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Aviation History
1923
1923 - 0238.PDF
roll forward down the inclined rails, and it is thought that,it will have sufficient speed by the time it is clear of the rails. The cables being then behind and outside the wing tips,it is thought that there should be no risk of the glider fouling any part of the balloon or its anchor cables.Preliminary to an ascent the balloon is intended to be secured to a set of posts driven into the ground, of sufficientlength to allow the glider to be wheeled under the balloon from behind and secured in the guide rails. The attachmentsof the outriggers to the posts are then cast off, and the balloon cable paid out, until the desired height is reached. Assoon as the first glider has been launched the balloon is hauled down and a second glider placed under it and sentinto the air. Owing to the fact that Germany is not allowed to buildor use kite balloons (although she may build airships up to a certain size), Herr Oppermann is unable to put his ideasinto practice in Germany, and he has consequently come over to this country in order to attempt to form a syndicate forthe exploitation of his patents. Herr Oppermann is also the inventor and patentee of a number of aviation instru-ments, several of which are, we understand, to be manu- factured in this country. Anyone interested in the Opper-mann glider-launching kite balloon scheme should com- municate with him at the address of Messrs. A. Lege and Co.,45 and 47, Lofting Road, Liverpool Road, London, N. Herr Oppermann has certain theories regarding thepossibilities of " Dynamic soaring " as distinct from soaring in up-currents, and believes that his kite balloon launchingarrangement will form a valuable means of ascertaining the MAY 3, 1923 feasibility of making use of the internal energy of the airfor " gust soaring." Quite apart from the scientific side of the problem, it would appear that from the sporting point ofview a good deal might be done with the scheme. It should be possible to purchase surplus kite balloons at a very lowfigure, and their conversion should not be a very expensive undertaking. Thus one can imagine gliding centres estab-lished at various London aerodromes. Croydon might, perhaps, be out of the question, as it seems unlikely that theauthorities would allow the flying of kite balloons from the terminal aerodrome, owing to the possible danger to themachines arriving from and departing for the Continent, but Cricklewood, Stag Lane, or Hendon should be suitable,and, to put it on the lowest level, glider descents from a balloon would probably prove an attractive feature of week-end aviation meetings. Either of the three aerodromes should be large enough and with sufficiently open countrywithin gliding distance to enable machines always to make safe landings. It might even be possible for machines toleave one aerodrome at a good height and alight at one of the other two. Once the feasibility and safety of this form of launchinghad been demonstrated by " stunt merchants," glider enthusiasts would probably come forward and form gliderclubs, hiring shed accommodation and " lifts." At any rate the scheme seems worth examining, and those interestedshould write to Herr Oppermann at the address given above. We might add that the inventor is in this country for a fewweeks only, so that it will be well to communicate with him without delay. LONDON TERMINAL AERODROME Tuesday morning, May 1THE outstanding event of the week was the inauguration yesterday, by the Daimler Airway, of the London-BerlinService. Capt. W. R. Hinchcliffe piloted the first through machine, which left the Aerodrome at 10.30 a.m.—being anhour late owing to bad weather conditions on the English and French coasts—with six passengers and a mechanic,arriving at Berlin at 6.40 the same evening. The German machine which should have flown from Berlin to London thesame day was unable to make its journey, owing to a last- minute hitch between German Aero Lloyd and the GermanGovernment. It is understood that this is in connection with subsidies, and that, until the matter is settled satis-factorily, no German machines will be running. This also means that the German connection between Berlin andAmsterdam will have to be cancelled, at any rate, for the time being. The only service to Berlin, therefore, will bethe Daimler Service every Monday, and the return flight from Berlin to London every Tuesday. I am given tounderstand that the Copenhagen connection is not affected, and that passengers leaving by the Daimler at 12.25 p.m.for Amsterdam will travel by train to Hamburg and from thence by air to Copenhagen, arriving at 11 a.m. the dayfollowing departure from London. Air Mail ExperimentAN interesting air mail experiment, and one with far- reaching possibilities, was made during the week by theInstone Air-Line, -when a D.H.9, piloted by Lieut.-Col. Henderson, carried a dummy packet of mails from Plymouthto London in the early morning. In order to make this experiment complete a steam pinnace was dispatched fromPlymouth to meet an incoming American liner as it entered the Channel. The dummy packet of mails was supposed tohave been dropped from the liner into the pinnace, which immediately returned at full speed to Plymouth. Here the packet which contained actual letters was loaded on to theaeroplane, which left for London shortly after 7 o'clock, arriving at Croydon soon after 9 a.m. The letters were herefranked at the post office on the Aerodrome, and were handed to the pilots of the machines leaving for Brussels,Cologne and Paris. At these places arrangements had been made for special messengers to meet the machines and deliverthe letters in the various towns by hand. The saving by this experiment was as much as two or three days in relation toletters addressed to Cologne. Gold by AirTHE K.L.M. continue to carry huge quantities of goods, amongst which bullion is the most notable. On one day thisweek, in fact, the amount of bullion, as represented by gold ingots, was so great that it was more than the full load forone machine, and in consequence, after some frantic tele- phoning, a portion of it had to be returned to London.All the available private hire machines, both at Stag Lane and at Croydon, were booked up on Thursday last to carryphotographs and films of the Royal wedding to various parts of Great Britain and the Continent. Some, owing to a latestart caused by late delivery of the pictures to the aerodromes, were unable to make their destination before dusk, but wherepromptitude had been shown in delivering the pictures to the machines, all the journeys were successfully accomplished. On Saturday the Daimler Airway had a full load of footballenthusiasts from Manchester to London, and in order to accommodate these they altered the time of their returnservice from London to Manchester from 12.45 to 6.15, so that these air cup finalists would be the last to leave Boltonand the first to return. The improvements to the Trust House are being pushedforward rapidly, and there is every possibility that the greater portion of them will be opened in time to deal with theWhitsuntide crowds of sightseers. The Wireless Year Book for 1923 THE Year Book of Wirsless Telegraphy and Telephony,which is published by the Wireless Press, Ltd., London, has steadily been increasing its " capacity " year by year, andthe volume for 1923, just to hand, has attained truly remarkable dimensions—it is now some three inches thick !From which it can be gathered that a vast amount of in- formation dealing with W.T. in all its branches is containedwithin its covers. This 1923 edition has been completely remodelled, and hasbeen divided into no fewer than 17 entirely separate sections, one of which, a directory of Shipboard Stations, contains540 pages ! There is included an interesting and compre- hensive section devoted to Wireless in Aviation, dealing withSignalling on our Airways, Regulations and Procedure (General and Direction Finding), W.T. Air Stations and CallMarks. In conclusion we should like to make the following con-structive criticism. We would suggest that, if there be no technical objection to it, this stupendous compilationwould be improved if the volume were paged consecutively 1 to the end, in addition to the sectional pagination. Thiswould facilitate—or even eliminate—the present somewhat difficult procedure of finding any particular section. TheIndex should have both sectional and page references in each case, tor which there is apparently plenty of space. 238
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