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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 0064.PDF
FLIGHT, JANUARY 18. 1934 The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by correspondents. The names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters intended for insertion in these columns. THE ENGLAND-AUSTRALIA AIR MAIL[2906] To the air-minded population of Britain, the lack of interest in the forthcoming opening of the England-Australia air route has been disappointing. What little interest has been shown has been directedmore towards the sensational flights of the Dutch and French air lines, rather than on the less spectacular, butmore steady and profitable, work of Imperial Airways. Higher speed will mean higher subsidies ; if we want tospend more, a more frequent service would be of greater value to the Empire, and would bring quicker returns.When the public put enough pressure on the Government and all first-class mail matter is sent by air, at leastthree services between London and Australia and Cape- town every week will be necessary, as it is quite evidentthat business men will no longer be able to afford the time to travel by steamer. Three planes per week each way, with a load of 25 to30 passengers and from 1| to 2 tons of mail, will not be adequate for long on the Australian route, in view oftraffic potentialities. At a later date it may be possible to introduce, in con-junction with the slower passenger and mail service, a high-speed weekly service, mails only, flying day andnight and doing the journey in half the ordinary flying time. This service would be costly, but even charges of, say,5s. per ^ oz. would not be too much for business people to pay in view of the extra time saved. London, W.2. WALTER L. NAYLOR.; January 11, 1934. " IN ANOTHER PLACE " [2907] I am sorry that my attempt to put a very smallcat among the pigeons was taken so seriously. Unfor- tunately, the Postmaster-General removes any trace of an implied smile from the missives which pass through his hands, and I can only add the word " intellectual " to "honesty" by way of apology. As a nation we are particularly prone to believe what we want to believe, and the misguided " foreigner," reading the reports of, or remarks on, Lord Londonderry's speech, can only shrug his shoulders and say, " These always so perfect English! Just as if nobody else in the world can make an honest gesture.'' Now, taking the points of your reply. If we allow thatthe Russian offer, for instance, was merely an attempt to call our bluff, we are laid open to the remark that wesurely should have no bluff to be called! When nations are frightened of one another, the panic of the sanest canbe most devastating, and we, as taxpayers, do not want another armament race similar to that in the years before1914. If the nations take the trouble to equalise their armaments, they may as well disarm on an arithmeticalbasis of reasoning. For a very good reason, which you would not trouble to argue with, you and I have, as citi-zens, agreed not to carry arms, and it seems a pity that nations cannot be as intelligent as individuals.However, I retain an open mind, but if something does start, both of us will wish that these dangerous toys hadbeen buried, for the just and the unjust will die together in a most uncomfortable manner and with equal alacrity.The " modern " war, fortunately, is no respecter of per- sons, and if a nation considers that its " pride " is worththe loss of the flower of a generation, then, in sheer despair, I shall hurry to my appointed end along withthe others. H. A. T. Manchester. January 5, 1934. Medical Notes and First-Aid Treatment for Flights in the Tropics and Sub-Tropics. (Air Publication 1,486.) Published by H.M. Stationery Office. Price 4d., postage extra. "THIS little booklet deals with all the principal diseases* and ailments which are prevalent in the Tropics and Sub-Tropics. It is not written in medical phraseology, butin simple language for all to understand. It is a very useful booklet, and could be carried about by pilots flyingin the Tropics and Sub-Tropics with great advantage. It is not everyone who has the knowledge of a medicalstudent, but it is essential for a pilot flying in the Tropics to possess some knowledge concerning the prevention andremedy of maladies which, if not dealt with at once, may develop into something really serious. This little booksupplies such knowledge. The Aeronautical Work of Lawrence Hargrave. ByT. C. Roughley, B.Sc. Published in Sydney, Australia, by Alfred James Kent, I.S.O. Government Printer. Price Is.1AWRENCE HARGRAVE is a name which is known to *-' few of the younger generation of air enthusiasts. Evenamong the older generation, although he may be remem- bered, even revered, it is doubtful whether true reward isgiven to what aviation of the present day owes to the genius of his early experiments. Lawrence Hargrave wasborn in England in the year 1850 and went out to Aus- tralia when he was 16 years of age. The rest of his lifewas spent, and the whole of his technical training re- ceived in Australia, and so he is usually regarded andmay be justly claimed as an Australian. The aeroplane was not " invented " by any single ex-perimenter ; it gradually evolved as the result of the progressive efforts of many dauntless pioneers, some ofwhom lost their lives in the cause. Lawrence Hargrave can certainly be reckoned as one of these pioneers. Hisfirst experiments were with models consisting of one large surface, but he soon discovered that the tail unit shouldbe separate from the main planes. For propulsion he relied on an airscrew or flapping wings. Two models wereconstructed by him, one with an airscrew and the other with flapping wings. Careful calculations were made of therelative weights, area, power, and the distance flown, with the result that as propellers, the screw and flapping wingswere found to be about equally efficient. After a time Hargrave decided to turn his attention tomotive power of a more mechanical nature and designed th? first rotary engine. Three cylinders were arranged onthe arms of a three-bladed airscrew, and so the forerunner of the celebrated French " Gnome " engine came intobeing. Yet how many people are there who realise that this invention owes its original conception to Hargrave?Universal ignorance on this point is due chiefly, no doubt, to Hargrave's lack of commercial interest in his designs ;he never applied for a patent and never desired to protect his inventions in any way. The first thought in his mindwas the advance of aviation in which he had an implicit belief and unbounded enthusiasm. Between the years 1884 and 1893, he devoted his time-principally to the design of aeroplanes with flat support- ing surfaces, but in 1892 he turned his attention to curvedsurfaces and so it can be claimed that he was the first man to discover that wings cambered at certain angles producedmore lift than flat surface wings. Criticism has been levelled against Hargrave in that heallowed many of his models to find a final resting place in Germany. The Australian Government, however, were 64
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