FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1933
1933 - 0559.PDF
FLIGHT, SEPTEMBER 14, 1933 BOOK REVIEWS Air Annual of the British Empire, 1933-34. Edited by Sqd. Ldr. C. G. Burge, O.B.E. (Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd.) Obtainable from FLIGHT Offices, 21s. 9d., post free. 'THE fifth annual volume of the An Annual of the •*• British Empire has now appeared. The editor, we are glad to note, is still Sqd. Ldr. Burge, but the Annual is now published by Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, and it is handsomer than ever in appearance. The paper is good, and the numerous photographs and coloured illustrations are exceptionally well reproduced. The amount of information comprised within the volume is really surprising, and the compiling of such a work must be a great labour. In addition to the sheer information there are a number of interesting articles by eminent writers. Wing Com. E. L. Howard Williams, M.C., writes generally on " Land, Sea, and Air," urging the British Empire to be " quickly first " in air transport. Mr. Woods Humphery describes the work of Imperial Airways and explains the problems which the company had to face and the way in which they dealt with them. Maj. C. C. Turner deals with Air Line Tributaries, taking as his text " A river is made by its tributaries." It is a very sug gestive article, though the Tata Air Line from Karachi to Bombay and Madras hardly seems to have received all the credit which is its due. Maj. Oliver Stewart writes on Aeronautical Training in Great Britain, doing full justice to the excellent schools and colleges which have grown up. Mr. H. J. Thomas, Chairman of the S.B.A.C., introduces the section on the Aircraft Industry, describing the diffi culties which the industry has had to face, especially in the matter of export, and the success achieved in face of those difficulties. Mr. F. E. Cowlin writes on Military Aircraft. * In such a volume there must necessarily be points for criticism, and we have noted a few. In the Civil Aviation section we have not been able to get a clear idea of the doings of the year in Canada. The two pages mostly covered by statistics leave the reader without any mental picture of the year's flving in Canada. In the section on Service Aviation, the stations of the Royal Australian Air Force squadrons and other units are not given, while it is not explained that Nos. 1 and 3 Squadrons are organised much like the Cadre squadrons of the Royal Air Force, with both regular and non-regular elements. In our opinion, it would also be an improvement if the organisa tion of the Royal Air Force were briefly described, men tioning the Commands Air Defence of Great Britain, In land Area, Coastal Area, etc., as well as the organisation of the Fleet Air Arm, The sections on British aircraft and engines are com plete, and the final section in French and Spanish should play their part in helping to spread the reputation of British aircraft abroad. Aircraft Performance Testing. By S. Scott Hall, M.Sc, D.I.C., A.F.R.Ae.S., and T. H. England, D.S.C., A.F.C., R.A.F. (Ret.), A.F.R.Ae.S. Published by Sir Isaac Pit man &• Sons, Ltd. Obtainable from FLIGHT Offices. Price ISs. 9d., post free. ACCORDING to the preface, this book was written •^ primarily for the constructor who wishes to put his aircraft through an adequate programme of tests on modern lines, but it is equally a book of interest to the student and to test pilots. The subject of performance testing is a highly contro versial one, and it is not to be expected that all test pilots will agree with everything in the book. But that is all to the good if it leads to serious discussion. The authors are particularly qualified to write on this subject, Sqd. Ldr. England having at one time been CO. of Martlesham, and being now chief test pilot to Handley Page, Ltd., while Mr. Scott Hall is one of the Technical Officers at Martlesham. Perhaps the best way of giving in a very short space an idea of the scope of the book is to give the contents of the chapters: —Weighing, loading, e.g. determination, and airscrew calibration ; test instru ments ; performance tests, position error determination, and measurement of r.p.m. to fly level, partial climbs, determination of best climbing speed ; full climb and level speeds ; take-off and landing, measurement of stall ing speed and partial glides ; fuel consumption tests, oil temperature tests, radiator suitability ; handling tests and longitudinal stability tests ; spinning and diving tests ; trials for C. of A. ; theory of performance reduc tion ; the change of performance due to changes of weight and power. Performance analysis. Complete reductions are given of the performance of two machines, one with naturally aspirated engine and one with supercharged engine. The book is one well worth studying. I S5 S << THE ACE" (THE LYRIC THEATRE) CINCE the war plays have been produced about the Navy and Army in some profusion, some good, some bad, some merely indifferent, but producers seem to have fought strangely shy of attempting to give the public a repre sentation of the life led by Service pilots during the war, and the atmosphere in which they worked. " The Ace " at the Lyric, presented by Mr. Stanley- Scott, strikes a new line in plays. No doubt it will be followed by others of a like nature, but it will not easily be excelled. This play is rather on the line of " Journey's End," only the setting is a German Air Force Station instead of a dug-out in the British front-line trenches. The story is simple enough. A young observer is tortured by continuous dreams, or (according to his Sergeant) per suades himself that he is tortured by continuous dreams, of a parachute that fails to open. He even funks doing a practice jump at the last moment, and, in consequence is reported to his commanding officer. Rittmeister Kurt von Hagen, tall, thin, sharp featured, and monocled, him self the victim of fear, which he hides from his brother officers, inwardly sympathises with the young observer, and persuades him to have another attempt at doing a jump. Von Hagen has registered a vow that he will, in the long run, bring down a certain well-known English 7~i > called the " Major," who has been responsible for the death of Von Hagen's best friend " The Count." the young observer finds a sufficient reserve of courage to enable him to do his jump, but loses his head at the crucial moment and forgets to pull the rip-cord. Von Wagen is sent off on leave, but on the moment of his eparture the " Major " arrives over the aerodrome, and U F goes Von Hagen to do battle. It is, of course, very easy to overdo a play of this description and thus completely spoil it, but Mr. Scott has been temperate and prudent in all things. The play is alive from beginning to end, beautifully staged, and what few faults there are in the acting will no doubt be remedied by experience. The sound effects, produced by Marconiphone Ltd., are especially worthy of note, the aero engines being very realistic, and, in the last act, Von Hagen's dash along the passage, down the stairs, across the tar-mac, and the sound of his machine taking off, extremely effective. Mr. Raymond Massey's acting in the part of Von Hagen is excellent, especially his tele phone talk with the Kaiser, and his interview with a captured British airman, this latter part being taken by Mr. Franklyn Bellamy, who, incidentally, actually served in the R.F.C. during the war. " Leutnant " Hensch, apart from the fact that he looks, speaks, and acts like an Englishman, portraits quite successfully a rather hot headed young German pilot. The only female character is a young French girl, charmingly played by Miss Ketty Gallian. The only excuse for her introduction into the play at all is that the audience may get a clearer insight into the real feelings of Von Hagen. Mr. W. Cronin Wilson, who plays the part of a one-legged officer, provides, perhaps, the most natural acting in the whole play. His remark about a new Fokker which he has just tested is typical: " No good, won't climb, too much safety nowadays." To which Von Hagen replies: "Yes, I would rather have a paper machine with a good man in it." A very enjoyable play, which should be seen by all past and present members of our own or other flying services. 923
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
