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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 1234.PDF
I23& FLIGHT. NOVEMBER 22, 1934. THE FOURTEENTH JUDGING by the exhibits in the Quatorzieme Salonde l'Aviation, which was officially opened last Fri-day by M. Albert Lebrun, President of the FrenchRepublic, the period of two years which has elapsed since the last Paris Aero Show has been one of consoli- dation rather than experimentation. Two years ago it was possible to state that with a few exceptions there was not in the Grand Palais a single air- craft which had not either actually flown, or which had, at any rate, quite a reasonable prospect of flying fairly well. This year the exceptions have disappeared, and there is not a single " freak " in the show. This is not by any means a sign that inventive genius is languishing, but rather an indication that there are so many really practical machines in existence that it has become very difficult for the harebrained inventor to "raise the wind." Of inventive talent there is no lack, and the diversity of types to be seen in the Grand Palais is proof of the tact. But invention is taking practical forms. Although a few large military types tend, by their very size, to overshadow the smaller craft, a tally of the ex- hibits brings to light the fact that out of a total of close upon S3venty complete aircraft only twenty-one are mili- tary types. This number does not include machines intended for training in flying, bombing, gunnery, and so forth. On the whole, therefore, it can be said that civil aircraft predominate. It IG worth - of note that for their military types French designers appear to lean more and more to the mono- plane. The equal-span biplane has, apparently, dis- appeared, but the " sesquiplane," i.e., a biplane with a quite small lower wing, is still holding its own. Gener- ally speaking, the al'.-metal cantilever monoplane seems This combined Armstrong-Whitworth and A. V. Roeattractive in the Show. All the three machines are exposed metal surfaces plated The Exhibits Described in Detail : C Seventy Machines : Small Quantity No "Freak" Designs : French Tende to be favoured for large twin-engined types, while the high-wing monoplane, generally strut-braced, is much in favour in the single-seater and two-seater classes. All-metal construction has by no means ousted "mixed" construction. In fact, the French Air Min- istry has lately shown itself willing to accept a return to -; the metal-and-wood com- posite construction which was common six or seven years ago. This is interest- ing in view of the British Air Ministry's adherence to the all-metal principle. For a time the Paris Aero Shows bore evidence of a frantic . struggle for new forms of metal construction, and par- ticularly in the direction of stressed skin construction. - For certain types this form is still used almost exclu- sively, but there are signs that it is not now gaining ground very rapidly. Where metal is used, duralumin appears still to be the favourite among French constructors, whereas the designers of other nations are more divided. In Great Britain we have, of course, used high-grade steels to a greater extent, and ex- amples are to be found at the Show in the Hawker, Armstrong-Whitworth, and Avro machines. The new stand is one of the mostpainted white, with their
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