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Aviation History
1924
1924 - 0484.PDF
a good deal more than it ought to have been. By this we do not in any way intend to infer that the " Vulture" was overloaded in the sense that its airworthiness and general strength were impaired, but merely that, had the machine been less heavily loaded, it might have been possible to spare the engine more, with consequent gain in performance. As it was, it is to be feared that the tax on it was more than was prudent, and this fact must of necessity have contributed to the ultimate fate of the expedition. That it was by no means the sole cause will already have become evident to all who have followed from week to week the progress of the British fliers, and the way in which atrocious weather was met with on almost every stage of their journey. The two things combined seem to have conspired against success, and there were many who were of the opinion that when the first machine was wrecked at Akyab the attempt should have been abandoned. For a time, it certainly looked as if this would have to be, but the very sporting and generous action of the American authorities in sending a spare machine from Japan to Akyab, on board an American naval vessel, enabled the British flight to be continued, and this action by our American friends must for ever remain one of the finest examples of true sporting spirit which the history of flying has to show. In a letter to The Times of August 5, Lieut.-Col. Broome pays a warm tribute to "our great-hearted fellow- aviators—not our rivals or opponents—but our very gallant friends," for this very practical expression of sympathy and help, and we, like Col. Broome, can but repeat and endorse MacLaren's message " Well done." After getting their spare machine ready and leaving Akyab, the British world-fliers made excellent progress, and once more hopes began to be entertained that success might yet attend their efforts. After leaving Japan, however, the fates began to pile up odds against them, weather conditions became very un favourable, illness among the crew caused delays, and finally this week came the announcement that the machine had been so badly damaged that the attempt would have to be abandoned. In the meantime, it seems to be a case of " The King is dead, long live the King," for although the British fliers have now retired from the friendly contest, and two of the four American machines which originally left California are out of the running, others are taking up the task, and unless extreme ill luck is met by all, at least one attempt out of the many seems bound to succeed. The two remaining American machines are still waiting at Iceland for favourable conditions, and all will wish them well forward on the difficult and dangerous stages yet remaining. They are now flying, or about to fly over the districts where aircraft has not hitherto been used, and whether success or failure awaits their efforts, their experience cannot but be of very considerable value to aviation in general. The Argentinian attempt, by Major Zanni, appears to have started extremely well, and since leaving Amsterdam a little over a week ago, Major Zanni has made excellent progress on his Napier-engined Fokker biplane. How he will fare when he enters the difficult zones in India and China yet remains to be seen, but the first stage promises well. The Italian attempt, by Lieut. Locatelli on a Dornier " Waal " twin-engined flying-boat, with two Rolls-Royce " Eagle " engines, has barely more than commenced, but so far progress has been good, the machine on its first " hop " having arrived at Hull, or rather at Brough, the Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Co.'s seaplane base. This machine, incident ally, is one of the two which Amundson had intended to use on his Polar expedition, which was postponed owing, it is understood,, to lack of funds. The flying boat is an all-metal one, and it will be interesting to see how it fares compared with the all-wood and composite constructions used by other world-fliers. • • • K. , c There is not a great deal to be said Race about, and almost nothing to be said for, this year's race for the Challenge Cup presented by His Majesty the King. Originally, it will be remembered, it had been hoped that the Air Council would be willing to let manufacturers who had suitable Service machines ready in time enter these in the King's Cup race. Doubtlessly individual constructors would have been willing to pay for the insurance of such machines, and in that case the worst that could have happened would have been a certain amount of delay in delivery to the Air Ministry. Knowing how long new types are left lying about after delivery without anything being done to or with them, we had hoped that the Air Ministry would have been glad to have agreed to some such arrangement. In that case the race which is to take place on Tuesday of next week could, and would, have been one of surpassing interest. New types would have been seen by thousands of taxpayers gathered on holiday bent at the various seaside towns, and general interest would have been aroused in a type of machine which seems likely to be of the very greatest import ance to the future of the British Empire, i.e., the seaplane or amphibian. The Air Council, however, could not see its way to giving permission for Service machines to be used, and the consequence has been that the whole nature of the race had to be altered. It would be futile to pretend that under the circum stances the interest in the race has been retained. To begin with, the types entered are almost without exception several years old, and have been seen over and over again in various competitions. That, however, might not have been a very serious drawback, but the way in which this year the race for His Majesty's Cup has been arranged is hardly calculated to sustain interest and enable the lay man, or the expert, for the matter of that, to follow the race. The machines start at the same instant in the morning, some from Martlesham and others from Felixstowe, and proceed along any route they please around three turning points, finally to finish up at Lee-on-Solent. It will thus be impossible for anyone to know who is leading, and even at the finish the result will not be known until the handicap has been worked out. Thus the first man home will not necessarily be the winner ; in fact, he will almost certainly not be. Under these circumstances it is unlikely that anyone will take keen interest in the race which should be one of the classic British events of the year. That as many machines have been entered as is the case is due solely to the sporting spirit of a few individual firms, and is certainly not prompted by any publicity which may accrue, which under the arrangements chosen will be almost negligible. As we suggested in our opening remarks, there is little enough to be said about the race, and nothing at all to be said for it as planned for Tuesday next.
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