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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0467.PDF
JULY 23, 1925 TO-MORROW, Friday, is the closing' date for entries for theRoyal Aero Club August Race Meeting, which is to take place at Lympne on August 1, 2 and 3. Although, naturally,nothing very definite can be said as regards the number of entries until the list is closed, it begins to look as if the Lympnemeeting will be quite an interesting one. Although the meet- ing is not confined entirely to light 'planes, there being aninternational handicap open to all aeroplanes irrespective of engine size, the majority of the races will, of course, be formachines of fairly low power, even if some might not regard machines with an engine weight of 275 lbs. as being light'planes in the strict sense of the word. There is a chance that several foreign flying machines will be taking part in themeeting, which fact should, of course, add very materially to the interest, since it has now come to be something of anovelty to see a foreign aeroplane competing sin a British aviation event. * * * BRIEF details of the various races were published in theOfficial Notices of the Royal Aero Club in last week's issue of FLIGHT, and there is thus little need to go into detail con-cerning them here. The prizes are not startling when com- pared with such competitions as the German Rundflug,but in view of the great number of events and the fact that a number of machines built for last year's Lympne competitionare still in existence, the prizes that can be won at Lympne are by no means to be despised and some very interestingracing should be witnessed. The course over which the races are to be flown is the same as that used in last year'scompetitions, so that, provided the weather is reasonably clear, the machines should be in sight practically throughout.This course, it may be remembered, is a triangular one measuring, approximately, 12^ miles. * * * NOT the least interesting event should be that known as" Certified Performances for Light 'Planes," in which certi- ficates of performance will be granted by the Royal AeroClub, the performances being divided into four classes : Class I being for height attained in 30 minutes. Class II forgreatest speed over three kilometres, Class III for greatest speed over 50 kilometres, and Class IV for greatest altitudeattained, no time limit being imposed. These certified performances are open to light 'planes of both single and two-seater type, the only stipulation being that the engine weight must not exceed 170 lbs. * * * ANOTHER very interesting event, and one which will, wethink, become very popular in years to come, is to be an inter-club race open to D.H. " Moths." As all the machinesin this race will be of one type and all with the same type of engine, the race is naturally a scratch race, and the aim ofcompetitors will, of course, be to tune up their engines to maximum pitch, while cornering and course keeping by thepilot will also play an important part. For pure sport there is little doubt'that such a race is vastly more entertainingthan any handicap in which a variety of types and powers take part. * * * IN connection with the August meeting, it is of interest tonote that the Cranwell Light 'Plane Club is completing a new machine, which it is hoped to have finished in time to takepart in the Lympne races. This machine is a parasol monoplane with"Bristol " Cherub " engine and we understandthat if the machine comes up to expectations a top speed of somewhere in the neighbourhood of 100 m.p.h. should beattained. Those who remember the little biplane entered by Cranwell at last year's competitions will, we feel sure, joinus in wishing the "Cranwell Club every success with their new monoplane, about which we hope to have something more to sav next week. * * * " THE ELEVATOR " is the title of the official bulletin of theLancashire Aero Club, which is to appear monthly, and of which we have recently received the first number. The objectof " The Elevator," which, by the way, is edited by Rex Williams, is to keep members of the Club in close touch and tolet them know exactly what is going on. In addition to matters of more serious interest there is a page headed '' Things it wouldPain Us to Know," in which the very pertinent question is being asked : How long (or short !) it will take to crash a"Moth," and who will be the culprit (or victim). "The Elevator " also wants to know how many copies of " Adviceto young Moth-ers " have been sold since the Lancashire GLIDER NOTES " Moths " were ordered, a horrible pun which will, we areafraid, cause the flying members of the present Light 'Plane Clubs to be known as " Moth-ers." It is to be hoped thatnon-flying members will not be styled " Grubs." * f— * THE eliminating tests for machines taking part in theVauville Light 'Plane and Glider meeting commence tomorrow, Friday, July 24, and take the form of fuel consumption tests.In addition to the 100,000 francs already offered in prizes, a prize of 1,000 francs is now offered by M. Gigaut for consump-tion tests and 10,000 francs by the " Petit Parisien " for the greatest distance covered in one hour's flight. The actualcompetitions commence on Sunday next, July 26. As recorded in these notes last week, no less than 34 machineshave been entered, half of which are light 'planes and the other half gliders. Several countries will be represented, but,unfortunately, the Lympne meeting has prevented the entry of any British light 'planes. * * * IN addition to his 1,000-franc prize, M. Gigaut has placedat the disposal of the French Aerial Association two Anzani engines of 25 h.p. Both are quite new, i.e., have neverbeen used, and are of the " Tour de France " type, of two litres capacity. These engines will be lent by the FrenchAerial Association to serious experimenters, who are without the means necessary to carry out actual flying tests, and willbe lent to each such experimenter for a period which is judged sufficient to enable thorough tests to be carried out. Thisexample might with advantage be followed in this country, where, although amateur construction is not over-plentiful,there must nevertheless be several who would and could construct light 'planes if they could be assured of beingable to borrow an engine to put into them. * * * THE Dutch Marine has, we understand, ordered a batch ofthe Pander light monoplanes with 25 h.p. Anzani engines, the first of which were delivered on July 15. After successfullypassing their acceptance tests, with full load and fuel for six hours' flying, the machines flew to their future base atDen Helder. * * * MR. EDMUND T. ALLEN, who, it will be remembered, tookpart in one of the early Rhon glider meetings, and who has since become Contributing Editor to " Aviation," has joinedthe American Air Mail service and will be flying on the Cheyenne-Salt Lake City section. He is still, however,retaining his position as Editor in charge of the Light 'Plane department of " Aviation," and still hopes to keep in closetouch with the light 'plane movement, both in the United States and in Europe. Incidentally, Mr. Allen informs usthat there will be two light 'plane events in the races to be held at Long Island on October 1, prizes to the value of4,000 dollars being offered. The limitation is one of engine size, the maximum capacity being 80 cub. in. The eventsare, we understand, to be international ones. * * * No less than 26 aeroplanes were admitted to the com-petition for the Lilienthal prize, which is now nearing its conclusion at Adlershof, near Berlin. In addition to these,six more machines are going through the tests hors de concours. Machines had to qualify for this competition by their per-formances in the Rundflug, and one stipulation was that machines of Class A must obtain at least 40 per cent, in theRundflug ; those of Class B at least 55 per cent. ; and those of Class C at least 70 per cent. The competition is flownto various formulae, which are rather more complicated than those of the Rundflug even. * * * A NEW book on light 'planes has just been published byR. Oldenbourg (Munchen and Berlin), the author being Dr. Ing. G. Lachmann, and the title being " Leichtflugzeug-bau " (Light 'Plane Construction). Dr. Lachmann, it will be remembered, produced the slotted wing in Germany atapproximately the same time as did Mr. Handley Page in England, and has since then co-operated with the HandleyPage firm in the matter of developing slotted wings. The book in question contains 107 illustrations, a large proportionbeing reproductions of scale drawings of British light 'planes from FLIGHT. The theoretical side of light 'plane design isgone into very fully, and Dr. Lachmann's book is well worthy of close study, even by those who are fairly familiarwith the subject. 467
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