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Aviation History
1922
1922 - 0643.PDF
NOVEMBER 2, 1922 this form of control, and Raynham, once he had got used to the controls, found no difficulty in handling the machine. At first his fingers used to get cramped with gripping the bare cable, but later a guard was fitted, and tape wrapped around "the cable, which improved matters considerably. The vertical tail members consist of a triangular fin and •a rudder of approximately parallelogram shape. The first xudder fitted was found to be too small, and a larger one was made, which gave some improvement. An addition to this was, however, found advisable, and this is shown in the side elevation of the general arrangement drawings. As a matter of fact we rather.think that the rudder was large •enough, and that what was really the trouble was that there was not sufficient fin area forward (the fuselage being of small depth) to afford a pivot for the machine to turn upon. In other words, the machine would probably fly somewhat like the old box kites, which had no fin surface forward, and which had to be assisted in a turn by the ailerons. The pilot's cockpit is a very small one, and we believe that actually Raynham was measured for it. He certainly seemed to fit it with but little room to spare. The cockpit is placed between the main wing spars, and is covered with a three-ply panel in which is cut a hole for the pilot's head. We believe that when flying Raynham found this position quite comfortable, as there was very little draught, the air probably shooting up above the pilot's head. Let into the coaming over the cockpit is one of the new Smith and Sons' air speed indicators. The undercarriage consists of two ash skids, anchored at their front ends to the lower longerons, and supported at the rear by short struts which are so pivoted that they are free to swing back as the load comes on the skids. The machine pulls up almost instantly on touching, and as the wings are very close to the ground, and the tips protected by cane loops, the machine never showed any tendency to turn over. Furthermore, the low wing position appears to give a certain amount of " cushioning " effect in landing, while assisting the machine to get off at a very low speed. When the sluggishness of the directional control has been remedied the Handasyde monoplane should be a very excellent machine, as it certainly rises in quite low winds and appears very steady laterally. That Raynham should have been able, on his fifth flight, to remain up for nearly two hours is a remarkable testimony not only to his skill but also to the general design of the machine. We hope to hear of further flights being made on it as soon as it has finished its " show " at Selfridge's, and the few ribs damaged in transport have been repaired. H H H M LONDON TERMINAL AERODROME Monday evening, October 30. DESPITE bad weather, the air services have been maintained with commendable regularity, the Manchester service being run every day in spite of the fact that it was thought, in many quarters, that the inland mist—combined with the smoke in the industrial centres—would prove a great obstacle to the regular operation of this service. On Thursday and Friday in the early morning there was a thick fog over the aerodrome, and, to some extent, this dislocated the air traffic. The Daimler machine from Manchester started as usual, but, on arriving over Crewe, discovered a thick fog there, and, having received a report by wireless that Croydon was also fog-bound, the pilot decided to return to Manchester. The weather cleared rapidly, however, and he was soon away again, and managed to get right through to Rotterdam before darkness came on. Friday's fog, though of a more lasting character, was more or less local. Machines started at the ordinary time from Cologne, Amsterdam, and Manchester. The Cologne machine waited at Brussels for the weather to clear, and the machine from Amsterdam got as far as Lympne, and there alighted for weather reports. The machine from Manchester landed at Stag Lane, and the passengers for London were sent into town by car from that aerodrome, arriving in London to schedule. This is the great advantage of the Manchester service, because when weather conditions are bad at Croydon, it is often possible to land passengers at one of the numerous aerodromes round London ; and, as there are of course no Customs formalities, passengers can reach their destinations quite to schedule. "Express " from Paris Arrives by Night ON Saturday a Handley Page, W.8, piloted by Mr. Macin tosh, completed its journey from the coast to Croydon after dark. All the usual lights at Croydon were in operation, and shells and rockets were fired at regular intervals. The machine suddenly appeared out of the darkness to the south-west, and made a perfect landing. The three British firms have agreed to pool their resources in regard to certain mutual operations and expenses. It is understood that advertising will be on a combined basis in future, and that the advertisements will be in the nature of an appeal to the public to travel by British " airways," and will further state to what places British airways run. In H H Lord Beatty on Armaments AT Leeds on October 18, Lord Beatty, when the freedom of that City and the Hon. Degree of D.L. of Leeds University were conferred upon him, said that one of the lessons of history was that security at sea was vital to our Empire. It was said that the development of aerial warfare would rob, or had robbed, us of some of the advantages of our insular position, and that it would lessen the need for naval defences, but a study of all the problems involved would indicate how utterly fallacious such a doctrine was. The British Empire consisted of something more than the British Isles. The strength of this wide-spread Empire lay in its physical as well as its moral unity, and its physical unity was, and must always be, maintained by sea. addition, certain ground operations at Croydon, which can be combined to mutual advantage, will be made common to all three companies, thus eliminating much of the overlapping which now exists. Gratifying Figure as to Passengers THE passenger traffic continues to keep up in a surprising manner, considering the period of the year. Handley Page Transport rarely send a machine without an absolutely full load, and the passengers on both the Cologne and Amsterdam routes are, if anything, increasing. Between London and Manchester 40 passengers were carried in the six days last week. On Saturday there was not enough accommodation in the machine for all who wished to travel from Manchester to London. I am informed that at Manchester the business men arrive at the aerodrome carrying bags a few minutes before the machine is due to start, and book their tickets just as they would on the railway. This is, of course, encouraging, but at the same time, with limited accommo dation available, it has already led to disappointments on occasion. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that a machine from London to Manchester made the flight in 1 hr. 39 mins. one day during the week, the actual flying time from Amsterdan to London being, on that occasion, only 4 hrs. A Napier " Lion " engine, which has just completed 200 hours in the air in one of the Daimler D.H.34's, has now been taken down for overhaul, and it has been discovered that, despite this arduous period of service, the motor shows practically no signs of wear-and-tear, and is, to all intents and purposes, in the same condition today as it was on the day when it first began running. Today (Monday), despite extremely bad flying weather, the London-Manchester services were completed to schedule in both directions. The London-Amsterdam machines also maintained their services. Between London and Paris very adverse conditions led to services being cancelled. I hear, as an eleventh-hour piece of news, that most of the seats on the Daimler " air expresses " from Manchester to London are already booked up for days ahead. Manchester business men are, indeed, living up to their reputation of being "live wires," and are quick to see the advantage of a flying " express " which, leaving at a convenient hour in the morning, will rush them up to town in such record time. H H It was recognised that the acceptance by the British Government of the standard laid down at the Washington Conference was unimpeachable evidence of the desire of the British Empire for peace. The standards of strength adopted by the Great Powers were those which seemed to them, after most patient con sideration, to give the best possible prospects of peace. It was an unfortunate fact, however, that in the present state of civilisation the casting aside of proper means of defence did not make for peace, and therefore we could not afford to relax altogether the precautions necessary to maintain our national and imperial interests. We could not rely on the forbearance of.friends for our continued existence as a great world Power. 643 Kfr
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