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Aviation History
1924
1924 - 0707.PDF
NOVEMBER 6, 1924 Those wishing to get in touch with others interested in matters relating to gliding and the construction of gliders are invited to write to the Editor of FLIGHT, who will 'be pleased to publish such communications on this page, in order to bring together those who would like to co-operate, either in forming gliding clubs or in private collaboration. FOR the first time since the holding of the Lympne light 'plane competitions, there has been an opportunity of dis cussing the results and the lessons to be learned. The paper by Major Buchanan afforded the opportunity, and it is gratifying that so many well-known aviation people managed to be present at the meeting of the Royal Aero nautical Society. Major Buchanan's paper was of more than usual interest, and perhaps the chief merit of it lay in the comparison made between the performance of the single-seaters of 1923, the two-seaters of 1924, and the commercial aeroplanes that took part in the Martlesham aerodynamic efficiency, and that the more inefficient the machine the greater the load on the engine. This point was not disputed by the lecturer, although it might have been on the score of the Cranwell biplane, which could certainly not be regarded as the most efficient machine at Lympne, but whose engine nevertheless ran for more hours, and probably much nearer its full power for extensive periods, than the engine of any other machine in the competition. While everyone will probably agree with Mr. Manning on general principles, the competitions certainly cannot be said to have proved his contention. * * * As a result of Major Buchanan's lecture and the discussion that followed it, there is now a possibility of forming some sort of impression of the general feeling of those best qualified to judge in matters relating to light 'planes. For instance, it seems fairly clear that there is a tendency to regard with A NEW GERMAN LIGHT PLANE : The BAG E.l " Bahnbedarf Darmstadt on which recently Herr Botsch flew from Darmstadt to Johannisthal (Berlin), a distance of 310 miles, in 3J hours. trials in 1920. The lecturer was somewhat criticised for taking as a basis of comparison, in dealing with structural design, the structure weight of the two-seaters, and several speakers afterwards pointed out that many of the items usually included in the structure weight were nearly as heavy as the corresponding items in large machines. * * * IN the monoplane versus biplane controversy, the lecturer having stated that the biplanes suffered from engine trouble to such an extent as to make comparisons distinctly unfair to the biplanes, Mr. W. O. Manning made the point that the question of engine failure was interconnected with that of disfavour the suggestion of increasing the engine power, at any rate to any considerable extent. The question of whether the 40 h.p. or so which is accepted as being approximately the power required for a two-seater light 'plane is to be obtained from a high-speed engine of small capacity or from a slow engine of larger capacity, still remains un settled. It is generally admitted that the 40 h.p. is sufficient if coupled with good reliability, but the question of relia bility is intimately bound up with that of the high-speed, high-class engine versus low-speed less refined engine. It seems probable that the best solution might be, as sug gested by Capt. Savers, to limit the weight of the engine and 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 This photograph gives a good idea of the engine cowling, wing at tachment, pilot's cockpit, etc., of the Darmstadt BAG E.l." The engine is a Blackburne. O O O O O O O 707
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