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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0382.PDF
that the general;public in the enclosures will be able to hear the words of command, and then see the wing or squadron carry out the evolution, should add greatly, not only to the interest, but also to a better understanding of what is taking place. There is little need for us to single out any particular event •here, but two lt&ms in which the personal skill of the pilots will be particularly important are the squadron drill in which a squadron carries out a number of evolutions, such as looping, rolling, and spinning. These should be extremely well worth watching, as should also the wing evolutions by four bombing squadrons, in which event no less than 36 aeroplanes will take part. From the advance programme which we have been privileged to see, it would appear that there is this year a welcome increase in the number of new, or relatively new, types of machines being employed, although it must be admitted that too many old- timers still figure in the various events. If the Air Ministry had been able to make up its mind as to what it really did want in the way of new types, the majority of the R.A.F. would not have been mounted on war-time reconditioned machines as seems, unfortunately, now to be still the case. However, as we have said, there is a fairly considerable number of reasonably new types taking part in the various events, and it would seem that the proportion of new types to older ones is somewhat more promising than has been the case in previous displays. So far as: can be ascertained the number of new types that will take part in the " Fly Past " is lamentably small, and we think that the Air Ministry could very well have given permission for machines to take part in this " Fly Past " which apparently have been regarded as too terribly secret and confidential to render such a course advisable. The amount of information of any value which could be gathered by people whom it is not desired should possess an intimate knowledge of our latest types would, we think, have been extremely small, and the inclusion of a few more new types would have been somewhat reassuring to those who are not quite certain that a sufficient proportion of the funds of the Air Estimates is being devoted to building new and improved types. The quality of flying to be seen at the R.A.F. Display is, as we have already said, of such a very high order that it should be quite superfluous to recommend our readers to go to Hendon on Saturday. Even putting it on the lowest possible plane, the value given for money is quite exceptional. When to this is added the fact that the profits are devoted to various Royal Air Force Charities and that thus one combines duty with pleasure in a most convenient manner by going to the R.A.F. Display, there is surely little need to do other here than again to emphasise that this famous event takes place on Saturday and that there will be flying from 1.30 p.m. onwards. Farthest ^ter wej.ry weeks of waiting for news North OI Amundsen and his colleagues, the information that came through last week that he and his party were safe was received with great satisfaction, not only in Norway, but quite as much in this country. Although the expe- dition did not attain their goal, they have added 25, 1925 another valuable chapter to the history of explora- tion, and to the Amundsen expedition must be given the credit, not only for being the first to employ aircraft in Arctic exploration, but also for having taken their machines a good deal farther north than any aircraft has ever been before. It is difficult, and indeed, almost impossible, to form any very clear idea of the conditions which obtain at 87 degs. 43 mins. N., but the brief accounts which have been published so far indicate that the con- ditions have been such as would be regarded as " impossible " under normal circumstances. When the machines alighted one of them actually had to run along a narrow winding water lane, and did not pull up until its nose actually touched the ice-blocks at the far end, so that had the lane been a few yards shorter it would appear likely that disaster would have overtaken the adventurers. Amundsen's account, without particularly stressing the point, reveals the fact that time after time when attempts were made to start, or when the machine had to be moved along a bridge laboriously prepared for it, the engines were called upon to do their work, and every time without exception they apparently res- ponded nobly. To British readers of FLIGHT there will be a peculiar satisfaction in the fact that the engines were British Rolls-Royce of the " Eagle " type, which flew across the Atlantic, and apparently even with the thermometer as low as it was, the " Eagle " never once refused to start. In view of the doubt which has not infrequently been expressed as to the functioning of water-cooled engines in such low temperatures the behaviour of them during the Amundsen expedition must be regarded as proof positive that the water-cooled is not ruled out even by severe cold. Concerning the lessons of the flight, it is difficult to speak with certainty. The rough treatment which the machines must have received whilst taxying them about on the ice must have been such that it seems doubtful whether anything but a metal hull would have survived it, and one cannot withhold a certain amount of admiration for the Dornier design and construction which enabled one machine at any rate to return safely. It seems possible that the peculiar shape of the Dornier hull, and the side floats which are in the form of wing roots, may have helped, in a considerable measure, to prevent the machines from being crushed in the ice. Whether a wooden hull of " normal " design would have stood up to the treatment is at least open to discussion. One thing, at any rate, seems to be fairly well demon- strated—that the only type of heavier-than-air craft which could have survived was the flying-boat. That the North Pole itself was not reached must necessarily have been a source of keen disappoint- ment to Amundsen and his companions, but to the aviation world this is a point of minor importance. What does matter is that it has been definitely proved that heavier-than-air craft are capable of doing excellent work under the most difficult conditions imaginable, and for having given this proof, Roald Amundsen deserves the thanks of the entire aircraft world. It is rumoured that Amundsen intends to have another try, and we are quite sure that if he does all readers of FLIGHT will join us in expressing the hope that he will be able to attain the goal which he has set himself, and for which he has worked so long and persistently 382
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