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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0624.PDF
FLIGHT. JUNE 26, 1M1 There would appear to be no doubt at all that bothschemes offer very great advantages. The tug aircraft, as it will probably be called, could be built solely withefficiency of tractive effort as its main point, and carrying nothing more, than a pilot and navigator and a verylarge load of petrol. Both the mail and passenger carry- ing engineless machines could then be built with extremeaerodynamical efficiency, since there would be no need for such excrescences as engines causing consequential unequalair flow round the fuselage, together with other projections, such as fuel supply pipes, etc. Economy would also be effected in the matter of pilots,since the pilot in charge of the glider would merely need to be efficient for making landings and not a navigationexpert, or be worried with the correct handling of an engine. In the matter of passenger comfort, a tremendousadvantage would accrue from this type of transport, since two of the most prominent deterrents to passenger travelwould automatically be removed. The first and probably the most important would be that of discomfort, and wevisualise the practicability of making the passenger accommodation far more comfortable than is yet providedin any form of public transport whether on land or in the air, such as in airships. Noise would be non-existent,and the whole of the accommodation within the flying machine could be utilised solely for the benefit ofpassengers. Moreover, a very great deal of weight could be saved, since no special measures, such as sound-proofwalls, would need to be incorporated, thus allowing a far greater margin of weight for providing really comfortableupholstery and cabin fittings, and smoking, the prohibi- tion of which deters a great number of people from flyingin existing machines, could, of course, be allowed. Secondly, by virtue of being thoroughly efficient aero-dynamically, such aircraft would, we assume, have an extremely flat gliding angle, enabling them in the case ofengine failure in the tug aircraft to glide very long distances before alighting, thus making it possible to picka suitable landing ground over a far greater area than is possible with power-driven aircraft, and if, as we assumethey would be, such aircraft were fitted with some form of spoilers which could be operated to coarsen the glide whendesired, the danger from forced landings would, to all intents and purposes, be eliminated. Telephonic com-munication with the pilot of the tug aircraft would be an easy matter to arrange, as well as a wireless receiver,which could pick up music or information of interest to the passengers. Such a scheme as this would enable both aircraft to bedesigned entirely for their own jobs, and would do away with one of the greatest bug-bears of aircraft designers,namely compromise. We understand that the Luft Hansa are spending a considerable amount of money on investigating such a Mr. Lissant Beardmore with his Proffessor Sailplane, on which he crossed the Channel the day before Herr Kronfclddid the return trip. proposition, and a claim is already made by the Germansthat the load which can be transported by a certain engine power in this way is increased by 60 per cent.Moreover, since the parasitic drag of the towed aircraft could be kept to a minimum, the range for a certain loadof fuel in the tug aircraft would automatically be greatly increased. LJ ERTS AND ESSEX GLIDING CLUB will be holdinga Display at Spelbrook, Bishop's Stortford, on Sun- day, June 28, commencing at 2.30 p.m. There will bedemonstrations of auto-towed gliding, with a two-seater glider by Mr. Lowe Wylde. There will also be a con-siderable amount of flying with well-known aircraft, and joy-riding from noon until dusk. Entrance to the Aero-drome will be 6d. for Adults, and Children half-price. Further particulars may be obtained from Mr. R. DixeyGerrans, Bishop's Stortford. 'Phone 280. Herr Fuchs of the Akademische Fiiegergruppc Darmstadt, landing at Staaken in the " Starkenburg," after having flown from the Tempelhof Aerodrome over the City of Berlin. He was towed up to gain his initial altitude by a Klemm (Argus). 578
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