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Aviation History
1932
1932 - 0127.PDF
FLIGHT, FEBRUARY 5, 1932 (Uaaim/fixm the 3cm Utisuti The Segrave Memorial Trophy AT a meeting of the Committee for the Segrave Memorial Trophy at the Royal Automobile Club on January 29 it was decided to award the Trophy—which is awarded to the British subject who accomplishes the most outstanding demonstration of the possibilities of transport by land, air, or water—to Sq. Ldr. Bert Hinkler for his solo flight from New York to London via Kingston, Maracaibo, Trinidad, Fortaleza, Natal, Bathurst, St. Louis, St. Etienne, Casablanca, Madrid, and Paris. The approximate distance of the flight, which included the crossing of the Southern Atlantic from Brazil to North- West Africa, was 10,560 miles, and the total flying time was 104| hr. Paris-Madagascar Attempt THREE French airmen, MM. Reginensi, Touge and Lenier, set out from Le Bourget on January 30 on a flight to Madagascar. On February 1 a wireless message from the airmen was picked up by French wireless stations in mid- Sahara which stated " Stranded. No more petrol." This message was preceded by two others, one saying they ought to have reached Tamanrasset but sandstorms had obliterated the track, and asking for smoke signals, and the other saying they were turning back to Insalak and requesting arrangements to be made for refuelling. It was arranged that aeroplanes should be sent out to assist the stranded airmen. Italian African Flight THE Italian airmen, Lombardi and Robbianno, who left Rome on January 21 in a Caproni 105 for Africa, reached Nairobi on January 27. High Commissioner for Palestine Flies to Cairo LT. GEN. SIR ARTHUR WAUCHOPE, High Commissioner for Palestine, arrived in Cairo on January 31 by air from Jerusalem for a three days' visit to Lt. Gen. Sir John Burnett-Stuart, the G.O.C." British Troops in Egypt. R.A.F. Flying-Boat Mishap ONE of the " Iris " flying-boats attached to the Mount Batten Air Station, Plymouth, sank at its moorings on January 28. It was stated officially that the cause of the mishap was unknown, but it was probably the result of a collision with a trawler the previous day. Heavens ! WE have had much agitation lately regarding " sky writing " and night sky-signs—to say nothing about com plaints re low flying and Sunday flying. " Free-Air " lovers will surely get even more perturbed when they hear of the latest trespasses in the air. W:e are to have giant voices now, booming earthwards from aircraft in the sky. A short while back one of the American Blimps cruised over New York, a loud voice appealing for help for the unemployed and a jazz band playing " Happy Days " causing considerable excitement in the streets below. Last week a Caproni machine carried out tests over Milan with an apparatus which amplified the human voice more than 1,600,000 times! Our own Royal Air Force have also, we believe, made tests with aerial loud speakers, to be em ployed for warning, admonishing, etc., unruly tribes in the East. Finally, Sig. Marinetti is suggesting the use of the sky as a stage for plays—with pilots as actors and probably the above devices plus inflated dummies as properties! Girl Pilot Killed AN Exchange message from Tarragona states that Miss Irene Klug, a 19-year-old pilot, crashed in the mountains near Moncada last week and the machine burst into flames and Miss Klug and her brother—who was a passenger— were burned to death. U.S. Airships ACCORDING to a report in the Morning Post sensa tional evidence that faulty materials and workmanship may endanger the giant airship Akron was given before the House Naval Commission on January 27 by the General Secretarj- of the International Association of Machinists, who alleged that two mechanics who worked on the Akron informed him there were from five hundred to six hundred defective rivets in one section alone. Mr. R. A. D. Moffett, Chief of the Naval Aeronautics Bureau, admitted that the airship was 19,000 lb. over weight and three knots slower than was contracted for, but claimed that she was the best dirigible in the world, with a speed of 69 knots and a climbing capacity of 16,000 ft. It is also reported that the U.S. Navy Department is considering selling the Los Angeles, the proceeds of the sale being applied to increas ing the size and effectiveness of ZR3, now under construc tion . France's Air Service ON Friday, January 29, a long debate was held in the French Chamber on the policy of the Air Ministry. Two days previously the Commission of Finance had adopted a preliminary estimate by the Air Minister, M. Dumesnil, of £15,000,000 (at par) after a sitting of four hours. In the Chamber there was much criticism of the policy of the Air Ministry. In particular, M. Georges Leygues, a former Minister of Marine, declared that the equipment of the naval air arm was totally insufficient and was in a deplor able condition. The charges against the Air Ministry are summarised by the Paris correspondent of The Times as follows:—" It is alleged that the Ministry has spent vast sums of money on technical development with almost negligible results in the way of efficient and progressive design; the equipment of the French air forces is inferior in quality—in some classes very greatly inferior—to that of other nations; and the training of flying personnel in the military formations does not produce the qualities needed in an airman. In short, before its organisation is finally formed on the present lines, the Air Ministry is required to give an account of its stewardship of French aviation during the last three years." In the debate M. Bouesse said that France had been unable to compete for the Schneider Trophy after spending 57,000,000 fcs. (£457,000) on unsuccessful experiments. French fighters had a maxi mum speed of 155 m.p.h., while foreign fighters could fly at 215 m.p.h. A large flying-boat (evidently the Late'coere Lat. 300, which was described in FLIGHT of January 1) which had cost £192,000 (at par) to build, sank on its first flight. The debate was adjourned for a week. m WILBUR WRIGHT MEMORIAL: A memorial to Wilbur Wright was unveiled on Jan. 30 at Pau, where this pioneer aviator made his first European flights in 1908. Our picture shows Mrs. Walter Edge, wife of the U.S. Ambassador, placing some flowers at the base of the monument. 119
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