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Aviation History
1923
1923 - 0252.PDF
MAY 10, 1923 LIGHT 'PLA1 ANOTHER milestone in the progress of aviation was established on Sunday, May 6, when M. Georges Barbot made the flight across the Channel and back on his little Dewoitine mono- plane. One thing has marred the very fine performance of Barbot—i.e., the manner in which the daily press proclaimed from the house-tops that the Frenchman had " glided " across the Channel. When it was first announced that the Daily Mail had offered a prize of ^1,000 for light 'planes, we protested against the use of the word " motor glider," pointing out that the word is an absurdity, and that light aeroplane or light 'plane is the logical term to use. Already our opinions have been confirmed by the way in which Barbot's flight was heralded as a " glide." The term motor glider having been accepted and given official sanction by the Royal Aero Club, the daily press naturally took it up, and in the hustle of daily journalism the " motor " dropped out, with the result that the Press, almost without exception, spoke of the flights as having been glides. Most of the minor fry can be excused, but it is surprising to find the Morning Post amongst the offenders. Thus in the mind of the public there has been caused a great deal of confusion, and nobody seems to be quite certain whether Barbot glided across or flew across. * * * WE are extremely glad to note that The Times, taking its usual calm and well-considered view of things, points out that although Barbot's flight was a notable event in the history of aviation, " in estimating its true importance the first essential is to get rid of the idea that it was in any sense an experiment in the art of gliding." * * • To return to the flight itself, M. Barbot had intended to make the attempt on Saturday, May 5, but after rising to a considerable height he cruised about for two hours without being able to locate the two seaplanes that were to have acted as his escorts. Thinking that they had been unable to find him, and seeing that there was a heat mist over the Channel, he wisely decided to abandon the attempt. * * * ON Sunday, May 6, the weather was favourable, although there was a good deal of mist about, and it was not until towards evening that Barbot decided to make the attempt. Spending about half an hour in reaching a height of 5,500 ft., so as to be able to make a good long glide should his engine fail, he headed towards the English coast. Travelling over Folkestone and Hythe, he reached Lympne after having been in the air for one hour one minute. * * * M. BARBOT brought with him a red ensign which it had been his intention to drop from his machine when over English soil. However, it got entangled in some part of the machine and he could not release it. After landing he handed it to members of the party which had assembled at Lympne, among whom was Lord Edward Grosvenor. The flag bore the message, "A la memoire des soldats Anglais tombes sur la terre de France 1914-1918, Dewoitine, Barbot." * * • WHEN mechanics examined the Dewoitine it was found that one of the bracing wires of the undercarriage had been damaged, and it took some considerable time to get it replaced, so much so that there was some anxiety as to whether Barbot would be able to get back to St. Inglevert before dark. However, the wire was ultimately replaced, and after further delay, owing to the engine refusing to start, he got away, and, as was learned afterwards, alighted safely at St. Inglevert, having made the double journey, and thus won the 25,000 francs prize offered by Le Matin. * * * WITH regard to the machine itself, this is already familiar to readers of FLIGHT, a photograph of it having been published in our issue of April 12, 1923. For this particular flight the Anzani engine was replaced by a Clerget, on the grounds, it is stated, that the Anzani is not a French engine. This seems a curious decision, and one would have thought that Anzani was at least as much French as is M. Dewoitine. * * * THE Clerget engine fitted in the Dewoitine is of the same type as that exhibited at one of the Paris Aero Shows some years ago, and it is rather interesting to recall that the same engine was, some years ago, fitted in the curious little de Pischoff biplane, on which the designer made several cross-country flights without anyone outside aviation circles taking much notice of his performance. De Pischoff was later killed while flying this little machine—due, it was thought, to the machine having met such strong " bumps " that de Pischoff was thrown out of the machine. The engine is of approximately the same capacity as the Bristol " Cherub," and would not, therefore, be accepted for the forthcoming competition for the Sutherland Prize. As used by Barbot the engine is thought to have developed about 12 h.p., although it is supposed to be capable of 16 to 18 h.p. when run all out. * • * ,- THE official times given by the Air Ministry for Barbot's flights are as follows :—Left St. Inglevert, 6.20 p.m. ; arrived Lympne, 7.21 p.m. ; left Lympne, 8.1 p.m. ; arrived St. Inglevert, 8.45 p.m. The longer time taken on the outward journey is due to the fact that Barbot climbed to over 5,000 ft. before setting out across the Channel. On the return journey, with darkness coming on, he flew low without losing any time. The petrol consumption is stated to have been about 2 gals., and as the direct distance is approximately 36 miles, this represents his fuel consumption. As there was, however, no restriction on the amount of petrol con- sumed, Barbot probably did not trouble to reduce this to a minimum, and the machine furthermore had a light cross wind on both trips, which would somewhat lower the mileage per gallon. * * • ON Monday last, May 7, Barbot flew the Dewoitine from St. Inglevert to Le Bourget, with an intermediate landing at Beauvais. Leaving St. Inglevert at midday, he landed at Beauvais at 2.30 p.m., having covered about 75 miles in 2\ hours against a head wind. Leaving Beauvais at 5.20 p.m., he landed at Le Bourget at 6.5 p.m. It is estimated that he had covered the distance of somewhat over 150 miles at a cost for petrol of about 10s., or less than a penny a mile. In a few days Barbot is stated to be leaving for America, with his Dewoitine. Is he going to introduce it to Mr. Henry Ford for mass production ? Mr. Handley Page and the Overseas League LECTURING before members of the Overseas League on Monday, the 7th inst., Mr. F. Handley Page made a striking appeal on behalf of British commercial aviation. That he succeeded in impressing his audience by bringing home to them, in his usual inimitable and amusing style, the serious position in which British commercial aviation is likely to find itself unless strong action be taken was apparent by the enthusiasm accorded by all present. His lecture, besides serving the purpose of providing this necessary " ginger," was especially interesting to those more or less out of touch with matters aviatic, as he briefly outlined what was being done in Europe with commercial air lines and gave several striking comparative figures. We do not propose, however, to report his lecture in full, as—apart from our being short of space—most of the information he gave us is already known to our readers. There were one or two points made, however, which we think might be recorded. Referring to the nose dive made by British aerial supremacy since the War, he compared our present air line activities, and those of France, to the big transcontinental and trans- atlantic lines in the case of the latter and the S.E. and C.R. suburban lines in the case of Great Britain. He urged that the Air League should receive even a greater support from the people of Britain than that attained by the Navy League, for supremacy of the seas was useless without supremacy in the air. He pointed out that it was essential to cultivate an " air sense " in the people, so that the younger generation would realise the romance of air travel as today they do in the case of travel and adventure by sea. In moving a vote of thanks to the lecturer, Lieut.-Col. Mervyn O'Gorman, who was in the chair, also made a strong appeal to every one to give their support to one or other of the three bodies at present in existence looking after the interests of aviation— i.e., the Air League, the Royal Aero- nautical Society and the Royal Aero Club. 252
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