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Aviation History
1927
1927 - 0893.PDF
NOVEMBER 24, 1927 in order to avoid arriving at Bordeaux after dark. It was not until Sunday, November 20, that the weather conditions improved sufficiently to warrant a start, and, leaving Hamble at 8.30 a.m., Hourtin (Bordeaux) was reached at 4 p.m., the trip being on the whole made in fairly good weather con- ditions. Accompanying Sir Alan Cobham on his flight are Lady Cobham, Capt. H. V. Worrall, D.S.C. (assistant pilot), F. Green and C. E. Conway (engineers), and S. R. Bonnet (cinematographer). From Bordeaux the " Singapore" will go on to Marseilles, Ajaccio, Malta and the coast of North Africa. STALLED BUT UNDER PERFECT CONTROL Sir Samuel Hoare Tests New Handley Page Automatic Slots AN official demonstration of the new Handley Page automatic wing-tip slots was given at Cricklewood aerodrome on Novem- ber 18, when Sqdn.-Leader T. England took up in turn the Secretary of State lor Air, Sir Samuel Hoare, Lady Maud Hoare, and Major Wimperis, Director of Scientific Research, in a Bristol Fighter fitted with the new safety device. The weather was far from suitable, a cold wind blowing, and the visibility being a few hundred yards on the ground and almost nil at 2,000 ft. In spite of this, however, the demonstration was carried out most successfully, so that the small amount of discomfort due to bad weather was gladly suffered bv those present, who must have felt that they were " assisting," as the French say, at a rather historical event. Upon his arrival, the Secretary of State for Air was accom- panied by his wife, the Lady Maud Hoare, by Sir Philip Sassoon, Under-Secretary of State for Air, and Major H. E. Wimperis, Director of Scientific Research at the Air Ministry. her faith in commercial aviation, and it was very fitting that she should also be the first lady to experience the first really great practical step towards added safety in flying. As far as could be seen from the ground, Sqdn.-Leader England did not spare his second passenger, and Lady Maud was given just as thorough a demonstration as was her distin- guished husband. In fact, some evolutions, very low down, looked somewhat alarming, and even more convincing than those carried out with the Secretary of State on board. After his flight, Sir Samuel Hoare expressed himself very pleased with the experience, and said the descent with engine throttled down and the machine stalling at a steep angle rather reminded him of going down in a high-speed American lift. The writer of these notes was privileged to go up in the machine earlier in the afternoon, and certainly the manner in which the machine could be " thrown about " while stalled [" FLIGHT " Photographs THE NEW HANDLEY PAGE AUTOMATIC WING TIP SLOTS : On the left, Mr. Handley Page is seen explaining the safety device to Sir Samuel Hoare and The Lady Maud Hoare. On the right, a view of the slot, and the angle indicator fitted on the experimental machine to show the angle at which the machine is descending in a horizontal attitude. The indicator is limited to an angle of 30 degrees, but the machine actually descends much steeper than that. Mr. Handley Page briefly explained the function of the wing tip slots to the distinguished party, and then Sir Samuel Hoare took his scat in the gunner's cockpit of the Bristol Fighter, with Sqdn.-Leader England in the pilot's seat. Taking off, the machine was repeatedly put into a stalled attitude, and while descending at a steep angle, although almost on an even keel, it was rocked from side to side to demonstrate that it was still under perfect control. " Tail swishing " was another performance demonstrated, and in spite of the poor visibility, it was possible in many of the mamruvres to see the slots on opposite sides alternatively open and close. When the Secretary of State for Air had alighted from the machine, the seat in"the aft cockpit was taken by his wife, Lady Maud Hoare, who thus became the first lady passenger to try for herself the new safety device. By her flight with her husband to India, Lady Maud Hoare had already shown was little short of amazing. The angle indicator fitted to the front port strut showed 30 degs., but as this was the limit of its travel, and it was obviously tightly held against the top stop, it appears likely that the actual angle of descent was considerably steeper than that. The feeling of " sitting still " in the air, with apparently no forward speed, was one of the most extraordinary experiences one can imagine. Unlike the Secretary of State for Air, one had not the feeling of dropping as in a lift, but that is to be ascribed to the fact that Sir Samuel Hoare has spent very many more hours in the air than has the writer, and is thus a very experienced air traveller. What was quite obvious and unmistakable was the feeling of security experienced. At the time we were at about 2,000 ft., and so it was difficult to see the ground. Possibly this may have accounted for the fact that one failed to realise the rapid rate of descent, which must have been something like 30 ft. per second. It is just 809
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