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Aviation History
1930
UNTITLED0 - 0031.PDF
FLIGHT, JANUARY 3, 1930 PROGRESS A Pictorial Review in " Flight " Photographs RH mm * OOKING back is always fascinating, whatever the•§ subject concerned may be, but "when it is the early •fr~* history of aeronautics we dig into, then it is interestingIndeed. During the course of the general editorial duties of producing FLIGHT, it is frequently necessary to refer back tothe earlier volumes of FLIGHT for information on someparticular event, and we have found that as we turn over the pages of the yearly volume in search of our object—well, we generally find ourselves neglecting our real mission, and, instead, becoming deeply absorbed in those hundred andaae other events in the early flying days. In our present review of the twenty-one years of progress offlight this look- ing back pro-cess, through 21 volumes, as-sumes gigantic proportions,and we fi n d that our firstgood intentions ef presentingour readers with a resume•f that progress turns out tobe a case of " easier said -than done." It would not be a particularly easy proposition to condensethe matter available in one volume, let alone one issue. Under the circumstances, therefore, we are forced tocontent ourselves with just a few general remarks on the various aspects of flight during this period, and to reproducesi selection of FLIGHT photographs of pilots, aircraft andevents, etc., covering the 21 years. After all, the develop- ment of the aeroplane itself is, perhaps, the best indication©f the progress made in aeronautics, so that our collection of photographs, together with the accompanying text, should,apart from their general interest, give a fair impression of the progress of flight.On the first page of No. 1, Vol. I, of FLIGHT (reproduced•n p. 11), there was a picture bearing the following inscription : "A second Englishman flies: Mr. J. T. C.Moore-Brabazon, who is so well known in connection with ballooning, and who is a member of the Committee of theRoyal Aero Club of Great Britain and Ireland, is the second Englishman to fly with his own machine, sharing with Mr.Henry Farman that distinction. On December 3 (1908), at Issy, he made three consecutive flights of 500 to 600 metreseach, our photograph above being secured during one of THE FIRST BRITISH AERODROME : Eastchurch Flying ground' • opened by the Royal Aero Club in 1909. these. The motor he employed is an ordinary 50 h.p. Vivinns ;the aeroplane, upon the lines of the Voisin-Farman biplane, was also constructed by MM. Voisin Freres." FLIGHT thus began with the recording of an Englishman'seffort in the conquest of the air, a fitting opening, we think, although Great Britain was then sadly behind the othercountries in practical aeronautics. These flights—or rather hops—and those of the otherpioneers of that time, such as Bleriot, Henry Farman, the Wright brothers, Delagrange, Esnault-Pelterie, SantosDumont, etc., were all more or less "short but sweet," frequently ending with mishaps. Perhaps the most successfulflight* "were made by theWrights, as in- dicated by adescription, in No. 1 of FLIGHT,of their flight for the MichelinCup at Le Mans on December18, 1908. Wil- bur Wright hadcome to Europe to show theworld that he ' really could fly—for previously his reported flights in America were shrouded somewhatin mystery. It may further be added that his flights in Europe caused something of a sensation, as they wereobviously far in advance—in quality if not in quantity— of those being made at that time on this side of the Atlantic.To return to the Michelin Cup, Wilbur Wright, on the date in question, made 45 complete circuits of a triangular courseof 2-2 km. in 1 hr. 53 mins. 59J sees., equivalent to 99 km., and, in addition, flew 400 m. to and from his starting rail,bringing the total to 99-8 km.—a world's record. On December 31 he improved on this, accomplishing 124-7 km.in 2 hr. 20 mins. 23 sees. It is interesting to note, in looking through the earlypages of FLIGHT, how these first efforts steadily improved.As an example, let us take the flights made by S. F. Cody, on the British Army Biplane. After reconstruction, followinga not altogether successful first trial flight in 1908, this machine, constructed at Farnborough under the supervisionof S. F. Cody and Col. Capper, reappeared in January, 1909, and throughout the year made several progressively success-ful " flights " thus :—In January, 20 yds. and 306 yds. (crashed) ; rebuilt February, short trials (to 400 yds.) on * * »• A MODERN AERODROME : Heston Air Park, one of many aerodromes now in operation all over Great Britain. (FLIGHT Photos.) 31
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