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Aviation History
1928
1928 - 0032.PDF
Perhaps some of our readers will look into the sub- ject and make suggestions for the exact form which such a formula might take. For a start it would appear that —BH —o could be used, although area X span- a fair comparison of high-power and low-power machines could not be made on a simple cube root basis, but would necessitate some exponent other than •333. Admittedly there is much to be said for Mr. Walker's span2 formula, and in a letter published in our Correspondence Columns this week Mr. Walker contributes something further to the discussion. His remarks concerning the reasons for the high-power machines being " out of it " last year are interesting in that he calls attention to a fact that may not have been given sufficient attention : that this was due to all speeds being under-estimated, and that thus the race did not take as long as contemplated, consequently not giving the fast machines time to overtake the slower. Ri"F' It might be considered early days yet AF Display at h d to discuss theDisia py Hendon, but a correspondent who does not wish his name mentioned points out that now is the time for those concerned with organising the Display to " have their imagination stirred up." Some of our correspondent's suggestions seem well worth consideration, and we shall, therefore, refer briefly to them here. To begin with, our correspondent thinks that although " stunt " flying has a wide appeal, and was rightly included last year in considerable quantities (and excellent quality), nothing interests the public so much as racing, and he suggests that the racing events of the first Pageant should be re-introduced, including a race for new types. On the subject of formation flying, our correspon- dent expresses the view that while last year's forma- tion flying by D.H.9A's and " Foxes " was marvellous it might be better, in view of the fact that only a small percentage of the tax-paying public goes to Hendon, instead of keeping all the formation flying in the neighbourhood, to send, say, three multi- engined squadrons or five or six single-engined squadrons around the outskirts of London, possibly finishing up with a flight over the Houses of Parliament. The suggestion is also made by our correspondent that a slow-flying race around the aerodrome might be arranged for Bristol fighters or whatever types are by then fitted with slots and best suited for this purpose. Certainly such a race should be amusing to watch, and presumably it could be flown at quite a low altitude, thus giving the public an opportunity of closely watching the machines. Summing up, our correspondent concludes : " I feel that whilst every endeavour must be made to make the Display at Hendon more and more attractive —a very difficult task I agree—at the same time, when we have this concentrated force at Hendon it should be used in stirring up the community in general, and lastly one has to study the average intelligence of the individual who visits Hendon. He can, for the price of 6d., I believe, purchase the best got-up programme that it has ever been my fortune to examine, but because of his interest in watching things in the air, he is given little or no opportunity to read the description of the event which is taking -,;,.. 32 JANUARY 19, 1928 place. Half the public, therefore, do not appreciate the tactics, or in other words the why and wherefore of what is taking place. " At the present moment most aircraft have open exhausts, or exhaust pipes which are of no silencing value, in addition to which 80 per cent, of the noise is due to the propeller. I suggest that the number of loud speakers be trebled, and that the ' be so fixed that on the day of the Display they could be swung round, according to whichever direction the wind was blowing. It will then be a simple matter for Mr. John Citizen merely to cock his straw hat on one side, gaze into the sky -whilst the tactics and manoeuvres are being described to him through the microphone. To those who live in dose proximity to Golders Green, they will have the added advantage of being saved 6d. ! " Our correspondent's reference to John Citizen's straw hat seems to indicate that he expects summer this year to fall on the day of the Display ! Certainly the Air Ministry is in charge of the weather nowadays, but even so, this is rather a bold assumption to make. Personally, we are not over fond of the suggestion for increasing the number or the power of the loud speakers. The noise made by them is already sufficiently trying, and if the volume were to be trebled, the public enclosures would become well- nigh untenable. Presumably, however, trebling the number would not increase the volume but would merely ensure a better distribution of the " racket.' At any rate, these suggestions are offered to those concerned with the organisation of the programme, and if all are not acted upon, they may at least open up some new line of thought which will lead to varied and ever better programmes. Not, as our correspondent admits, an easy task in view of the excellence of previous Display programmes. •:• •:• • A»»I «<-oii Whatever safety devices, such as slots, Devices &c-> are produced, it is likely always t® remain one of the fundamental features of an aeroplane that it will stall. It may do so at a large angle, and it may do so at a small angle. It may do so gently, or it may do it suddenly and violently. But it seems fairly certain that it will always stall. Some form of warning that the machine is about to stall, therefore, becomes desirable. Even with Handley Page automatic slots, with full control long after the stall has been reached, it is rather desirable that the pilot should know when his machine is stalling, because in the stalled condition it is losing height rapidly. We describe in the present issue a stall warning device which is one of the simplest and neatest which we have seen so far. The new stall-warning device consists of a small wind vane which, by its travel under the pressure of the air speed, is caused to make or break contact, and in so doing sounding or silencing a buzzer. The whole outfit weighs but a few ounces. It can be used on machines not equipped with wireless, and in a slightly modified form it can be used on aircraft which carry wireless, the normal earphones in that case conveying the sound of the buzzer to the pilot's ears, without the normal wireless reception being interfered with in the slightest degree. The only criticism that might be directed against the new instrument is that it depends upon air speed and not upon angle of incidence. Thus, if set to give warning for a machine fully loaded, the buzzer will sound needlessly early when the machine is flying light. That, however, is not a serious drawback.
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