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Aviation History
1924
1924 - 0260.PDF
the production of machines of original design. Large sums of money have been spent on the Kbely aero drome at Prague, and altogether the Czechs have given ample proof of their determination to take full advan tage of the opportunities which the latest form of locomotion has to offer. This will be the third International Aero Exhibition to be held at Prague, and from what can be gathered it will far exceed in importance the two previous ones. Not only will the participation by Great Britain add to the interest, but many more foreign firms will be exhibiting. It is expected that between 40 and 50 distinct types of aeroplanes will be shown, repre senting Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, and Czechoslovakia. France will be very well repre sented, and it should be remembered that already our Ally has done much to introduce French aircraft to the youngest republic, and has obtained concessions of an important nature. Consequentlv, in the friendly rivalry between ourselves and our gallant Allies, it is of importance that Great Britain should be also worthily represented. Numerically, the British sec tion will not, it is to be feared, equal that of France, but the list of firms published elsewhere in this issue indicates that as regards qualitv the British section will hold its own. It seems regrettable that not a single commercial British aeroplane is to be exhibited, but it is to be hoped that more than one type of modern civil machine will be flown to Prague during the exhibition and demonstrated over the Kbely aero drome. Incidental^, there might, on the surface, seem to be a good deal of humour in the idea of exhibiting a British Fleet Spotter in Czechoslovakia. Actually, of course, there is nothing at all out of the way in the idea, as the exhibition will undoubtedly attract visitors from many important nations other than Czechoslovakia. The British engine section will be well represented, and this is all to the good. Whatever the state of a small nation's aircraft industry, the home production of aero engines is usually a much more serious matter than the building of aircraft, and thus there is always an opportunity for selling engines even in countries where no foreign aircraft are purchased. British aero engines have a world-wide reputation, and it is therefore gratifying to learn that this side of the British aircraft industry is to be so well represented. Altogether, the Prague Aero Show should prove a very useful one, even if it does not quite equal in size the Gothenburg Show of last year. _ Lieut. Pelletier d'Oisy continues his " Pivolo '' meteoric flight across India. Setting out from Paris on April 24, he reached Calcutta on May 5, having covered the distance of approximately 6,270 miles in 12 days. Thus his average speed works out at about 21-75 m.p.h. Actually, of course, his speed is very much higher. Counting flying time only, it is above 100 m.p.h., which is extremely good, considering the very long non-stop flights made on nearly all the stages. The determination and physical endurance necessary for such a performance can, perhaps, scarcelv be fully <3> <$> Entries for British Helicopter Prize. IT begins to appear as if, after all, a good deal of fun may be derived from the prize of £50,000 offered by the Air Ministry for a helicopter to fulfil a certain series of performances. The entries list is now closed, and it is understood, although the official list has not yet been issued, that some 15 or 16 entries have been received. It appears likely that most if not all of these, are from abroad, as hitherto few British experimenters, MAY 8, 1924 appreciated except by those with personal experience of long-distance flights, even under favourable circumstances. Severe as the strain is on the engine, it is even more so on the crew, and " Pivolo," as he is affectionately nicknamed, may well be considered already to rank among such giants of long-distance flying as Sir Ross Smith and Sir John Alcock. France as a nation, no less than the pilot and his engineer, the Breguet firm, and the Lorraine-Dietrich Company, may well be proud of the achievement. That a certain amount of luck has entered into the perform ance may be admitted. Nevertheless Lieut. d'Oisy is not a man to trust too much to luck, as previous long-distance flights of his have demonstrated, and the excuse of luck should most certainly not be used to belittle in any way an achievement which, from whatever angle it is regarded, must forever rank among the greatest flights in history. " Pivolo " is now roughly half-way to his goal. Let us hope the second half will be as devoid of accident as has been the first half. In the meantime the British world-fliers are still awaiting a new engine at Parlu. It is a most extra ordinary piece of bad luck that the engine should twice have failed owing to much the same trouble, especially as, to the best of our knowledge, no such failure has ever been known to occur. Napier " Lion " engines have been used extensively on the air liners, and it might have been expected that if there were a weak spot in the reduction gear design it would have come to light during the hundreds of thousands of miles flown by machines fitted with these engines. The theory has been advanced that possibly the engine mounting may have been at fault, and that resonance may be at the back of the problem. There is on record the case of an aeroplane of a certain type in which one particular wire in the wing bracing con tinued to break. The wire was replaced by a heavier one, but this also broke. An " outsize " wire was then fitted, but this also failed. The question of resonance was then gone into, and the apparent mystery seemed likely to be solved. A small structural change was made, and it was found that the original size of wire was then equal to the work. In ordinary aircraft design cases like this do not normally arise : consequently, when they do, some surprise is usually felt. It is for this reason that we venture to suggest as at any rate a possibility that resonance may be the cause of the two mishaps, and that some quite minute change in the engine mounting might effect a cure. At any rate the experiment seems worth trying, and quite possibly the addition of a pair of struts may prove to be the only alteration necessary. Such a change could probably be made on the spot without great difficulty, and might be the means of enabling the British crew to complete their difficulty journey without further troubles of this sort. We hope we shall not be thought pre sumptuous in making this suggestion. As far as we are concerned, it is certainly made in all humility, and we are actuated solely by a desire to see the British fliers put up a performance that will be of outstanding credit to British aviation. apart from Mr. Brennan, whose machine, it has been stated, will not be permitted to compete, have given any serious atten tion to the problem of the helicopter. Our own attitude towards the helicopter is already well known ; but from the way in which the rules have been framed it seems that if a helicopter does succeed in fulfilling the requirements it will be a machine worth having, while if none passes the tests the country will have lost nothing.
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