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Aviation History
1929
1929 - 1248.PDF
FLIGHT, JCNE 13. 1929 which was brought over by Mr. H. H. Leech is, we believe,the original machine used by Sqdn.-Ldr. Bert Hinkler in his flight to Turin in 1920, but it has now been fitted with a" Cirrus " engine and converted to a two-seater. Despite its long and eventful history, it still looked quite lively, andwe shall, no doubt, see more of it at future meetings. Mr. Randolph Trafford's Morane-Saulnier, in which he flew overfrom Geneva a week or two back, is quite an attractive looking machine. It has a 120-h.p. Salmson engine and issomewhat larger than the British light aeroplanes, though the accommodation and performance are of the same order.The machine is a parasol monoplane with wire bracing, and Mr. Trafford assures us that it is a delight to fly. After tea, the hard-worked Mr. J. Tranum, who is fastbecoming a sine qua non of our flying meetings, made another parachute descent from the little Klemm, this time a delayed action drop from about 3,000 ft. The length of his dead dropup to the opening of the parachute was timed by a sporting gentleman at five and two-fifths seconds. The more mathe-matically minded of our readers may like to amuse themselves by calculating the distance. The Aerial Golf competitionattracted fourteen entries, and the result was a tie between Flight-Lieut. T. Rose and Flight-Lieut, le Poer Trench, eachof whom placed shots within 2£ yards of the target. Some of the assistant judges, who were stationed on the targetappeared very uncomfortable at times. The evening ended with an aerial relay race between two teams of four machineseach, the first pair of each team having to fly a two miles course, land and transfer batons to the second pair, who thenstarted their engines, flew the course and over the finishing line. The times were very close and an exciting finish wasseen. W. J. p. EDDIES THE Navy League, that old-established and patrioticassociation of Britons, have recently entered a well timed protest against the fatuous cry of the lunaticpacifist in regard to one-sided disarmament. General dis- armament—a thing which never will be—is a very differentproposition, and in the centuries to come will, no doubt, be able to look after itself. But in regard to the silly call forEngland to disarm, etc., whilst endorsing the great ideal of a general limitation of armaments, this is what the NavyLeague have to say :— " We disagree with those who advocate one-sided dis-armament. This country has already led the way in dis- armament by reducing its Navy, Army, and Air Force,and we feel that further reduction on our part without parallel reductions on the part of the other Powers will not onlyjeopardise the security of this country and the Empire, but will imperil world peace by rendering it impossible forGreat Britain to meet her great obligations. " The Navy League confides that the Government, ofwhatever party it may be composed after the General Election, will make proper provision for the defence of thiscountry and of the Empire, and especially that an adequate Navy and Fleet air arm will be maintained for the defenceof our trade routes and communications upon the high seas. In view of our progressive trade with the British Dominions,India, and all other parts of the Empire, it becomes increas- ingly important to defend and keep open the sea routes ofthe world." To all of which I heartilv subscribe " Hear, hear." '< /^COMMEMORATING First Trans-Atlantic Air Mail,V^ June 14, 1919." In the above words the Ministry of Post, Newfoundland, has decided to record the tenth anniversary of the Alcock-Whitten Brown Atlantic flight, by the issue of this special post-mark on June 14, 1929. It is well that small gestures in this direction should help towards emphasising the fact that the first Atlanticflight was accomplished by Britons flying British machine and engine. STRONG indictment comes from Mr. H. Morey, ofSutton, as to the consequences following the installa- tion of a R.A.F. aerodrome. The selection of Oxfordin this connection is the peg on which Mr. Morey hangs his complaint. In his view Oxford is doubly unfortunate inbeing forced to submit to the ruthlessly levelling activities of the R.A.F. in addition to the blight of a new industrialism,but the R.A.F. unaided usually succeeds, he says, in stamping a bleak ugliness upon any rural or semi-rural area where itplaces an aerodrome. Continuing, Mr. Morey writes : " I have Halton Camp and Waddonin mind. My impressionof the first place is a ' devastated area ' encroaching upon Wendover, one of the most charmingly mellow little townsin England, which it almost contaminates by its unkempt disorder of derelict wooden hutments and neglected ditches,while the dominating feature of Waddon is now a league-long fence of unpainted corrugated iron 6 ft. high, which isgradually obliterating from the memories of unfortunate residents that their home district was at one time a greenAnd pleasant place." VIATION would certainly appear to be coming into itsk. own at last, anyway in America, when a woman, Mrs Mabel Willebrandt, has been appointed counsel for theAviation Corporation of the United States at Washington, with a salary of £10,000 per annum (or is it dollars ? ). Thismust be some position to have attained, when it is remembered that Mrs. Willebrandt, to take up the new position, isresigning her present post of U.S. Assistant Attorney-General in charge of Prohibition Enforcement. Her new task, it isstated, will be to make a comprehensive survey of National and State laws as affecting the aviation industry. She sharesin the universal opinion prevailing there that America is on the threshold of a rapid expansion of air traffic, and addsthat, in order to promote every phase of aeronautical advance, while safeguarding individual enterprises and investors, it isnecessary to secure uniformity and stability in the law and its procedure. ITALIAN officers the other day took their bearings aroundthe Schneider Trophy course in a "Southampton' flying-boat, and seemed to be greatly pleased with theirexperience and reception when they visited Calshot air station. Apropos the contest, Signor Balbo, Italian Under-secretary for Aviation, speaking in the Chamber last week, had some pertinent remarks to make as to the Italian aviationposition, and incidentally announced that entirely new pilots would represent Italy in the Schneider Trophy event.Sig. Balbo, in dealing with the Air Estimates, asserted that Italian aviation had now reached perfect efficiency andwas ready for any emergency. " No country," he said, " has been so fast as Italy inperfecting the aerial weapon. She has nearly surpassed England in this respect, because Signor Mussolini does hisutmost towards having the strongest aerial force in Europe." And thats, that. ^NLY the quickest point-to-point method can satisfySir Henry Segrave's active speed mind, thus enabling him to honour the numerous calls upon him fromall parts of the compass. So it was that he travelled by air the other day to Berlin, where he was due to show thepaces of his racing motor boat, Miss England, against the picked German champions. Again Sir Henry provedhimself unbeatable on the water as he had done both on land and on water in America. SURELY if the above be a record of facts it should beup to the Air Ministry to make an effort to modify . . such a state of things. THEN Dr. Nansen makes his North Pole effort nextSpring with the Graf Zeppelin, his original plan will probably be somewhat modified. The present ideais that the European base for the expedition is to be removed from Murmansk to the Finmarken coast of Northern Norway,and the American base to Fairbanks, Alaska, instead of Nome. The erecting of mooring masts at both places is to begin assoon as possible. Dr. Nansen sets forth as the principal aims of the expeditionto the fixing of boundaries of the deep Arctic Ocean ana an investigation of the possible landing-places for dirigibls5-With this end several attempts will be made to land. Only incidentally will a tour be made to the North Pole, butextensive plans are on foot, it is stated, to map the Siberia coast by photograph. The expedition is to last three weeJ&and the start will be made early in April. During the whow of the flight the Zeppelin will have a double crew. AEOLOS. 492 M
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