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Aviation History
1923
1923 - 0585.PDF
SEPTEMBER 27, 1923 FALCON AIRSCREWS ON paying a visit the other day to the works of the FalconAirscrew Company, at 113, Cottenham Road, N.19, we were agreeably surprised by the scene of considerably increasedactivity that prevailed as compared with the occasion of our last visit, nearly a year ago. Yet " surprised " is perhapshardly the correct term to apply in this case, bearing in mind that this firm possesses certain assets which should in anv casemake for success. In the first place, Mr. D. M. Davies, the " moving spirit " of the Falcon Airscrew Company, not onlyhas considerable experience in wood working in all its branches, but is also an excellent organiser and possesses that not very•common gift of being able rapidly to grasp the requirements and problems relating to any particular job, and thus handleit in the most efficient manner possible. Secondly, the works are exceedingly well equipped, bothas regards machines—some of which have been designed by the Falcon Company for special work—and highly skilled staff. Thus, when we have a highly specialised branch of wood-working such as the manufacture of airscrews, which calls for •considerable all-round accuracy and highly skilled craftsman-ship, a firm so situated is able to tackle such work to the best • advantage. Falcon airscrews gained an excellent reputation during theWar, with the result that the firm was able to " carry on " though, of course, at a reduced output—after the Armisticewhen many other aircraft firms had to drop out. During this latter period, when mass production was not the primaryrequirement, the Falcon Airscrew Company concentrated on 1 what we might term individual hand work in the manufacture of their airscrews in preference to the extensive use ofmachinery. As a result of this policy the airscrews produced were of very high quality, and the demand for Falcon air-screws has, in consequence, steadily increased. In fact, we are given to understand that at the present moment, of thetotal supply of airscrews in this country about 90 per cent, are " Falcons." In order to cope with the present demand Mr. Davies has introduced several Improvements in the method of production,and whilst highly skilled hand work is still retained— especially in the final stages—he has had designed someexceedingly successful machines which help considerably to speed-up production. One machine, for instance, accuratelyshapes the roughly laminated, glued-up block to any desired section, a job taking well under the half-hour per propeller. It is hardly necessary for us to describe in full the processof manufacture of Falcon airscrews, as in general this follows usual practice, with which, no doubt, our readers are familiar.It is in the detail work, and the method of handling each particular job that this firm makes good—and this, of course,is a matter which is " strictly private." Before concluding, there are two items to which we wouldlike to refer. One is the excellent examples of three- and four- bladed airscrews turned out by this firm. These, as is wellknown, require even greater accuracy and workmanship than do the two-bladers, and are very difficult to build up, forwhen halving together the laminations in the boss even the most minute differences in thickness, or angle of the joints,would throw the blades out of alignment. In the case of the three-bladed airscrew the operation is more difficult still. The second item consists of an ingenious system, evolved"by the company, of metal-tipping the blades of air-screws. This was fully described in our issue for November 16 last, sowe need only briefly outline the principle here. In this, instead of the usual single narrow strip of brass bent over theedge of the blades and hammered (with a certain amount of detriment to the metal) to a close fit thereon, the blade-edgeis reinforced by a plurality of separate sections or clips of metal, which are secured side by side along the leading edgeand tip of the blade. This provides for a certain amount of flexibility—like the shell of a lobster—which can accom-modate itself to the flexing of the blade without any tendency to buckle, a fault common to the rigid method of metalreinforcing. This arrangement has, we understand, given excellent results in actual practice. Letters and Parcels to Holland THE Postmaster-General announced recently that onand from Monday, September 17, the despatch of letters and parcels from London to Holland by the 12.25 p.m.aeroplane from Croydon would cease. The despatch by "the 8.30 a.m. aeroplane, both of letters and parcels, will bemaintained. An Imperial Air Policy * IN the current issue of the Quarterly Review Sir CharlesBright has an exhaustive article upon Air Policy as an Imperial Question. He has embodied the leading opinions and mostvital facts from various sources pointing to the absolute necessity for giving a generous opening to the full developmentof our air resources. In placing the more important issues in their proper sequence, and backing them up with quotationsfrom men of moment, Sir Charles has done good work which will help still further to urge on our authorities to make upfor past short-sightednesp in regard to air supremacy. The authors whose works Sir Charles Bright specially brings intoreview are the late Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Frederic H. Sykes, Col. W. Lockwood Marsh and Major G. P. Neumann, eachof whom have given various aeronautical problems profound study. A skilful dissection of a subject such as presentedby Sir Charles Bright is a helpful guide to the better under- standing of the case—in this instance—for the air. oooooooooo o o A record breaker :S adi Lecoin te's Nieuport-Delage,300 h.p. Hispano- Suiza engine, onwhich he has re- cently made severalattack s on the world's altituderecord. His best height so far hasbeen 10,700 metres indicated, but thishas not yet been homologated. Notethe Lamblin radia- tors. o o o o o o o o b o o oooooooooo 585
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