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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 0130.PDF
FLIGHT, FEBRUARY 8, 1934 A1RISMS FROM THE FOUR WINDS A tragic recordON January 30 the Soviet balloon, Osoaviakhitn Syrius, set up a new world's altitude record. The crew con-sisted of M. Fedoseinko, M. Vasenco and M. Usyskin, all of whom were killed when the balloon was wrecked duringthe descent from the record flight. The commission, which is investigating the cause of the accident, reports that ithas found records which establish that the balloon reached an altitude of nearly 13§ miles. The balloon had beenconstructed at Leningrad under the auspices of the Osoaviakhim Society for Aviation and Chemical Warfare,and for the purpose of the record-breaking flight had an endurance, including ascent and descent, of about 10 hr.Tt was nearly 177 ft. in diameter, had a capacity of 25,000 in'., and the total weight, including instruments,was 2,000 kg. Fine lead shot was used for ballast. It is reoorted that the balloon began its ascent from Matilovo,near Moscow, early in the morning, and by 11.45 a.m. had reached an altitude of 12.8 miles. Wireless communi-cation was maintained until after the balloon had com- menced its descent, the last report being received at3.40 p.m. (G.M.T.), after which grave anxiety was felt for the occupants. An official announcement regarding thecrash states that between 3.30 p.irr. and 5 p.m. the gondola was found, torn awav from the balloon, near the villageof Potijsky Ostrog. The envelope, which had been severed owing, to the shock, had been blown away. The bodiesof the three occupants were discovered in the gondola. According to the accounts of eye witnesses, the tragedyoccurred during the fall of the balloon, at the same time the envelope was torn away and two explosions were heard.M. Vasenco's watch showed 4.23, which was presumably the moment of impact. The Commission of Inquiry foundthat the disaster was " due to excessive acceleration, due to the velocity of the stratostat's descent from a heightof 12,000 m. (7J miles). This evidently resulted in the snapping of some of the trusses, which destroyed theequilibrium of the stratostat and caused the severance of the gondola from the balloon." On February 2 the victimsof the disaster were buried in Moscow with full military honours.Soviet air expedition to Pechora A SOVIET air expedition to determine the timberresources of Pechora, on the coast of the Arctic Ocean, has successfully completed its work. It carried out a flightof about 44,000 miles in 700 hours without a single acci- dent. The work included a survey from the air of sevenmillion hectares of forest land, the taking of photographs from the air, the mapping of rivers, and the exploration ofagricultural possibilities and facilities for the transporta- tion of timber.Repair shops on aeroplanes " ELECTRIC POWER TRUST " of the Urals is instituting asystem of repair shops on aeroplanes for the repair of de- fects in transmission lines. Three aeroplanes are alreadybeing equipped for the purpose and landing places have been chosen. The rapidity with which an aeroplane canbe sent to any point of breakdown on the transmission lines will, it is claimed, ensure a high level of efficiency. Atthe beginning of the summer season the machines will make regular flights on the lines of Perm-Chusovaya, Glubakha-Berezniki, Chusovaya-Tagil, Berezniki-Solikamsk. A new Hispano THE new Hispano-Suiza 14 Ha had its first test-runrecently. It is a double-row, 14-cylinder, radial air-cooled, and on its first test is reported to have developed 960 b.h.p.at 1,700 r.p.m. The new engine is designed for a normal speed of 1,900 r.p.m.A 6-cylinder Renault AT the Renault works in France they are developinga new 6-cylinder inverted engine of 9£ litres capacity There is some talk of putting it into one of 1933 CoupeDeutsch Caudrons for an attempt on the light-plane speed record.The "Bizerte" at St. Raphael THE three-engined Breguet flying boat Bizerte(3 Gnome-Rhone " K. 14 " engines) was flown from Le Havre to St. Raphael on January 23. The flight occupied5 hr., giving an average speed of a little over 100 m.p.h. The machine, in the design of which one can trace Shortinfluence, was piloted by Lantz and Costes, and on board were also M. de la Bruyere, the engineer Laubeuf, andtwo mechanics. The service trials of the machine are being carried out at St. Raphael. THE LOCH NESS MONSTER ? Not at all. If the reader will turn the picture the other way up he will see a front view of the new Douglas DC.l " Transport," a twin- engined (Wright " Cyclone " or Pratt &. Whitney "• Hornet ") 14-18-seater low-wing monoplane/ with retractable undercarriage. " Croix de Sud " back in AfricaCroix de Sud, the French seaplane, arrived back at Saint Louis on Wednesday, January 31. It has thusaccomplished a double crossing of the South Atlantic. The return flight took 21 hr. 29 min., and was the firstwest-to-east crossing of the South Atlantic to be made by a seaplane. Gold medal for Mrs. LindberghTHE National Geographic Society of New York has awarded the Hubbard gold medal to Mrs. Lindbergh inrecognition of her flight with her husband as wireless operator, navigator and co-pilot.Mittelholtzer off to Abyssinia LT. WALTER MITTELHOLTZER has left Zurich forAbyssinia in a Fokker which he is delivering to the Abyssinian Government. He is accompanied by severalcinema operators. A Leopard in Iraq SIR FRANCIS HUMPHRYS, the British Ambassador inIraq, has purchased a D.H. " Leopard( Moth," which left Heston on Wednesday morning, January 31, piloted byFit. Lt. Hawkins, on its delivery flight to Baghdad. To a rugger match by air EIGHT miners from Tylorstown, South Wales, decided to travel by air to see Wales play their annual Rugger match against Scotland at Murrayfields on Saturday, Feb- ruary 3. Unfortunately, the machine which was trans- porting them north ran into fog near Stafford, which pre- vented any further progress towards Scotland. Deter- mined to get their money's worth, the eight miners de- cided to fly to Portsmouth and see the Portsmouth-Sheffield United Soccer match. This they did, and after a night at Portsmouth flew back to South Wales, no doubt cheered by their country's magnificent victory in Scotland. Miss Joan Page married Miss JOAN PAGE, who at the beginning of last year crashed in the bush while flying out to South Africa with Miss Sale-Barker, was married to Mr. R. D'A. L. White on January 25. Vickers Machines for New Zealand A BATCH of Vickers " Vildebeeste " Torpedo Bombers have been ordered by the Government of New Zealand for delivery about the middle of the year. They are equipped with Bristol " Pegasus " engines. This is presumably part of Mr. Forbes' reorganisation of the New Zealand defence system, which he announced last October.England—Australia race THE Government of India has decided to render finan- cial assistance to Indian pilots who wish to enter for the England-Australia race. Two Indian pilots have expressed their desire to take part in the race, Mr. P. P. Nazir and Pilot Officer Aspy, engineer. To make it possible for them to participate in the race a guarantee fund of £5,500 has to be raised by the end of February, and towards this £500 has already been contributed. ;-•-.; --:::. .. Mr. Walter Wellman ON January 31, the death took place in New York of Mr. Walter Wellman at the age of 75. Mr. Wellman was 130
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