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Aviation History
1924
1924 - 0413.PDF
reserve power to provide for a reasonable rate of climb at ground level even if the airscrew is designed to give maximum efficiency at the cruising speed. But if the body drag is reduced by 40 per cent., this will no longer be true ; and either the power of the engine will have to be sufficient to give a much higher maximum speed, or some other means will have to be adopted to improve the rate of climb—e.g., by a variable wing, or by sacrificing airscrew efficiency at cruising speed, or by the use of a fuel such as alcohol, which gives a higher torque than petrol for climbing purposes. It will be wise to prepare for these eventualities beforehand. The object of pointing them out now is to show that it cannot necessarily be assumed that a substantial decrease in body drag will also mean a corresponding decrease in engine power and weight." On the question of improvements in engines, the lecturer stated that developments were now approaching a stage of great importance. The multi-cylinder engine suffered under two disadvantages—(a) that, owing to imperfect distribution, some cylinders were being supplied with a richer mixture than others, and (b) that it was impossible to explode completely in the short time available a mixture containing more than a 15 per cent, excess of air. If it were possible to explode a petrol-air mixture in the presence of excess of air, an improve ment would be effected. More than that, the thermal effi ciency would increase as the torque diminished, if the reduc tion in torque was effected simply by reducing the petrol supply and keeping the air supply constant. The necessity for altitude controls to obtain the highest economy would also disappear. Col. Tizard stated that only two practical methods of securing these advantages had been suggested. One was the method of direct injection, but although experiments had yielded very interesting results, he was of the opinion that it was still very doubtful whether engines of this type would be found suitable for heavier-than-air machines. The other method was that of stratification. This method had been pursued by Mr. Ricardo with a persistence worthy of success, and Mr. Ricardo had evolved a method which appeared to be both simple and effective. Without going into details, Col. Tizard quoted certain results obtained in this manner. Thus preliminary experiments had indicated that with compression ratios of 5:1a rate of consumption of 0-45 lb. per b.h.p. hour could be obtained. There was, he thought, no reason to doubt that equally good results could be obtained with multi-cylinder engines of a size suitable for commercial aero planes. Summing up, the lecturer stated that it was in the directions of lowering body resistance and of developing engines of greater economy in fuel consumption that there appeared to be the most immediate possibilities of a marked improvement in the economy of flight. He thought we might look forward without undue optimism to commercial aircraft which had 25 per cent, less resistance at 100 m.p.h. than those at present in existence, and which were fitted with engines of 20 per cent, higher thermal efficiency at cruising speeds. The net effect would be that the range with a given amount of fuel would be nearly doubled, or that for a short range of 250 miles against a head wind of 40 m.p.h. the commercial load could be in creased by over 20 per cent, and the cost of fuel reduced by over 40 per cent. H E E H PROGRESS IN THE BIG FLIGHTS ROUND-THE-WORLD FLIGHTS ONCE again we have to report that but little progress has been made by the World-fivers during the past week. Squadron-Leader MacLaren's new Vickers "Vulture" amphibian flying boat was all ready for flying on Saturday last, but owing to unceasing torrential rains at Akyab during the week-end the British crew have been unable even to make test flights, let alone resume their journey. The Ameiican team, under the leadership of Lieut. Smith, also had their journey interrupted by a slight mishap. On Wednesday, June 18, they all arrived safely at Bangkok. They reached Rangoon on June 20, having stopped between Bangkok and Rangoon at Tavoy. During the latter part of their journey they encountered very squally weather, and two of the Douglas World Cruisers alighted on the Rangoon River at Monkey Point shortly after 5 p.m., the third machine arriving about half an hour later. They were received by the United States Consul, Col. Ross (Commander, Rangoon Brigade Area), and the Commissioner of Rangoon, who represented the Governor of Burma. The American team had hoped to resume their journey on June 22, but the night previous a cargo boat collided with one of the machines and damaged the wings. Furthermore, Lieut. Smith was indis posed, so it was necessary to postpone the departure for Cal cutta for a few days. Lisbon-Macao Flight HAVING, practically speaking, reached their journey's end, the Portuguese military airmen, Majors Brito Paia and Sarmento Beires, have unfortunately met with another mishap, and have been forced to abandon the flight from Lisbon to Macao. On June 20 they left Hanoi on their D.H.9 at 9.30, to complete the last 500 odd miles of their journey to Macao. As they approached Macao shortly after noon they encountered very bad weather, and decided it was impractic able to land at Macao. They made for Canton, but engine trouble developed, and they were compelled to make a forced landing at Sham-Chun, on the outskirts of Hong-Kong. Unfortunately, they crashed on landing, smashing the machine and receiving slight injuries, and have in consequence abandoned any further attempt to reach Macao by air, but have proceeded to this place by train. However, to all intents and purposes, they have achieved their object, for as a matter of fact they have really flown beyond Macao, and would have actually landed there but for the unfavourable conditions prevailing at the time of their arrival. Thus ends the second of the big World-Flights, in which 8,600 miles have been covered in 80 davs. E B E E The Gordon Bennett Balloon Race. FOR the third time in succession Lieut, de Muyter, the Belgian balloonist, has won the Gordon Bennett Balloon Race, and thus wins the Cup outright. Lieut, de Muyter and his companion, M. L^on Coeckelbergh, after leaving Brussels, travelled in the " Belgica " towards Reims, when a change of wind took them over Paris, thence over the Channel to Brighton. They then proceeded up across the centre of England as far as Carlisle (via Birmingham) until another change of current carried them to the North-East coast. Near the Firth of Forth dense fog was encountered, and they decided to make a landing, which was successfully accom plished in a field near St. Abb's Head, Berwick. Below we give a provisional classification of the com petitors' positions, etc. :— Competitor and Balloon. Country. Landing. De Muyter, " Belgica " . . B. St. Abb's . Laporte, " Ville de Fr. Brighton Bordeaux " Honeywell, " Uncle Sam " U.S. Rouen Valli, " Ciampino V " .. It. Fecamp Girassi, " Aerostiere III " It. Meret.. Distance. Kms. .. 750 .. 395 .. 320 .. 300 .. 290 Casas, " Hespherio " Allen, " Margaret " Armbruster, " Helvetia ' Labrousse, " Ville de Bruxelles Baldwin, " Banshee III ' Balbas, " Capt. Pen- aranda ' Bienaime, " Picardie " . Van Orman, " Goodvear III' Cormier, " Anjou IV " . La Llave, " Fernandez- Duro ' Veenstra, " Prince- Leopold ' Peek, " U.S. 14 " . Sp. . G.B ' Sw. B. ' ' ' G.B Sp. . Fr. U.S. . Fr. _ Sp. B. ' U.S. B = Belgium. Fr. = France. = Italy. Sp. = Spain. States of America. Sw. = St. Remy-l'C. Dieppe St. Martin du Bosc St. Gengollph Aubane Gamaches Brey Amsterdam . . Herly-Arlesienne Lottinghem . . Leffmghe Malmedy G.B. = Great Britain Switzerland. U.S. = .. 280 .. 270 . . 230 . . 220 . . 210 . 205 . 200 . 180 . 175 . 160 . 125 . 120 . It. United A Danish Machine for Japan. THE Rohnbach-Metal-Aeroplane Co., of Copenhagen, is building a 12-seater machine for the Japanese Government. 413
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