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Aviation History
1932
1932 - 0163.PDF
FLIGHT, FEBRUARY 19, 1982 capable of giving accurate bearings at all times of the day and night, particularly in view of the probable extension of night-flying services in the near future, the Marconi Company has now developed a direction finder to over come this " night effect." Exhaustive tests have demonstrated that the apparatus is as reliable during the most critical periods of " night effect " as is the well-known Bellini-Tosi apparatus under normal conditions. The first station of this type to be erected has been built by the Marconi Company for the Air Ministry direc tion-finding station at Pulham, Norfolk, which, in con junction with the wireless direction-finding station at the London Air Port, Croydon, operates the direction and position-finding service for aircraft on the London- Continental air routes. Night Flight Tests During a night flight specially arranged by the Air Ministry, fourteen observations were made by an aircraft transmitting signals from known positions, so that a check could be kept. The distance in every case was in the neighbourhood of 100 miles, and the accuracy of the new direction finder was complete. The ordinary system of wireless direction finding was, at the time, most unre liable even over much shorter distances owing to " night effect.'' The Cape Air Mail Reaches London As the result of several irritating mishaps and delays (previously recorded in FLIGHT) the first through air mail from the Cape to England arrived at Croydon—on February 16—nine days late. It is, indeed, regrettable that Imperial Airways should experience these misfortunes at the start of the long awaited service—but Fickle Fate is often thus unkind. The first delay occurred at Salisbury where the machine in taking off ran on to some soft ground which had been cleared of an ant hill, the wheels sinking into the ground and damaging the undercarriage. The second delay happened 40 miles south of Broken Hill when the machine ran into a very violent rain storm and landed on what was thought to be dry land, but proved to be a swamp. Here the machine was delayed for several days, missing the northbound connection at Nairobi. It was therefore decided to wait for the next mail, which met with further delays, due to bad weather en route, and reached Croydon two days late. New London-Cannes Air Serviee NEARLY 100 years ago Lord Brougham, searching for sunshine for his invalid daughter, installed his household at Cannes. This started the English colony on the Riviera. Whether his Lordship travelled in that peculiar vehicle which also bears his name is not recorded, but if so the delay and discomfort of the journey would have interested him in the news that a daily air service is now flown in seven hours from London. The line opened on February 13. Cannes, with a century of this country's influence behind it, has so much British capital invested in its hotels, shops and amusements that the most ardent supporter of the " Buy British " campaign may be excused a visit on the grounds that he is increasing invisible exports and at the same time enjoying the sun, which so far has refused to be drawn into either politics or economics. Air Union, who are operating the new service, use nearly the whole of their receipts in London for their expenses here—their subsidy from the French Government supplies the balance —so that a good proportion of the journey is paid for by the French taxpayer! The air journey to Cannes starts at Croydon Aerodrome at 9 a.m. by the well-known Golden Ray type of air liner. Tnis machine flies as far as Lyons, where the passengers are transferred to a Rapid Azur aero plane for the last stage of the journey over the Alps. Cannes aerodrome, which is just against the golf course, is reached at 4.30 p.m. In spite of the fact that the whole journey is made so rapidly, the fares are cheaper than those of the Blue Train and sleeper, which takes 24 hours, especially when advantage can be taken of the special 15-day air return ticket. A 5-engined Russian Commercial Aeroplane THAT Soviet Russia is determined not to be left behind in the development of large commercial aircraft has been evident for some time. We have previously described in FLIGHT aircraft of Russian design and construction, and now comes news of yet another civil aircraft of somewhat Special Features of Design Many attempts had previously been made to eliminate the effect of the abnormally polarised wireless energy on the horizontal members of the frame aerial system usually employed for direction finding. The Adcock spaced aerial, which eliminated the top horizontal members of the loop aerial and balanced out the effect of the bottom horizontal members, was one of the most successful of these attempts, but the form of its construction rendered it difficult of application for general use. The Marconi Company's new development of the Marconi-Adcock aerial system repre sents the practical application of these principles, the com pany's long experience in the problems of aerodrome wire less equipment facilitating the production of a simplified aerial which still retains every essential feature for correct day and night direction finding. Four vertical aerials are suspended within lattice wood towers erected at the corners of a square, the diagonal of which bears a relation to the wavelength to be employed. A special insulated feeder, completely screened and non- receptive, connects the bottom end of each aerial with the receiver and radiogoniometer, which are at the centre ol the square. The Marconi-Adcock station at Pulham has a wave range of 800-1,800 metres ; the system has also been developed for use over an extensive wave band, and has been applied to the reception of short waves. ambitious dimensions and power. The new machine is, like several types that have preceded it, the conception of the Russian engineer Alexander Nicholas Tupoliev, of the Central Aero-Hydrodynamic Institute of Moscow, and is known as the A.N.T. 14. It is an all-metal cantilever monoplane, with five " Jupiter " engines, four of which are supported in faired nacelles projecting forward from the leading edge of the wing, two abreast on each side, while the fifth engine is placed in the nose of the fuselage. The machine, which has a wing span of 132 ft. 7 in. and a wing area of 2,585 sq. ft., is reported to have a useful load of 7 metric tons (15,400.1b.). This figure probably repre sents the total disposable load. No figures of tare and gross weight are available at the moment. The A.N.T. 14 is designed to carry 34 passengers in great comfort, and is reported to have a cruising speed of about 110 m.p.h., with a maximum speed of 133 m.p.h. The " Jupiter " engines give a total power of 2,400 b.h.p. French Air Lines to North Africa M. COUCHE, French Inspector-General of Civil Aviation, is now in Algeria inquiring into the possibility of a daily air passenger service between Algiers and Marseilles. The Air Mail Service to the Orkneys THE Postmaster-General has sanctioned the carrying of mail at an extra fee of Jd. per letter between the Orkneys and Pentland Firth by the North British Aviation Co., of Hooton Park Aerodrome, Cheshire. It is hoped to start the service in May next. Proposed Atlantic Air Mail ACCORDING to the Reykjavik Reuter Correspondent a new Atlantic Air Mail service is to be launched by the Trans-American Airlines Corporation, which has applied to the Government of Iceland for permission to establish there one of the main bases of the new service. A modern airport, complete with hangars, wharves, depots, storage tanks, and a radio station, is to be constructed for the exclusive use of the daily mail service, which is to remain in operation both winter and summer. It is expected that the journey from Detroit to London will occupy 48 hours, or 72 hours if the service does not operate by night. Postal Charges on the African Airway THE Postmaster General, in the course of a reply to a question in the House on February 8, which com pared the charges for letters to South America by the Aeropostale with those to South Africa by Imperial Air ways, said: "I would point out that the charges for transport on this service i.e., Aeropostale) are nearly 10 times greater than the charges on the Indian air service and five times the charges on the South African air service. I would point out to my hon. Friend that any decrease in the gross weight of the mails resulting from a reduction of the present half-ounce minimum for air letters might well lead to an increase in the rates charged for the conveyance of the mail, In that case it would be necessary to raise the air fee." 155
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