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Aviation History
1928
1928 - 0525.PDF
JUNK 21, 1928 More recently he had visited America, and had now cometo the conclusion that the Americans ran the Australians a very close second. He expressed regret that the flight hadnot been made on a British machine and financed by British capital, but there were compensations. The lecturer hadsaid that he had flown since 1910. He gathered, however, that Sir Hubert had not a pilot's licence. Perhaps that wasjust as well, for with the loading referred to, he was afraid the machine would not have been given a certificate ofairworthiness ! Sir Hubert Wilkins said that in the Arctic regions hisexperience was that there were calm zones when one got away from the land. The winds, he thought, did not blowaround the Pole, but from it. They had never experienced trouble due to ice collecting on the machine. If the tempera-ture was low enough, it was a sign of dry air. Trouble might occur round about freezing point. He hoped to establisha circle of meteorological stations in the Antarctic, and it was hoped that they would be maintained as follows : 4 byAustralia, 4 by South Africa, and 4 by South America. Concerning keeping warm in the Eskimo skin suits, it wasnecessary to wear them alone, with the fur nearest the skin. Then they were very warm and comfortable andweighed, but from 7 to 9 lbs. Their food consisted of pemmican, chocolates and biscuits prepared for Amundsenin 1920. They found that they only ate on an average 15 ozs. each per day. The petrol used was ordinary com-mercial petrol. The compasses were a Pioneer ordinary, a Star compass, and n ship's lifeboat compass. They didnot depend much on compasses, but could have done so fairly easily had it been necessary. In reply to Major F. A. de V. Robertson, Sir Hubert statedthat his Antarctic plans were very little changed. These were given very fully in FLIGHT of September 17, 1925, to whichissue we would refer readers wishing for further information concerning the future endeavours of Capt. Sir G. H. Wilkins. HONOURING SIR G. HUBERT WILKINS CAPT. SIR G. HUBERT WILKINS and his pilot, Lieut. C. B.Eielson, were, on June 13, the guests of the Royal Aeronautical Society, the Royal Aero Club, the Air League of the BritishEmpire and the Society of British Aircraft Constructors at a luncheon at the Savoy Hotel, when Brig.-Gen. Lord Thomson,chairman of the Royal Aero Club, presided. The chairman, in proposing the health of the guests,briefly referred to Sir Hubert Wilkins' descent from a bishop of Chester 400 years ago, who he said was, according tohistory, also interested in aviation. And so it came about that Sir Hubert has in our days rendered a service to aviationand the world by his exploration in helping forward in real progress and in the' avoidance of suffering. As to Lieut.Eielson, he had had three and a half years' experience in the Arctic and Sir Hubert Wilkins in his own words describedhim as " the perfect pilot." Sir Hubert Wilkins, in responding, said that although hehad learnt to fly 18 years ago, his interest was not primarily aeronautical, but rather meteorological. Sir Hubert thenproceeded to give a few details of his experiences in the flight, in the main as set forth in the paper which he read beforethe Aeronautical Society on the 14th inst., a summary of which is given in this issue of FLIGHT. Sir Hubert emphasisedthat he had no intention whatever of going over the North Pole, but round the Pole. The former would not haveserved their purpose at all, and they thus succeeded in their quest of solving the question whether there was or was notland at certain points, as had been alleged. In work of this character he said the great difficulty presented itself when oneman was piloting and another navigating, in that of co- operation. Without it success would be impossible. But inEielson he found fortunately the most wonderful pilot, and so he repeated without both a perfect pilot and a perfect machine,to have carried out the object with which they set out would have been impossible. Their flight had been of negativevalue in that they had found no land on which a meteoro- logical station could be established, though information ofArctic weather might be of extreme importance to air transportation and the world in connection with the fore-casting of weather conditions, as had been pointed out by Stefansson. From Berlin the Aero-Arktis was at workwith the problem of setting up a chain of observation stations in these regions and they had been steadily mapping out andarranging practical details for the past five years. They had gone further than any others in the world and they hopedbefore long to issue their report whereby it would be possible to take advantage of the meteorological conditions to establishregular and commercial transportation. He hoped in his forthcoming flight in the Antarctic toshow that there was a direct relationship between the southern and northern hemispheres, and the conditions at the twoPoles. They could not expect to reap great advantages in thenorthern hemisphere unless they had similar observations in the southern hemisphere, and he hoped to interest thepeoples of South America in the problem in the same way as the nations in the northern hemisphere had become aliveto the importance of Polar investigation. Lieut. Eielson also shortly replied, and said that pilots inAmerica sometimes thought that England had not given their old pioneers enough credit for their splendid work in the past.He expressed his sincere thanks for their reception in England. A vote of thanks to Lord Thomson for presiding closed theproceedings. Amongst the guests invited to meet Sir Hubert were :—Capt. P. D. Acland Mr. C. V. Allen, Comdr. James Bird, Mr. R. Blackburn, The Hon. Alan R. Boyle, Mr. GriffithBrewer, Mr. T. W. K. Clarke, Mr. John E. Carberry, Sir Alan J. Cobham, Mr. H. J. Corin, Lieut.-Col. M. O. Darby, Mr. C. R.Fairey, Mr. P. Gardner, Mr. C. G. Grey, Brig.-Gen. Groves, Mr. J. E. Hodgson, Mr. E. J. B. How, Lieut.-Col. J. Barrett -Lennard, Mr. John Lord, Major R. H. Mayo, Dr. G. Merton, Lieut.-Col. J. T. C. Moore-Brabazon, M.P., Mr. H. H. Morris,Mr. F. Handley Page, Mr. J. L. Parker, Mr. G. G. Parnall, Lieut.-Comdr. H. E. Perrin, Mr. H. E. Pooley, Mr. J. LaurencePritchard, Major F. A. de V. Robertson, Mr. H. O. Short, Mr. Cecil J. Sibbett, Mr. T. O. M. Sopwith, Mr. Stanley Spooner,Sir Henry White-Smith, Mr. B. Stevenson, Mr. G. Holt Thomas, Lieut.-Col. N. G. Thwaites, Major C. C. Turner,Mr. H. T. Vane, Capt. Wilson. Death of Capt. O. Vickers WE very much regret to report the sudden death ofCapt. Oliver Vickers on June 17. He died from septic pneumonia after 24 hours' illness. Capt. Vickers was born onSeptember 13, 1898, and educated at Rottingdean and Eton. He left Eton at the age of 17 to take up flying at Hendonwhere he took his ticket in 10 days, after which he was unofficially attached to a squadron at Joyce Green, wherehe received advanced instruction from the late R. H. Barnwell. He joined the R.F.C. on his 18th birthday and was sent toFrance with No. 20 Sqdn. on June 6, 1917. Capt. Vickers greatly distinguished himself in France asa daring and skilful pilot, having with various observers accounted for 11 machines between June 6 and August 17,the last day he and his observer, Lieut. Hone, flew single handed 12 miles over the German lines after a squadron of11 machines, believed to be Richthoven's, accounting for five of the enemy machines and just managing to reach ourlines before coming down with undercarriage shot away and the machine riddled with over 200 bullets. A few dayslater Capt. Vickers was sent home to rest, after which he was put in charge of an Instructional Flight Group at Shotwick,and was made captain in 1918. On demobilisation he joined the aviation department ofMessrs. Vickers at Knightsbridge, later being made a special director. Foreign Missions at the R.A.F. Display IN addition to our Italian visitors to the R.A.F Display—mentioned last week—five other foreign official missions are reported to be coming from Belgium, Denmark, France,Norway, and Sweden. R.100 Nearly Ready IT is expected that the R. 100 airship being constructedat Howden in Yorkshire by the Airship Guarantee Co., Ltd., will bs ready for trial flights at the end of August or thebeginning of September. Arrangements are in hand for the visit of Members of Parliament on July 5 to inspect theairship. 4/3
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