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Aviation History
1929
1929 - 0318.PDF
FEBRUARY 14, 1929 German Heavy-Oil Aero Engine A JUNKERS G.24 monoplane fitted with a Junkers 600 h.p. heavy-oil engine made a first test successfully last week, A circular flight over Dessau was completed. Air Mails for Algeria THE Postmaster-General announces that air mail corre- spondence for Algeria is now sent by air from London to Paris as well as from Marseilles onwards, and the air fee is now Ad. per oz. The mail now closes at the General Post Office, London, at 6 a.m. each weekday except Saturday. R.A.F. Officers Held to Ransom ON February 11 three R.A.F. machines were flown to Sultanpore, near Jellalabad, to bring back Flight.-Lieut. Chapman and Flying-Officer Davis, the pilots of the R.A.F. Vickers " Victoria," which made a forced landing recently whilst flying from Peshawar to Kabul. One of the machines landed and immediately signalled the others not to land. For two hours the machines circled and then returned to Peshawar. It appears that the Afghans with whom the officers are staying require a ransom for their release. There is no fear of their safety. The officer who landed and is now captive with them is Flying-Officer C. R. Hancock. Instructions were despatched to the British Consul at Jellalabad to arrange for their release. Air Search for Landing Grounds A 10,000-MILE air tour in search of municipal landing grounds is to be carried out by Sir Alan and Lady Cobham between April and August. Every town from Inverness to Penzance will be visited. One of the proposals is to take up every Mayor in this country for a flight. O O <3> <3> BRIEF LITERARY REVIEWS " THE Art of Flying."—Capt. Norman Macmillan's interesting book, "The Art of Flying," has appeared in its second edition, published as before by Gerald Duckworth and Co., Ltd., at 5s. net, and it has also been revised and enlarged by the author. Almost a thousand copies were sold in Australia, and an American edition has just been put on the market by Edwin Valentine Mitchell, Inc., Hartford, Conn. Service pilots there have expressed much apprecia- tion of the book's value to the pilot. Capt. Macmillan has added a chapter entitled " The Flying Sense " to the second edition, which treats of the theoretical aspect of practical flying in a way which every pilot should be familiar with but, unfortunately, is not. As with the other chapters, the author makes extra interest by narrating familiar experiences by way of illustrating his theories. " Smithsonian Institution Report."—In the 1927 report of the Smithsonian Institution there is an excellent illustrated account by Mr. Lincoln Ellsworth, of the Amundsen—Ellsworth flying-boat expedition to the regions of the North Pole in 1925 and the Norge airship flight to the Pole in May, 1926. On the first attempt the Dornier-Wal flying-boats came down 120 miles from the North Pole after flying for eight hours from Spitzbergen, when they were expected to be over the Pole. On landing, it was found they had drifted westward and also half of the fuel was consumed. The lead in which they landed closed up before they could take off again, and it required 25 days' hard work to free one machine. The expedition cost 150,000 dolls., and 120,000 square miles of unknown regions were explored, whilst two soundings showed the depth of the Polar Basin at that latitude to be 12,000 ft., which precluded the possibility of land on the European side of the North Pole. The Italian Norge airship was tried for the next expedition of the following year, and it descended to within 300 ft. when over the Pole. Its motors were throttled and heads were bared whilst three flags were dropped. Then the course for Point Barrow, Alaska, was set, a further distance of 1,500 miles, and a landing was finally made at Teller, 91 miles north-west of Nome, after a flight of 3,393 miles in 72 hours. In the same Smithsonian Report is Wolfgang Klemperer's illustrated lecture on " Soaring Flight." " The Hawk."—We have received the first issue of the Royal Air Force Staff College annual magazine, " The Hawk," published at Andover, Hants, price 2s. 6d. In style it is very much like the excellent Cranwell Cadet College magazine. The contents will consist for the most part of work produced in the ordinary run of duty at the Staff College. A most interesting feature comes under " Service Experiences." Whilst at the Staff College each student is required to place on record his service adventures, particularly those concerned with warlike operations. There is a very intimate review of " War Birds," the diary of an unknown American aviator. The identity of the author is revealed, and to those who read the diary, although the name may convey nothing, yet a curiosity is satisfied. There is also a photograph of the diarist and his friends, Springs, Callahan, etc., who became so alive in the book. The contents of the first issue of " The Hawk " are far from localised. Subjects range over experiences in many countries, and it is most unlikely that the Staff College alone will enjoy the contents. It is the ambition of the editors to stimulate a medium of expression for the Royal Air Force ; and that hope is shared by Marshal of the Air Force Sir Hugh Trenchard in a letter to the Commandant. The editor is Sqdn.-Ldr. A. S. G. Lee. " Poetry Review."—The January—February issue of the " Poetry Review" announces the results of a competition for poems on the subject of flight. Lieut. J. L. Hitchings, Air Corps, Fort Crockett, Galveston, Texas, won the first prize of 50 dols. with his ballad " The Ghosts of the Eighth Attack." It is a popular choice, one imagines, suggesting the judges' preference for realism. It is the sort of thing that one has not to read twice to understand, for the simple reason that the poet understands what he is chanting. " International Aircraft Markings."—We know from the correspondence that comes to our office of the public curiosity in the identity of passing aircraft. Sqdn.-Ldr. Lord Edward Grosvenor and Mr. Leonard Bridgman have produced an illustrated work, published by Macmillan and Co., Ltd., price 2s. 6d., called " International Aircraft Markings," a title which explains the contents. The naval, military, and civil markings used on aircraft by all countries are vividly illustrated in the correct colours and design. This book should become a standard reference. " Handley Page Bulletin."—The January issue of this journal contains further interesting details of the new all- metal Handley Page " Hinaidi," •which can be fitted with two Bristol " Jupiter VIII " engines with four-bladed air- screws, or, with slight modification, with Rolls-Royce F. 12A engines, or with Napier " Lion " engines. There is also a trenchant article on safer civil flying and incidental items of news. The contents are printed in three languages—• English, French and Spanish—and are well illustrated. The price of this journal is 6d. CORRESPONDENCE The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by correspondents. The names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters intended for insertion in these columns THE SIMPLEX "RED ARROW" 2182]. We aie in receipt of your issue of January 10, and note the very good write-up of the Chicago International Aeronautical Exposition but must take exception to the statement of Lady Heath that there is no protection for the pilot in case of a nose over with our ship. This is a very unfair statement as this was taken care of very safely after numerous conferences with the Depart- ment of Commerce at Washington and was arranged to their entire satisfaction. We had a very fine demonstration of how good this protection is, when one of our demonstrator pilots recently ran into a fog in Indiana and finally bumped into an orchard and landed the ship squarely on its back, without injury to the pilot and without crushing the protective rim If Lady Health had mentioned this while in our exhibit we would have shown her how strongly this protective rim is reinforced, but the writer did not notice her until just before she left the exhibit and only spoke a few words with her. THE SIMPLEX AIRCRAFT CORP. , Defiance, Ohio. January 29, 1929. 124
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