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Aviation History
1924
1924 - 0030.PDF
the Air Ministry now insists upon. It is true that in the case of machines engaged in " joy-riding " an exception has been made, and as a special con cession the pilot of such machines may " lump together " the entries on a single page " notwith standing paragraph 6 of the instructions for use." A privately-owned machine, i.e., one not carrying passengers or goods for hire or reward, is apparently excused from carrying an aircraft log book and an engine log book, but the machine must carry its journey log book, its registration certificate and its airworthiness certificate, while the pilot must, of course, carry his licence. It seems that privately- owned machines are not compelled to be examined by a competent ground engineer before each flight, but the position in this respect is still somewhat vague, and a clear statement would be extremely welcome. On the somewhat vexed question of airworthiness certificates we are very pleased to note that very material reductions have, been made in the fees charged. This applies to all sizes of machines, but perhaps the most important reduction is that in the fee for airworthiness certificates for small machines. Hitherto, it will be remembered, the lowest fee charged was £65. As we have pointed out repeatedly in these columns, this figure imposed an unnecessary hardship on those wishing to build light aeroplanes, and was out of all proportion in the case of machines whose total cost was probably in the neighbourhood of £400 to £500. The lowest fee is now £12 10s. for machines whose tare weight does not exceed 500 lbs. This figure is reasonable, and in fact might be said to err on the lenient side, when it is found that for the next larger size of machine, i.e., not exceeding 750 lbs. tare weight, the fee is £25. The jump from £12 10s. to £25 seems unnecessarily great, although in a way the difference may be assumed to encourage the smaller machine, as even the lowest figure of 500 lbs. should admit the two-seater light 'plane, while for a tare weight of 750 lbs. quite a reasonably large machine, with fairly powerful engine, could be built. At any rate it is extremely gratifying that all the fees for airworthiness certificates have been lowered, and especially are we glad to find such sweeping reductions in the case of light 'planes. It may be remembered that this subject was first brought into prominence by FLIGHT, and that we have kept hammering away at it ever since the light 'plane was first talked about. The fee for a certificate for a subsequent machine (the larger fee refers, of course, to a so-called " type aircraft," i.e., the first E IS The King's Speech WE are glad to note that in the Speech from the Throne, on January 15, His Majesty confirmed the determination to strengthen our Home Defence Air Force and stated that proposals would be submitted for the expansion of the Royal Air Force in connection with Home Defence. Duke of Sutherland Returns His GRACE THE DUKE OF SUTHERLAND, Under-Secretary of State for Air, has now returned from his visit to the United States, and in an interview with press representatives gave his impressions of American aviation. To summarise, His Grace considered that as regards naval and military aviation the two nations were about equal, although certain of their types were faster than ours, and held the world's speed records. In the matter of airships the Duke of Sutherland considered that the United States were far ahead of us. The use of helium gas was an advantage, but helium was very expensive to manufacture and transport, and he was not sure that it could be made available for commercial use. At present the gas was being transported from Texas (where of a new type) is five guineas, as is also the renewal fee, apparently irrespective of size of machine. We do think that if such very great reduction in the original fee for a light 'plane was possible it might have been equally possible to reduce the renewal fee for machines of this type somewhat, say to one guinea. It should be remembered that while the original certificate will be obtained and paid for by the - aircraft constructor, the renewal fee will have to be paid for by the purchaser of the machine, and it seems rather inequitable that as much should be paid for the renewal of an airworthiness certificate for a light 'plane as for the largest multi-engined machine in existence. We trust the Air Ministry will be able to announce shortly a revision in the renewal fees for small machines. Commencing with this issue, we are Materials publishing two very important papers Constructionrea<^ before the Royal Aeronautical Society, dealing with the materials used in aircraft construction. The first paper, by Mr. J. D. North, is published this week, and we hope to publish the second, by Dr. Aitchison, next week. The position as regards obtaining really first-class timber is becoming extremely difficult, and as Mr. North points out in his paper, there are no prospects of improvement. Timber cannot be produced by a wave of the wand, and to wait 20 or 30 years for another " crop " of silver spruce to be grown is, of course, out of the question. Add to this the fact that those who have had most experience—and Mr. North and the firm, Boulton and Paul, Ltd., whose chief engineer he is, occupy a prominent position in British all-metal construction—are most emphatic in their statement that a considerable weight reduction is possible by adopting metal construction, and it will be seen that everything seems to point towards metal construction as inevitable. This is, we believe, fairly generally admitted in the aircraft industry, and many firms, we might even say most firms, are now either wholly going over to metal construction or are gradually substituting metal components for the wood components hitherto used. That being the case, it is essential that a general knowledge of the characteristics and use of various metals should be obtained, and the two papers to which we have referred should help very materially in this respect. For that reason we make no apology for publishing both in full, although the pressure on our space necessitates holding over other matter in order to do so. EI M the gas is found in considerable quantities) to New Jersey (where the airship sheds are based) in metal cylinders. On the subject of commercial aviation the Duke of Suther land considered that we were far ahead of America, where at present there was no federal legislation governing the licensing of machines and pilots. His Grace was, however, impressed by the American Air Mail, and referred to the chain of beacons being established at 25 miles' interval across the Continent so as to extend the utility of the air mail by making night flying possible. Speaking about the American airship Shenandoah, the Duke of Sutherland stated that it was the intention of the American Government to carry out a Polar expedition by airship. Two steamships equipped with mooring masts and supplies of helium and petrol would be sent to Alaska and to Spitzbergen. The Shenandoah would fly first to Alaska, and from there would commence its flight across the Polar regions to Spitzbergen. If this flight was successful the air ship would probably fly to Pulham, Norfolk, in order to give British people an opportunity of viewing it.
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