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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 0996.PDF
998 FLIGHT. SEPTEMBER 27, 1934. A SECT/ON FOR OWNER-PILOTS AND CLUB MEMBERS PROGRESS in all forms of mechanical transport, as inother spheres, has always been due to the enterpriseand pioneering spirit of the few,' and it is only when the vehicle has become, to all intents and purposes, '' foolproof," that the general public begins to use it to the full extent of its possibilities. It has been so in the case of the bicycle and the motor car, and the principle applies in no less a degree to the vehicles of air transport. Convincing the Public . , W E all admire those persistent pioneerswho seek fresh experiences even at risk to life and limb, but it is the phlegm of the '' man in the street'' which in- fluences the designers and manufac- turers to provide really safe and prac- tical machines. The process of convinc- ing the average person that flying is.safe and practical may prove to be a greater problem than was the case with the various means of surface travel. It will naturally take longer for the public to assess the capability of the vehicle which operates in an unaccustomed medium. The would-be motorist may not have a mechanical mind, and he can- not fail to realise that the records of road accidents indi- cate that motoring can be a slightly dangerous pastime, but he is in no whit deterred from becoming a motor car owner as soon as means permit. He has confidence in the car and in his own ability to avoid the pitfalls into which others fall. His attitude to flying is different; he may have an urge to experience flight, but he does not understand its problems. He cannot readily gauge to what extent safety in aviation is due to the pilot and how far present-day aircraft are fundamentally safe. The records of our organ- ised air lines seem to prove that flying is less hazardous than surface transport, but he knows that our air liners are only entrusted to pilots of proved skill and long ex- perience. In other words, the average man is doubtful of his own ability to control the aircraft available for his use. And in this connection, as in a variety of other cir- cumstances, the prescience of the majority is a reliable guide to the actual state of affairs. The aeroplane is, in fact, only a safe machine so long as it is handled by a skilful and careful pilot. Long before the Wright Brothers first flew in a motor- driven machine they realised the nature of the funda mental difficulties of control of fixed wing aircraft, and not only have we to thank them for pioneering power flights but also for taking precautions in their initial experi- ments. Their zeal might have resulted in their leaving the ground at an earlier stage, with the possibilities of their triumph being followed by fatal consequences due to inexperience of the problems involved. But to their lasting credit, and to the great advantage of those who fol- lowed in their footsteps, they first studied the problem and then found means to control the tendency of the aero- plane to stall. This tendency has remained a limitation •Jk NOTES LORD SEMPILL A.F.C., F.R.Ae.S. *ln greater or less degree with every aeroplane that has been constructed since that day. It is of this fundamental characteristic of the conven- tional type of aircraft that the ordinary person is shy, although he does not, perhaps, clearly understand its significance. Many attempts have been made to eliminate this drawback, both hy straightforward design and by the addition to the normal wing surface of such fitments as slots. Two Interesting Types ALL these efforts have, so far, beenpalliatives rather than cures. The suc- cessful trials of the Mark V Pterodactyl, a machine on which its designer, Captain G. T. R. Hill, has given many years of research and experiment, were, there- fore, of particular interest. The machine has many points of appeal to the would- be private owner, although this latest model was built to military requirements, and its great advantage from a private flying point of view is that it does go some way towards solving the problem of the stall and incipient spin. Another interesting machine, which was described last week in Flight, constructed by the French experimenter, M. Henri Mignet, is also the outcome of drastic modifica- tions to standard fixed wing design with the object of producing non-stalling qualities. This machine is remark- able in that the inventor has cut down flying controls to those which can be operated with one hand. He has dispensed with ailerons and elevator, the misuse of which he declares to be one of the chief causes of spinning. Fore and aft control is obtained by altering the incidence of the top wing, which is hinged for the purpose. These examples are quoted to indicate that persistent efforts have been made since the days of the Wrights to overcome the inherent disadvantages of conventional air- craft, but in spite of all the efforts which have been made there are many who feel that nothing short of a funda- mental change in the design of aircraft will effect the desired result. The successors to the type of aircraft on which the first flights were made have shown that the conventional aeroplane makes a very efficient flying machine when handled by really qualified persons, but it cannot be denied that far too much responsibility is placed on the pilot. All the instruments and assorted equipment which, coupled with perfect ground organisation, make for greater safety in commercial aviation increase rather than decrease this responsibility. The private owner, with his own business to look after, has not always the time to gain the experience necessary with present-day machines, but, given the less wrayward vehicle, he could soon become proficient, for instance, in the use of wireless equipment. Aviation has arrived at a stage when the flying machine must be made safe for the many. It is obvious, therefore, that every encouragement should be given for the design of machines which are based on principles of inherent stability.
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