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Aviation History
1922
1922 - 0480.PDF
AUGUST 24, 1922 been cut down somewhat and other minor alterations effected,. but essentially the machine is the same, which tends to confirm the opinion expressed above that duration in sailing flight is mainly a matter of personal skill on the part of the pilot. No particulars are available of the other German machines entered this year, but in a subsequent issue we hope to be able to publish illustrations and particulars. The French machines show a great deal of originality, but, as was the case with last year's German competition, the freaks do not appear to have done very much, the majority of the successes having gone to machines of more or less orthodox design. Thus the Farman gliders entered are simply the Farman " Sport" and the Farman "Mosquito," with engine removed and the pilot placed farther forward so as to balance the machine. The flight by Bossoutrot of five minutes was made on the " Mosquito," a small monoplane. The Clement triplane has been shown at the Paris Salon both as a power-driven machine and as a glider. The machine flown by Chardon (Swiss) is a biplane without under-carriage, and the pilot sits on a strap suspended from the lower plane. To get into the air he runs down the hill, much as did Lilienthal in his pioneer experiments many 4 <•> years ago. Control is mainly a matter of dexterity on the part of the pilot. The American glider is a monoplane, with the tail carried on an open girder. It was designed and built by the Aero nautical Engineering Society, and in the competitions it was piloted by Mr. Allen. In the earlier part of the meeting this machine held the lead as regards total duration, but during the later stages was outdistanced by other competitors, notably Chardon on the Swiss glider, and, most recently, by the Farman " Sport " and Farman " Moustique." At the moment of going to press the position of competitors, as regards total duration, is as follows : 1st, Farman " Sport" (Bossoutrot and Paulhan) (48 mins. 5 sees.) ; 2nd, Farman " Moustique " (Bossoutrot) (43 mins. 18 sees.) ; 3rd, Chardon (27 mins. 53 sees.) ; 4th, Coupet (24 mins. 5 sees.) ; 5th, Descamps (17 mins. 49 sees.) ; 6th, Douchy (14 mins. 12 sees.); 7th, Allen (12 mins. 27 sees.). The prize awards are as follows: Duration, 1, Farman (Bossoutrot), 5 mins. 18 sees.; 2, Coupet, monoplane, 4 mins. 50 sees. For greatest height attained and slowest rate of descent the position was the same, with Bossoutrot first and Coupet second. <s> <$> LONDON TERMINAL AERODROME Monday, August 21, 1922. THE outstanding event of the week is the closing down of their entire goods service by the Instone Air Line. From today onwards they are concentrating on passengers to the exclusion of goods. Their new goods' office on the aero drome, which was only built at the beginning of this season, is now being demolished together with their original office at the back of it, and which has, for the past year, been the pilots' room ; and the firm are vacating this plot entirely. The staffs and cars for the collection and distribution of goods I in London, Paris and Brussels are being disbanded : in fact, ; so thoroughly are they closing down the goods' business that they are giving up the air parcels' post. Major Greer has quickly discovered what has been common knowledge to those studying air transport, and this is that the parcels' service does not pay for the vans used in collecting and delivering the goods between the aerodrome and the towns. In fact, without making the slightest alteration to the existing air services, and with machines carrying less load, there will be an actual saving. The Daimler Airway recog nised this from the start, and have refused to carry goods that needed collecting and delivering except under specially favourable circumstances. All this does not mean that goods will never pay by air. If there were a big bulk of large consignments, then it would be a proposition worth considering, but with the present numerous small parcels, each weighing only a few pounds, which have to be delivered by motor-van to every corner of London, involving the vans in perhaps a journey of 10 to 20 miles to deliver a parcel on which the entire freight is perhaps a couple of shillings, the situation is ridiculous. Record Week for Passengers As many as 741 passengers have departed from, or arrived at, the air-station during the week—which is a record figure. The flow of returning holiday traffic has now set in from the continent. The first of the long-expected Rolls-Fokker monoplanes arrived during the week from Amsterdam, piloted by Mr. Hofstra. The passenger-cabin is rather larger than in the Puma-engined machine, and has seating accommodation for six passengers. Wicker seats are provided instead of the elaborately upholstered heavy seats in the original Fokkers. A large goods compartment is provided at the back of, and separate from, the cabin. The pilot sits on the opposite side of the engine to his position in the Puma-Fokker, and conforms in this respect to the suggestions made at the meetings of pilots for prevention of collisions in the air, enabling the pilot to keep to the right of the airway, and have a clear view of landmarks and approaching machines. Both goods and passengers on the K.L.M. are on the increase. The goods traffic by this line has the advantage of being chiefly large parcels which allow of economy in road transport, while, although there is such a volume of goods, the prices charged are as much as four times those charged on the London-Paris service. I hear that the Messageries A6riennes are to take over the plot vacated by the Instone Air Line and erect offices on it. They have been attempting for some time to get an office on the aerodrome " Broadway " as their present office is hidden away and somewhat difficult to find. U' Jockey's Use of Aeroplane " Taxis" STEVE DONOGHUE, the jockey, has been using the various " air taxis " of the Surrey Flying Services, and the De Havil land Hire Service, to be "in two places at once" during the week. On Wednesday afternoon Capt. Muir, in one of the Surrey Flying Services' Avros, flew to Leicester, alighting actually on the race-course, and fetched Donoghue to Croydon. Here he embarked on a D.H.16 which had just arrived from Ostend with four passengers and was returning empty to Lympne. At Lympne a D.H.9 used on the De Havilland newspaper service from Lympne to Ostend took him to Deauville, returning early the next morning in time for the newspaper service. On Thursday night Capt. Muir left for St. Inglevert, and, after remaining there the night, flew on to Deauville and, picking up Donoghue, brought him back to Hurst Park on Friday morning. • Donoghue was again attempting to fly to Deauville and back in the early hours of Saturday to ride in trial there and still be back in time to ride at Hurst Park in the afternoon. There was, however, no machine available, but, as he had to ride at Deauville once again on Sunday, he left Croydon on a De Havilland 9 at 5.30 p.m. for that place. The Surrey Flying Services met with misfortune during the week. Capt. Muir was flying their Renault-Avro with two passengers who wished to go by air to Ostend. Just after he had left the ground, however, his engine failed, and he was compelled to land in the cornfield on the side of the aerodrome. He alighted all right, but, owing to the fact that he was landing down-wind, and therefore moving rather fast, the corn checked the machine too rapidly, and it went over on its nose. The passengers were not in the least dismayed, and embarked again on a Clerget-Avro and completed their journey " O.K." As a result of this accident, however, the Surrey Flying Services had only one machine available for joy-rides this week-end, which, of course, would be, under such circumstances, fine. Air Traffic Control from the Tower AT last the various aerodrome controls are getting in their proper place—that is, in the control-tower. The man who waves the red flag which gives pilots permission to take off is now situated on the balcony of the tower, while there is a wireless operator in the tower itself. A field-telephone connects the tower with the duty office, and a wonderful Heath Robinson message-hoist has been constructed, appar ently out of bits of old wire, a mustard-tin and a couple of old pulleys, to convey weather-reports up to the wireless operator without the fatigue of climbing up the tower steps each time. The arrangements for saving road transport made by the Instone Company are working quite smoothly. They time their services to and from Paris and Brussels to leave and arrive at Croydon together, with the result that, in many cases, only one car is needed for both services. At present their machines leave for both Paris and Brussels at 10.30 a.m. and 4 p.m. On Sunday two special newspaper photographers went over to Paris to obtain photographs of the Olympic sports there, and the Daimler Airway obligingly arranged that a special machine which was running to cope with the rush of pas sengers from the other side should not leave until 5.30 p.m., to give them an opportunity of getting back to London with a full set of pictures. 480
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