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Aviation History
1935
1935 - 0606.PDF
294 FLIGHT. MARCH 21, I935 enable the Autogiro to get out of very restricted spaces indeed, even if surrounded by hedges and trees. Mini mum speeds as low as 15 m.p.h. have been achieved by lightly-loaded Autogiros, and on most days of the year such a speed is sufficiently low to constitute stationary hovering over a given spot against the wind. He would be a bold man who would dare to assert that there is no use in trying to go any farther. Con ditions can easily be visualised in which sustained ver tical ascent or descent would be not only desirable but a necessity: Ascent from a deep valley shut in on all sides by hills ; climbing out of a back garden and getting clear of surrounding houses or tall trees; alighting in similar conditions; or flying in the circumstances of the nightmare conjured up by Fit. Lt. Comper in an article published this week, in which the machine finds itself on a foggy night over the Midlands. In this last instance the ability to descend vertically and quite slowly a few feet a minute would be extremely welcome. It may be argued that in such conditions no aeroplane would be out, owing to the risk of collision with other aircraft. But it should be remembered that by the time we have the helicopter in practical form there is cause for be lieving that we shall have efficient means of warning an aircraft of the presence, direction and distance of another in the vicinity. The relative aerodynamic efficiency of the Autogiro and the helicopter is at present a matter for conjecture, but it may be that one will show superioruy over the other. At least, it appears to us that there is suffi cause for continuing the development of both. \y ^T not believe that one will ultimately oust the other n ° that either will supplant the aeroplane as we know0'! to-day; rather do we take the view that rotary-wins aircraft are supplementary to the aeroplane. There i room enough for all, and the future looks extremely bright. For the present, the rotary-wing type of aircraft is not cheap, in spite of statements published in the lay Press from time to time about "the car of the air" costing a couple of hundred pounds which is said to be imminent. The rotor mechanism is of necessity somewhat complicated compared with the very simple wings of an aeroplane. This is not to say that this class of aircraft will always be expensive. In point of fact, the mechanism of a rotor head is not unlike that of a motor car transmission. If built "by hand" in twos and threes it is obviously expensive, but when a certain degree of stability in design has been reached, so that standardisation becomes practical, there is no reason why rotor mechanism should be very much more costly to produce in large quantities than is the transmission of a motor car. When batches of several hundred can be put down, the cost will soon come down also. That day appears to be quite close at hand. The enormously extended use made possible by the new direct-start system, coupled with a fall in prices, will bring about a vast increase in the popularity of flying. : omp*11? FOR AUSTRALIA: Last week the first pair of a series of Monospar machines ordered by an Australian on ord* "christened" at Hanworth. This photograph, taken by a Flight photographer, shows the S.T.12, one of the iw pgge 316. from an angle which clearly illustrates the characteristic wing-form. A photograph of the ceremony appear
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