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Aviation History
1928
1928 - 1156.PDF
W*(^ist$%. does not detract in the least from the original Wright discovery, and even after all these years there is still quite a possibility that the wing flap will, in turn, be superseded as an organ of lateral control. It is by no means perfect; it suffers very much from the same vices as did the warping wings. It produces a yawing moment of " the wrong sign," and normally it becomes ineffective at angles beyond the stall. But we are still using it, and except for structural considerations it is doubtful whether we should have been so very much worse off had we retained wing warping. Let us, therefore, do honour to those two great brothers, one of whom it has not unfortunately been granted to survive to see the full development of his early work, who had the foresight and the courage to carry on in face of terrific difficulties with their great discovery. A quarter of a century after the first properly- controlled flight, it is of interest, although a matter of great difficulty, to attempt to assess the progress that has been made during the 25 years. Mere figures will not necessarily give us a true picture. Apart from the actual performance in miles per hour, there is the useful load carried, which may be either in the form of paying load over a relatively short distance, or may be in the form of fuel for the purpose of covering the greatest possible distance without ! alighting. And then there is the human factor, which has also played a very prominent part in enabling us to do what is today an everyday feat with the machines as they now exist. The original Wright biplane had a four-cylinder1 " in-line" water-cooled engine, which developed something like 12 b.h.p. Of the total loaded weight of the machine we have, unfortunately, no reliable figures, but we are under the impression that the power loading was in the neighbourhood of 40 lbs./ h.p. ! Not until comparatively modern times was another machine produced which flew successfully with such a power loading. This was the little " Wren " monoplane designed by Mr. W. O. Manning, and built by the English Electric Co. Fitted with an A.B.C. motor-cycle engine, which developed about 11 b.h.p., this machine flew quite " strongly," i.e., it was not a " no speed range" machine. It is very tempting to compare these two types of aircraft, the original one, a biplane braced by a maze of wires (it used to be said, in the old days, of a certain type of early British biplane that if there was room for a thrush to fly between two wires, another wire should be put in ; this was known as the " thrush test " !), and the more modern one, a cantilever monoplane, in which streamlining was carried out according to the latest notions and induced drag kept down by having a very light span loading. The original Wright biplane had, we believe, a speed of just over 30 m.p.h. DECEMBER 20, 1928 The " Wren " probably was capable of about 50 m.p.h. or so. The question which naturally arises is : Is the " Wren," to take a typical modern example, a very great improvement upon the original Wright biplane ? We think the answer to that must un- doubtedly be yes. The climb of the " Wren " was very good, and must have been very much better than that of the Wright. The " Wren" started' from the ground under its own power. The original Wright biplane "was catapulted off. The aerodynamic efficiency, expressed as maximum ratio of lift over drag, must have been vastly better in the case of the " Wren," which, in spite of its fast-running, direct- drive engine was at least 50 per cent, faster, with an engine of approximately the same power. But we should not lose sight of the fact that the engine of the " Wren " probably did not weigh much more than one-half of the Wright engine of 1903. This fact is, therefore, in some measure to be offset against the geared propellers of the Wright biplane. On the other hand, every possible credit is due to the Wright Brothers for having, at that early date, discovered for themselves the advantages of the geared propeller. We have for years shirked the difficulties connected with the production of suitable gearing for modern high-power engines, and it is not until comparatively recently that a really serious effort is being made to attain what, 25 years ago, the Wright Brothers knew to be desirable. Progress we have certainly made in the design and construction of aircraft. But the greatest progress has, been connected with the power plant. We have referred to the fact that the first Wright biplane was catapulted off the ground. It is somewhat curious to reflect that there are those who hold, in modern times, that for certain purposes catapult starting will again become, in future, quite a usual form of starting. Already such a form of starting, a little more elaborate, and not depending upon a dropping weight for its functioning, is used regularly for starting aircraft from surface vessels. Thus once more we see history repeating itself. We are rather proud of the fact that today speeds of nearly 320 m.p.h. have been attained. Altitudes of 38,400 ft. have been recorded, and aircraft have covered 4,750 miles without alighting, and have remained in the air continuously for 65 hours without refuelling, to mention but a few among the numerous world's records recognised by the F.A.I. Brilliant as these results are, and no matter how much they may be improved during the next 25 years, they can never dim the glory that will for ever surround the names of those two great brothers, Wilbur and Orvill^i Wright, whose first flight, of only 12 seconds' dura- tion, was made over the sand dunes of North Carolina on December 17, 1903. American Combine THE New York correspondent of the Daily Telegraph reports on December 17 a merger in the aircraft industry providing for the largest consolidation yet undertaken, re- sulting in the formation of a corporation with securities exceeding £30,000,000 in market valuation. The name of the new corporation will be United Aircraft and Transport, and it will own the stock of various concerns, with Mr. W. Boeing, president of the Boeing Airplane and Transport, as chairman of the board. Other directors will be officials of the National City Bank, General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Co., and the Standard Oil Company. In Memory of Amundsen's Discovery ON December 14 Oslo stopped work for two minutes at noon, flags were lowered to half-mast, and church bells rang all over Norway to commemorate the anniversary of Capt. R. Amundsen's discovery of the South Pole. The King and Crown Prince and members of the diplomatic body took part at an impressive meeting at Oslo. Appeal for Aerodromes MAJOR R. H. S. MEALING, of the Air Ministry, lectured to the Town Planning Institute at Caxton Hall on December 14 and urged the need for local aerodromes. He said that there were only five Government aerodromes in this country as compared with 254 municipal aerodromes and landing grounds in Germany and 391 in America. Group-Capt. Bigs worth GROUP-CAPT. AW. BIGSWORTH, Chief Staff Officer, Coastal Command, has been appointed to represent the R.A.F. on the Council of the Navy, Army and Air Force institutes. 1062
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