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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 0790.PDF
792 FLIGHT. AUGUST 2, 1934. Hie" effect is to pull the blades~rbund, and tKe'c'ehtrifugal force keeps them extended. One of the great advantages of this system is that the speed of the blades through the air is, within limits, not dependent,upon the speed of the whole machine through the air. There can, therefore, never be any sudden loss of lift due to the flying speed dropping too low, as whatever the rate of progress of the machine, the blades still rotate at their correct speed. Thus, the- air flow over .them is unchanged and the lift remains the" same. The reader will appreciate from this ^explanation why a vertical descent is possible with the Autogiro and not with the normal aircraft, as the latter is dependent upon its speed through the air for air speed over its lifting surfaces. . C. N. C. NEXT WEEK i. •:•:-.:• 9\.:•*•...• " Flying the Autogiro " is the title of a second -illustrated article to appear in next Thursday's issue of Flight. y TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO " The first Flight across the Channel was made on July 25, 1909 M LOUIS BLERIOT was made an honorary life memberof the Royal Aero Club last Wednesday, when adinner was given in his honour at the Club to celebrate• the first flight across the Channel. Lord Londonderry, in proposing Mi Bleriot's health, drew attention to the fact that their guest had done them the signal honour of reserving the actual day of the 25th anniversary of his Channel crossing (July 25, -1909) for this dinner. Speak- ing of his recent visit to Buc he said he was particularly struck with the contrast between the R.A.F. machines which escorted him and the frail but historic craft upon which M Bleriot had made the first invasion of England from the * air. He, asked that everyone should look upon the aeroplane as a vehicle of peace for the promotion of friendly intercourse among peoples. He felt sure that wherever France and Eng- land could help each other in the progress of their air routes they would do so. • M. Bleriot replied briefly in French, speaking of the cordiality with which he had been received in Great Britain, not only on this present occasion but also 25 years ago. He laugh- ingly said that although "aviation had progressed considerably since that time, •his knowledge of English had remained- stationary. The French Ambassador made an eloquent speech in English voicing the thanks of M. Bleriot. Lt/Col J. T. C. Moore- Brabazou, holder of pilot's licence No. 1 (M. BleYiot is -holder - of the French JSto. 1 licence), thought that the name of Hubert Latham should be remembered that evening, as he only missed being the first man to fly the Channel by some 300 yards. Among others present were : — Commandant Papin (representing the French Air Minister), Mr. W. Lindsay Everard, M.P.. Mr. C. R. Fairey, Mr. F. Handley Page, Sir Alliott Verdon-Roe, Lt.-Col. Mervyn O'Gorman, Lt.-Col. F. C. Shelmerdine (Director of Civil Aviation), Capt. A. G. Lamplugh, Maj. R. H. Mayo, Sq. Ldr. C. J.'W. Darwin, Sir Francis McClean, Sir Lindsay Parkinson, Mr. H. J. Thomas (Chairman of the Society of British Aircraft Constructors), Mr. C. F. Fairey (President"of the Royal Aero- nautical Society), Sir Alan Cobham, Sir Walter Windham, .Maj. H, P. Petre, Col. W. A, Bristow, Mr. R. Blackburn, Com. James Bird, and Mr. H. E Perrin (Secretary, R.Ae.C). It may be of interest to those of the younger generation —or to those who have forgotten—if we give a few brief details of M. Bleriot's Channel flight. In the first place it should be mentioned that the "effort originated in the offer of a prize of £1,000 made by the Daily Mail to the first aviator to fly across the English Channel.; Secondly, prior to M. Bleriot's flight, Hubert Latham made a splendid, but unsuccessful, attempt on July 19, 1909, to win the prize, and seeing the chance offered by Latham's failure, and inspired by his own successful cross-country, flight accomplished the previous week, M. Bleriot promptly entered for the Channel Prize. The story of his flight is, perhaps, best given by extracts of the account published in Flight at the time (July 31, 1909) — thus:— " It was almost without warning, but nevertheless with a send*offon the French shore from an enthusiastic crowd, that M. Bleriot flew across the Straits of Dover from Les Baraques, near Calais,to Northfall Meadow at Dover on Sunday, July 25, thereby inci- dentally winning the Daily Mail ,£1,000 prize. . . . Seeing thatthe fates were propitious he lost little time in bringing out the flyer, and in spite ,oi his injured foot he quickly carried out apractice flight over the sand-hills between Les Baraques and San- gatte. A little earlier, too, he had notified his intention to start tothedestioyer Escopette, which was consequently at that time stand- ing out to sea, with Madame Bleriot and others already aboard—iill anxiously on the look-out for him. Finding everything working properly with his machine, he speedily effected a fresh start, thistime flying straight away over the cliffs and heading towards England. . - : " That was at about twenty minutes to five (French time) and itwas about twenty minutes past five (also French time) that he landed at Dover. Accounts differ as to the exact moment ofdeparture and descent, and as a matter of fact it is doubtful if any reliable timing was made since M. Bleriot started without a watchas well as without a compass. The distance of the flight was about 31 miles, and. hence the speed was in the region of 45 miles anhour. During th*e crossing he flew at an altitude of 150 ft. to 300 ft. and thus kept much nearer the water than Mr. Latham did on hisattempt. " M. Bleriot's monoplane quickly outstripped the torpedo-boatdestroyer Escopette.". . . . In mid-Channel M. Bleriot lost sight of land and of his escort for a very uncomfortably long period—, ' estimated by him to have been ten minutes— -- "-•% and was entirely without means of ascertaininghis proper direction. In the circumstances he did the only thing possible, which was to keepstraigh*t**t>ri' and, fortune favouring him, he sighted the English shore off Deal while headingfor St. Margaret's Bay. Turning along the coast M. Bleriot flew towards Dover, and put in at agap in the cliffs where a representative of Le Matin, M. Fontaine, was signalling to him witha tricolour flag. The site on which the landing was accomplished was the Northfall Meadow.Although tjie arrival was noticed- from afar by several, and M. Fontaipe was on the. chosen partof the cliff at Dover, yet even he failed to see the real landing, and P.C. Stanford was the only eye-witness of this great historic event and landing on British soil of the first flyer to cross theChannel. " The actual contact with terra-firma wasrather abrupt; in fact, not only was the pro- peller broken, but that part of the frameworkwhich carries the engine was also damaged." ACROSS ! M; Bleriot's historic landing in Northfall Meadow, Dover, on July 25, 1909. Reproduced from Flight of July 31, 1909.
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