FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1933
1933 - 0193.PDF
FLIGHT, JULY 27, 1933 R.A.F. : The Hawker " Furies " of No. 25 Squadron lined up n?ady for their display. (FLIGHT Photo.) No. 25 (F.) Squadron from Haw- kinge. Under the leadership of Sqd. Ldr. A. L. Paxton, their Commanding Officer, this squad ron of nine Hawker "Furies" (R.R. " Kestrels ") put up as fine a show of " tied-together " flying as anyone can hope to see. In our reports both of Hendon and of the opening of the Liverpool Airport we said that No. 25 Squadron were superb. It may sound as if we are running out of superlatives, as we can do no more than say that at Lyrnpne they were even better—we hadn't thought it possible, but they certainly were. The piece de resistance of their display is, of course, their roll by flights when flying with each flight in Vee formation and all three flights in line abreast, but hardly less impressive were CINQUE PORTS WAKEFIELD CUP RACE—FINAL Pilot Aircraft and Engine Handi cap Finish- Average P1 , ing at Speed Flacm H. Chater E. Wynn K. Waller L. Cliff J. Watson H. Probyn H. Leech C. Napier S. Thorn A. Styran (Lucifer) .. " (Cirrus II) ' (Gipsy I) .. ' (Gipsy I) .. " (Cirrus III) " (Cirrus III) ' (Pobjoy) .. (Hermes ' Avro ' Avian : Moth' ' Moth' ' Hawk Hawk ' Swift' ' Hendy IV) Active " (Gipsy III) ' Leopard Moth " (Gipsy Mjjjor) Min. sec. 9 14 9 14 7 11 7 03 4 43 4 16 1 55 0 18 0 9 Scratch Min. sec. 28 16f 28 12 27 51 28 45 29 12 27 40 28 07 29 39 28 30 28 16 m.p.h. 93 93i ioi| 99 106 115i 126 126| 135J 138 (1 4 2 S 9 1 3 1" 7 5 their loops and tight turns. After having seen their display, no one can fail to be amazed both at the skill of our R.A.F. pilots and also at the latitude which the Hawker-Rolls combination, in the " Fury," gives them, for it is really the speed range of this machine which has made air drill like this possible. Sunday's programme was largely a repetition of the previous day's. No. 25 Squadron were, however, not there, but fortunately for the somewhat larger crowd of spectators than were there on Saturday, three " Harts " providentially came over and evidently thought to help a bit, by flying round before leaving. Their formation was well kept and their turns accurate, but being, as they evidently were, on a flight from somewhere to somewhere, they did not stop to do aerobatics. Fit. Lts. Stainforth and Johnson put up a very pretty dog-fight, which they certainly enjoyed as much as their audience. Stainforth on the " Cadet " seemed at times to be able to turn inside Johnson on a " Tiger Moth," but the latter outclimbed the " Cadet " fairly often and would probably have lived to write out a combat report if both had been in earnest. On both days Mr. Fairlie made parachute drops with a G.Q. chute, landing well in the aerodrome on each occa sion. The gentle manner in which it takes his weight when opening was very evident. At the conclusion of the meeting Maj. Waley presented the cups and cheques to the winners of the race. 3 E S S S g MUSKEL-FLUG III \ VER since man first began to dream of the possi- l^p. bilities of flying he has toyed with the idea of -III—/ being able to raise himself into the air by his own muscular efforts. Some years ago a competition was organised in France, but nothing was produced at the time which could be regarded even as a small beginning towards anything useful. The aviation community generally has long since come to the conclusion that the thing is hopeless, and has been content to leave it at that. Now, however, the matter is being re vived in Germany in all earnestness, and knowing how thoroughly the German designers, especially the younger school, have studied gliding and soaring, we shall not be m the least surprised if something useful is produced. It may be agreed at once that man cannot develop enough power to lift himself into the air and remain ™ere for prolonged periods. Alexander Lippisch, of ^asserkuppe fame, while agreeing that a man cannot de- veiop more than one-tenth to one-fifth horse-power for any ength of time, points out that racing cyclists must de- for short periods, something in excess of one h.p. HIS argument is that one can assume a man possessed of ]us. so much energy, which he can expend during a longer r . rter. Period- In other words, the product of work ana hme is constant. As a result of information furnished i by Dr. Brustmann, Herr Lippisch estimates a man's po01? i°-,f enerSy at 80,000 kilogram-meters (577,280 foot-i;is )- On this basis he has plotted a hyperbolic curve tio °Ter deve*°Ped by a man, from a few seconds' dura- cur' ^ f ^r- *r°r a period of one or two minutes, this •ve indicates, a man should be able to develop 4-5 h.p. soirte^S have exalmne(1 the problem and have come to thatf** similar results, and once it had been established more th s^ort bursts a man could develop considerably a com +? •tlle 1uarter or so hP-> W was decided to organise Ursi £on' As might have been expected, Herr Oscar man a' 5°under and Editor of that excellent little Ger- the r^via'-1011 journal Flugsport, was the moving spirit in °vement, just as "he was the moving spirit of the glider movement years ago. The competition is, however, being organised by the Polytechnic Company of Frankfurt a.M., which has offered a prize of 5,000 RM. The com petition is open to German subjects only, and will be held on the Rebstock aerodrome, Frankfurt a.M. The competi tion will remain open from September 3, 1933, to Septem ber 2, 1934. There is no entrance fee. The prize of 5,000 RM. will be awarded to the first man who covers without touching the ground a closed circuit around two turning points 500 m. apart (giving a total distance of 1 km., or 0.62 mile). As it is realised that much of the power will have to be expended on the initial getting off, the organisers have de cided to permit competitors to make use of means of stor ing up energy for the take-off. This may take the form of rubber cord, compressed air, or any similar means, but the original storing of energy must be done by the com petitor himself, and by his own muscular power. He is given 30 minutes in which to store this energy in his machine, and the means used must be carried on the sub sequent flight. By way of a guide to intending competitors, Herr Ursinus publishes a sketch design for a possible type of machine. This is a pusher, in which the open tail booms are metal tubes inside which the rubber cord is housed. The front end of the upper tube goes to the airscrew, and the front end of the lower tube to the undercarriage. At the back, where upper and lower tubes meet, it is sug gested that gear wheels should be incorporated, linking upper and lower " bunjie " together. The airscrew is provided with a brake, and the idea is that the pilot should wind up the rubber by pedalling, with the airscrew kept stationary. When the elastic is fully wound up, he will release the brake and " pedal for dear life." The energy stored in the rubber will aid him in the take-off, and con tinued pedalling will, it is hoped, keep him in the air for the requisite time, the rubber, of course, acting as a sort of dashpot. The scheme is intriguing, and should provide quite a lot of fun if it does nothing else. 753
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
