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Aviation History
1926
1926 - 0458.PDF
HOW WIRELESS HELPED THE " NORGE " * spite of the inevitable hazards of a Polar flight, the iarconi apparatus fitted on the " Norge "—the airship in hich Roald Amundsen flew over the North Pole—rendered aluable service and played an important part in the smarkable success of the venture. While the details so far given of its performance have >een brief, the latest report from Commander Gottwaldt, rtio was in charge of the wireless and meteorological service >n board, indicates that very satisfactory results were >btained. Communication was maintained with the outside ,vorld practically throughout the flight, until—by a mishap chat could not have been foreseen—the 300-ft. trailing lerial, covered with ice, was broken during the last stages of the voyage, through the vessel having to fly extremely low. Even after this, however, the " Norge " was able to locate her position by means of the Marconi direction-finder, for which a second aerial, bound to the fabric of the airship, was used. Thus the direction-finder again proved its value to long-distance flying expeditions, as it has done previously on such occasions as Major Franco's Spain-Buenos Aires " raid." Commander Gottwaldt's report shows that scarcely had the ship left Rome on April 10 when its signals were heard by the Air Ministry in London, and connection was also established with Pulham Aerodrome, Norfolk. During this first stage of the flight, from Rome to Pulham, the direction- finder was tested and found correct. On the flight from Pulham to Oslo constant wireless communication was maintained with land and ship stations, while the bearings taken by means of the direction-finder proved of great value. Fog was encountered practically throughout the voyage from Oslo to Leningrad, and again the Marconi apparatus proved its utility. Between Leningrad and Vadsoe, in the extreme north of Norway, Commander Gottwaldt reports that : " Our signals were heard by several stations in the northern part of Norway and by Svalbard, Spitzbergen, and we had continuous connection with Russian stations in order to correct the course. Bearings were taken frequently and were all right." Practically all the way over the polar regions, from King's Bay, Spitzbergen, to Alaska, very good connection was maintained with the Svalbard station, and the news of Amundsen's success was made known to the world many hours before the " Norge " landed. The concluding phrases of Commander Gottwaldt's report comprise an epic in little. He writes : " Over Alaska the antenna was icy and the ship flew low in order to correct its position. The antenna touched the ground and broke." " A few hours before we landed at Teller we got wireless bearings from two stations in Alaska, and as we later com- municated with the stations and had their names, the radio bearings were of the greatest value to us. After landing, the wireless operator, Storm Johnsen, and I started to fix up the old spark Teller, and 24 hours later we had connection with Nome." The specially constructed Marconi 500-watt valve trans- mitter with which the " Norge " was fitted, was described in FLIGHT for April 29 last. New Non-Stop Flight Record ON June 27 Capt. Arrachart and his brother,. Sergt-Maj. Arrachart, left Le Bourget at 5.30 a.m., on a Potez 28 fitted with a 550-h.p. Renault, in an attempt to beat the world's non-stop flight record, established by Capt. Arrachart and Lemaitre in February, 1925, Etampes-Villa de Cisneros, 3,166 km. (2,000 miles) in 25 hours. They landed at Basra on June 28, after a somewhat exciting journey, having covered 4,375 kms. (2,734 miles) in 26 hours 35 mins., and thus beaten the previous record. When over Constantinople the main petrol pump broke down, and they had to continue the rest of the journey working the hand pump. The Brothers Arrachart receive the Renault Cup Prize of 50,000 fr., while the Potez and Renault firms receive respectively prizes of 50,000 and 20,000 fr., given by the French Air Department. Italian Aeronautical Propaganda IN order to arouse the interest of the Italian public in Aeronautics, a propaganda office called " Istituto Nazionale di Propaganda Aeronautica " has been created by the Italian Air Ministry. The special task of the newly established office is to promote air traffic in the country, and to inspire the great mass of Italian lads with an enthusiasm for flying. A wide propaganda campaign will be carried on throughout Italy in connection therewith. JULY 1, 1926 SOCIETY OF MODEL AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERS (S.M.A.E.) ON Sunday, June 20, the Speed Competition for the S.M.A.E. Cup was held at the Royal Dental Hospitals Sports Ground (Hendon). This resulted in a highly interesting meeting, although an adverse wind made it difficult for all but the more heavily loaded machines to maintain their direction over the timed course. There were seven competitors, R. N. Bullock finally winning the competition with a recorded speed of 16 miles per hour—but taking into account the fact that this was up-wind (the speed of which was from 10 to 15 m.p.h.) the speed of his model was probably of the order of 29 m.p.h. As this competition was the first of its kind, several essential facts made themselves evident, chief of these being (1) high loading, and (2) clean design. The loading of the winning model exceeded 20 ozs. per sq. ft. The Lady Shelley Cup Competition for fuselage seaplanes and flying boats, previously arranged to take place on Satur- day, July 3, is, owing to the R.A.F. Display falling on this date, now postponed until the next day, Sunday, July 4 (3 p.m.). This is to be held at the Welsh Harp (Hendon). The " Flight " Cup Competition (for Autogiro models) is to be held on Saturday, July 17, at the Sudbury ground. Rules for this were given in the June 17 issue of FLIGHT. B. K. JOHNSON, Hon Secretary. m m m m PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED Technical Reports : No. 232.—The Lateral Failure of Spars. By S. Bromley and \V. H. Robinson, junr. March, 1926. No. 233.—N.A.C.A. Flight-Path-Angle and Air-Speed Recorder. By D. G. Coleman. April, 1926. No. 234.—An Investigation of the Characteristics of Steel Diaphragms for Automatic Fuel-Injection Valves. By W. F. Joachim. April, 1926. U.S. National Advisory Committee for Aero- nautics, .Washington, D.C., U.S.A. L'Aviation Commerciale. By Oscar Bonomo. Librairie des Sciences Aeronautiques, 48, rue des Ecoles, Paris. Price 12 francs (postage, 2-25 francs extra). U.S. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Reports: No. 220.—Comparison of Tests on Air Propellers in Flight with Wind Tunnel Model Tests on Similar Forms. By W. F. Durand and E. P. Lesley. No. 222.—Spray Penetration with a Simple Fuel Injection Nozzle. By H. E. Miller and E. G. Beardsley. No. 231.—Investigation of Turbulence in Wind Tunnels by a Study of the Flow about Cylinders. By. H. L. Dryden and R. H. Heald. U.S. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. &. & M M NEW COMPANY REGISTERED HEYSHOTT ENGINEERING CO., LTD., Melton House, Heyshott,Sussex.—Capital £100, in Is. shares. !§: i$ M $8 AERONAUTICAL PATENT SPECIFICATIONS A bbreviations : Cyl. •= cylinder s i.c. — internal combustion : m. — motor. The numbers in brackets are those under which the Specifications will be printed and abridged, etc. APPLIED FOR IN 1924Published July 1, 192(5 10,678. G. F. MYERS. Flying-machines. (252,266.)29,744. D. J. MOOKEY. Framework members for aircraft. (252,755.) 5,661. APPLIED FOR IN 1925 Published July 1, 1926 G. F. PKETYMAN. Landing-gear. (252,769.) FLIGHT The Aircraft Engineer and Airships 36, GREAT QUEEN STREET, KINGSWAY, W.C.2. Telegraphic address: Truditur, Westcent, London. Telephone : Gerrard 1828. SUBSCRIPTION RATES " FLIGHT" will be forwarded, post free, at the following rates:— UNITED KINGDOM ABROAD* s. d. s. i. 3 Months, Post Free.. 7 7 | 3 Months, Post Free .. 8 3 6 15 2 | 6 16 6 12 30 4 ( 12 33 0 * Foreign subscriptions must be remitted in British currency. Cheques and Post Office Orders should be made payable to'the Proprietors of " FLIGHT," 36, Great Queen Street, Kingsway, W.C.2, and crossed Westminster Bank. Should any difficulty be experienced in procuring " FLIGHT ' from local newsvendors, intending readers can obtain each issue direct from the Publishing Office, by forwarding remittance as above. .396
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