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Aviation History
1922
1922 - 0134.PDF
there was no great future for aircraft except over long routes. It had also been said that the airship was the craft for long-distance flying routes. It seemed to him that logically the. chain of argument was complete, and that it was in favour of airships. And yet we were just turning airships down. He suggested that, whatever happened, we should at any rate keep one or two ships for research. With regard to Capt. Guest's statement that it would be as cheap to wait some years and then make a fresh start, Prof. Jones pointed out that in that case we should have to rely entirely upon the experience gained by others, a procedure which, to put it on its highest plane, would seem to amount to brain-picking, and was scarcely dignified. Mr. J. D. North said that he was left with the impression after hearing Capt. Guest speak that aviation was in a state of anaemia. After all he had heard by now, he was inclined to think it was indigestion, for which Gen. Brancker had that morning administered a strong dose of ginger. As regards metal construction of aircraft he would support Major Green. All-metal machines could now be built which were 10 per cent, lighter than wooden machines, and were no more expensive. Improvements were now •*» sight which would make the metal machine 25 per cent, lighter than the wood machine. Mr. H. P. Folland was surprised that after three years of peace, machines were practically the same as when the War finished. He thought we should strike out along new lines, and expressed the opinion that with his large double triplane, which unfortunately came to a premature end, the Italian constructor Caproni was probably on the right track. He did not agree with either Capt. de Havilland or Mr. North, but thought that at present a machine should have its main members of steel and fairings and lightly-loaded members in wood. With reference to research, he referred to the helicopter experiments, and pointed out that before all else a helicopter engine must be reliable. He therefore thought it would be better to spend that money on engine experiments, instead. He wanted comparative tests on bodies with water-cooled and air-cooled engines, air-cooled engines in pusher machines, etc. The present commercial types were really military machines with limousine bodies. With the system of designing machines to specifications in competition with other firms, a specification will produce almost identical machines from the different firms. He thought there was need for some international rules on landing speed, factors of safety, petrol systems, etc. At present foreign firms can fly with lower factors of safety, and thus effect a saving on structure weight which increases the commercial load. This is a handicap to British constructors. Capt. G. R. Hill said that as regards safety the figure of -ooo something passenger killed per thousand carried conveyed nothing to him. He had recalculated the figure, and found that, by comparison, it was equivalent to 300 people being killed in the London tubes every day. The public were quite right in regarding flying as rather dangerous. Some thing would have to be done. Progress is being made, but only slowly. He had a scheme for providing aeroplanes with two engines, either of which would be sufficient to bring the machine home. Major Hely Pounds was also one of those who were sur prised at the statements made by Capt. Guest, and thought it extraordinary that a suggestion to disband our personnel and re-establish it again after a number of years should come from a minister of the Crown. As regards the lack of public interest, that was, he thought, merely a matter of window-dressing. Subsidies were justified if the public was benefited by the services for which the subsidies were being paid. As regards the supply of timber, he suggested that the authorities should get in touch with the Dominions so as to make full use of any suitable timbers that might be available. Now was the time to look into the matter, as m aa Official Opening of the R.A.F. Club ON Friday of last week the Duke of York, accompanied by Wing-Comdr. Louis Greig, officially opened the Royal Air Force Club. He was received by Brig.-Gen. R. H. More, the chairman, Lord Cowdray, Air-Marshal Sir Hugh Trenchard and members of the committee. The Duke made a tour of inspection of the new premises, including the kitchens, the rackets courts and the ball-room, and at the conclusion of the inspection Lord Cowdray handed to his Royal Highness a box containing the deed of gift of the Club, which Lord Cowdray has presented to the R.A.F. After declaring the Club open, the Duke handed the deed to General More, representing the trustees, and on behalf of the MARCH 2, 1922 it took about 40 years to grow a tree of sufficient size to be of real value. Major Blake referred humorously to the time not saved by the air mail. What was wanted, he said, was a guaranteed load. There were many cross-country routes in the United Kingdom suitable for air services. The England to Ireland route was one. He thought that it would soon be possible to fly at night. With regard to the carriage of goods by air, he had recently had an offer of 6d. per pound. He did not quite understand how Capt. Hill arrived at his basis for 300 passengers killed on the tubes, as during the last six months on the cross-Channel services not a single pas senger was killed or injured. Mr. F. Handley Page said that as regards research and design he thought that the method of sending out specifi cations of what was wanted, as is done for military machines, should also be applied to commercial machines. In his opinion progress was likely to be along the lines of machines requiring less power to fly, and he pleaded for more competi tions for civil machines. He agreed with Gen. Bagnall-Wild that if normally used at only a small percentage of their maximum power, aero engines would be found at least as reliable as car engines, and thought improvement would come with improvements in the machines themselves rather than in the engines. Major Green had referred to landing in small fields. This was mainly a question of the amount of control available. Brig.-Gen. Sir Sefton Brancker said that he had a definite suggestion to make, namely, the desirability of stable com mercial aeroplanes. With such machines we could fly in any weather. As regards the statement of the D. of R. in his paper that inherent stability would do away with the necessity for automatic stabilisers, he did not quite agree, as he thought that a stable machine had to move considerably before the righting forces came into play, whereas with automatic stabilisers the correction was applied before the machine had deviated perceptibly from its normal attitude. He was strongly in favour of metal construction, especially for work in the East, where metal construction was desirable, and metal airscrews almost a necessity. He again referred to the advantage of air-cooled engines, and said that a really reliable air-cooled engine was wanted. We should also have to abolish rubber, not only for petrol pipes, but for the tyres as well, he thought. On the subject of statistics, he was no more impressed by Capt. Hill's 300 corpses per day than he was by the "0002 ones per thousand passengers carried. Capt. Guest, Secretary of State for Air, said that he had come in for a good deal of criticism, but was not criticism the object of the Air Conference ? It gave an opportunity for the thrashing out of views. He thought the thanks of the aviation world were due to all the many who had spent two days of strenuous attentiveness at the Guildhall, and assured his hearers that all the suggestions made would receive very serious consideration. He mentioned the fight for its existence which the Air Ministry had been through during the last four months. With regard to his pessimism as concerns European aviation, he said that what he had in mind was Imperial aviation in preference to European aviation. On the question of airships, he intended to keep a pivotal staff of airship experts against the time when we should be in a position to afford the building and running of airships. Finally he pointed out that there is not a man in the Air Ministry but what he is keen on aviation and a great believer in it. But when you are speaking to the A.M., he said, you are speaking to the converted. He wanted to see people outside the Air Ministry and aviation world interested in the subject. Lord Weir, in closing the Air Conference, said he thought the assembly had two duties. One was to thank the Press for all it had done, and the other to thank the Lord Mayor for the loan of the Guildhall for the Conference. • B m officers of the Force expressed their great appreciation of Lord Cowdray's generosity. French Air Mail Fees Cut in Half As from Wednesday of this week, the surtax in France on letters sent by air mail from Paris to London has been reduced from 50 centimes to 25. Good ! An Air Service in Queensland ARRANGEMENTS are reported from Queensland for the opening of an air service between Cloncurry and Charleville, a distance of 570 miles, with a 250 miles extension to Mun- gindi, a railhead on the New South Wales border. Both passengers andjmails are to be carried. 134
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