FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1932
1932 - 0916.PDF
FLIGHT, SEPTEMBER 9, 1932 " Cruiser " before, was the next to take up the machine, having five passengers with him, including Mrs. Barnard. His example was then followed by several pilots, includ ing Messrs. Baker, Youell, Sty ran, Anderson, St. Bar be, Luxmore and Parkes. All these flights showed that the " Cruiser ". answered well to the controls and had no vices to disturb a pilot handling it for the first time. The new Mk. II Spartan three-seater (first announced and illustrated in FLIGHT for June 10), which was also exhibited and flown, embodies many improvements over its predecessor. An admitted difficulty with the latter was the inconvenience of exit and entrance for passengers ; furthermore, the pilot's view was not satisfactory. Both of these faults have now been eliminated. By placing the passengers' cockpit at the rear, the pilot, from the front seat, has a far better view, aided considerably by the introduction of an inverted engine. A large door also improves entrance and exit, which is specially acceptable for joy-riding work. There is a roomy locker behind the passengers' seats for luggage, wheel brakes are fitted, and provision for dual control given. The subduing of noise in the cockpits is helped by fitting the exhaust underneath the engine. A 22-gallon petrol tank is installed for ordinary purposes, which can be in creased to take 34 gallons if necessary. An interesting feature of the three-seater is the installing of the new in verted Hermes IV, which gives 120-130 h.p. at 2,000 and 2,200 r.p.m. This is its first appearance for normal duties and assists in making the Spartan three-seater one of the attractive light planes of the moment. Our readers will remember that the Hermes IV helped Mr. E. W. Percival to put up a very fine performance in the Percival " Gull " in this year's King's Cup Air Race, a performance which in cluded making the fastest time of any cabin machine in the race, namely, 142.75 m.p.h. The performance of the Spartan three-seater, equipped with the Hermes IV, is 1,000 lb. being loaded into the Spartan " Cruiser " for a full-load demonstration. (FLIGHT Photo.) as follows: Cruising speed, 97-100 m.p.h. ; maximum speed, 110 m.p.h. ; and landing speed, 45 m.p.h. Supporting Mr. John Lord in this practical exhibition of the new Spartan types were his fellow directors, Sir Alliott Verdon-Roe, Lt. Col. L. A. Strange, Mr. H. E. Broad- smith, Mr. J. de Ballardie, Mr. A. E. Chambers and Mr. W. D. L. Roberts. (Capt. H. Balfour was unfortunately away sick.) Mr. Allen, of Henly's, Ltd., also helped at this debut. Flare Illumination The Driggs-Faber System Introduced in Great Britain >|r DEMONSTRATION of a flare system of illumina- C""^\M tion for night-flying purposes was given at '_' ill Han worth on August 31. The system is of American origin, and is known as the Driggs- Faber system. The American manufacturers of the flares are the International Flare-Signal Co., of Tippecanoe City, Ohio, and negotiations are now proceeding with a view to forming a company for the manufacture of the flares in Great Britain. The demonstration given at Hanworth was most interest ing. All types of flares were shown, and landings were made in a " Moth," not only by the aid of a flare fired from the aircraft itself, but also by that of one held THE ELECTRICALLY-FIRED TYPE : The battery of flares may be seen strapped to the side of the fuselage (as a temporary measure). This picture of a " Gipsy Moth " belonging to Airwork, Ltd., was taken at Hanworth, by the light of a Chance Brothers floodlight. (FLIGHT Photo.) 852 as a torch. An advantage of the latter method, which was at once evident, is the fact that the smoke arising from it as it burns makes an excellent wind indicator for the pilot. For general purposes it would seem that unless the pilot was absolutely sure of the configuration of the ground upon which he was going to land and also of the direction of the wind, he would have to use two flares, the first acting, as it were, as a sighting shot so that he would then know where to fire the second so that it would give him illumination in the correct place for his landing. As a form of emergency ground-equipment both the large and small flares appeared to offer a ready and safe means of providing pilots with the necessary illumination for landings, and it is certain that flares like these are far less trouble to lay out and far quicker to get going than are the normal paraffin types, besides being more effective. The electrically-fired type, which is attached to the side of the fuselage, is rather in the nature of a luxury for light aero planes, but might well be con sidered worth its slightly higher cost for large commercial aircraft which have to cover tracts of country in which there are few, if any, organised landing facili ties. The excellence of the small pistol-fired type, which requires only one hand to operate it, can hardly be over - emphasised, especially for private owners. As the price of this type is, reason ably low, we may safely assume that there will be a demand for it in this country. There seemed to De no diffi culty about holding the flares in
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
