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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0813.PDF
DECEMBER 10, 1925 IN PARLIAMENT SIR F. SYKES, on November 24, asked th prop:peti the responsibility for "infringement of pateiif rights Foreign Aircraft and British Engines .. •S',R F- SYKES asked what long-distance demonstration flights have beencarried out since the war by foreign-owned aircraft employing engines of %?n:£ ''ft femplotr<mSPOTt Sm'ices und" ginesf owner-p%p?ri£h enginefSir S. Hoare : As regards the first part of the question, the following lone- distance demonstration and analogous flights have been carried out bvtoreign-owned aircraft employing engines of British origin namely • Country.Holland RussiaSweden NorwaySpain Italy Portugal Belgium France.. Argentina Flight. Amsterdam-Batavia (about 9,500 miles)Moscow-Pekin-Shanghai (about 5,000 miles) Malmo-De Mok-Felixstowe and back (about 1,500 miles) ..Spitzbergen-8l deg. N. and back (about 1 400 miles) Marina di Pisa (Italy) to Mar Chica (Morocco) (about 1,000 miles).Attempted Round the World Flight. (Abandoned after approxi- mately 3,545 miles had been covered.)Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro (4,352 miles). (Machine was damaged beyond repair when alighting at St. Paul's Rock, after com-pleting 2,352 miles, the flight being resumed with other machines.)Brussels to Kinshasa (Congo) (about 5,000 miles) Toulon to Casablanca (about 1,500 miles) .. Lieut.Commander Kenworthy: Is not this the engine which won the Schnei-der Cup the other day ? Sir S. Hoare : I could not answer that question without notice. Major-General Sir Frederick Sykes asked the value of American-builtengines and spare parts on order for the Air Ministry and the estimated value of further purchases which will have to be made abroad for maintenance orreplacement Sir S. Hoare : As regards the first part of the question, one order involvingthe purchase of American-built engines,has been placed,but it would be contrary to the general Government practice to state the contract price. As regardsthe second part of the question, it is not possible to give an exact estimate of the value of the spare parts and replacements which will be necessary, butI would add that the present order is limited to the purchase of 3(1 engines for purely experimental purposes, and the expenditure in connection with themaintenance or replacement of parts for these should not be large. Parachutes LIEVT.-COLONEL SIR FREDERICK HALL asked the Secretary of State for Airwhether, with regard to the contract covering several years which had been entered into for the supply of American parachutes for the Royal Air Force, Engine... Rolls Royce Eagle IX Siddeley PumaEagle IX Eagle IX Eagle Eagle Eagle Date... October and November, 1924. . . luue-July-August, 1925.. . June, 1925. . . May and June, 1925... August and September, 1924. . . July and August, 1924. . . March-June, 1922. Amsterdam to Tokio (about 10,000 miles) As regards the second part of the question, the following regular air trans-it services under foreign ownership employ British engines : port service r Country. Company.Belgium .. Societe Anonyme Beige d' Exploita- tion de la Navigation AeriemieColumbia .. Sociedad Colombo • Alemana de Transportes AerosCzecho-SIovakia State Air Line Denmark .. Dansk LuftfartselskabGermany _ . Aero Lloyd Holland .. Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maat-schappij Hungary .. Magyar LegiforgalmiPoland .. Polski Aerolot Soviet Russia.. DeruluftDobroliot UkrvozdukhputSpain .. .. Compania Espanolo de Trafico Aereo Sweden .. Nordiska FlygrederictRoumania . . State Air Line gin Engine. Rolls Royce Eagle IXand Siddeley Puma. Eagle VIII.Puma. Puma and Eagle VIII.Puma and Eagle VIII. Puma and Bristol Ju-piter. Eagle VIII.Eagle VIII. Eagle VIII.Puma. Rolls Royce Falcon.Puma. Eagle VIII. Puma. Curtiss EnginesCOL. WOODCOCK, on November 25, asked the Secretary of State for Air whether the 30 Curtiss engines for aeroplanes recently purchased will besubjected to the inspection of the British Aeronautical Department ; do these engines comply with the recommendation of the Aeronautical FirePrevention Committee with regard to the position of the carburettor ; and whether an engine of this type has been subjected to a type test at Faru-borough, and what was the result ? Sir S. Hoare : In answer to the first part of the question, the materialsand manufacture of the engines referred to are being inspected during production by the Inspection Department of the United States Government.The engines will further be subjected by the Air Ministry to the same bench tests and internal examination as those applied to all British engines. Asregards the second part of the question. I am not aware of any specific recommendation of the Fire Prevention Sub-Committee in regard to theposition of the carburettors, but their general recommendations make it desirable that carburettors should be disposed, where practicable, in a differentmanner to that adopted in the Cuitiss engine. I wish to remind my hon. and gallant friend that a recommendation from the. Fire Prevention Sub-Committee is only one of numerous considerations which the Air Ministry must bear in mind in determining Service requirements, and it may be addedthat the position of the carburettors, in the Curtiss engine, is similar to that of the carburettors in over 2,000 engines in regular use in the Royal AirForce at the present time. As regards the last part of the question, an engine of the type in question has been tested at the Royal Aircraft Estab-lishment Farnborough, and failed in a duration test after completing 78 hours' instead of the full 100 hours laid down for the test As a resultof this test certain modifications have been incorporated in the 30 engines nOCor"vVoodcock asked the amount expended on the 30 Curtiss engines for aeroplanes which were purchased through a British firm but manufacturedin America; and was he aware at the time of placing the order that the British firm who were to supply the engines were obtaining them from AlSirnsa Hoare : It would be contrary to the general Government practice to give the information asked for in the first part of thequestion. The answer to the second part is in the affirmative Capt Benn : Is it not in the best interests of the Air Force that the best tvoe of engine should be secured from whatever source .' Sir S Hoare-\Yes, undoubtedly, but I hope that, normally, that source WiLie!r Comn^ndef Kenworthy : Is it not a fact that up to now there isa practical monopoly in the 450 h.p. water-cooled engine, and that this is "T ^"lu^T^n attempt to break any monopoly -it is^ i t bt.mng the swiftestan^ttLTtomake^e^m^r^ha^wio-our obtainin th swiftes flying squadron of the kind anywherein fi>- —1, I beflving squadron 01 me KIIIU au)»«»'. »> ,i ,T t t Farnhoromrh ? Eagle IX and Puma Bristol Jupiter built underlicence by the Gnome-Rhone Company.Napier " Lion " .. February to April, 1925.1925. July-October, 1924. it has. he will give particulars of the contract and state reasons for entrusting thesupply of the parachutes to a foreign firm Sir S. Hoare : The particulars of the contract in question, except as regardsprice, which it is not the practice to disclose, are these : The contract was for a total of 2,261 parachutes, of which 1,500 were to be manufactured in America,it being stipulated that the balance and any further supplies should be manu- factured in Great Britain, preferably under licence. Supplies of Americanmanufacture arc now coming in, and it is expected that supplies from the home source will begin to come forward by next July. As regards the lastpart of the question, the Irving parachute, which was adopted as the most suitable, is a proprietary article, and as the supply was very urgently neededand as no risk of possibly imperfect manufacture by an inexperienced firm could be run where a life-saving apparatus was in question, it was consideredinadvisable to entrust the order to any firm other than the Irving Company. Fatal AccidentsSIR F. HALL asked what is the number of accidents which have taken place in the Royal Air Force during the 12 months ended September 30, 1925,due to machines crashing, and how many lives have thereby been lost ; ill the case of how many of these accidents were parachutes available for the useof the crew in thy event of things going wrong; and if he will state whether any machines are now allowed to go up unequipped with parachutes ?Sir S. Hoare : The word accident is a wide one and would cover a large number of minor mishaps, in landing or otherwise, to which 1 assume myhon. and gallant friend is not referring. On the assumption that fatal acci- dents are referred to, the answer to the first part of the question is 42 accidentsinvolving 57 deaths ; to the second, that in no case were the machines actually equipped with parachutes, although some units, in which no serious accidentshappened to occur, were so equipped in August and September ; to the last, that provision is now being made, as speedily as possible, for the equipmentof the whole Air Force with parachutes, on the basis of one parachute for every seat in an aircraft, but this provision is not yet complete.Sir F. Hall: Can the right hon. Gentleman say how long it will probably be before each seat is provided with a parachute ?Sir S. Hoare : I am afraid 1 cannot give a definite answer as to the date. I am expediting as far as I can the delivery of orders from America and thepreparation of the machines to take the parachutes here. Home Defence StrengthLIEUT.-COMMANDER KENWORTHY asked what increase had taken place in the number of service machines and pilots, respectively, available for theinstant defence of the country and stationed in Great Britain, since August 1 last.Sir S. Hoarc : Thf- establishment of the force allotted to home defence has been increased since August 1 last, by four squadrons of the auxiliary type,and these squadrons arc in course of formation ; when completed they will represent an addition of 48 service aeroplanes and 88 pilots to former effectives. Empire Air RoutesCOLONEL DAY asked what provision is being made towards the provision of Empire air routes for aeroplanes or airships between capitals of the Empire ?Sir S. Hoare : As regards aeroplanes, I hope to be in a position to make an announcement with regard to a commercial aeroplane service to India at anearlv date. As regards airships, the question of their operation on Empire routes must await the result of the experimental and constructional worknow in progress. Colonel Day : Has not the right hon. Gentleman stated that it is hopedsoon to start a route to India ? Sir S. Hoare : 1 have stated so, and 1 hope a start will be made not laterthan next winter. ParachutesSIR F. SYKES asked whether the silk employed in the manufacture of parachutes abroad for the Royal Air Force is of British production VSir S. Hoare : These parachutes are being made from silk woven in Japan, I may add that the manufacturer is understood to have satisfied the UnitedStates Government, who are large users of this parachute, that silk of satis- factory quality for this particular purpose is not at present obtainable inAmerica, but that I propose to reconsider this question with a view to the use of British silk, if possible, so soon as I can arrange for the manufactureof these parachutes to commence in this country. Sir F. Sykes asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he is aware thatthe American Irving-type parachute under order by the Air Ministry omits certain safety devices, but is claimed in other respects to infringe British 813
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