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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 1194.PDF
FLIGHT, November 15, T934 MODERN BRITISH AIRC Civil and Military Types, the Products of Over Thirty PkOGKESS m aviation is still rapid. Although flyingbegan more than thirty years ago there are no signsthat we are approaching finality, or even that the rate of progress is slowing down. It may be taking different directions, but development is continuing, and aviation is more virile than ever before. The Paris Aero Show, the fourteenth of which opens at the Grand Palais to-morrow, has ever been one to attract numerous visitors from all over Europe, and it has come to be accepted that anyone who lays claim to keeping in touch with the latest developments must visit the Paris Show. This year Great Britain will be very well repre- sented, but it is obviously impossible for every British firm to exhibit. We therefore feel that a review of the British aircraft industry will assist in outlining the stage of development which British aviation has reached, and in giving an idea of the range of products which Great Britain has to offer. In the following pages will be found descriptions, speci- fications, and /or photographs of more than sixty types of aircraft, and, on pages 1217-1223, nearly sixty types of British engines. These are the products of more than thirty designing and manufacturing firms, so it will be seen that the British aircraft industry is steadily assuming important proportions. Analysing the material in the aircraft section, it is found that twenty-one aircraft firms produce at least sixty-two different types of aircraft. We say "at least," because it lias not been possible to include references to every type. For instance, a great number of new types have just been finished or are nearing completion, about which nothing may be said because they are being built for the Air Ministry. Furthermore, the industry includes more than the twenty-one aircraft firms, some of them being for the moment occupied on work other than aircraft, although they have not closed down their aircraft sections completely. In one other case, that of the Heston Air- craft Company, the firm has recently been reorganised, and production of the new types which are being designed has not yet begun. Among the thirty-two military types produced by British firms, and dealt with in this issue, it is interesting to note that twenty-nine are biplanes and only three monoplanes. This preference of British designers for the biplane has been largely dictated by military considerations. The biplane, with its smaller span and lower weight, tends to be rather more manoeuvrable than the monoplane carry- ing the same military load. This is not invariably the case, but is a general rule to which there are exceptions. On the civil side it is found that out of a total of twenty- eight machines, seven are biplanes and nineteen mono- planes, while on:, the Autos*iro, cannot be classed as either. This preponderance of monoplanes in civil aviation is rather surprising, and is of relatively recent occurrence. Not many years ago the biplane was preferred by British designers, even for civil aircraft. Two main reasons
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