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Aviation History
1922
1922 - 0051.PDF
JANUARY a6, 1922 AN AIRCRAFT DISPOSAL CONVERSION BY some it is considered necessary only to remove the gun- ring or bomb rack, and put in a passenger's seat, to convert a military machine into a commercial one. As a matter of fact, it would seem that a considerable amount of work has to be done on such a machine before it can be really suitable for any particular form of commercial work. Such was the impression we gained, however, as the result of a visit to the Aircraft Disposal Co.'s Works at Waddon last week, for the purpose of inspecting two machines that have just been turned out for a Swiss company. The latter, which makes a special feature of aerial tours over the Alps, has already had other machines from the A.D.C., and it is owing to the successful results obtained with these that the facility and comfort. It may be mentioned in passing that the view obtained by the passengers is excellent, but we should think that flying in bumpy weather—as probably exists over the Alps—being seated so far back, may call for a certain amount of " airworthyness " on the part of the passengers. In front of the pilot's cockpit are two freight holds, with hinged hatchways in the turtle deck, whilst under these is another compartment for passengers' luggage. This latter consists of a very neat arrangement, in which by means of a quick-release arrangement a door opens in the bottom of the fuselage and a large " box " slides down below the latter, permitting the luggage to be stowed away with ease. AN AIRCRAFT DISPOSAL D.H. 9 CONVERTED FOR ALPINE TOURS : (1) The passengers' automatic luggage "lift." (2) The hinged canopy over the passengers' cockpit, giving easy access. (3) The complete (3-seater) machine. (4) The 240 h.p. Siddeley "Puma." (5) The pilot's cockpit and the two freight holds. 'planes under review were ordered specially for Alpine work. As may be seen from the accompanying illustrations of one of these models, it consists of a modified D.H.9 having a 240 h.p. Siddeley " Puma " engine, and converted into a three-seater. Where the gun-ring used to be in the original type there is now a double cockpit for the two passengers, who are seated in tandem. The installation of this cockpit, as well as the other modifications, have been carried out exceptionally well, and with considerable attention to detail. For instance, the portion of the turtle deck around the double cockpit is hinged—as shown in the illustration—so that the passengers are able to take their places with the greatest m m Swedish Aviatrice Killed FROM Stockholm it is reported that Sweden's only woman aviator, Miss Elsa Andersson, was killed at Askersund In place of the hinged canopy over the passengers'' cockpits, a complete covering, with windows, may be fitted, converting the machine into a limousine. Both these machines were to have been delivered by air to Debendorf, near Zurich, last week, but the exceptionally bad weather necessitated a postponement until this week. The machine illustrated, however, was taken out for a trial flight last Thursday by Mr. Muir, which we had the pleasure of witnessing. In" spite of the atrociously bad weather— wind and rain ad lib.—the machine put up a very fine per formance. The approximate speed of these 'buses at 4,000 ft. is 115 m.p.h. with full load, and the climb is said to be 10,000 ft. in 20 minutes. H m on January 22 while making a parachute descent from an aeroplane from a height of about 2,000 ft. No details relating to the cause of the accideat are available. 51
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