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Aviation History
1922
1922 - 0620.PDF
BSE science but by art, in spite of some pretence and humbug to the contrary." Particularly happy is, we think, his illustration of the manner in which, to a very great extent, the aircraft designer works. " To arrive analytically," he says, " by measuring the fac tional coefficient of the cloth and the resilience of the balls and cushions, at the precise way to play a complicated stroke at billiards is practically hopeless, but practice and a knowledge of principles deduced from scientific analysis of simple cases will produce surprising results. So it is that, over a wide range, light metal members can be designed with every confidence that they will fulfil their designer's expecta tions and realise the advantages in weight economy foreshadowed by the properties of the materials." There was a strong dramatic element Gy%? e in the nnish of the gliding competition Competition *or tne Daily Mail £1,000 prize and several subsidiary prizes. The winning machine, as well as that which made the second best showing on the last day of the competition, had not been out of its tent until brought out for its record- breaking flight. As it was wheeled along the ridge towards Firle Beacon, it is a fair guess that not one out of every thousand who saw it recognised in it the prize-winner. Yet the minute the Peyret had left the ground it was obvious that here was a machine which had controllability to an amazing extent, and M. Maneyrol very soon proved himself not only a good pilot, but an excellent judge of wind conditions. With perfect mastery of his craft he swung to and fro, and appeared to have not the slightest difficulty— except for a short period just before he reached Raynham's duration—in remaining in the ascending air currents. No less of a surprise was Sqdn.-Ldr. Gray's machine, which was composed of an old Bristol Fighter fuse lage, on which had been fitted a Fokker D. VII wing. The " Brokker," as it was nicknamed, caused great amusement when it failed to get off in the first start, but the amusement changed to admiration when the machine got away and soared upwards under perfect control. Both machines handled extremely well, and the " Brokker " appeared to indicate that ample controllability is not necessarily incompatible with " orthodox " design. Until the appearance of the Peyret and " Brokker," there had been no serious challenger of Raynham's performance, and the opinion was freely expressed on H H Japanese Decorations for Air Mission Members FROM Tokio it is announced that in recognition of their great service to the naval flying forces of Japan, decorations ranging from the Third Class Order of the Rising Sun to the Sixth Class Order of the Sacred Treasure have been granted by Imperial decree to the thirty commissioned and non commissioned officers composing the British aviation mission in Japan. The decorations were presented at a full dress parade held at Kasumigaura flying station by Rear-Admiral Tajiri, of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Captain the Master of Sempill, commanding officer of the mission, was given the Third Class Order of the Rising Sun, and Commander Meares was given the Third Class Order of the Sacred Treasure. Other decorations are Lieut.-Commanders Fowler, Atkin son, Eldridge, Brackley, Smith, and Orde-Lees, Fourth Class Order of the Rising Sun. Lieut.-Commander Orde-Lees has gained widespread recognition in Japan on account of his parachute descents, and because of his feat in climbing Mount Fuji last mid-winter, something that Japanese have never accomplished, though they have made many attempts. OCTOBER 26, 1922 Saturday morning that the prize was as good as won. The win by another competitor at the eleventh hour was but another instance of Raynham's proverbial luck—or ill-luck. Time after time Raynham has been within sight of winning a big event, and time after time something has happened at the last moment to snatch victory from his grasp. We are extremely sorry that Raynham's ill-luck should have dogged him again this time, but we hope and believe that he will not let himself be discouraged from trying again. We realise that this may sound a good deal like a council of perfection, and that after his many disap pointments Raynham might well be excused from further attempts. Should this be the case, the loss to British sporting aviation would be a great one, as Raynham is extremely popular in all aviation circles. To Gordon England we express our sympathy in his sad misfortune. His machine was a fine piece of work, and he had been flying it very well indeed up to the moment of his accident. In spite of its small size, the machine was one of the steadiest of all the competing machines, and but for this stroke of bad luck it would undoubtedly have done well on the last day, when the wind was of suitable force for it. . Several facts appear to stand out clearly Lesson as a resUit 0l the competition. One of these is that ample controllability is of greater importance than extreme efficiency, and another is that light loading is not imperative. We do not know what is the weight of Sqdn.-Ldr. Gray's " Brokker," but in view of the fact that both its wmg and its fuselage were designed for very much greater loads than those encountered in a gl'der, the structure weight must have been very considerable. Yet the machine performed extraordinarily well. A further point brought out was that the country around Itford and Firle is very suitable for gliding, at any rate with northerly and easterly winds. How machines will fare in the winds which had been expected, i.e., southerly and south-westerly winds, yet remains to be seen. The southern slopes are not nearly so steep, and the extent to which they give soarability is at present a matter for speculation. However, if, as we hope, the site is to be retained permanently, this problem should be solved before long. In the meantime, our congratulations to all con cerned in the meeting, competitors as well as organisers ! H H Lieuts. Pollard, Bryan, Loton and Vaughan-Fowler and Surgn.-Lieut. Jones, Fifth Class Order of the Rising Sun ; Sub-Lieuts. Brutnell, Sheret Hatfield, Landamore and Volkert, Sixth Class Order of the Rising Sun ; Warrant Officers Crisp, Satchell, Bond, Williams, Farwaker, Redmond, Adams, Manton, Hunter, Ellis Ford and Sherras, Sixth Class Order of the Sacred Treasure. In all probability the British instructors will remain attached to the Japanese Navy until 1924, or even longer. Groves Memorial Prize Essay Awards THE awards in the 1922 competition for the R. M. Groves Memorial Essay on " A Forecast of Aerial Development," open to members of the R.A.F., are as follow : 1. Squadron Leader A. A. Walser, M.C., D.F.C., Air Ministry. 2. Squadron Leader B. E. Smythies, D.F.C., R.A.F., Staff College, Andover. 3. Wing Commander J, T. Babington, D.S.O., Head quarters, No. 7 Group, Andover. Special prize for imaginative risume on " Aviation in the Next World War "—Wing Commander J. T. Babington.
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