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Aviation History
1926
1926 - 0248.PDF
APRIL 15, '926 much to be said for retaining it as the headquarters of the competition. The race for the King's Cup, which has been ten- tatively fixed for July 9 and 10, will be planned in a somewhat similar way, the machines radiating out from the London Aerodrome, Hendon, to which they will return each journey, and visiting various provincial towns. The " Rundflug " proved that this arrange- ment not only enables a very large number of people to see the machines, but usually provincial towns to which machines fly are willing to put up prizes for the first machines to reach them, so that extra induce- ment to competitors is secured. The location of English towns in relation to the capital is not quite so favourable as that of German cities, with Berlin approximately in the centre of a circle, around the circumference of which many large cities are located, but for all that the scheme as applied to our conditions is the next best, and we are very glad that this innovation has been decided upon. In this week's issue of FLIGHT will be Progress founcj an illustrated description of anew Germany interesting German commercial aero- plane which is, as far as we are aware, the first really practical civil machine to incorporate the Lacbmann-Handley Page slotted wings. The machine has been built by the famous Albatros works of Berlin-Johannisthal to the order of the German publishing firm Verlag Ullstein, the machine being required for the carriage of newspapers, and consequently being provided with special chutes for the dropping of parcels of 10 kilos, each. It is a somewhat curious reflection on the manner in which the problem of civil aviation is attacked in the two countries that Germany, tied as she is hand and foot, should not only be planning no less than 39 air lines for this year, but should be the first nation to realise in practical form the advantages of the slotted wing. It is true, of course, that in this country machines have been built with this device, but they have been service machines. So far no machine intended for commercial aviation has been in use on the air lines, and in fact we are still carrying on with recently built twin-engined machines which, whatever may have been their merits when the type was first produced several years ago, cannot now be said to be the last word in commercial aircraft. Alan Cobham's Next Venture MR. ALAN COBHAM, unable to remain on terra firma much longer, is now making active preparations for his next jaunt —to Australia and back. He hopes to start within a few weeks' time and will fly the same D.H.50 vised for the London- Cape-London flight—and probably the same Siddeley " Jaguar " engine. Danish Flight to Tokyo LIEUT. BOTVED,' one of the two Danish airmen who are flying from Denmark to Tokyo (his companion having crashed near Bangkok), reached Hanoi on April 10, and by April 12 he arrived at Canton. The Wilkins Arctic Flight REPAIRS having been effected to the single-engined Fokker monoplane which Capt Wilkins is employing, together with a three-engined machine, in his aerial explorations into the North Polar regions, a start was made on March 31 for the first flight from Fairbanks (Alaska) to Point Barrow, which will be the base for the flights over the Arctic Sea. The machine piloted by Carl Eielren, carried 200 gallons of petrol for the The arrival at Pulham from Rome, and G A its departure for Oslo, of the airship Adventure ^orge has focussed attention on the attempt which Capt. Roald Amundsen and his companions are about to make to reach the North Pole by airship. Since the earliest days of aeronautics explorers have dreamt of reaching the inaccessible regions around the " top of the world " by air, the first to make the attempt, in a free balloon, being Amundsen's compatriot Andre, who disappeared without leaving a trace. Captain Amundsen's gallant attempt to reach the North Pole last year in two Dornier flying-boats with Rolls-Royce engines failed, although the party did reach a greater latitude than any hitherto attained by heavier-than-air craft. Whether the gallant Norwegian explorer will be more successful this year remains to be seen. In some ways the airship may be, as Amundsen believes, a more suitable craft, but to us it seems that the risk of snow and ice collecting on the airship and forcing it down is one of the most serious dangers likely to be encountered. Head winds will cause delay, but an airship can, after its fuel is consumed, drift long distances as a free balloon. A thick layer of snow on top of the envelope, however, may result in so weighting the airship down that only by throwing overboard everything movable can it be kept afloat. If the explorers are fortunate enough not to encounter snowstorms, there does not seem to be any other grave reason why they should not succeed, and all our readers will join with us in wishing them every possible good fortune. By the return to the Haeren aerodrome , Successful at Brussels of the three Belgian aviators Long-Distance T •,,»,, TJ.t7T JWork Lieut. Medaets, Lieut. Verhaegen, and Adjutant Coppens, another meritorious long-distance flight has been brought to a successful conclusion, and the out and home flight from Belgium to the Congo and back has been accomplished. Our heartiest congratulations to the gallant Belgian aviators, and to the whole Belgian nation. At the same time it is satisfactory to be able to extend also congratulations to the R.A.F. squadron under Wing Commander Pulford, which has successfully accom- plished the outward stage of its flight from Cairo to the Cape and back. May the return journey be as successful. E H store at Point Barrow—it being the intention of making several such journeys, transporting fuel and supplies to the northern base. The 600 miles between Fairbanks and Point Barrow was made in safety, in fact, the machine was going so well that they extended their flight a short distance towards the Pole instead of landing right-away On April 5 they set out on the return flight to Fairbanks, bad weather forcing them to land at Circh City en route, but eventually they reached their destination. The Byrd Arctic Expedition LIEUT.-COMMANDER BYRD, U.S.N., sailed from New York for Spitzbergen in the " Chantier " on April 5 ; Commander Byrd hopes to make a series of flights—using Fokker 3- engined machines—over the Arctic from Kingsbay. W.R.A.F. Reunion Dinner THE Third Annual Reunion Dinner of the Women's Royal Air Force will be held at the Victoria Mansions Restaur- ant, Victoria Street, on April 17, Dame Helen Gwynne- Vaughan, D.B.E., presiding. Applications for tickets— General Secretary, W.R.A.F. Old Comrades' Association, 5, Buckingham Gate, S.W.I. 216
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