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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0426.PDF
FLIGHT, MAY 1, 1931 CORRESPONDENCE "I WILL OBEY." [2740] With reference to the article of " Daedalus " and letter from " Per ardua ad infinitum." The whole trouble appears that no official body solely connected with aviation is looking after the interests of the amateur pilot, but are regarding him as an evil nuisance which cause them a large amount of extra work. The stated objects of the Royal Aero Club are " to do all such acts and things as may be conducive to the encouragement and development of aeronautics and to form a club for the association of persons interested in aeronautics " Surely the interests of amateur pilots and private owners are included in the first aim If so, the Royal Aero Club as the representative of the British Aviation should show more co-operation and personal touch with amateur pilots, it should find out and rectify their small difficulties and look after their interests and safety. However, it appears difficult to see how the two objects of the Royal Aero Club mentioned above can be run together. If you art- a centre of information and advice on matters pertaining to aeronautics and a representative body of aviation, surely everyone should be invited to support it without social distinction, but if you are a club, you must have social distinction. The only answer appears to be that the Royal Aero Club should form a branch or association for amateur pilots with a full- time staff to look after their requirements, the Association being amongst other things a centre of information and advice, where any person, male or female, can consult or visit (on the lines of the A.A.), on paying a small annual subscription, and in no way to be connected with the social side of the Royal Aero Club Undoubtedly, through the Associated clubs' General Council, much is being done, but it is personal and individual co-operation which is at present required between the Royal Aero Club and all private owners and amateur pilots. The Royal Aero Club should employ someone to be continually visiting aerodromes and private owners to find out their difficulties and matters of interest and to take action in cases of dangerous flying, otherwise, in time, the Air Ministry will take action which will mean more laws and regulations. Special committees are excellent, but most pilots have not the time to devote to them the - would like. Let us hope before long there will arise a live, solely aeronautical, organisation respected and supported by all interested in private aviation. There is room for such an organisation, whose aims would in no way interfere to a serious extent with the excellent aeronautical work being done by the Aviation branch of the A.A. I believe it would receive (if the organisation proved to be live) enough members to support itself. " HORNET." London, SAW, April 20, 1931. OUR AIRSHIP POLICY [2741] The trouble with many of the airship enthusiasts is that they will persist in regarding airships as pawns in some [>olitical game. Airships are to " improve Imperial communications," " patrol trade routes," and, as sug- gested by last week's correspondent, in an excess of mili- tary zeal, " carry troops in time of war . . . carry aero- planes . . . act as a base for them in land or naval opera- tions . . . wagons of the air ... aerial defence." What these people do not seem to realise is that airship work has never emerged from the experimental stage in this country. Our own policy has been to blow hot and cold, programmes being started with enthusiasm and then suddenly dropped for "reasons of public policy." When R 100 and R 101 were designed and constructed, it really appeared as though airships were going to get a chance. The tragedy of R 101 lies in this fact, that it was designed by some of the finest brains and constructed by some of the best engineers in the world, and yet was sent to destruction through these miserable " reasons of public policy." Every engineer knows that a new design is seldom free from " teething troubles," which, although comparatively trifling, may spoil the machine if they are not overcome, and, moreover, that some of these difficul- ties only reveal themselves after extensive trials. The different attitude of the Germans to their airships may be realised from the following extracts from Dr. Eckener's lecture to the R.Ae.S.,after his flight to America in the Z.R.3. "... we had to anticipate whirls and thunderstorms in the Gulf Stream region. It was seen to, therefore, thai the airship had absolutely faultless gas-tight gas cells. Furthermore, we made sure, by daily trials of the valves during the last three weeks prior to our departure, that these valves, after being pulled, closed up tight w n absolute sureness and safety." "... we were obligi-; in the interest of propaganda for airships, to ' put ovs our flight in good style. ..." It is almost unnecessary to add that Dr. Eckener > ,ih always " put over " his performances in the very I,. ,t style. It is not altogether pleasant to read that tne " Graf Zeppelin " has recently accomplished with ea^e the flight to Egypt which R 101 might have made with even better performance if those last few months had been spent in making her technically sound. In view of the present financial stringency, probably the best policy would be a small but continuous programme involving test flights by R 100, model experiments and research on more suitable materials for covering and gas cells. Financial conditions permitting, R 101 coukl probably be duplicated at a much smaller cost, if the jig^ and tools are still existing, than the original construction. However, all this is too much to hope for. Until there has been produced in this country an air- ship which is reasonably safe, reliable and with an adequate performance, the technical experts should be allowed to get on with the job, and all imperialists, militarists and pessimists who show any tendency to interfere should be quietly but firmly frustrated. Dr. Eckener, at the end of the lecture mentioned above echoed the sentiments of Count Zeppelin when he said: "... airship traffic is a matter of international collabora- tion, and I take pleasure in expressing the hope, there- fore, that the airship may become a means of bringing the nations of the world together in harmonious co-operation." C. E. T. MAGUIRE. Peckham, S.E. April 17, 1931. THE GUILD OF AIR PILOTS' LETTER [2742] I gather from your " Comments " in FLIGHT for April 24 that certain professional pilots desire an increase in the laws, orders, regulations, forms, restrictions, etc.. with the consequent increase of parasites to deal witli them, that already indicate the feeble health of poor old England. Immaturity's panacea for all the ills to which the body politic or economic is liable is frequent doses of such medicine. Health and strength do not need medicines. Consider the motor industry. Any vehicle could be stuck on the roads, any individual could get a licence. Now that the motor has reached prosperity, it can carry Road Traffic Acts and the parasites consequent thereto. But it has had thirty years of freedom. Turn to the mercantile marine—the old sea-dogs, Hawkins, Drake and the like, did not have to possess Master's Tickets or Certi- ficates of Seaworthiness. When the English mercantile marine had grown into a giant, it could carry many Acts and innumerable parasites. But it had two centuries of freedom behind it, and the Government Department that it eventually had to carry was not the Admiralty, a fight- ing machine, but the Board of Trade, a commercial one. To grow vigorously, to enjoy health and strength, youth, whether animal, industrial or commercial, needs freedom. Civil aviation, step-mothered, not " grand-mothered," by military bureaucrats, has already little enough. North Walsham. ' A. T. RICHARDSON. April 24, 1931. THE FOKKER F. 32 [2743] On page 363 of your last issue of April 24 you preface the description of the Fokker F.32—the publica- tion of which we appreciate very much—by saying that this type " will probably be used on the Dutch East India service." Read in connection with the next sentence, this may give the impression that you had received the infor- mation regarding the probable use of this aeroplane on the Indian service from us. As this is not the case, and as, indeed, the said proba- bility is highly remote, if even it may be said to exist, we should appreciate if you could publish our present letter in your ne*t issue. B STEPAN (N.V. Nederlandsche Vliegtuigenfabriek.) Amsterdam. April 25, 1931. [TJie statement referred to was based on information obtained by our contributor, Mr. M. Langley, for his articles on the K.L.M. Services to Batavia, which appeared in our issue for January 9 last.—ED.] 394
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