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Aviation History
1924
1924 - 0007.PDF
JANUARY 3, 1924 Those wishing to get in touch with others interested in matters relating to gliding and the construction of gliders are invited to write to the Editor of FLIGHT, who will be pleased to publish such communications on this page, in order to bring together those who would like to co-operate, either in forming gliding clubs or in private collaboration. WE are pleased to note the formation of a new club, the Lancashire Aero Club, which will have its headquarters in Manchester, and will, it is hoped, eventually become affiliated with the Royal Aero Club. Some of the members of the club have built a glider, and the construction of a light aeroplane is, we understand, to be commenced shortly. While the chief object of the Lancashire Aero Club is the building and flying of light aeroplanes and gliders, it is hoped to attract members interested in all branches of aviation. Will FLIGHT readers when he wanted to make the return journey a blinding snow storm made flying quite impossible, and consequently the machine was snipped back. At any other time of the year there is no doubt the splendid little machine would have returned under her own power ; nor is it any shame for the " plucky little ship " to have been baulked by weather which kept machines with twenty times the power in their sheds. Next spring and summer we hope to have many more note worthy flights of this nature to record. SOME weeks ago we briefly recorded in these columns the preliminary flights of a monoplane glider, designed and built by Mr. H. J. Nordman of Flushing, Long Island, U.S.A. Mr. Nordman has now very kindly sent us some photographs of his machine, some of which are reproduced herewith. The THE NORDMAN MONOPLANE GLIDER : This view shows the machine just before making a flight at the Belleclaire County Club at Bayside, L.I. The pilot is Mr. Arthur Heinrich. in Manchester and district who are interested communicate with the Secretary, Mr. C. J. Wood, c/o Messrs. A. V. Roe and Co., Ltd., Newton Heath, Manchester ? * * * WITH reference to the Self ridge Prize of ^1,000, offered for a. gliding flight of 50 miles during 1923, and which has not been won, it has been suggested that this prize be transferred to the light 'plane field. Several correspondents have written in asking that the prize be retained for gliders, and there is certainly a good deal to be said for the arguments advanced. If Mr. Gordon Selfridge can be induced to let his offer stand for another year—i.e., extend it to the end of 1924—there is some encouragement to carry on with gliding experiments. Otherwise gliders and gliding will be things of the past, and certainly he would be a bold man who would venture to assert that nothing more can be learned from motor-less flight. The whole problem is one that is best taken up with Mr. Selfridge by the Royal Aero Club. * * * MR. ALAN J. COBHAM did not succeed in bringing back his D.H.53 light monoplane from Brussels by air. On the day machine, it will be seen, is of the semi-cantilever type, braced on each side by two struts from the lower longerons. The fuselage is of rectangular section, built up of four spruce longerons and braced by diagonal spruce struts. THE wing, and especially its mounting, is somewhat unusual. In plan view the wing is approximately rectangular, but the thickness tapers considerably from root to tip. The section used is, we understand, one developed by Mr. Nordman, and combines one of the U.S.A. sections with the Sloane curve. The wing is slightly raised above the top longerons, and is supported on four box-section struts bolted to the outside of the fuselage. The centre section of the wing is not covered, and the pilot's head and shoulders project above the wing. It might be expected that this arrangement would interfere somewhat with the aerodynamic efficiency of the machine, but we learn that as a matter of fact the gliding angle is quite good, while the wing arrangement makes for easy erecting and dismantling. As already mentioned, the wing is braced by struts on each side. The wing span is 40 ft. and the chord 54 ins. Two views of the Nordman glider in flight.
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