FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1929
1929 - 1211.PDF
Flight, June 13, 1929 AIRCRAFTENGINEER. First Aeronautical Weekly in the World. Founded January, 1909 Founder and Editor : STANLEY SPOONER A Journal devoted to the Interests. Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE ROYAL AERO CLUB OF THE UNITED KINGDOM No. 1068. (No. 24. Vol. XXI.) JUNE 13, 1929 ["Weekly, Price 64.L Post free, 7d. Editorial Offices: 36, GREAT QUEEN STREET, KINGSWAY, W.C.2 Telephone: Holtiorn 3211. Telegrams: Truditur, Westcent, London. • , ' Annual Subscription Rates, Post Free. United Kingdom .. 30s. id. Abroad .. .. 33s. 0i.» * Foreign subscriptions must be remitted in British currency • •' ' CONTENTS Editorial Comment: PAGE Ten Years Ago .. 473 Lord Thomson .. .. .. .. .. 474 Hawker " Horsleys " for Greece 475 Mono-Spar Wings .. ,. .. .. 476 Parnall •' Pipit" „ j Curtiss-Handley Page Slot Installation '4m King's Cup Race 482 Airism; From the Four Winds 484 Private Flying: Recent Light 'Plane Event s 486 Bristol's Municipal Aerodrome .. 487 Light 'Plane Clubs ' .. 488 Cambridge Air Meeting 490 Eddies. .. 492 Royal Air Force 3 Air Ministry Notices 493 Personals 493 Correspondence 4 DIARY OF CURRENT AND FORTHCOMING EVENTS Club Secretaries and others desirous of announcing the dates of important fixtures are invited to send particulars for inclusion in this list— 1929. June 19-22 F.I.A. Conference, Copenhagen. June 27-30 Rotterdam International Air Meeting. Jnly 5-6 .... King's Cap Race and Sidleley Trophy Tour. July ia .... R.A.F. Display at Hendon. July 16-27.... 7th International Aero Exhibition, Olympia. Jnly 25 .... Bleriot Cross-Channel Flight Anniversary Fete, Calais. Jtfly 2t .... International Flying Meeting, Sweden. Aug. 1-14 French Light Plane Meeting, Orly. Aug. 15 .... International Balloon Race, Poland. Sept. 6-7 .... Schneider Trophy Race, Solent. Sept. 10-20 Aero Club de France Meeting, Le Baule. Oct. 1 .... Gordon-Bennett Balloon Race, St. Louis, -y. j -.•;.-. U.S.A. Oct. 81 .... Guggenheim Sale-Aircraft Competition Closes. Ten Years Ago EDITORIAL COMMENT UNE 14, 1919, ten years ago to-morrow, was a red letter day in the history of British aviation. On that day Captain Jack Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown, as they then were, took off from St. John's, Newfound- land, in a Vickers " Vimy " biplane fitted with two Rolls-Royce " Eagle " engines to attempt to fly to Ireland. How well they succeeded will still be remembered. • Leaving St. John's at 5.15 p.m. on June 14, the " Vimy " arrived at Clifden, Ireland, at 9.40 the next morning, having crossed the Atlantic in a little more than 16 hours. The distance was approxi- mately 1,900 miles, and the average speed maintained was something- like 115 m.p.h. The Alcock-Brown flight is an historic one. Not only was it the first non-stop flight from coast to coast, but it was done at a speed which, at the time, was little short of marvellous. The old " Vimy " was not capable of anything like the speed averaged during the flight, but was assisted by a strong following wind. Apart from that, however, Alcock and Brown were not favoured by the weather. On the contrary, fog and rain, and occasionally sleet and snow, hampered the flight, and Alcock afterwards told of how, on several occasions, they narrowly escaped disaster by hitting the sea on coming out of fog banks. It should be recollected that modern navigational equipment was not then available, and that the " Vimy " should have reached Ireland must forever remain a feat of navigation on the part of Whitten Brown which has never since been exceeded. In this connection we cannot refrain from recounting a little incident which may now be told without harm to anyone. A week or so before he left for Newfoundland Lieut. Brown called at the offices of FLIGHT with an article and a number of graphs, dealing with air navigation. One of these charts showed a series of most ingenious curves, by the aid of which the calculation of position was very greatly simplified. This system of curves had been invented by Lieut. Brown, and FLIGHT was naturally pleased that he should have decided to give the
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
