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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 0264.PDF
FLIGHT,. IS, 1934 easily accessible, manholes being provided at the back of each of the three lamp sections and in the base covering over the electric motor. The base, which is usually mounted in concrete, is made from cast iron and the body of the lamp is of sheet copper to prevent corrosion. A system of dust louvres protects the mechanism. The ladder, which is normally used for climbing to the platform for operating the shadow bar, may be swung round the lamp for focussing and cleaning purposes. Complete with shadow bar, ladder, platform, etc., the light weighs IJ tons. The P.B. automatic control WE announced, and briefly described, in our issue of November 23, 1933, a new automatic gyroscopic control, or " pilot's assister," invented by Mr. J. Pollock Brown, M.I.Mech.E. At the time of that announcement the instru- ment controlled only the rudder of an aircraft, but since then it has been further developed and now controls rudder and elevators. Recently we accompanied Mr. Philip Bailey, who is responsible for the testing of the apparatus, in his " Puss Moth," in which the new control is fitted. The gyroscope manages the second control as easily as the rudder. It is unnecessary in the opinion of the inventor to automatically control the ailerons, the extra gear would justify its existence only in very bad weather, a dihedral angle sufficing in normal conditions. It is not possible to publish at present a full technical description of the instru- ment, but we would recall that the corrective impulses are transmitted through oil. It is practically impossible to lose pressure in the system and all the working parts are generously lubricated. After the new instrument to control rudder and elevators had been suggested, it was designed, built, tested and approved in three months. The com- plete apparatus as at present installed in Mr. Bailey's " Puss Moth " weighs 25 lb. Vickers* Dividends THE directors of Vickers, Ltd., recommend, for the approval in general meeting, a dividend for the year 1933 at the rate of 4 per cent., less income tax at 5s. in the £, on the ordinary shares of the company. This dividend, if approved, will be paid on Wednesday, April 4. The company also announces that Mr. Arthur Terence Maxwell, a partner in Glyn Mills & Co., was appointed a director of the company at the board meeting held on March 8. British wireless for Iraq SOME twelve months ago Standard Telephones & Cables, Ltd., fitted the D.H. " Dragons " (" Gipsy Major "), of the Iraq Air Force, with their ATR.4 trans- mitting and receiving wireless sets. As a result of the satis- faction which these sets gave, the company has now re- ceived an order to equip the recently ordered Hawker " Audax " (R.R. " Kestrel ") aircraft with similar in- struments. General aircraft developments AN increase in capital to £100,000 has been announced by General Aircraft, Ltd. Coincident with this announce- ment is that of an addition to the board of Mr. W. S. Stephenson. The capital of the Monospar Co., Ltd., has also been increased to £50,000, on control being acquired by General Aircraft, Ltd. An extended production pro- gramme has been embarked upon for both the standard and retractable types of the Monospar S.T.4, while a larger machine, the S.T.6, is being placed in production this year. The board of General Aircraft, Ltd., now con- sists of Mr. H. J. Stieger, Chairman and Managing Direc- tor ; Mr. W. S. Stephenson, and Fit. Lt. H. M. Schofield, General Manager. Hadfields valves HADFIELDS, LTD., of Sheffield, have just issued a leaflet which recalls, in illustrated form, the fact that Hadfields " Era ATV " steel exhaust valves have helped to make history by being fitted in the Supermarine-Napier Schneider machines of 1927 and 1929, in the Gloster-Napier Schneider machine of 1929, in the engines of Segrave's Golden Arrow car and Miss England motor boat, in Malcolm Campbell's Bluebird car, in Kaye Don's Silver Bullet, in Scott Paine's Miss Britain III, and in the Napier engine of the Fairey long-range monoplane. Hadfields, Ltd., it may be recalled, hold the sole rights of manu- facture and sale of " Era ATV " steel in the British Empire. For model makers FROM F. R. Barnard, of 2A, Hornsey Rise, Upper Holloway, London, N.19, we have received a very useful price list, which includes woods, such as Balsa, silver spruce and birch, glues, tools, blue prints of models, kits of model materials, propellers, rubber, and Cellon dope. Inquirers may like to know that the telephone number is Archway 2376. More Aerial Signposts CAPT. J. P. BLACK, managing director of the Standard Motor Company, is to be congratulated on his foresight and initiative in having the roof of his factory at Canley, near Coventry, turned into an aerial signpost. Thereon he has had painted the distance to various important towns, together with an arrow giving their direction (the magnetic bearing in large letters would have been still more valuable.—ED.). He has also proposed that all the principal agents of the company shall be asked to follow suit. The adoption of this scheme, which combines factory advertisement with great utility, by a firm not, as yet, connected directly with the aircraft trade, is significant of the increasingly important place which aerial travel is taking in this country. As far back as the year 1919, Short Bros., Ltd., at Rochester, started the idea, and since that time many firms like Cellon, Ltd., at Kingston, K.L.G., Ltd., somewhat nearer London, and many others about the country have used the roofs of their factories, not only to advertise their names to airmen, but also to help those airmen with directions. Municipalities have also, in many cases, caused the names of their towns to be painted in prominent positions where they can be most helpful and, in Leicestershire in particular, the gas com- panies have been induced by a prominent private owner to " name and arrow " the tops of their gasometers. Therefore, if Capt. Black's example is followed by other motor-car and non-aviation firms, we shall soon be able to fly about England without any maps at all! The Standard sign was officially inaugurated on Thurs- day, March 8, by a luncheon, at which Mr. R. W. Maudslay presided, at the Standard Motor Company's works. The guests to the luncheon were flown up from Hanworth Aerodrome in a " Dragon " (from Western Air- ways, Ltd.), two " Couriers " and a Desoutter (from the Aircraft Exchange & Mart, Ltd.). An extension of the scheme to include illuminated signs is under- stood to be und^r consideration. AERIAL SIGNPOSTS : A view from the air of the Standard Motor Co.'s works, near Coventry, show- ing the various items of informa- tion for airmen painted on the roofs.
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