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Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0859.PDF
DECEMBER 29, 1921 Minor detail alterations have^been incorporated, but theseare not apparent from the general views. The fuselage, which appears to be of extraordinary length, is of the sameconstruction as that of the Fokker " F.III," i.e., a steel tube structure with struts and longerons joined by welding. The cabin is divided into two compartments, of whichthe front one is considerably larger than the aft one. In the larger cabin is seating accommodation for six passengers,three on a sort of sofa running right across the cabin, facing forward, and three separate chairs near the front of the cabin,facing aft. The aft cabin has a single sofa seat for three passengers. Aft of the rear cabin is a luggage compartmentwhich has its own separate door, so that the luggage does not have to be handed through the cabin. The power plant, which may be a Rolls-Royce " Eagle,"a Napier " Lion," or a " Liberty," is installed as in the " F.III," on a tubular framework in the nose of the machine,and the pilot sits behind and slightly to one side of it, his seat being so arranged in the " F.IV," that his head is in front of, and on a leveljwith, the'leading edge of the wing.He therefore obtains a much better view laterally than he did in the " F.III," where he was seated in a scoop in theleading edge. The wing construction is the same as that of the " F.III,"i.e., there are box spars, with three-ply sides and spruce flanges, and the whole of the wing is covered with three-ply.The only innovation appears to be that the wing is divided into two halves, not longitudinally, as one might have ex-pected, but laterally, the entire trailing edge being made as a detachable unit. With the exception of the features indicated, the Fokker" F.IV," is, as already stated, practically a scale enlargement of the " F.III," whose features have been described in detailin FLIGHT, and which are, therefore, well-known to ourreaders. Suffice it to add that a cruising speed of about 105 miles per hour is anticipated, which should considerablyshorten the time taken by the " F.III's " in covering the distance between Amsterdam and London. .LONDON TERMINAL AERODROME Monday Evening, December 26.THE Christmas holidays brought a temporary increase in the air passenger traffic. From Wednesday last week toSaturday there were quite good loads again. On Saturday, for instance, the Grands Express had 10 passengers booked,though only eight of these actually travelled ; while on Thursday Handley Page Transport had an overflowing load. • The Instone Air Line has been running through the holidays,even having a D.H. 18 in each direction on Christmas day, and I hear that bookings for next week are already quitegood. There has been considerable activity at the AircraftDisposal Company during the week, and a number of machines have been flown away to various destinations. Captain Muir,for one, has put in a busy week, flying to Brussels four times and also piloting a machine from Southampton to Croydon.He tells me, incidentally, that the Surrey Flying Services are pushing ahead with their programme for the spring,and are erecting D.H. o.'s as well as Avros, intending to begin an air-taxi service on a larger scale than has beenattempted hitherto. Taking advantage of strong following winds, which in the upper air were blowing at gale force,Captain Muir, flying one of the Disposal Company's D.H. Q'S, made the aerial journey from Croydon to Evere, Brussels,in 1 hour 20 minutes, an average speed of 150 miles an hour. Mr. Piercy left for Switzerland on one of the aluminium-doped D.H. g's on Thursday, while on Saturday Mr. Cobham arrived at Croydon from the continent, and travelled onto Stag Lane. Later in the day he returned from Stag Lane with another machine, and requested that the compassshould be swung in time for him to leave again for the con- tinent before 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning. He then van-ished ; so it is not known, yet, whether he has actually completed his 10,000 miles air-taxi trip. • .--••••. A New Weather Indicator A LARGE new board, bearing a painted map of the various London-continental " airways," has now made its appearance ready for fixing alongside the traffic movements' indicator. This new board is to be used for indicating weather at various points along the continental lines, and will have details of wind direction and strength, cloud height, visibility, and general conditions eft each of the aerodromes en route, these indications being changed hourly. The aerodrome is getting gradually hemmed in and—as many declare—spoiled. The old aerodrome on the hangar side of Plough Lane is now having railings erected upon it to mark off various football and sports' grounds. Thecorrugated-iron fence round the aerodrome itself is growing rapidly, while there are now rumours that alongside thenew road to Purley—which has been cut on the eastern side of the 'drome—houses are to be erected. All this ruinsthe flying approaches to the aerodrome, which are as im- portant as the aerodrome itself. It is bad enough in the"daytime, but if commercial night-flying is to come it will be still more detrimental; while it certainly seems a foolishidea to spend money erecting lighthouses and night flying illuminations and, at the same time, permit the approachesto the aerodrome to be impeded. Already there are scores of obstruction lights round theaerodrome. In addition to buildings and haystacks along the western side, the sheds and buildings at the aircraftfactory are marked by red lights, while the chimney of the waterworks in the north-east corner of the aerodrome is tohave similar lights fixed. Each time the obstruction lights are required at the factory someone has to walk across theaerodrome to put these on, and then to turn them off when the machine has landed. If houses and sports' pavilionsare to be erected, these, too, will require to be indicated by more obstruction lights, and cables would need to be runright across the aerodrome to the control-tower if the arrangement is to be satisfactory. It would seem almost aseconomical, and certainly more satisfactory from the pilot's point of view, to buy the land and keep it clear from obstruc-tions. Air Line Officials in UniformTHE long-awaited uniforms for the Instone Air Line have now arrived, and various members of the staff appeared inthem on Friday and Saturday. They certainly look smart, and add to the dignity of the air-line, having a nauticaltouch about them. There was, of course, some good-natured chaff—consisting mainly of supposedly nautical remarks. I hear that there is now another D.H. 18 completed, andthat it is at present at Martlesham Heath undergoing type tests—which, I am told, have not yet been carried out onthis particular make of machine. The " impulse tube," which is to be used for shootingparachute-flares and smoke-bombs to a height of 2,000 feet, in foggy and dark weather, has been tried again during theweek. The tube itself does not seem to be in proper working order yet, and only manages to get an occasional parachuteinto the air. This, however, is comparatively easy to over- come, the inventor remarking that it would go better whenthe varnish was scraped off. French Air Line Expansion FROM Paris it is reported that among the extensions planned by French air line companies during the coming year is the extension by the Compagnie Messageries Aeriennes of their London-Paris service to Marseilles. At present Paris is not linked up by air to the south of France, travellers having to proceed to Toulouse by train. If the new line is established it should make a very considerable reduction in the time taken to get to the Riviera via Marseilles. It will also link up with the Latecoere lines to Morocco. The Michelin Cup. DECEMBER 31 is the finishing date on which competitors may attempt the flight around France for the Michelin Cup. Unless, therefore, a French pilot manages to put up an exceptionally fine flight before that date, the Cup will remain in Italian hands for the coming year. At present Martinetti has done the best time over a 3,000 km. circuit, having covered the distance in 35 hrs. 45 mins. elapsed time. On December 21 Major Vuillemin made a plucky attempt to beat Martinetti's performance, but partly owing to fog and adverse weather conditions he had to abandon the attempt after having covered a little more than half of the 3,000 km. course. Next Year's Pulitzer. THE Pulitzer Race, which was won -this year by Bert Acosta on the Curtiss-Navy Racer, is to be held next year under the same conditions and over the course originally scheduled for this year's race. At the last moment the scene of the race was, it may be remembered, transferred to Omaha- 859
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