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Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0790.PDF
most important that the Meteorological Office should collect information from machines in the air and distribute it within a few minutes, when the information would be of great practical value. " The time must be fairly near when emergency landing grounds -will not be required, but I think that for two years more the Air Ministry should maintain two landing grounds between Croydon and Lympne, and they should insist upon the French providing one near Abbeville and another near Beauvais. " I will'now turn to the subject of aeroplanes and engines, and the first remark I will make is that manufacturers must guarantee their productions for a reasonable period after delivery ; the guarantee must include the risk of parts having to be re-designed owing to faulty design in the first place. It is no use a manufacturer selling a batch of engines, and after three months admitting that the compression is too high and offering to supply new sets of pistons for ^60 or £100 per set, and then after another three months admitting that the connecting rods are of unsuitable design, and refusing to replace them except at the cost of over £200. I can only say that those manufacturers who are not prepared to guarantee their goods for the purpose for which they were purchased will be left without orders as soon as opportunity occurs. I am glad to say that there are signs of some manu- facturers of machines taking some of the responsibility for their design. " In the interests of aircraft manufacturers, I should like to sound a modest note of warning to the effect that they should not let history repeat itself by forcing the air transport companies into manufacturing their own machines, due to high prices, as has been the case with other forms of passenger transport. They must bear in mind that it is difficult for a manufacturer to retaliate, since he must make his machines suitable for as many markets as possible, and therefore cannot specialise. " To my mind the price of the present-day machine is altogether too high, although efforts seem to have been made to reduce the price. With the present wood construc- tion, which still presents outstanding advantages, I am sure a lot more can be done. The all-metal machine seems as far off as ever, and I doubt very much whether it will ever be nearer than a composite of metal and wood. " Notwithstanding the many times I have expressed my NOVEMBER 24, 1021 candid views on such questions as engine installation, cowling, controls, etc., I find very little improvement today in most of the latest designs of aeroplanes ; and the War-type practice in many cases appears to be very deep rooted. " Also there still appears to be a strong tendency in design to put appearance, in the way of pleasing exterior lines, before utility and service. In the design of the various metal clips and fittings on our aeroplane I plead for the use of ordinary commercial mild steel plate, which after working requires only the crudest annealing. In speaking of the propeller, 1 think that it is time a weather-proof propeller was in transport service. A metal propeller fills the bill if it does not weigh too much or absorb too much power, but I think we are on the wrong lines still trying to use a metal tip on to a wood propeller, which twists and stretches all the time it is working. ' The continued use of the pneumatic tyre surprises me. I feel sure that a solid-tyred wheel can be designed which will transmit safely all the shocks and forces to the undercarriage damping gear, and yet not be too heavy. " On the subject of engines, my chief complaint is the cost of the engine and spare parts. I give a few examples and comparisons. One of the best-known modern aeroplane engines costs £6,000 per ton. Complete machinery, including boilers and all auxiliaries, for a 35-knot destroyer costs only ^200 per ton. Complete machinery, including boilers and all auxiliaries, for a 25-knot cross-Channel vessel costs about £90 per ton. I am told that the reason for the high cost of the aeroplane engine is due to the expensive material and still more expensive testing and heat treatment. If this is a fact, then we must sacrifice 20 per cent, of the engine weight and get down to an article which will appeal to the commercial engineer, an engine which will run 30,000 miles without overhaul, and I am sure that one giving such results could soon be evolved if the type tests for these engines were made on the time-table basis. I suggest three 3-hour stretches a day with one hour's interval between, during which time the engine must not be touched : the engine to start at the same hours every day until 300 hours is reached, ten minutes being allowed before the time-table time for starting and warming up to full power. The three-hour stretches should comprise 10 minutes at the start at full power, then 75 per cent, full power for the remaining 2 hrs. 50 mins. The engine that can stand up to this test, even if its price is not lower than say 25 per cent, below present prices, will fill the bill." IN PARLIAMENT Staff College, Andover MR. ALFRED T. DAVIK«ON on November 10 asked the Secretary of State for Air whether it is proposed to establish a Royal Air Force Staff College at Andover ; what will be the cost of establishing such a college ; what will be the annual charge on the Exchequer; and whether arrangements can suitably be made to avoid this expense or the greater part of it by utilising centres equally convenient and already established ? Captain Guest : It is proposed to establish a Royal Air Force StaS College, as stated, at Andover, where buildings (and an aerodrome) are already avail- able and where the initial expenditure can consequently be limited to a sum of £21,000 for recyuditionmg hutments. The annual cost is estimated at £39,000. The proposal to establish such a staff college is not, of course, a new one, as the House was informed of this intention on Page 6 of Commanding Paper No. 467, which was laid before Parliament in November, 1919. The original scheme was to establish this college at the Royal Air Force training •'centre at Halton, but it was found, on examination, that this necessitated buildings, which would have cost £140,000 to erect, and, in view of the urgent reed for national economy, the proposed Air Pilotage School at Andover was greatly reduced in size and scope, thereby making it possible to find accommo- dation at this station for the staff college, without embarking on a new building programme. State Assistance for Civil Aviation MR. RAPBR asked the Secretary of State for Air whether His Majesty's Government is willing to adopt the three following general proposals with a view to assisting civil aviation : The guarantee by the State of interest to a large national air transport company, to which would be granted a monopoly of all British routes for a term of years ; a mileage subsidy to all British aircraft with a British crew, no matter where flown ; and a guaranteed load of mails to selected services at liberal rates ; and, if not, would he state his reasons ? m n The Handasyde Aircraft Co., Ltd. IN our issue of November 10 we published a rtsumi of the British Aircraft Manufacturing Industry as it exists today. Among the firms included was that of the Handasyde Aircraft Co., Ltd., about whom, as explained at the time, we had not been fortunate enough to obtain any information, •" enquiries made at the office at 1 ID, Regent Street, having resulted in a statement by the hall porter that the firm had transferred their office elsewhere. We are now glad to learn that this is not the case, and that the firm still has offices at Carlton House, IID, Regent Street. Of the well-known members of the firm, mention may be made of Mr. G. H. Handasyde, Mr. Hamilton Fulton and Mr. F. P. Raynham. This is a combination which should be capable of great Captain Guest: The proposals referred to by my hon. friend have received very full and careful consideration. The proposal to establish a National Air Transport Company with a monopoly of all British routes for a term of years was not adopted because it would preclude the growth of private initiative to the ultimate detriment of British civil air development. It would also presume the continuation of direct State assistance to air transport for an indefinite period. The reasons for the rejection of the other two proposals were stated in the Report by the Advisory Committee on Civil Aviation regarding Government Assistance for the Development of Civil Aviation (Cmd. 770 of 1920), and are as follows : "Methods of affording Direct Assistance.—We have considered varisws methods by which a direct grant might be given, and the basis upon which it should be assessed, and have approached the problem as involving the trans- port by air of passengers, goods, and mails. The question of the payment of grants on the basis of the number of miles covered, or of the number of hours flown, has been discussed, and we have had before us details of the French scheme in operation which is base.i on this principle. We have been forced to the conclusioi. that any such scheme of grants is fundamentally unsound, as the grants can be earned without any direct return to the State or community, either by way of experience gained, useful work performed, development of more efficient machines or establishment of regular air routes. We have, therefore, discarded the policy of giving grants on such a general basis. We have ai^o considered the advisability of making the payment of a grant dependent upon the carriage of a guaranteed load of mails within a fixed maximum time but have found the practical application of such a system too difficult to warrant its adoption. This method has the further grave defect that it might often involve the State in the payment for certain service* which might not, in fact, have been performed." things, and we hope to have something more to say about the firm's work shortly. Blackburn Torpedo-'Planes. IT is almost inevitable that in the rush of compiling and publishing a special issue dealing with all the. aircraft manufacturing firms some slips should be made. Nor did we apparently, escape altogether as regards our issue of November 10. Our attention has been called to an inscription under the photograph on p. 727, " An early type Blackburn torpedo-'plane releasing its load." It has been pointed out that this machine is in reality a Sopwith " Cuckoo," built by the Blackburn company, and that therefore the inscription should, to be absolutely correct, have read " Blackbum- built." 790
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