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Aviation History
1927
1927 - 0703.PDF
SEPTEMBER 15, 1927 make than a spar of plain rectangular section with no taper, this double-taper spar is not unduly difficult to make, and it will be seen that the " wandering web " is still used, although the parallel strip has to be tapered off after the web is in place. L section corners of relatively thick gauge are used in this spar. A feature of the new Vickers' spars is that stan- dard sections are used almost exclusively, so that the work of shaping is done almost entirely by the makers of the material, the extruded double T section being one such example. , Ribs of Duralumin tubes are used with the \ickers spars, the standard rib being riveted as shown in the sketches. To facilitate repairs, a slightly different form of rib, with remov- able bottom flange, has been standardised. This can be simply slipped over the spars and the bottom flange bolted in place, so that the user does not have to do any riveting when replacing a damaged rib. The all-Duralumin construction evolved by Vickers also includes the inter-plane struts, which are made as shown in a sketch, of two sheets of Duralumin of thick gauge, externally riveted together at the edges. Again, there are no hidden rivet heads, and the operation is simplicity itself. The struts have been found to be remarkably stable under load, and to develop a high safe loading stress. Aerodynamically, being of streamline section, they are probably as efficient as struts without the small projecting front and rear edges. The fuselage construction which accompanies the wing construction described above is on somewhat different lines and may be said to be a development of the Wibault type of construction, Vickers having recently built under licence a number of machines of this type for a foreign government Fundamentally, the fuselage construction makes use of [" FLIGHT " Copyright Sketch VICKERS METAL CONSTRUCTION : Inter-plane struts are made from sheet Duralumin, the strut being of streamline section as shown. The end fitting is a simple fork end. T sections for longerons and struts, the joints between the two being as illustrated. The sketches are, we think, self- explanatory. THE ATLANTIC FLIGHTS The " Old Glory " Disappears As with the " St. Raphael," mystery surrounds the fate of the crew of the Fokker monoplane. " Old Glory," which left Old Orchard. Maine, U.S.A.. at 1.23 p.m. on September 6 for Rome and sent an urgent S.O.S. message by wireless at 9am the next day, September 7, from a position in the open Atlantic of approximately 600 miles east of New- foundland. Until then its messages had been very optimistic, although the monoplane was reported by the crew to be heavy. During the evening after the start it passed over Nova Scotia and Newfoundland flying well, and it passed out into the Atlantic during the night. At 5 a.m. it was sighted 3r>0 miles out bv the steamer " California " steering east at 100 m.p.h. About 4 hours later several Atlantic liners picked up its SOS message which indicated that a storm had been encountered and a descent in the sea was feared. From then until now the crew has been neither seen nor heard. lhe liners "Transylvania" and " Carmania " raced to the rescue the fornier Ix-ing only 80 miles away. The " Lapland " California " and " Capulin " also joined m a wide search but all in vain. The wind was westerly and fresh and the sea was moderately rough. Mr. Anthony Fokker the designer of the monoplane, had often expressed concern at the load to be carried, which he thought was unnecessarily increased. Besides the pilot and navigator, Mr Llovd Bertaud and Mr. J. I). Hill, a passenger, Mr. PA. Payne a New York editor, was on board. It was reported on Tuesday that some wreckage of the " Old Glory " had been found by the American steamer " Kyle " about 600 to 700 miles cast of Newfoundland, but there was no sign of the crew. The " Sir John Carling " also Lost THE first Canadian attempt to fly the Atlantic has apparently ended disastrously, for nothing has been heard of Capt._lum and Lieut. Medcalf since they left Newfoundland at ._n p.m. on September 7 for London "in their Stinson monoplane, the " Sir John Carling." They were competing for a prize oi /5.000 offered bv a Canadian brewer. No wireless was carried.. and the fuel capacity would have sufficed for 40 hours, im ocean liners that arrived at St. Johns. Newfoundland, later reported storms in the area through which the machine would pass. Some of the prize money will be given to the widows of the two airmen. The " Royal Windsor " Retires „ THE other Canadian attempt in the " Royal ^ indsor has been abandoned. The crew, Mr. C. A Schl»" a"dr Mr. P. Wood were ordered to return home from Haibour Grace, Newfoundland, by their organising committee. int> were also advised against searching for the Old L.ion . Captain Fonck's Change of Plans FOLLOWING the cry of public opinion in America against Atlantic flights, the Acting Secretary of the U.S. Navy recalled to duty Lieut. Curtin and Ensign' Edwards, who had been given leave to accompany Capt. Rene Fonck, the French pilot, on a flight from New York to Paris. The latter now proposes a long distance record flight over land instead, m the Sikorsky machine, which has been christened " "S llle de Paris."' Capt. Courtney Released from Obligations THE Westminster Gazette telegraphed to Capt Courtney on September 9 releasing him, as far as that newspaper was concerned, from any obligation to continue the flight from Corunna across the Atlantic. The Anglo-American Oil Company and Messrs. D. Napier and Son, Ltd., who are also interested in the flight, approved of this action. A later message reported that Capt. Courtney had decided to abandon his plans. Capt. Mclntosh's Decision IT will be the weather conditions and not public sentiment that will decide Capt. H. Mclntosh about his attempt to fly the Atlantic in the Fokker monoplane, " Princess Xema, from Dublin His second pilot and navigator will now be Commandant James FitzMaurice, who commands the Irish Free State Air Corps, and who thereby replaces Capt. A. Tovnson-Wreford. The reason for this change is stated to be through an old war wound in his left knee-cap which gave Capt. Wreford some difficulty in holding the machine with its heavy load on a true compass course. The French Effort \CCORDING to some reports it would seem that the French pilots MM. Givon and Corbu—who made an unsuccessful attempt at the Atlantic crossing from Le Bourget on Sept. 1— intend to trv their luck once more, in spite of the widespread agitation against any more such flights being attempted. Like Capt, Mclntosh; they state that they are only waiting for suitable weather conditions before they make a second start. Their machine, " L'Oiseau Bleu," it will be re- membered, is a Farman " Super-Goliath " Biplane. Aeroplane Wreckage at Newquay ON Monday of this week some aeroplane wreckage was washed ashore at Newquay, Cornwall. It consisted of a rudder and part of a wing, and may possibly belong to one of the lost Atlantic 'planes—probably the " Sir John Carhng. The Air Ministry have sent down an expert to examine the parts. 649
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