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Aviation History
1926
1926 - 0764.PDF
OCTOBER 14, 1926 THE INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE OF AVIATORS MR. CLIFFORD B. HARMON, as Founder and Presidentof the I.L.A., at a luncheon at the Savoy Hotel last week, explained the why and wherefore of the Association which hehas very much at heart. Mr. Harmon was introduced by Lieut.-Col. Edwards who presided in the absence of AirVice-Marshal Brancker. Mr. Harmon, he reminded the guests, was one of the earliest in aviation to qualify in piloting—as far back as 1910—then creating many records in America and therefore must be recognised as one of the pioneers inaviation. Mr. Harmon, he said, possessed the vision that the final end of commercial aviation must be Internationalcompanies or corporations, although the composing units would naturally be in competition with each other, to thebenefit of aviation, and he thought commercial aviation would ultimately take the place of the League of Nations. Itwas this future which was at the back of his mind when he founded the I.L.A., and of which there were already branchesfounded abroad. Mr. Harmon said he was trying to establish the I.L.A.all over the world. In France it had been growing, and he hoped that Great Britain would be one of its greatesthopes. Only aviators could join who held certificates entitling them to call themselves pilots. It was started fourmonths ago and already 14 countries had signified their willing- ness to come into the League. King Albert of Belgium, asHon. President, had become the Grand Patron of their new venture and he hoped to have General Brancker as their Eng-lish President. The League sought to benefit aviators by companionship and provided many and diverse privileges forthose joining up, and the cost was only 2s. to belong. The President of each country selected his own officers to attendthe regular meetings of the League and to control the manage- ment. They had their own little insignia. They were tryingto form posts in every country where the courageous young aviators could hang up their hats and become one of a greatfamily. Trophies would be awarded for meritorious work, and another proposal was the adoption into good families ofthe children of aviators who had lost their lives. Each branch had been presented with a bronze statue for the bestpiece of work during the year by an airman, whether Member of the League or not—besides another Trophy. In Paris abig fete was being organised of which one-third of the ticket sales would go to the Ace of Aviators, whoever may be decidedupon, and two-thirds to the League funds. Ten children of aviators who had lost their lives were to be sent to the UnitedStates to be adopted and educated and looked after for launching upon life. Admiral Mark Kerr responded for theguests. Schneider Cup Race Postponed THE contest for the Schneider Cup race, originally fixedfor October 24, has been postponed to November 11. The Cruise of the " Southamptons " IT is always of interest to hear how certain componentsbehave during the big performances carried out by aircraft from time to time. For instance, Cellon (Richmond) Ltd.,have received from the Supermarine Aviation Works, Ltd., a report regarding the " Cellon " dope used on the twoSupermarine " Southamptons " flying-boats which recently carried out a very successful flight to Egypt and back. Thereport says :—" Since the return of the two ' Southampton ' type machines . . . we have had an opportunity ofexamining the condition of these machines after their strenuous service in very varying atmospheric conditions. We feel PASSENGER CARRIER FOR AUSTRALIA : View inside the cabin of the A.N.E.C. Ill, which was described and illustrated in " Flight'' for Feb. 11,1926. sure you will be both interested and pleased to know thatthe condition of the fabric on both machines is in first-class order, its original tautness being still retained, which is aproof of the excellence of your dope as these machines were never placed under cover from the time they left Englanduntil they returned, and at all stopping places were moored out in the open under constantly varying conditions." U.S. Air Attaches in Aeroplane CrashON September 21 last Maj. C. L. Tinker, Assistant Army Air Attache at the U.S. Embassy, and Commander R. A.Burg, Assistant Naval Air Attache, were involved in an accident whilst carrying out a practice flight near Kenley onan American-built D.H.4c (Liberty). The engine failed shortly after taking off, and the machine collided with sometrees and crashed to the ground, immediately bursting into flames. Maj. Tinker managed to get free and assist hiscompanion from the burning machine. Both were severely burned and injured, and were conveyed to Purley Hospital,where Commander Burg died as a result of his injuries on September 26. Maj. Tinker is progressing satisfactorily. British-Made MagnetosA LARGE party of Press representatives and others spent a very interesting afternoon recently going through themagneto works of the British Thomson-Houston Co., Ltd., at Coventry. At the preceding luncheon given by thedirectors of the company, reference was made to the fact that previous to 1914 there was for all practical purposes no magnetoindustry in this country ; the two factories of the B.T.-H. Co. in Coventry showed that there is now a very extensiveand healthy industry, especially when it is remembered that there are several other factories busily engaged in magnetomaking. While the rotating armature type of magneto is still mostlyin demand, the call for the polar-inductor type, especially for aeroplane and other high-speed engines, is steadily increasing.In this department the B.T.-H. Co. is remarkably well equipped, as it has been engaged on this type since the earlydays of the war. For high-speed engines the B.T.H. polar inductor has many advantages, the most important beingthat it can very conveniently be made as a four-spark machine, whereas the rotating armature magneto is essentially atwo-spark machine. Another interesting development of recent years is an automatic timing device, which, of course,is greatly in demand for car work. The B.T.-H. Co. has recently turned its attention to pro-ducing a lighting and starting set for cars, which has given very fine results. In the matter of moulded insulations, which play a veryimportant part in the magneto industry, the B.T.-H. Co. has established plant which is one of the largest and mostup-to-date installations in the country. This moulded insulation is known as " Fabrolite," and it leaves the mouldwith such a highly polished finish that no finishing operations are required. In addition to its use for moulded insulations, anotherimportant industrial application of " Fabrolite " is in the production of " Fabroil " silent timing gears. 680
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