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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0129.PDF
FLIGHT, FEBRUARY G, 1931 th-n'the air-cooled, and therefore caused some delay in wetting away. ° Cornm. Mackintosh, R.N., said he had done deck flyingas a passenger only, and he did not quite agree with the leVurer that ability to float was desirable in machines opera-tin <* from carriers. He thought it was absolutely essential! Squadron-Leader Acland, in replying to the discussion,sfii.i he regretted that he had omitted the reference to the earlv experiments in landing by Air Commodore Samson andothers. As regards the American, Ely, being the first man to flv off a vessel, that must have happened long before his time,and he was afraid he did not know of it. As regards the suggestion that slowing down the aircraft carrier might bepermissible and might reduce the bumps, etc., while this was possibly true in the case of certain machines, it should beremembered that more and more load was being carried by modern deck flying aircraft, which again put their landingrun and landing speed up, and also the captain of the aircraft carrier naturally wanted to keep up with the fleet. Asregards the narrow width of the carrier's deck, this was a very real problem. On an aerodrome if a pilot misjudged hislanding a bit, he could simply turn round, and merely felt an ass, but if that happened on the deck of an aircraft carrier,the pilot would feel thoroughly wet! To the question in which direction exits should be provided for the crew, whathe had in mind was that the cockpits were often very small, and it was difficult for the occupants to get out quickly. One speaker had referred to damage to the tail of machinesrather to the undercarriage. He could not call to mind seeing a single instance of damage being1 done to the tail,but very many of damage done to the undercarriage. On the subject of flush deck or island type of ship, he quiteagreed with Flight-Lieut. Hylton that the flush deck type was the one and only. In reply to Squadron LeaderEngland, he thought the answer to the question why the island was on the starboard side was exactly that given bySquadron Leader England himself, that the pilot looked over the port side, and thus did not see the island ! He did notconsider the gyro-stabiliser worth while. If one landed in the centre of the ship, that was as good as could be hoped for.He thought the reason for the great increase in the per- centage of safe landing was due to the flat deck rather thanto the palisades. They were useful, however, in that they gave the pilot the assurance that if he misjudged his landinghe would not go over the side. On the question of reviving the Bleriot undercarriage, he was averse to go back to wiresand so did not think that type of undercarriage was required any more. Another point against the use of wires was thatif the aircraft carrier were under fire the use of any arrester gear would increase the time which had to be spent ondeck. The Chairman then asked the audience to express theirappreciation in the usual manner, a request which was heartily complied with. MODELS THE SOCIETY OF MODEL AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERS (S.M.A.E.)T HE Annual General Meeting of the Society of ModelAeronautical Engineers was held at the Y.M.C.A., Tottenham Court Road, London, W.C., on Thursday,January 29 ; Dr. A. P. Thurston (vice-president) occupied the chair.The Hon. Secretary, in his report, referred to the loss of their President, Air-Vice Marshal Sir Sefton Brancker, K.C.B.,A.F.C., whose tragic death was greatly felt. They had, however, been honoured by the acceptance of Col. The Masterof Sempill to the presidency. It was worthy of note that enthusiasm for model aircraft construction and flying wasincreasing in a most encouraging way, and clubs were being formed all over the country, also " durations " had improvedconsiderably during the year and many records had been broken. He, the Hon. Secretary, wished to thank the press,on behalf of aeromodellists, for the space they were allotting to club notices and descriptions of models. The Hon.Treasurer, in presenting the financial report and balance sheet, pointed out that the accounts of the Society werevery satisfactory and that the outlook for the future was particularly bright. The balance sheet and report wereunanimously adopted, coupled with a hearty vote of thanks to Mr. W. E. Evans for his hard work as Hon. Treasurerand editor of the " S.M.A.E. " Journal. The following were then unanimously elected by themeeting as officers for the ensuing year :— President, Col. The Master of Sempill ; Vice-Presidents,Dr. A. P. Thurston, R. M. Balston ; Chairman, A. F. Houl- berg; Vice-Chairman, W. E. Evans, B. K. Johnson ; Hon.treasurer, W. E. Evans ; Hon. Secretary, S. G. Mullins ; Technical Secretary, R. N. Bullock ; Competition Secretary,J. Van Hattum ; Council, J. E. Pelly-Fry, H. E. Onions, D. A. Pavely, W. J. Plater, T. H. Newell, R. Langley, G. R. Pock-iington, Capt. C. E. Bowden, D. B. Mincher, A. J. Stevens. An extraordinary general meeting of the Society will beneld at the Y.M.C.A., Tottenham Court Road, W.C., on Thursday, February 19, at 8 p.m., for the purpose of dis-cussing various revisions to the General Competition and Alhhahon Rules of the Society.—S. G. Mullins (Hon. Sec),A he S.M.A.E., 72, Westminster Avenue, Thornton Heath, ourrey, THE MODEL AIRCRAFT CLUB (T.M.A.C.) wilf infuSural meeting of the first Wing (Squadrons 1, 2, 3)"•R if Place on Hampstead Heath Extension (near the Bull and Bush"), on Sunday February 15, under the"Pcrvision of Mr. W. R. Burnett. Flying will commence a.m. It is to be hoped that all members who are desirous of joining this Wing will make a special effort to be present. —A. E. Jones, Hon. Secretary, 48, Narcissus Road, West Hampstead, N.W.6. WESTLAND AIRCRAFT SOCIETY, MODEL SECTION. MR. W. RIGBY, of London, whose articles on makingof model aeroplanes are well known, gave a very interesting lecture to some 40 members of the Model Section of theWestland Aircraft Society at the Three Choughs Hotel on Thursday, January 22. Two films, showing both indoor and outdoor model aircraftmeetings in London, were projected. The performance of model machines in the Horticultural Hall was particularlygood. Mr. Rigby gave blackboard illustrations of ideas formodel making, and answered many questions, and expressed his admiration for the models exhibited by some of themembers. The lecturer demonstrated several paper models made, byhimself, which put up quite good performance in the Lecture Room, and mentioned that an order for 450,000 of onedesign had just been placed with him for distribution with a popular publication for boys. Mr. V. S. Gaunt thanked Mr. Rigby for bringing the filmsand for his interesting lecture, which together had made the evening very pleasant. Further time was spent bymembers discussing models personally with the lecturer and demonstrations of the smaller models. BOURNEMOUTH MODEL AIRCRAFT SOCIETY. Cup Offered for Duration Flight.—At the last meetingof the Bournemouth Model Aircraft Society, the secretary informed members that Mr. George Baster had offered to putup a Five Guinea Cup or Trophy for a duration contest for model aircraft conforming with the S.M.A.E. formula. Mr. Baster explained that he had made the offer in orderto encourage development of the type of machine capable of winning back the Wakefield Cup from America. Enthusiastic Juvenile Required.THE Secretary desires to hear from a capable juvenile who can unquenchingly devote an unlimited amount of time tothe Junior Section. Preference will be given to one with some experience in Model Flying and a general knowledge ofAeronautics. The selected applicant must become a member of the Society :—H. F. Weller, Hon. Secretary, BournemouthModel Aircraft Society, 18, Madison Avenue, Bournemouth. 125
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