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Aviation History
1920
1920 - 0968.PDF
carried on, and it has shown itself perfectly competent to do so. That being so, we are rather at a loss to discern the idea underlying the suggestion that another department of proved incapacity should be entrusted with what is obviously a part of those duties. A Notice to Airmen, which we publish Weather in full this week, is of peculiar interest, Charts jn t^at jt not onjy demonstrates the Wireless exceedingly active measures which are being taken by the Air Ministry to assist aerial navigation, but because of the progress it denotes in wireless science as applied to commercial purposes. It notifies that thrice daily, at 3.15 a.m., 8.45 a.m., and 8.15 p.m., all the data for preparing a complete synoptic Weather chart will be issued by wireless telegraphy on a 1,400-metre continuous wave from London, and four times daily on a 3,300-metre wave from Aberdeen. This means that the pilot whose machine is equipped with wireless will be kept informed of the weather conditions prevailing over the whole of the British Isles. In addition, if he has a working knowledge of the method of constructing weather charts from the data com- municated, he will be able to plot the whole thing on an outline map of the British Isles, and be thus able to formulate an" accurate forecast of the weather conditions he is likely to encounter on a long cross- country flight. When the Air Ministry took over the meteorological service of the country we agreed that it was the best course that could have been adopted, but we could hardly have been expected to know that such immense progress would have been made in the comparatively short time that has elapsed. To say that the efficiency of the service has exceeded all expectations is to understate the case. The Ministry has done splendidly in the work of developing the service and making it of use to the aerial navigator, and not the least notable achievement is the one under present discussion. <•> <*• # The Air Ministry Competitions for landThe An- machines have now come to a close, Competition anc^ although the awards of the judges have not yet been announced, the preliminary report on performances, which has just been issued, gives a very good idea of the results obtained, and apart from the points gained or lost on such questions as fire prevention, view, safety, ease of exit, etc., it should not be a difficult matter to forecast the winner^. So far as can be .seen from the table of results published elsewhere in this issue, the Handley Page " W.8 " will receive first prize in the large class, and the Westland Limousine has done so well as to be almost a certain first in the small class. Whether of not the full amount of the prizes will be awarded is not possible to •say, but the performance of these two machines SEPTEMBER 9, 1920. is, we think, such that they merit the full amount. As regards the results obtained, nothing of a startling character has been brought to light, it is true ;. performance is now well known to be a matter of loading per h.p. chiefly, but nevertheless one point stands out clearly—the best figures for the W value of — were obtained by machines having a low power-loading. This would appear to indicate that-not only for performance but also for economy a low power-loading is an advantage. Thus the load/h.p. of the Handley Page " W.8 " was 12*4 lbs. and ior the Westland II-6I lbs., and the economy figures were 9-2 and 8-6 respectively. The lesson to be deducted from this^act would appear to be that for commercial work the most economical results will be obtained when engines of considerably larger power than is absolutely necessary are fitted, and are run normally at con- siderably less than full power. Although this would probably mean an engine or engines being fairly- heavy per h.p., when this is counted on the basis of the power developed when throttled down to cruising speed, it would appear to give the best overall results, and it would at any rate provide ample reserve power for emergencies, and also greatly lengthen the life of an engine by running it all out on rare occasions only, such as in taking off and when meeting strong head winds. An examination of the accompanying table also indicates that for economy in running the large machine is better placed than is the smaller. Thus the Handley Page " W.8 " and Westland Limousine are both the largest machines in their class, and show the best economy figure. This is, perhaps, not surprising, and was foreshadowed by Mr. Handley Page several years ago, when he pointed out that in a large machine the material can be more economic- ally employed by using built-up components where one is obliged to use solid components in a small machine. In commercial work, however, things are not always in favour of the large machines, and constructors of smaller craft may take heart from this. If a complete load can be guaranteed every journey the large machine scores, but as this is far from being the case the smaller machines are called into use as being more economical than a large machine flying with half-load. Also a feature which tends to make the comparison of the large and the small machine difficult is that in the com- petition the range called for is the same, whereas it is well known that^the longer the range the better placed is the large machine. Thus the selection of a suitable machine will depend on a number of things, and no direct deduction from the Air Ministry Competition can be made to cover all cases. This should be borne in mind when looking at the per- formances and results of the Martlesham tests. Until the judges' awards are announced we will refrain .from further comment. Lieuts. Parer and McTntosh Arrive ALTHOUGH they did not manage to get to Melbourne on their old machine, Lieuts. Parer and Mclntdsh arrived at Melbourne by air on August 31, landing on the Flemington Raceccuirse, and their travel-stained De -H. machine, with Siddeley-Puma engine, was taken down from Culcairn and exhibited on the course. Lieuts. Parer and Mclntosh were officially welcomed by Mr. Hughes, to whom they handed the bottle of whisky which they had brought from London. Special care had been taken throughout the trip to keep the bottle intact. When the storm of cheers subsided Mr. Hughes, thanking the two officers, declared that they had completed an Odyssey that would live in the annals of Australia. It had been an adven- ture without equal in the history of man. Lieuls. Parer and Mclntosh had motored from Culcairn to Albury railway junction, where they took the new aeroplane and flew back to Culcairn so -that the trip should not be broken. 970
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