FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1934
1934 - 1139.PDF
November 1 l'JU. AIRCRAFT ENGINEERAND AIRSHIPS SE^_^ ^founded in 1909 by Stanley Spooner" FIRST. AERONAUTICAL DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS, PRACTICE AND PROGRESS OF As/IATION OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE ROYAL AERO CLUB No. 1349 Vol. XXVI. 26th Year NOVEMBER 1, 1934 Thursdays, Price 6d.By Post, 7frd- Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices: DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.I Telegrams: Truditur Watloo, London. Telephone: Hop 3333 (50 lines) HERTFORD ST. COVENTRY GUILDHALL BUILDINGS, 00 DiiANSGATE MANCHESTER i LOB, RENF1ELD a T.NAVIGATION ST., BIRMINGHAM, :. "" Telegrams: Autocar, Coventry Telegrams: Autopress, Birmingham.Telephone: Coventry 5210. Telephone: Midland 25)71, SUBSCRIPTION Home and Canada year, £1 13 0 0 months, IBs. fid. :! months, 8s. 31RATES: Other Countries: Year, £1 15 0 0 months, 17s. fid. 3 months 8s. tkl. Telegrams: Hide ManchesterTelephone: Blackfriars 441A GLASGOW, C.2.lelegrams: Uifte, Glasgow.Telephone Central 4S57 From I Mile to 2,530 Miles TWENTY-FIVE years ago on October 30, 1909,Mr. (now Lieut. Col.) J. T. C. Moore-Brabazonwon a Daily Mail prize of £1,000 for the firstcircular mile flown in Great Britain in a Britisn aeroplane with a British engine. Twenty-five years ago that was a very great feat, as the amount of the prize money shows. Now we think little enough of a flight of 2,530 miles in record time from Mildenhall to Baghdad. It is not an endurance record, as Moore- Brabazon's mile was in 1909. It takes a flight of 11,300 miles to Melbourne in under three days really to stir our depths; and before these words appear in print who knows whether that record will not have been broken.' None the less, in these wonderful times when records are made every year, and are made only to be broken, it is salutary to cast our minds back a quarter of a cen- tury, which may seem ancient history to the modern pilot (" 1066 and all that ") but is really very fresh in the memories of the middle-aged, and to ponder over the slow, painful progress which was leading to—do we even yet know whither it was and is leading.' If Moore- Brabazon's mile in 1909 was hailed as a great step forward, was not Hinkler's lone trip to Australia in six- teen days thought equally marvellous in 1928 (only six years ago); and now the baie idea of a regular air line taking a fortnight on that same journey arouses fiery and righteous indignation in all bosoms. A few years hence and it may well be that the bright young pilots of the day will hoot with derision at the old fogeys who got excited about the crawling progress of those tor- toises, Scott and Campbell Black. Meantime the high-speed record is constantly being pushed up higher and higher. We wish that Great Britain were engaged in the worthy task of pushing it, but as the authorities have ruled that that may not be, we give our unstinted admiration to our friendly rivals, the Italians, and offer our heartiest congratulations to their grand pilot, Lieut. Francesco Agello. We must have our national rivalries and international competi- tions, for they do good, and when conducted in the proper spirit they are very enjoyable. Aeronautical progress, however, is a matter for the world. Future ages will not be much concerned with the nationality of the pioneers who increased the speed and the range and the ceiling of aircraft, so long as the work has been well done. Everyone stands to profit by each step in advance. If Great Britain is not to engage for tht time being on the work of pushing up the absolute speed of aircraft, let us be grateful that this desirable work is being well and truly done by others. Future travellers to Australia will probably have cause to thank the Italians, as well as the men who made and those who flew the " Comet," for the speed with which they will be able to get to the other side of the world. The Reward THERE are still not a few questioners who ask if allthis speed is worth while. Does it, they ask,make life any happier? Is it worth the pria paid in lives and in toil? Such doubters are probably thinking chiefly of the weekly butcher's bili on the roads of Great Britain. Probably the majority of the road deaths are not due to speed alone, but the reactionaries are able to say quite truly that if no motor car travelled at more than, say, 10 miles an hour there would be practically no road deaths. One cannot con- trovert that argument; but it applies also to railway accidents. If no train travelled at more than 10 m.p.h. there would be practically no fatal railway accidents. In the air, speed does not mean danger; though if high air speed means also high landing speed, then an element of danger is introduced. The argument of the enemies of speed becomes more potent when they ask if the high tempo of modern life does not bring more wear and tear for the human frame. The point must be granted. Each invention of science which was intended to save time has brought
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
