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Aviation History
1924
1924 - 0523.PDF
AUGUST 21, 1924 THE FARM AN F. 62 The Combination which Brought the World's Duration Record Back to France ON July 17, 1924, the French pilots Coupet and Drouhin succeeded in establishing a new world's record for duration by remaining in the air, without refuelling, for 37 hrs. 59 mins. 10 sees. By this performance they thus beat not only previous duration flights without landing, but also, and what is more important still, the American record flight in which the machine used was refuelled from another a number of times. This is a performance of which the Farman firm may well be proud. What adds further to the merits of the flight, as far as the when they again touched the ground at the Chartres aerodrome. It had been intended to attempt to establish a distance record as well as a duration record, and for the first 20 hrs. or so they flew over the route Chartres-Etampes, situated 100 kni. (62 miles) apart. The petrol supply carried should have been sufficient for a 42-hours' flight, and but for the bad weather which set in there is little doubt that the Farman would have remained up for considerably more than the 38 hrs. actually attained. THE FARMAN F. 62 : 'Fitted with a 450 h.p. Farman engine, this machine has established a new World's Record (Duration) of 38 hours. The machine is similar to the " Goliath " except for the single engine. Farman'firm is concerned, is the fact that the engine as well as the machine was of Farman design and construction. This is probably the first time, at any rate since the very early daysjof flying, that a French aircraft firm has established a world's record with one of its own engines. Before commencing a brief description of the machine and engine, both of which are illustrated herewith, it may be of interest to give an outline Jof the flight itself. Leaving the ground (at Chartres) at 5.02 a.m. on July 16, with 4,200 litres (924 gallons) of petrol on board, the aviators continued to circle until 7 hrs. 1 min. 10 sees, on the evening of July 17, Over the Chartres-Etampes course, Drouhin and Coupet covered 1,500 km. (938 miles) in 14 hrs. 43 mins., corre sponding to a mean speed of about 63.8 m.p.h. It was not until they had covered a little more than 2,000 km. (1,250 miles) that a gale sprang up, and in the darkness the two gallant aviators were unable to keep sufficiently closs to their course for the official observers on the ground to keep time of their laps. It was then decided to abandon the idea of establishing an officially-observed distance record, and to confine attention to the beating of the previous duration records. As dawn was breaking they succeeded in getting O O o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o The Farman aero engine, type 12 WD, which was fitted in the F.62 that established a new •world's record for dura tion. The engine is of the " Broad Arrow" type, with 12 cylinders in three' banks of i four each. O O O O O O O 523
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