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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0372.PDF
.follows : 1, No. 662, the Caspar C.T.I, 80-5 h.p. Mercedes, piloted by Ritter (1st prize, 25,000 marks). This machine was originally placed in Class B, but under test the engine developed 80-5 h.p., and so put the machine into Class C ; 2, No. 653, the Junkers K. 16, 81 h.p. Siemens, piloted by Wenke (2nd prize, 15,000 marks). (This machine was also moved up from Class B), and 3, No. 666, Junkers T.29, 82 h.p. Junkers L.l.B. piloted by Schnabele (3rd prize, 10,000 marks) ; 4, No. 665, The Junkers T.26, 83-5 Junkers, piloted by Funke (approximately 79 hours) ; 5, No. 655, The Dietrich DP. 11A, 83-5 h.p. Siemens, piloted by Dietrich himself (approximately 98 hours) ; 6, No. 661, the Udet U.12 " Flamingo," 84 h.p. Siemens, piloted by Kern ; 7, No. 644, the Dietrich D.P. IIA, 87-6 h.p. Siemens, piloted by Carganico ; 8, No. 680, the Heinkel H.D.21, 106-5 h.p. Mercedes, piloted by Basser ; 9, No. 670, the Udet U.8, 109 h.p. Bristol " Lucifer," piloted by Polte ; 10, No. 691, the Heinkel H.D.21, 109 h.p. Mercedes, piloted by Junck : 11, No. 685, the Heinkel H.D.21, llOSh.p, Mercedes, piloted by Zander ; 12, No. 678, the Heinkel H.D.32 100 h.p. Bristol, piloted by Lorenz ; and 13, No. 690, the Albatros L.30, 100 h.p. Mercedes piloted by Krupp. REFERENCE was made last week to the slight mishap which befell Alan J. Cobham, in a forced landing, while en route to Berlin, with Colonel Edwards of the Air Ministry as passenger in the De Havilland " Moth." It may be remem- bered that the machine was slightly damaged, at any rate JUNE 18, 1925 In the competition for the Richthofen prize (for machines using German engines), Mercedes has won 1st prize and Junkers 2nd and 3rd prizes. Although not among the prize-winning three in any classs, the few British engines which were used have accredited them- selves very well indeed, and it is at any rate satisfactory to know that the Bristol " Lucifers " in the Udet U.VIII., piloted by Polte, and in the Heinkel H.D.32, piloted by Lorenz, covered the total distance of well over 3,000 miles. The Albatros L.69 monoplane was not completed in time to be thoroughly tuned up before the race, and so the Bristol " Lucifer," with which it was fitted, did not get quite a fair opportunity of showing what it could do. Otherwise, this machine should have figured well in the list, as it must certainly have been far and away the fastest machine in the whole competition. Among the smaller British engines which had been entered, only one actually competed, owing to the non-starting of many of the light 'planes. The single speci- men was the Blackburne " Tomtit," fitted in the Darmstadt " Mohamed," which must really be said to have done ex- tremely well considering its low horse-power. by a steep dive, with the result that he had to land in the first available place. Like most fields in Holland, this one was surrounded by high dykes, but even so there would have been sufficient space for the machine to pull up in time had it not been for the fact that the wheels slipped THE DE HAVILLAND " MOTH " : It was on a similar machine that Mr. Cobham recently had a forced landing in Holland due to an air-lock in the petrol system. The " Cirrus " engine itself was perfect. sufficiently to preclude the possibility of effecting repairs on the spot, and consequently Col. Edwards had to proceed to Berlin by train, while Cobham brought the machine back by boat the next day. * * * • • WHENEVER a machine makes a forced landing one is apt to take it for granted that the cause is engine trouble, and, doubtless, there must have been many who jumped to that conclusion when reading of Cobham's mishap in Holland. To prevent any erroneous impressions getting about, it, therefore, seems well to place on record the actual facts, which, it will be found, do not reflect adversely on either engine or machine. What actually happened was that Cobham was flying fairly low, at about 500 ft. or less, when he ran out of petrol. Now in the " Moth " the petrol tank is divided into two compartments in such a way that, when the main tank runs dry, an auxiliary tank still contains sufficient fuel for a flight of a good many miles—sufficient, at any rate, to reach a suitable landing ground in most cases. On this occasion Cobham switched over to the reserve tank, but the carburettor had run quite dry and thus the supply, pipe had been entirely emptied of petrol. As the petrol ran to the carburettor from the service tank an air lock was formed, and, owing to the low altitude at which he was flying, Cobham had no time to get the engine started again into a small ditch, only about a foot deep, which the pilot had not noticed. The undercarriage was demolished, although very little other damage was done. * * * IT will be seen that the cause of the mishap was very trifling, and one which, on most occasions, would not have led to a forced landing at all. We understand that to guard against the remote possibility of a similar mishap occurring again, the petrol supply pipe will be of larger diameter in all future installations so that the possibility of an air lock should be entirely removed. As it was, the rather slight mishap prevented the " Moth " from being demonstrated in Berlin, which is a very great pity, since we have not the slightest doubt that in the hands of Mr. Cobham the machine would have greatly impressed visitors to the Tempelhofer aerodrome. * * * ENTRIES, at single fee, for the forthcoming meeting at Vauville have now closed, but entries may still be made at double fee up till June 29. The double entrance fee is 200 francs, and this will be refunded to competitors who have their machines at the Vauville aerodrome before noon of July 26. Intending competitors should write to " 1'Association Francaise Aerienne;-40, Quai des-Celestins, Paris (4e)." ;372
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