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Aviation History
1923
1923 - 0570.PDF
SEPTEMBER 27, 1923 in this country the attention which it has every appearance of meriting. We have dabbled a little in the subject, it is true, and we have from time to time produced some very remarkable machines of the seaplane type. But as a nation we have done relatively little of recent years, and the seaplane branch of our aircraft industry is represented by a very small number of firms. Fortunately, there are signs that we are about to take steps to remedy the neglect of past years, and therefore we have hopes that the Schneider Race, coming as it does at a very opportune moment, will have the effect of strengthen- ing the hand of those who are trying to secure for the seaplane that attention and assistance which it so richly deserves. It is a curious fact that the British temperament is such that all things new are at first regarded with indifference, if not with actual suspicion. Not until others have shown what can be done do we make up our minds that " there may be something in it after all." Once we have come to that conclusion, however, we usually set to work, and in a relatively short time work our way to the very front rank of that particular sport, industry, science, or whatever the subject happens to be. Just recently other nations have shown a very keen interest in the seaplane. France has established a strong seaplane policy, and in the United States of America the Naval Air Service has been hard at work evolving new types for special purposes. The French competition for the trans-Mediterranean flight, referred to elsewhere in this issue of FLIGHT, is a case in point, and illustrates the interest which the French Government is taking in the seaplane. In America several notable performances have been put up recently, and among them mention may be made of speed records established by racing machines built for the United States Naval Air Service. Other nations, too, are beginning to realise the possibilities of the seaplane, and a goodly number have been purchased from British constructors. Our Government, however, does not yet appear to be fully awake to what the seaplane means and what it can do. Otherwise one could not imagine the present state of affairs, in which two—or even quite probably only one—seaplanes built entirely as the result of private enterprise are being matched against six others built, if not to the order of their respective governments, at least with a great deal of practical assistance of those governments. France, in allocat- ing orders to constructors, takes into consideration the policy and performances of firms in races, records, and competitions. America goes a step farther, and definitely places orders for machines to compete in international events. Compared with the offer by our Air Ministry of purchasing the winning machine, if British, for £3,000 without engine, the American treatment of her constructors is extremely generous, and if Britain should fail to win the Schneider race this year let us remember the intolerable handicap under which our constructors have worked, and let us realise that if anyone is to blame it is certainly not our designers and constructors, who have, as a matter of fact, done wonderfully well. We congratulate the Supermarine Aviation Works, the Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Co., and D. Napier and Son, Ltd., on their very fine effort to secure for Great Britain the Schneider Trophy, and we wish them the very best of luck in the race. If they fail, they will fail honourably, and through no fault of their own. If they succeed, their glory will be all the greater. sr THE FRENCH GRAND PRIX FOR COMMERCIAL MACHINES Farmans in the Lead ON Monday, September 24, the French competitions for commercial aeroplanes finished. Although the official figures are not yet available, it would appear that first and second places were secured by the Farman machines, fitted with Lamblin radiators of new type. The machine which is thought to have secured first place is a Farman monoplane with four 180 h.p. Hispano-Suiza engines. The pilots in the competition were Coupet and Landry, with Lebourg as engineer. The second Farman is of the Goliath type (biplane), but is fitted with four 260 h.p. Salmson engines in place of the usual two engines on the Goliaths familiar to visitors to Croydon aerodrome. The Goliath was piloted by Bossoutrot and Drouhin, who had with them as engineer M. Jousse. Third place is believed to have been secured by a four-engined Bleriot, type 115, with 180 h.p. Hispano-Suiza engines, similar to the machine on which Casale met his death. This machine was piloted in the competition by Bizot and Ville- chanoux, with Viguier as engineer. The course for the Grand Prix was over the route Paris- Metz-Paris, the total distance to be flown being 1,085-5 kms. (673 miles). The following formula was used in determining the placing of competitors:— P V '^•.^•^.^?V-:-K-V>. C ' ". ' in which P is the engine power, V the speed in kilometres, and C the weight of fuel consumed on the flight. At the moment it is not known what the exact figures, based on this formula, for the three machines are. The Bregueb Leviathan, it will be remembered, was crashed and burnt during the early part of the Grand Prix, the pilots and engineer escaping with a shaking. The Farman four-engined Goliath is similar to the standard machine except for the tandem mounting on the wings of the four engines. It has the rectangular-flat-sided, square- cornered appearance of the older Goliath, but appears to fly well. The Farman four-engined monoplane will be an unknown quantity to English readers. In a general way the machine may be said to be influenced by Dornier-Zeppelin design in that the four engines are mounted on short wing roots growing out of the sides of the body, each root carrying two engines, one tractor and one pusher. The monoplane wing rests on top of the fuselage, and is braced by struts running out from the ends of the engine-carrying wing roots. The Bleriot 115 is, as already stated, generally similar to the machine flown by Casale, and of which a full description was given in our issue of July 12, 1923. This machine was rushed through in a very short time, and certain alterations from the original design were made, notably as regards the fuselage. The first flying tests were made by Bizot on September 8, and some trouble was, we believe, experienced with the engines, which were old re-conditioned surplus war stock. It will be remembered that the Bleriot has the four engines arranged two on the bottom plane and tw» on the top plane. The machine flies with any one out Oi the four engines cut out, and has passed its tests of flying four figures of eight with either of the four engines stopped. In the eliminating trials for the Grand Prix the machines had to get off and land in a distance of not more than 250 m. and the sparking plugs of two engines had to be changed during flight. The weight of the Bleriot 115 empty, but with the cooling water for the engines on board, is 2,910 kgs. (6,400 lbs.) and fully loaded for the Grand Prix the machine weighed, something like 4,700 kgs. (10,340 lbs.). A Henry Potez biplane was also entered, and is reported to have passed its eliminating trials, but at the moment it is not known what happened to it in the Grand Prix. 570
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