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Aviation History
1926
1926 - 0113.PDF
FEBRUARY 25, 1926 IKe Roc^rcil £Iero Clci of the Uixited Kii\gdoi OFFICIAL MOTICES TO MEMBERS COMMITTEE MEETING A MEETING of the committee was held on Wednesday, February 17, 1926, when there were present : Lieut.-Col. F. K. McClean, A.F.C. (in the chair), Ernest C. Bucknall, Lieut.-Col. M. O. Darby, Wing-Commander T. O'B. Hubbard, M.C., Lieut.-Col. M. O'Gorman, C.B., F. Handley Page, T. O. M. Sopwith. and the Secretary. Election of Members.—The following new members were elected :— Pilot Officer Theodore Newman McEvoy. Sqdn.-Ldr. Harry Stewart. Pilot Officer Geoffrey Luis Worthington. Flying Officer Cecil James Pooley. Flight-Lieut. Alfred Montague Blake. Sqdn.-Ldr. James Milne Kobb. Flying Officer St. John Fitzgerald Wintour. Sir John Phillips Rhodes, Bart., D.S.O. William Allen. Alan Bruce Hamilton Youell. Alan Goodfellow. Edward Cyril Bowyer. Walter Theodore William Ballantyne. Flying Officer Godfrey Webster Dean. Flight-Lieut. Stanley "Miles Park. James Alfred McKelvie. Flight-Lieut. Martin George McLeary Cahill-Byrne. Edwin John Dilnutt. David Leonard Hollis Williams. Reports from Committees.—Reports from the House and Finance Committees were received and adopted. Britannia Trophy.—It was unanimously decided to award the Britannia Trophy for the year 1925 to Mr. A. T. Cobham, whose flight with Air Vice-Marshal Sir SeftonBrancker from London to Rangoon (Burma) and back was considered the most meritorious performance by a Britishaviator during the year. Mr. Cobham left London on November 20, 1924, and arrived back on March 17, 1925.The machine was a D.H.50, with 230 h.p. Siddeley Puma engine. Private Flying.—Mr. F. Handley Page presented the report of the Sub-Committee on Private Flying. The report was adopted, and it was decided that the Sub-committee— F. Handley Page, Lieut.-Col. M. O. Darby, Maj. Hemming, Sqdn.-Ldr. M. E. A. Wright, and H. E. Perrin— should represent the Royal Aero Club at the Air Ministry Conference. Gift of £1,0C0 for Light Aeroplane Clubs.'—The Secre- tary reported that he had attended a meeting of the Petroleum Distributors' Committee, when they had handed to him on behalf of the Anglo-American Oil Co"., Ltd., British Petroleum Co., Ltd., Redline Motor Spirit Co., Ltd., and Shell-Mex, Ltd., a cheque for £1,000, to be applied for the purpose of encourag- ing light aeroplane club? under the Air Ministry scheme. It was unanimously decided that a letter of thanks be sent to the Petroleum Distributors' Committee. Aviator's Certificate.—The following aviator's certificate was granted :— 7981. William Thomas Walton, Junr. January 19, 1926. Appointment of Timekeepers.—The following officialtimekeepers were appointed for 1926 : A. G. Reynolds ; A. V. Ebblewhite ; Col. F. Lmd>ay Lloyd, C.M.G., C.B.E. ;F. T. Bidlake. Offices : THE ROYAL AERO CLUB, 3, CLIFFORD STREET, LONDON, W. 1. H. E. PERRIN, Secretary PRIVATE FLYING Discussion at Royal Aero Club Dinner "PRIVATE Flying " was the subject under discussion at the fourth monthly house dinner of the Royal Aero Club held mi Wednesday of last week, February 17. As on previous occasions, the dining room was filled to the limits of its capacity, and we learn that very large numbers of applications for seats had to be refused because of lack of space. Readers wishing to make sure of being able to attend the next dinner should keep this in mind, and should apply for seats earl - in order to avoid disappointment. His Grace the Duke of Sutherland was in the chair, and l>ofore opening the debate, he stated that since last he attended 'me of these functions he had travelled some 8,000 miles. During his trip he had had an opportunity of seeing some of the work of the French air service, and at Casablanca he had the good fortune to meet the Spanish fliers who were then on their way to South America, a very meritorious journey, which had since been successfully completed. Before calling on Capt. Courtney to open the debate, His Grace said he must •xsk speakers taking part in the discussion to confine them- selves, as far as possible, to a period of five minutes each, as it was hoped many would wish to speak and there would not i>e time for long speeches. Capt. F. T. Courtney said he was faced with the difficulty "f having to rely upon some notes which he could not read, and which dealt with something that did not exist. He had I'een a private aeroplane owner for three years, and in that time, owing to all the various restrictions he had flown his ni'chine once. When the present regulations were drawn up th'.-y were intended to protect flying and also to protect the geueral public. Nowadays he thought the main idea was tos k"k off the regulations a bit so as to allow private flying to start. Flying had to be made safe, and the best way to make 't so was to get in as many flying hours as possible, thus 'e£ ning from experience where to look for trouble. The pifsent regulations should be removed and the whole questions h< uld be reconsidered in the light of modern conditions. He would divide the regulations into two classes, the essen- tial and the unessential. Among the former he would include registration and licensing. Heavy penalties should be imposed for transgression. On the question of the rules of the air an examination was, he thought, essential. Otherwise, when we got large numbers of machines flying there was risk of trouble. With the medical examination he had no patience. It did not matter whether a man who intended to become a private owner suffered from certain drawbacks, such as near- sightedness, if he was able to make good landings. A com- petency test of actual flying skill would tell them all they wanted to know about the private owner, and he thought the medical examination entirely superfluous. As regards the question of third party risks, he suggested that insurance might be carried out on club lines. Turning to what he termed the unessentials, Capt. Courtney devoted a good deal of time to the question of the Certificate of Airworthiness. The view had been advanced that the constructors of the machine should issue the C. of A. With that view he did not agree, since the owner might damage his machine during use, and it would be unfair to expect the constructor to take the responsibility. On the subject of the investigation of accidents, he failed to see why such an investigation was necessary. At present, if a man damaged his fuselage in landing, he was not permitted to remove the machine until sundry officials had examined it. If a man bent the front axle of his motor-car he was not expected to leave the car in the road. He simply found out where the nearest garage was and made arrangements to have the car taken there. As regards third party risk, a car was infinitely more dangerous than an aeroplane. Dr. Whitehead Reid, who has been a private owner of aeroplanes for a number of years, and has used them for pleasure flying, said what we had to do was to encourage people to fly for amusement. Popularisation of flying was most important, and in order to do that it was essential to 105
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