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Aviation History
1923
1923 - 0760.PDF
DECEMBER 20, 1923 further glance into the promised land than we have ever had before.' " On referring to the same subject on October 3 (1903) we added :—' We heartily trust that at an early date the Wrights may consider themselves sufficiently skilful to attempt experimenting with their latest type of machine with a motor and propeller attached.' " This prophesy now appears to have b^en completely fulfilled. The brothers Wright have attached to their aeroplane a motor-driven propeller, and, utilising their enormous and unique experience of how to manipulate the aeroplane under the varying stresses and strains to which it is subjected, by what Mr. Chanute has graphically described as ' the whirling billows of air ' that constitute a wind, their machine has successfully accomplished a free, independent flight." In spite of scepticism on every hand, not to say actual hostility, -towards the new form of locomotion, our sister journal The. Automotor Journal continued to give full accounts of the progress of flying, and to express its faith in the future of flying. At the end of 1908 FLIGHT was founded as a separate journal, the volume of aviation matter which was considered worthy of publication having grown to such an extent as to make it impossible to do it justice in a confined section of another paper. And here we are. Twenty years and more ago we were proclaiming our faith in the future of flying. Today we are doing the same, although even now people are occasionally met who profess that they can see no future for aviation, at any rate outside military aviation. The progress that has been made during the twenty years that have lapsed since the Wrights' epoch- making episode has been enormous, but as yet we are far from the end. We have solved many of the problems, but at least as many remain unsolved, or, at any rate, partly solved. That they will be solved we have not the slightest doubt, but they will be solved by the same methods by which the Wright brothers succeeded : by careful and painstaking work, step by step. On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright made four flights, the longest of which lasted 59 seconds and covered a distance of about 870 ft. The machine used was a biplane, with a wing span of 40 ft. and an area of 500 sq. ft. The weight was 750 lbs. and the engine, which was also built by the Wright brothers, developed 12 h.p. Thus the wing loading was 1 -5 lbs./sq. ft., and the power loading 62-5 lbs./h.p. A starting rail with a dropping weight was used for getting the machine off the ground. There is thus considerable similarity to some modern light 'planes, in which rubber cord catapults are used for starting, and in which the wing loading is light and the power loading high. The maximum speed of that early Wright was probably not far in excess of 35 m.p.h. Today, with a power loading of something like 25 lbs./h.p. and a wing loading of about 3 lbs./sq. ft., we can fly at between 60 and 70 m.p.h. There is this great difference between the early Wright and the modern low-powered machine that, whereas the speed range of the Wright was extremely small, that of the modern light 'plane is very considerable, the top speed being certainly twice to two and a half times the landing speed. Also, the early machine was very nearly tangent—in other' words, had practically no power reserve—whereas nowadays a light 'plane has at least 50 per cent, of its power in reserve. We mention these facts lest some should think that as regards aerodynamic efficiency no progress can have been made since the Wrights originally succeeded in carrying as much as 62J lbs. per h.p. The strides made during the twenty years have been enormous. The speeds have gone up from 35 m.p.h. to 266 m.p.h., and the load-carrying capacity from one man (the pilot) to several tons. This progress has not been made without sacrifice, and many are those who have fallen by the way, from Lieut. Selfridge, who was the first man to be killed on a power-driven aeroplane (one of the early Wrights), to his compatriot Mr. Lawrence Sperry, whose loss must now, we fear, be assumed and mourned. It is not possible to rejoice over the enormous progress made -without being saddened by the price which has had to be paid, and in honouring in our thoughts this week that great pioneer who still survives, Mr. Wilbur Wright, and his sister and faithful helper, Miss Katherine Wright, we must not forget to hold in the highest respect those who have paid with their lives in the seeking of the conquest of the air. As a matter of fact, of course, very considerable progress has been made, although it must be frankly admitted that by far the greatest single factor in attaining modern performances has been the development of the petrol engine. IMPERIAL AIR TRANSPORT COMPANY "V;..':•:__ •~.~\^. Appointment of Government Directors ^ ^ ;; THE agreement which has been entered into between His Majesty's Government and the British, Foreign and Colonial Corporation, Ltd., for the establishment of an Imperial Air Transport Company provides for the appointment by the Government of -two directors to the Board of the projected Company, and in accordance with that provision His Majesty's Government has decided to appoint Sir Herbert Hambling and Major J. W. Hills to be the Government directors, subject to the satisfactory flotation of the Company. These gentle- men will join the Board after the allotment of shares. Sir Herbert Hambling is Deputy-Chairman of Barclays Bank, and President of the Institute of Bankers. During the War he served as Finance Member of Council at the Ministry of Munitions. In January of this year he was appointed by the Secretary of State for Air to be Chairman of the Civil Air Transport Subsidies Committee, which was set up " to consider the present working of the scheme of cross-Channel subsidies and to advise on the best method of subsidising Air Transport in future." Sir Herbert Hambling's Committee, after careful investigation of the* present system of air transport, recom- mended the establishment of one national company on the lines which have been adopted by the Government in the agreement which has been entered into with the British, Foreign'and Colonial Corporation. Major J. W. Hills was Financial Secretary to the Treasury in Mr. Bonar Law's Government. In the earlier part of the War he served with the 4th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, and later commanded the 20th Battalion of the same regiment. At a later stage he became an additional Member of Council in the Ministry of Munitions. He had been a director of the Midland Railway, and was for many years member for Durham. 760
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