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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0251.PDF
FLIGHT, MARCH 13, 1931 A Sensible Long-Distance Flight PUBLICITY has recently been given to the flight whichCapt- Neville Stack and Mr. J. Chaplin propose making to Australia, and we are now permitted to publish a few furtherdetails of this matter. Capt. Stack, together with Mr. Chaplin, who, incidentally has made the flight possible, originallyhoped to make this flight to Austraha on a machine with a cruising speed of 150 m.p.h., which would then have per-mitted them to go there and back in a maximum of 21 days, and so demonstrate what could be done were the Post Officeto institute a mail-carry service with machines having a sensible performance. This schedule has, however, had tobe modified since they were not allowed to obtain the machine they had first intended to use, and they will now use aVickers' Napier nee Vivid), which will enable them to keep up a minimum cruising speed of 110 m.p.h., and thereby, withiuck, to do the return journey in between three and four weeks. Although they hope to be the first to do the directreturn journey, the flight is in no way a stunt and they are not setting up to create records. They have taken everypossible precaution to ensure their getting there and back and thereby demonstrate the feasibility of such a journeyfor mails. The route to be followed will be, therefore, the well worn track which has already been used many times, and-could be used for a mail service without a very great deal of reorganisation. The machine is fitted with a ten-hour fuelcapacity and a twenty-hour oil capacity, while their " hops " will generally only be of 600 miles, thus allowing an amplefuel margin for having to combat adverse winds. Actually, they have based their calculations throughout on the assump-tion of having a 25-m.p.h. head wind for the whole journey. Their intention is to start early in April, but the actualdate will be dependent on the weather. The engine is'a Napier Lion XIA and extra large Palmer tyres have been fitted on thewheels. The instruments include two Husun Mk. IIIA compasses ;a transmitting type of oil-pressure gauge, whereby the oil is retained in the engine behind a diaphragm, and the pressureis transmitted to the dashboard dial by the diaphragm through the medium of a special fluid in a flexible metallictube, thus obviating loss of engine oil should the tube break, which it is, incidentally, less likely to do than withthe conventional direct-reading type and a copper tube ; a cross level with a self-adjusting bubble so arranged thatvery great heat can be applied without breaking the glass tube and a " time of flight " clock ; all of which are suppliedby Smith's Aircraft Instruments, Ltd. King's Cup Race THE new route for the King's Cup Race, which is beingheld on July 25, has now been published, and both the start and finish will be at Heston. The actual route will be asfollows : Heston, start ; Leicester, turning point ; Norwich, control ; Nottingham, turning point ; Brough, turningpoint ; Leeds, control ; Birmingham, turning point ; Wood- ford, turning point; Hooton, control ; Heston, control ;Shoreham, turning point; Hamble, turning point; Bristol, control ; Heston, finish. It will be recollected that the raceis being confined to amateurs, and though we cannot see how the status of either professional or amateur can really definitelybe defined, we hope that the anticipations of many people that the race will be a farce will not be the case.The Schneider Trophy and Portsmouth ON condition that the Royal Aero Club made Portsmouththe centre of their activities as regards the Schneider Trophy, the Portsmouth City Council has agreed to grant £2,000towards the expenses of the contest. Fritz von Opel Buys a Puss Moth HERR FRITZ VON OPEL, inventor and designer of therocket-propelled car, with which he has conducted much experiment in Germany, has placed an order with the DeHavilland Aircraft Co., Ltd., for a Puss Moth enclosed high- speed touring aeroplane.R.A.A.F. Officer Honoured THE King has been pleased to approve of the awardof the Air Force Cross to Fit.-Lieut. Charles Eaton, Royal Australian Air Force, in recognition of his zeal and devotionto duty in conducting flights to Central Australia in search of missing airmen. Lieut. Eaton took a prominent part in the * WINTER CRUISER: The Robinson " Redwing II," which is fitted with Armstrong Siddeley " Genet "ngine, recently made a tour of about 1,000 miles to various towns in England. The machine is here seen at an altitude of 5,000 ft. above the clouds. (FLIGHT Photo.) 235
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