cannot OOOOOOOO O o - o Mr. Hinkler's o Avro " Baby," .. 35 h .p. Green engine (No. 1) in ° the Aerial Derby O " Flight" Copyright O o o o OOOOOOOO OOOOOOOO o o o The A v'r o "Baby," 35 h.p. Green engine O (No. 2), flown by Capt. Hamersley in the Aerial Derby. This machine was first in the Handicap "Flight" Copyright o o o o o o OOOOOOOO OOOOOOOO o The Airco 14A 450 h.p. Napier , "Lion " (No. 4) flown by Mr. F. S. Cotton in the Aerial Derby " Flight" Copyright o o o o o o o O2OXO 00000 836
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