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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 0592.PDF
PxIGHT, JUNE 14, 1934 B.A.C. IN BELGIUM At the Ghent Gliding Club, Pupils Graduate from Gliders to B.A.C. - " Drones " The Belgian B.A.C. " Drone " on a sharp turn. USING a very slightly modified edition of the B.A.C."Drone," with a Douglas engine, a Belgian glidingclub has developed an interesting and extremelyinexpensive form of flying for its members. No actual dual is given by the instructor, M. Henri Man-choulas, who, it may be remembered, recently flew from Ghent to Le Bourget in a " Drone," and who is a war-timepilot. Pupils are started in simple gliders, which are towed by an ingenious form of motor-driven winch gear (in which an increasing virtual diameter of the cable drum increases the speed of the glider as the tow length increases), learn, at first to use the controls and then to do straight flights. Afterwards they graduate to more efficient gliders, learn to make gliding turns and accurate approaches, and are finally sent off on the " Drones " with the certain know- ledge that they are capable of any form of difficult approach without the use of an engine. The Section Gantoise de Vol Sans Moteur, as the club> is called, is a purely amateur affair, and this, combined with the fact of the low cost of the flying, has meant thai the cost to the pupil is as small as 15s. per hour at the present rate of exchange. Development work has been carried out by M. Jacques de la Croix and the club has been assisted in a number of ways by local notabilities and by the Government. Some form of Certificate of Airworthiness had, of course, to be obtained for the " Drones," which, because of their comparatively low speed of climb, cannot obtain any but a special one. Through various good offices, the club obtained a special C. of A. for the " Drone," for which it is known as an " extra lightweight single-seater," and for which the requisite figures are:—Maximum weight, 333 kilog. (734 lb.) ; maximum engine capacity, 1,000 c.c. ; maximum wing loading, 20 km. per sq. m. (4.1 lb. per sq. ft.) ; obstacle 15 m. (49 ft.) high must be cleared after 600 m. (1,968 ft.), and minimum climb is 150 m. (492 ft.) in 3 minutes. The factor of safety is that applied to touring aeroplanes in Belgium—seven. A LIGHT PUSHER MONOPLANE Details of an Interesting little Machine with a Pobjoy "i?" Engine built in Batavia T T NUSUALLY good performance figures are quoted for alight monoplane built by the Walraven Company at their works at Bandoeng, Batavia, Dutch East Indies. The machine has a Pobjoy " R " engine arranged in a nacelle on " stilts " above the fuselage, and both the view and the comfort for the two occupants should be good. Mr. H. G. Shaw, of Shell-Mex & B.P., Ltd., who saw it during his tour to Australia, speaks of it as an extremely smart as well as practical aeroplane. The data given are as follows: — Length, o.a.Wing span Weight with two passengers Top speed Landing speed 20-7 ft. (6-3 m). 3U-5 ft. 9-3 m).I 100 lb. (525 kg). 121 m.p.h. (19S kmlkr).46 m.p.h. (75 km/hr). HAN WORTH'S FATE IT is reported that the Middlesex County Council have decided to tender for the Hanworth Park Estate. This announcement suggests that Hanworth Aerodrome may thus become the Middlesex County Aerodrome, and in this case it seems likely that the flying club and operation of the aerodrome may be handed to one of the established firms. Heston is already finding that their commercial traffic is so great that strict aerodrome control is neces- sary, and the experience at Croydon shows that instruction at a controlled aerodrome cannot be carried on entirely successfully. We should not be surprised, therefore, to see the club and instructional work of Airwork, Ltd., at Heston, transferred to Hanworth as soon as the fate of the aerodrome is settled. The two aerodromes are only some three miles apart, far enough to prevent the traffic at one affecting that at the other at all seriously, but close enough to enable close co-operation to be maintained. Club members at Hanworth are putting in a lot of time in the air and ten hours' flying instruction each day is a commontotal. PASSENGERS SAFETY A WELCOME addition to the Air Navigation Order is contained in the Air Navigation (Amendment) Order, 1934. This is to the effect that it is incumbent upon the person in charge of an aircraft which is being used for trick or exhibition flying, when carrying passengers for hire or reward, to satisfy himself, before commencing each flight, that every passenger carried in an open cockpit and the pilot, or pilots if more than one is carried, is properly secured by the prescribed safety belts. Apparently, there- fore, the person in charge of flying at air displays or circuses, must not only see that his passengers are strapped in, but also that his pilots have got their belts done up ; we should have thought that the pilot himself was in charge of the aircraft under those conditions. Anyhow, somebody has got to do it, that is the main point. Far too much risk has been taken in the past by pilots aero- batting passengers when they were not strapped in at all. Even now there seems to be nothing against anyone taking up passengers and dropping them on to the cabin roof by hanging on the top of a loop! 592
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