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Aviation History
1923
1923 - 0748.PDF
during the week at Lympne, it was evident that this type of machine had great possibilities. Yet it is fairly safe to assume that Cobham's flight on Saturday will have done more to bring home to the general public the safety and utility of the light 'plane than would have done a dozen competitions—just as Bleriot's cross-Channel flight in 1909 made the man- in-the-street realise that the aeroplane had, or was about to, destroy our insular security. It is for this reason that we think Mr. Cobham and the De, Havil- land Co. deserve credit for having, without fuss of any sort, undertaken the flight. From a technical point of view the flight is of interest in showing that, even with a motor-cycle engine, it is possible to undertake long cross-country flights without undue risk of trouble. It is true that there was an element of danger in the cross-Channel stretch of the journey. It must be remembered that • the Blackburne engine has but two cylinders. If, therefore, but a single plug had sooted-up, or a single valve stuck, the engine power would have been reduced by rather more than half. On the face of it,- therefore, it might appear that tackling a 20-mile stretch of sea was a hazardous undertaking, and perhaps in a sense it was. But it should be remembered—and that is a feature of the light 'plane of which sight is apt to be lost—that so efficient are these little machines that they will fly level on certainly considerably less than 50 per cent, of their engine power. Thus the power reserve is actually as great as that of larger machines, and probably greater than that of most. Practical experience has shown that several of these light 'planes are capable of flying with but one cylinder firing, showing that the power reserve is sufficient. Not only so, but. surprising as it may- seem, the vibration set up by the unbalanced engine is much smaller than one would expect, certainly not in any way sufficient to " shake the machine to pieces," as some critics had predicted it would.. From all points of view, therefore, the flight was a meritorious one, and we feel sure all our readers will join us in congratulating those responsible for it on having brought it to a successful conclusion. *> • • His Grace the Duke of Sutherland, fIh<LDu,ke .Under-Secretary of State for Air, leftof Sutherland ^ , A , ,, TT ., , „' _.Goes to on December 12 for the United States America on a semi-official visit to some of the American air stations. It is understood that His Grace will particularly study American airship development, and in view of the policy outlined by Sir Samuel Hoare before the Dominion Prime Ministers, in which the Secretary of State for Air expressed Britain's determination to resume airship work, with their help if possible, but without it if .necessary, the visit of the Duke of Sutherland is of considerable significance. Needless to say, Britain could not have sent a more suitable envoy. His Grace has a charm of manner which wins him friends wherever he goes, and he combines with that quality a very sound practical knowledge of aviation questions, as was repeatedly demonstrated at the Lympne meeting. Incidentally, it may be assumed that the Under-Secretary of State for Air will be plied with questions relating to light 'planes, a type of machine of which he has made hirqself the champion, and which owes most of its present development to his encouragement, as America is just getting interested in this latest phase of aviation. Thus an I'J-tVMF-EK 13. 1923 exchange of ideas on such widely different subjects as large airships and light aeroplanes may be expected to result in doing good all round. It is understood that His Grace will be absent for a little more than three weeks, but that he will be back in time for the opening of Parliament. :. Still Now that the Royal Aero Club has" Motor officially dropped that horrible expres- Gliding " S*OIX " m°tor-glider," originally adopted out of deference to a certain daily paper which had offered a prize for a light 'plane competition, surely it is time that editors of dailies kept a check on the compilers of their " stunt " headlines. In all fairness, it must be admitted that the majority of dailies have at last realised the absurdity of talking about motor-gliders, and have adopted the only logical term—light aeroplanes—first suggested by FLIGHT many months ago. There are, however, still a few offenders, and one evening paper last week again committed the folly, in writing of Cobham's flight, of using expressions like " Non-stop glide to Brussels," " motor-glider with tiny motor-cycle engine," " first time an Englishman has crossed the Channel on a glider," and so forth. The daily is one that should know better, and it is to be hoped that sub-editors of dailies generally should be warned to sit up and take notice for the future. • • • ' 1- • • •"• ^ ""•••-•.' _. . It is interesting, and significant, that Helicopter the United States, after spending a considerable amount of money on :..; * helicopter development, has now removed the ^ experimental contraption from its shed and deposited it "in a museum. In the November 19 issue of our American contemporary Aviation is found the following editorial comment : " The news that the hangar which used to house the 'hush-hush' helicopter of McCook Field will be converted into ;• a swimming pool accompanies the announcement •. that this direct lift machine will henceforth be seen ";..: in the Air Service Technical Museum. The tempta- -: ~" tion is great to say that in this way some use 'will -:;- be made of the money spent on the D.B. helicopter, "•••••" and that a swimming pool is a better asset to a flying field than a helicopter hangar. However, there is another angle to this controversial question. Suppose for a moment that some foreign helicopter had suddenly displayed an astonishing performance, and nothing had been done by the Air Service to study the possibilities of such an aircraft. The inference is clear : public clamour would have rent the skies as to our backwardness in aeronautical development and our lack of foresight. Two hundred thousand dollars spent in an endeavour to ' lift off' vertically to a height of under 10 ft. may seem a bit extravagant ; but, on the other side of the ledger, stands the fact that the Air Service now knows what it can expect of a helicopter. And that is all to the ,£ good." ~: These views tally so exactly with those which we have expressed repeatedly in these columns, almost in the same words, that we cannot help feeling a certain amount of satisfaction. The Council of the Royal Aeronautical Society appear to hold similar views, and have made representations to the Air Ministry on the question of their offer of £50,000 for a British helicopter, pointing out the much greater need for research along lines offering greater promise of sound development. 748
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