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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0242.PDF
FLIGHT, MARCH 13, 1931 MORTH KENT GLIDING CLUB offer the following* ^ information as to the mistakes they have made in the past in order that newcomers shall not do the same. At thebeginning of their training they were very enthusiastic and used an efficient machine and sent their members off afteronly one or two slides, with the result that crashes were numerous and the repair bill high. They have now instituteda scheme whereby every member without exception has to make 10 slides before leaving the ground. They use a longsingle rope which makes long slides of 100 yards possible without the sudden acceleration system with the " V"method. A car is used to replace the crew, with 50 ft. of hemp rope between the rubber cord and the car. It is onlynecessary to drive the car at from 5 to 8 m.p.h. except in one case, when their heavy-weight pilot needed a speed of10 m.p.h. to get him moving. On Sunday, February 22, they achieved 76 slides in five hours, and members werethereby enabled to master the control of the glider thoroughly. T-HE SOUTHDOWN SKYSAILING CLUB were unableto do any gliding on Sunday, March 1, on account of the high wind. Their committee has decided to grant" one day memberships " for the sum of 5s. to visitors who wish to take part in the club's activities, while a ground feeof 6d. per day per head will in future be charged to cover the cost of mechanical traction. LJERTS AND ESSEX Gliding Club have had a change intheir Secretary, who is now R. D. Gerrans, of Collins Cross Motor Co., Stanstead Road, Bishops Stortford, Herts,and Mr. Dockray is the new chairman. They have acquired a new flat field, and hope, in the near future, to undertakesome auto-towing. COUTHEND-ON-SEA is now forming a gliding club, and•^ those interested from the surrounding district, are in- vited to communicate with Mr. J. H. Richardson, 43, North-view Drive, Westcliff-on-Sea. A REGRETTABLE ACCIDENT.—On Sunday, March 8** Mr. T. E. Lander, of Harpenden, was killed at Faulk- ners End, near Harpenden, while making a first test flight ofa new type of glider launching apparatus. Mr. Lander was one of the most enthusiastic members of the Harpendengroup of the London Gliding Club, and was something of a pioneer. He was one of the first to own a Pruning type ofglider himself, and had latterly been perfecting the use of motor power for launching gliders. We are told that the methodhe was trying was not auto-towing, but consisted of a drum on the engine shaft of a motor car working through a tacklein such a manner as to gear up the speed of the rope at the end where it was attached to the glider. The machineused was the " Scud," which has often been criticised as being exceptionally sensitive on the elevator control and from theinformation at present available it appears that the accelera- tion imparted to the glider was so great that Mr. Landerexperienced a " black out " and then presumably dived straight into the ground. There has been no suggestion ofconstructional failure. We understand that several previous attempts have been made with modified forms of this launch-ing apparatus, but they had all been found to be too slow, and this gearing up had been designed to overcome this defect.Mr. Lander's death is very much to be regretted indeed, since he was a very keen advocate of gliding and devoted a greatdeal of his time and money to its furtherance. The accident bears out the attitude which we have at all times taken withregard to auto-towing and mechanical launching, for it is certain, as we have pointed out before, that although there arein all probability very great possibilities in either auto- towing or mechanical launching, yet it is quite certain thataccidents will occur unless the car is under the control of an exceptionally careful instructor. In this case of course, Mr.Lander was taking a risk which he would probably have advised others not to take, since the scheme was new anduntried, and such accidents are the type upon which the foundation of our experience is built up, and which unfortu-nately occasionally happen before things can be made safe for others. We would like to express our sympathy withMrs. Lander and her children, and also with all Mr. Lander's many friends in the gliding movement. WELL AWAV : Mr. I. C. Weale in a Prufling at Ivinghoe Beacon on the occasion of a match between the Lancashire Gliding Club and the London Gliding Club. (FLIGHT Photo.)
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