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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0687.PDF
FLIGHT, JULY 3, 1931 GLIDING tiANWORTH GOESA'SOARING • ATIONAL FLYING SERVICES staged apublic demonstration of all forms of gliding at Hanworth on Sunday, June28. It was really a misnomer to call it sliding, it ought to have been haymaking, since itstarted by making several vehicles, ranging from motor cars down to Zoglings, do their bestthoroughly to churn up the hay which lay thick upon the ground. Having done this for thewhole afternoon it was only natural that it should have become a little mixed, so in theevening Desoutters were allowed to aerate it, and this they did thoroughly every time theytook off! The programme ran through all methods, starting with some shock cord launchesof a Zogling up to a flight by Herr Kronfeld on King the Austria. Herr Kronfeld had given ademonstration before the King and Queen of the Belgians on the Wednesday before in his" Wien," and was subsequently towed from Brussels direct to Hanworth, a distance of 230 miles, via Valenciennesand Calais, by Herr Weichelt in a Klemm. The afternoon's show had evidently been successfullyadvertised, because the crowd in the public enclosure was very large indeed, and we sincerely hope that what theysaw left them with a greater sense of the value to be had out of gliding. We cannot help thinking, however, thatthere was a little too much of the shock cord stuff at the beginning, because on flat ground with no wind thisis bound to a poor exhibition; and, moreover, what there was of it, was done too far up one end of the long publicenclosure. It would have been far better to have had two or three demonstrations running at the same time alongthe enclosure and to have interspersed them with launches made by motor car. Several flights were made by thislatter method, and later on the real stuff started when Herr Kronfeld, in the Wien, was towed up by HerrWeichelt in his Klemm (Siemens). Herr Weichelt, by the way, holds the world's recordfor inverted flying, with a cross-country trip he made of 47 min. duration. A man who can hang inverted andcontrol an aeroplane for so long must certainly have some- Alfonso enjoying the gliding and the hospitality atHanworth. (FLIGHT Photo.) thing very exceptional about his constitution, but wecannot imagine anything less enjoyable to the average man than to make inverted flights of even two or threeminutes. However, Herr Weichelt's feat was undoubtedly an extraordinarily meritorious one, and we trust thatthe makers of his machine learnt something more about its capabilities from this flight. Herr Kronfeld was able to attach himself to severallarge cumulus clouds when he got to a height of somewhere about 1,800 ft., and during his subsequent 1£ hours inthe air was able to gain something like another couple of thousand feet. Actually, he said, he had great difficultyin remaining anywhere near the aerodrome, and could have, had he wished to do so, made a flight right overLondon and well into Essex, if not further, since a line of cumulus clouds which were perfect for the job stretchedas far as he could see in that direction. His utilisation of the up currents to be found in these was easily seen,and Capt. Latimer Needham drew attention to this method of gaining height by broadcasting from the Lyons TeaCo.'s broadcasting van. While Herr Kronfeld was still up, both Mr. Lowe-Wylde,on his B.A.C., and F/O. Mole, on another B.A.C. The " Austria " which was built for Herr Kronfeld in the Segelflugzeugwerke at Kassel. The small wheels have recently been added to facilitate towing-off by an aircraft. (FLIGHT Photo.) 641
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