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Aviation History
1929
1929 - 0403.PDF
FEBRUARY 28, 1929 The Saloon The cabin of the Westland IV is very roomy and com- fortable, and seating accommodation is provided for four passengers, of whom two face forward and two aft In front, andqn the port side, is the pilot's seat, and to the right of him is another seat, which may be occupied by an engineer, or, if desired, by another passenger. Windows in the sides of the saloon give an excellent view, while as regards the pilot the sloping wind screen affords a good view forward. Aft of the cabin is the usual lavatory, the door arrangement of which is such that the lavatory space is made use of when entering and leaving the machine, but separated from the saloon when the machine is in flight. In the lavatory roof is an emergency exit. The saloon is entered through the aft door, and as the machine is quite low on the ground, passengers can step straight into the cabin by the use of very simple steps. Behind the saloon is a very large luggage compartment, and under the pilot's cockpit is another and smaller compartment for suitcases, &c. The petrol tanks are housed in the wing, one of 48 gallons capacity on each side. From these two tanks the petrol flows by gravity to a common point, and thence to the out- board engines by gravity, and to the central engine by gravity, assisted by a windmill-driven petrol pump. In normal flying attitudes the " head " of petrol is sufficient to give gravity feed to the central engine also, but during a steep climb the pump is called upon to supplement gravity. On the first machine the undercarriage consists of two simple vees, one on each side, under the engine mountings, and springing is by rubber shock absorbers. The next machine will, however, have oleo " legs," and wheel brakes. The wheel track is very wide (14 ft. 6 in.), and should give good stability on the ground. During preliminary test flights one of the wing engines was stopped several times, and it was found that up to altitudes of about 5,000 ft. the machine could be flown, and even climbed slowly, on the two other engines. As the " Cirrus " is in itself an extremely reliable engine, a machine with three of them and capable of flying on any two should be to all intents and purposes immune from forced landings. The first of the Westland IV limousine monoplanes has a tare weight of 3,145 lbs., and as its present C. of A. total gross weight is 4,900 lbs., the ratio of gross to tare weight is 1 • 58 to 1. With full tanks the cruising range is estimated to be 570 miles. The petrol (total capacity) would weigh approximately 700 lbs., so that, taking the "weight of pilot as 160 lbs., and carrying no engineer, there would be available for pay load a capacity of about 895 lbs., which could be in the form of passengers or mails and goods. For shorter duration of flight, the pay load would, of course, be corre- spondingly increased. For instance, carrying 64 gallons of petrol, which would give a range of about 380 miles, and one pilot, the pay load would be approximately 1,120 lbs. FLIGHT " Sketch THE WESTLAND IV MONOPLANE : Diagrammatic Perspective sketch, showing mounting of starboard wing engine. Accurate performance figures have not yet been obtained, but the estimated cruising speed is about 95 m.p.h., and the estimated top speed 115 m.p.h. Assuming 90 b.h.p. as maximum power for the " Cirrus III," the power loading becomes 4'900 = 18-15 lb./h.p. The wing loading is 270 • 10 lb./sq. ft. With passengers' seats removed, a certain amount would be saved on the tare weight, and in that case the machine should be a very useful mail carrier, especially for the con- veyance of night mails, where the reliability of the three- engined arrangement should make for safety. The stripped cabin and luggage compartments would then, between them, give an available cargo or mail space of 193 cub. ft. It would probably not be difficult, if desired, to arrange for a small extra supply of petrol, when the machine should be capable of the flight London-Berlin non-stop. We would suggest that an experimental night mail service between these two centres would be very well worth while. For use in the dominions, the Westland IV should be an extremely serviceable type, and in this connection it might be pointed out that the machine could be fitted with floats and used as a seaplane. Presumably, it would also be quite feasible to fit it with a ski undercarriage for use in countries like Canada. Air Rescues from Kabul THE R.A.F. Vickers " Victorias " and Handley Page Hinaidi " continued their flights between Peshawar and Kabul carrying Europeans to safety from the threatened Afghan capital. Sir jFrancis'Humphriys, tha British Minister to Afghanistan, together with the remaining members of the British Legation, were flown safely to Peshawar on February 25. That completed the work of evacuation by the R.A.F. On that day seven Vickers " Victorias " and one Handley Page " Hinaidi " were engaged. There are still some German subjects at Kabul with the new German Minister, Baron von Plessen, who recently landed at the capital to take the place of the former Minister, who is ill at Peshawar. They did not avail themselves of the opportunity of evacuating the city in view of their contracts with the Afghan Government. His Majesty the King sent the following telegram to Sir Samuel Hoare ;—" I heartily congratulate the Royal Air Force on the great feat of rescuing so many men, women, and children from Kabul in spite of the many diffi- culties in the air and on the ground.—GEORGE, R.I." Sir Samuel Hoare telegraphed the following reply to Craigwell House, Bognor :—" On behalf of the Air Council and Royal Air Force I desire taconvey to your Majesty our deep appreci- ation of your gracious telegram of congratulations on the successful issue of the evacuation operations in Afghanistan. All ranks of the Force have been anxiously watching your Majesty's progress from day to day with earnest wishes for your speedy recovery. They will particularly welcome at the present juncture the consideration which has prompted you to send them so encouraging a message on the completion of a duty which they have been proud to perform in the interests of humanity." The King has also sent a telegram to Sir Francis Humphreys congratulating him on his safe arrival at Peshawar. Too Thick CAPTAIN MALCOLM CAMPBELL, who is in South Africa preparing for an attempt upon the motor speed record, was slightly injured in an air crash on February 25 when the machine, piloted by Mr. Penny, of Cape Town, hit a tree and was totally wrecked. Later he was flown to Cape Town by Major Miller, the South African airman, and on alighting at the Maitland aerodrome a strong gust of wind turned the light 'plane over. Capt. Campbell received injury to his face in the first crash at Calvinia and is suffering from slight shock. Mr. Penny suffered seriously from shock. Long-Distance Record THE numerous reports in the daily Press stating that the attempt upon the long-distance record by the R.A.F. Fairey monoplane (Napier " Lion " engine) will be made from Cranwell or Waddington in a few days' time are not authorised by the Air Ministry, who refuse to confirm or deny the truth of the reports. There is not likely to be any official notifica- tion of the start, so that the monoplane may be well on its way at any time now before the public hears of it. 161
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