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Aviation History
1922
1922 - 0430.PDF
JULY 27, 1922 reporters were not present. The account of what he sai'd which reached the Press was, I am informed by him, unauthorised and incorrect: "" Lieut.-Col. Murray : Can the Lord Privy Seal tell us what the light hon. gentleman did say ? Mr. Chamberlain : Nothing inconsistent with the statement of policy which I made to the House in March last. Captain Wedgwood Benn : Will the Committee to which the right hon. gentleman has referred give effect to the decision of the Government to main tain the unity and integrity of the Air Force ? Mr. Chamberlain : No, Sir, the decision of the Government was that there should be an integral Air Force, and the Committee to which I have referred, and the appointment of which I then foreshadowed, was to consider methods in which Naval and Air Force co-operation could be most effectively carried out to the advantage of both services, and, above all, to the advantage of the country. Mr. Lambert: When will the Committee report ? Mr. Chamberlain: I cannot say. It is dealing with very important matters.^and with matters, admittedly, of some difficulty. With every good will on both sides there will be no delay, but I cannot fix a time. Aeronautical Research LIEUT.-COLONEL MOORE-BRABAZON on July 20 asked the Secretary of State for Air if he will state what provision has been made in the Air Estimates for pure aeronautical research ; and what percentage of the total Estimates is" devoted to this Department ? Captain Guest: The total provision made in the Air Estimates for carrying out research work is £1,147,000. This figure represents the sum which is devoted to all forms of experimental and research work carried out under the direction of the Air Ministry, and into this work enters a very substantial element of pure research, the cost of which it is not possible to extricate from the remainder of the Vote. It also includes a sum of £47,000, which is specifically confined to pure research work carried out at the National Physical Laboratory, at the. Air Ministry Laboratory, and by the Aeronautical Research Committee, the Ordnance Committee and Research Department at Woolwich, and other joint establishments, and also by special consultants. Air Ministry Economies CAPTAIN LOSEBV, on July ai, asked the Secretary of State for Air whether, as a result of the G«ttdes "recommendations, any economies have been effected in the secretariat of the Department; if so, to what extent; and how do such economies, if any, compare with the reductions effected in the Directorate of Research ? Captain Guest: The answer to the first question is in the affirmative ; to the second, that 29 temporary administrative and clerical officers have been discharged ; to the third, that 53 persons on the staff of the Directorate of Research have been discharged or are under notice of discharge. E E H E LOSS OF FRENCH "SPAD" AEROPLANE OFF FOLKESTONE THE Air Ministry announces that the investigation which was previously announced as being made by the Inspector of Accidents into the circumstances attending the unfortunate accident to the French " Spad " aeroplane off Folkestone on June 3, which resulted in the loss of the machine when 3 miles from the coast and the death of all on board, has now been completed. As was foreshadowed in a previous communiqui, the finding of the Inspector of Accidents is that the evidence available is insufficient to determine the cause of the accident. In view of the public interest in the matter a summary of the main facts regarded as established by the enquiry is given as follows :— The aeroplane, after undergoing certain, modifications, including the installation of a Hispano-Suiza engine, was granted a fresh certificate of airworthiness by the French authorities on April 26, 1922. On May 29, the pilot flew the aeroplane from Paris on its first journey after re-certification, and had a forced landing at Lympne, owing to a broken oil pipe. After repair, he continued the journey to Croydon on June i, 1922. On June 3, the day of the accident, before the flight was commenced, the machine was examined and passed 13 E Albert Medal for R.A.F. Officer THE King has awarded the Albert Medal to Squadron- Leader Charles Curtis Darley, of the R.A.F., in recognition of his gallantry in endeavouring to save life. On the night of September 27, 1919, a Vickers-Vimy aeroplane, piloted by Captain Cecil Hill Darley, brother of Squadron-Leader (then Flight-Lieutenant) Darley, who was acting «as navigation officer, made a forced landing by Lake Bracciano, some twenty miles north of Rome, when on a flight from England to Egypt. On the following morning, in taking off, the aeroplane failed to clear a telegraph GERMAN DESIGN FOR LARGE FLYING BOAT : The photograph shows the scale model of a twin- hull flying boat, apparently of Junkers' design. The machine, which is stated to be all-metal, will have a span of 200 ft. and is to be driven by four engines of 700 h.p. each, probably of the Junkers' semi-Diesel type. Each hull is to seat 30 passengers. One wonders what will happen to the centre-section of the wing when the machine is taxying obliquely in a rough sea. Otherwise the design appears to be very clean. by an English ground engineer licensed by the Air Ministry. The pilot was experienced, and so far as is known in good health. The weather conditions for flying over the London- Paris route at the time of the accident were fair. The sky was overcast by a layer of cloud at a height of i ,500 to 2,000 ft., accompanied by thin mist over the sea. Visibility inland was good, but over the Channel it was about 4,000 yds. at the surface. The wind was north-west, about 15 m.p.h. The engine was running satisfactorily throughout the flight, but evidence as to the behaviour of the machine after finally leaving the coast is conflicting and unreliable. In the absence of any evidence as to technical or climatic causes to which the accident could be definitely attributed, the question whether it might have been brought about by any interference with the pilot or the control mechanism was considered. The conclusion was, however, formed that, owing to the almost complete partitioning off of the pilot's cockpit, it was hardly possible for any such inter ference to have taken place accidentally, and no evidence was found to support a theory that such interference had taken place intentionally. E m pole, and crashed, immediately bursting into flames. Squadron-Leader Darley was thrown clear, but at once rushed to the blazing wreckage and displayed very con spicuous bravery and devotion in persistent, but unavailing, attempts to rescue his brother. Admiralty and Aircraft Exercises THE following is issued by the Admiralty :— In view of the unauthorised and inaccurate reports which have appeared in the Press with regard to the torpedo aeroplane attack on the Atlantic Fleet which took place off the Isle of Wight on July 7, in the presence of the King, the Admiralty consider it desirable to issue the following brief statement of the facts : 1. The exercise was in no sense novel, and was designed as a spectacle rather than as a critical experiment. Similar exercises have been carried out on several occasions during the past three years, and the results on July 7 only confirmed previous experience. 2. In order to afford practice to the torpedo aeroplanes the Fleet approached to within a few miles of the aircraft base in broad daylight at low speed, on a prearranged day and at an hour signalled in advance to the aircraft. There was, therefore, no surprise attack, and the conditions were essen tially unwarlike and unreal. 3. Moreover, as is unavoidable in all peace exercises, the Fleet offered an unresisting target to the aircraft, whose attack was undisturbed by any counter-offensive action, whether by the interference of Fleet aircraft, gunfire from the light cruiser and destroyer screens, or heavy, medium, and anti-aircraft gunfire—combined with splash barrages—from ships in the battle line. 4. The aircraft were thus allowed to develop to the full their offensive, whilst the Fleet was debarred from defending itself in any way. In spite of these favourable conditions the number of hits obtained on the battle line was small and of minor tactical importance. 5. Throughout the operation the pilots of the attacking aircraft showed skill and dash in the handling of their machines, but, as already indicated, the conditions were so unreal that no practical lessons affecting the security of the Fleet can properly be deduced from these exercises. 430
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