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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0167.PDF
FLIGHT, FEBRUARY 20, 1931 GLIDING DORSET Gliding Club.—The Dance given by the DorsetGliding Club in the Town Hall, Yeovil, on February 6, vas a great success, some 120 members and friends took parta ad proved that the gliding exercises had kept them in good form for dancing. A special menu had been prepared, giving some entirelynew names to the various refreshments. Some of these names would no doubt shock Mrs. Beeton, but at any rate,they were of considerable gliding interest. The refreshments had been prepared by lady members of the Club, and it ishoped that by their efforts the Club Funds will be con- siderably augmented. Saturday being a very nice day, quite a number of mem-bers turned up on the Aerodrome for the first meeting of the season. Everyone seemed to be feeling the effect of the nightbefore, but the sight of " Freddy " (the Club R.F.D.) emerging from the hangar looking very fresh and full of life after a goodoverhaul, cheered everyone up, and a good afternoon's gliding was put in, 22 launches in all being made without a mishap.Everyone said that the machine seemed to handle better since its overhaul and minor improvements. No flying took place on Sunday owing to bad weather,although one or two super-enthusiastic members turned up. yHE SOUTHDOWN Skysailing Club—After forced idle-•*• ness for two Sundays, owing to local foot and mouth disease restrictions, the club met at 10.30 onFebruary 8 at Newmarket Farm near Falmer. The finding of this very fine ground is due to the energy and foresight ofCaptain Leroy Brown, while the Club is also very much indebted to Mr. G. Woodman, for allowing them to housetheir machine in his barn and to fly on his land, as also to Mr. Ray for a like privilege. Although all flying members were notified of the change ofground, only about 30 per cent, turned out. Our R.F.D. was moved to its new quarters on Saturday,so that there was no time wasted on Sunday morning. For this we have to thank our ground engineers, Messrs. S.Wood and Ely, and one of our keenest pilots, Mr. C. King- Smith and others. Sunday opened with a strong, steady, S.W. wind, verysuitable to the site chosen for the day's work, and as we believe in going ahead slowly and carefully, we started onthe simplest among many variable and interesting launching points. Mr. Russell made the usual test flight passing our R.F.D.O.K. This machine has now had over 300 launches, which figure speaks well for the quality of the machine, and for thecare and repair work of our riggers. Mr. Lawson twice gave us demonstrations of steady andsafe gliding and spoke, as did we all, very enthusiastically of the quality of the air in its freedom from eddies, &c, thenew ground being very much better than the old one under similar conditions. The day's labour was made very light by the enterprise ofMessrs. King-Smith and Lawford, the one supplying a irojan car and the other a pair of tractor wheels for it.J-his combination gave excellent service all day. Messrs. Cannon and Tully continue to show great promise, Th ^ laCkS confldence in his own ability. ine break in the continuity of training has had an adverse effect on some of those who have to think how to handle the ° ™-ru if a&ainst tnose who do these things instinctively.Will all interested please note that Mr. York Bramble has ^signed his secretaryship of the club ? THf SOUTHAMPTON Gliding Club.—Meetings are now Mr W 1LweeMy at Bassett, through kind permission of •«i-r, +• Browning. and all the members are receiving 4^C?0Ili some having made nights. They are all veryMth the " Dickson " machine, and pay tribute to The COQstruction-fromth ib is fortunate in having a number of members to W^Vi° aircraft firms, who give their services willingly.On M ! machine in flying trim. Ml moo Februarv 2- the club took advantage of the D anc* b^ fl ih imoomho-r * be^ a very succ Th» -h members making flights. 11 CriPtlOn to this lb i ga very successful night meeting, a ki flih anc the !~~ Pparticulars may be had from "mESTLAND AIRCRAFT SOCIETY.—Over a hundredcomprised the audience at a lecture on the subject of the " Design, Development and Construction of Sail-planes and Gliders," which was delivered under the aegis of the Westland Aircraft Society at The Three Choughs Hotel,Yeovil, on Monday, February 2. The lecturer was Herr Lippisch, who is responsible for thedesign of many of the most successful German gliders, and has built remarkable tailless types. More familiar to mostis his sailplane vthe Wien, the type demonstrated by HerrKronfeld at Eggardon, Dorset, last year, at an exhibition arranged by the Dorset Gliding Club. The lecturer was introduced by Mr. R. A. Bruce, andby means of slides the various air currents and the development of design of gliders was illustrated. Toenable pilots to take fullest advantage of these, varying designs were explained in detail by drawings accompaniedby photographs. Passing to actual construction, slides showing variousmethods were projected and explained. Reference was then made to the construction of taillesstypes of aircraft, the lecturer paying tribute to the work carried out in England by Capt. G. T. R. Hill. Views of the Wasserkuppe, the centre of gliding activitiesin Germany, situated in the Rhon mountains, were shown. In one view, as many as eight different types of gliders andsailplanes were in the air at one time. Herr Lippisch caused much laughter by referring to theseasons of the year as " three-quarters winter, the other quarter being bad weather." Mr. Bruce said the lecture had been very interesting,and that gratitude should be expressed to Herr Lippisch for coming to Yeovil to give to members of the WestlandAircraft Society first-hand information on this subject—and invited members to put any questions they desired. Questions by Capt. A. S. Keep, Mr. A. Davenport, andothers, were answered at length by the lecturer, and further explained by blackboard illustrations. Invited by Mr. Bruce to propose a vote of thanks, Capt.Hill said he would first like to express his appreciation of the extreme kindness shown to Mrs. Hill and himself duringa recent visit to the Wasserkuppe. Everywhere he found courtesy and the construction work he saw was beautiful.Referring to the withdrawal of nails from the work, Capt. Hill emphasised the fact that the nails used were of steel,and were picked up and hammered in by magnetised hammers, thus saving time in the operation and lessening risk of injuryto the hands. He wished, he said in conclusion, to thank Herr Lippisch for so kindly coming to lecture. Replying, Herr Lippisch said that gliding was an art, andemphasised that by studying and using air currents it was possible to make a long flight without the necessity ofconstant refuelling, as in the case of light, power-driven aircraft. Among others present were Capt. R. C. Petter and Mr.R. J. Norton and members visited from Bristol and Gloucester Branches of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Many mem-bers of the Dorset Gliding Club were present, and afterwards availed themselves of the opportunity to obtain the adviceof Herr Lippisch on many technical matters. A DEMONSTRATION OF AUTO TOWING.—Gliding•^* was held on Saturday and Sunday, February 7 and 8, at Hooton Park for members of the Liverpool and District AeroClub. Mr. Lowe-Wylde had taken his BAC 6 up there and a large number of successful flights were made. On Sundayafternoon there was a wind of some 20 miles per hour blowing and four club members were able to qualify for their " A "gliding licences. These were Mr. Davidson with 32 sees., Mr. Moulsdale with 58£ sec, Sqd.-Ldr. Williamson with52^ sec, and Mr. Fresson with 45 sec. All these were obtained within one hour, which would point to the factwe ourselves stressed recently, that this method of gliding appears to offer a quick means of preliminary training forsoaring or power driven flight. We would however again like to stress that it must be carried out only under expertand very strict supervision by an instructor in the car who knows the business from A—Z. It is proposed to form agliding section of the Liverpool Aero Club shortly with an annual subscription of £3 3s. This would also include full 161
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