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Aviation History
1933
1933 - 0930.PDF
FLIGHT, NOVEMBER 2, 1933 out severe criticism after every flight, and especially after every fight." In the final stages of the Somme, Boelke had 20 more victories to his own guns, bringing his total up to 40. On October 28, 1916, Boelke took up his Staff el to engage a British fighter squadron over the lines during an infantry attack. His best friend, Lt. Erwin Bohme, wrote that the British " defended themselves well." He con tinued: "Boelke and I had just got one Englishman between us when another opponent, chased by friend Richthofen, cut across us. Quick as lightning Boelke and I both dodged him, but for a moment our wings prevented us from seeing anything of one another—and that was the cause of it." Boelke's left wing tip hit Bohme's undercarriage, and both machines fell out of con trol. Soon both pilots got them in hand again, and Bohme saw Boelke heading for his lines in a gentle glide, with his left wing tip down. Then the " Albatros " got caught in gusts, and crashed near a battery position. Bohme, who turned over on landing, but was not hurt, said that Boelke's crash was " not too bad a one," and that he might have survived if he had worn a crash helmet and been strapped in. As it was, he was killed instan taneously. The loss to the German cause was heavy, but Boelke had done his work. The principle of fighting in Staffels had been established, and Boelke had shown how it was to be done. It remained for others, his equals in bravery, but not all his equals in other respects, to carry on the work of which he had laid the foundations. F. A. DE V. R. " Schneider Trophy." By Wing Commander A. H. Orlebar, A.F.C, (Seeley, Service & Co., Ltd.) Obtain able from FLIGHT Office. Price 13s. 3d. post free. DERHAPS it was not wise of the Editor of FLIGHT to select as reviewer of Orlebar's book one who followed, as closely as was permitted to a Press correspondent, all the fortunes of the Schneider Contests from 1923 to 1931. To such an one this book is a sheer delight to read, and it seems so excellent that he cannot judge fairly whether the book will make a wide appeal or not. Perhaps it will, for interest in flying is pretty wide-spread nowadays, and interest in speed is more universal still. At least it can be said that the Commanding Officer of two High Speed Flights writes in an excellent style, and that in itself is a great recommendation to all readers. Those who know Orlebar, even slightly, would be sure that he would attempt nothing flowery, and the absence of purple patches is one of the merits of this book. It is written in correct, plain, straightforward, English, and it has the supreme merit that it is interesting all the way through. The book is one more proof that the interest of a reader can be excited and maintained without any attempt at striking verbiage. " Schneider Trophy " is not journalese —it is literature. Still, there is unconscious art in the way in which this story is told. The author did not sit down to write a history, but he edited and published notes which he had made during the years 1929-31. The result is almost a diary in form, and the interest of the story is maintained, because each chapter is written without the knowledge of what the morrow would bring forth. As we read the book, we live again through those stirring times, our spirits rise when things go well with the Flight, and sink when hitches occur. Consequently, we join once more in the exultation over Waghorn's victory in 1929 and Stainfortb's record in 1931. The High Speed Flight lived in a little world of their own, and quite naturally they were a little alarmed when the Press descended in numbers upon Calshot. It was hardly possible for them to realise how near their troubles and their successes came to the hearts of the British public, which looked on the High Speed Flight as the champions of the nation, and how the spirits of those same journalists and of the public rose or sank when things went right or wrong. The details of the happenings had perforce to be kept secret at the time, and spectators who saw that things had not gone well on such and such a trial had to be left in the dark as to the cause. Now Orlebar has explained everything quite frankly, and has given the answers to the riddles which puzzled us in the two years of the contests with which he was concerned. We are very grateful to him, and we only wish that he had been able to tell also the inner history of the contest of 1927 at Venice. Thanks to the diary method of telling the story, the record is very complete. It will be an invaluable book of reference to the next High Speed Flight, when the time comes for Great Britain to take up work on high-speed seaplanes once more. Not an incident of any consequence is left unrecorded and unexplained. The explanation often has to deal with very technical matters, but Orlebar's gift for lucid explanation is such that a very minimum of technical knowledge is required to understand the various problems which were met, and the way in which Mr. Mitchell (spoken of throughout the book as " Mitch "), the Rolls-Royce experts, and the pilots overcame them one by one. The only mystery not explained in full is the tragedy of the beautiful little Gloster 6. The book concludes with a chapter of " Reflections," many of which Orlebar has already made public in lectures or in the speeches which he says he hates so heartily. Here we will merely allude to one, in which he says that "to a mere pilot some radical change in propeller design seems a most urgent necessity." In 1929 it soon became known that in Orlebar the High Speed Flight had found the ideal commander. In him it has now found also the ideal historian. F. A. DE V. R. " Manual of Air Force Law " (Air Publication 804). (H.M. Stationery Office.) Obtainable from FLIGHT Office. 7s. 6d. post free. 'THE 2nd edition, 1933, of the " Manual of Air Force Law " has now been produced. Like other legal docu ments it is very bulky. Twelve years have elapsed since the publication of the first edition, and although the second edition covers much the same ground as the first, various King's Regulations and Air Council Instructions have been responsible for many additions and modifications. Free and extensive use has been made of the 7th edition of the "Manual of Military Law." In the present edition the portion dealing with Air Force Discipline has been considerably expanded, and for convenience subdivided into three chapters under the headings: Offences and Punishments, Arrest, and Courts Martial. The rules of Procedure have been substantially revised. Although it has not yet been found possible to incorporate in this Manual a chapter relating to Air Warfare corresponding to the chapter on the law and usages of war on land in the " Manual of Military Law," certain recent interna tional agreements concerning the prohibitions of the use of poisonous gases and of bacteriological warfare, the treatment of wounded and sick, and of prisoners of war will be found in an appendix to this Manual. The Pylon THE de Havilland Technical School have produced the second number of their magazine " The Pylon." An interesting article on Metal Construction in France, by M. Langley, A.M.Inst.N.A., A.M.I.Ae.E., points out that though metal construction has taken the place of wood in larger machines, there is still a tendency towards wooden construction in machines of under 3,000 lb. in weight. Admiral Mark Kerr, in an historical article, raises an old question by asserting that Henry Farman was the first British subject to fly, and Mr. A. V. Roe the first English man to fly in his own country. Another interesting item is Impressions of Flying in Greece, by M. A. Benachi. The Spartan "Cruiser" SPARTAN AIRCRAFT, LTD., of Cowes, Isle of Wight, havf just issued a well-got-up and interesting illustrated cata logue of their Spartan " Cruiser." This contains much ^ value to the prospective operator, particularly as it dis closes the results of the past season's work with the Sparta i Air Line between Heston and Cowes. During the nv. months' work, over 600 scheduled trips were made, an- some 50,000 miles covered on charter work, while only tw trips were cancelled on account of weather. ^m^ '0^ table of operating costs is given, showing that the per passenger mile, for a load of seven passengers, is 1.28d. 1108
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