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Aviation History
1935
1935 - 1397.PDF
JUNE 13, 1935. FLIGHT. 627 The Outlooks A Running Commentary on Air Topics Using Flying Boats T^ EMEMBER1NG the very considerable amount of J~\ water covering the surface of the world as a whole, the use of flying boats for larger sections of the Em pire routes has always appealed to us as a logical develop ment. The possibility of putting boats on the Singapore-Bris bane section has already been considered, but does not now appear to be very great. The Australian authorities have shied at the additional expense, and there are sundry route and operational difficulties. It has already been recorded in Flight that the Indian section has been sur veyed from the aquatic standpoint, and the possibility of using boats between Mombasa and Durban on the African route will also be discussed again in due course. If the last plan materialises, flying boats will probably be used exclusively between Europe and South Africa, the last section to Cape Town being operated completely by South African Airways. Airscrew Safety D URING the past month or so there has been a positive flow of hospital or semi-hospital cases resulting from starting mishaps. In any circumstances there is an element of danger in the business of starting an aeroplane engine by swinging the airscrew. The operator may slip or the engine may kick back. The time has come when all machines should have inertia, electric, or direct mechanical starters operated from the pilot's cockpit. Airscrew swinging should be as un usual a sight on aerodromes as handle-starting is on the roads. Incidentally, the danger to wandering passengers from revolving airscrews (a fatal accident of this kind was reported last week-end) would be very much less if all machines had their airscrews painted either cream or white. The first of the Hillman D.H.86's has white air screw blades, and the danger area shows up clearly as a white disc at all engine speeds. Stable Biplanes LATERAL, stability and control have occupied the t attention of designers and experimenters since the beginning of flying. Most modern aeroplanes are reasonably good in this respect, but all aircraft hitherto produced will stall, and most of them will spin if per mitted to exceed the stalling angle. The accidents due to spinning are probably nothing like as numerous now as they were some years ago, the Handley Page slot and the reiteration by the instructor at every flying school of the dire penalties likely to be incurred each having contributed their share towards the avoidance of what was, once upon a time, the most frequent cause of disaster. . Nevertheless, there is still room for the aeroplane which does not need to be balanced on a knife-edge when near the stall, and the biplane arrangement described in the Annual Report of the National Physical Laboratory and published on p. 64r of this issue, forms at least an interesting contribution to the subject. Briefly, the scheme—which, we understand, is due to Mr. H. B. Irving—lies in giving the wings a pronounced stagger and forward sweep, with an exaggerated dihedral of the lower wing. The upper wing is heavily tapered. Model tests on such a biplane with R.A.F. 15 wings showed that the combination was stable laterally up to angles of 40 degrees. At the same time maximum lift was slightly increased and the maximum lift /drag ratio unaffected. There was a slight drop in lift/drag ratio at small lift co efficients, i.e., at high speeds, but this seems to be the only disadvantage, and a slight one at that, of the arrange ment. When tested on a model with more modern wing sections the arrangement was not quite so good, but was still such as to promise good stability on a full-scale aero plane. There may be some structural disadvantages in the suggested arrangement, but it would appear to be well worth trying out in actual flight. No New Thing ALTHOUGH air displays do not now fill the aero- jf\ nautical fixture list with the solidarity of a few years ago, organisers and demonstration pilots must some times wonder whether it is possible to do the same thing in a new way. In other words, to attract the eyes of a multitude of hardened amateurs and visitors who have seen the same machines and the same pilots on a number of occasions. At Hatfield last Saturday interest was obtained and sustained by the simple, and possibly accidental, little trick of holding the visitors' attention while the pilot took off, and pointing the machine out after a considerable in terval at the moment when the pilot was due to start his display. Other machines necessarily arrived during the proceedings, and these were all the more exciting for that reason. The possibility of organising a really spectacular approach of a high-speed aeroplane, whether Service or civil, has not often been exploited. A fighter, for instance, might appear in a devastating terminal velocity dive after being pointed out quite suddenly as a mere speck in the blue. The variations of this procedure should be quite numerous. Rules to be Obeyed \TOW that the road user has, by fair means and foul, / Y been encouraged in the view that order and disci pline are essential to general safety, the time has come for the amateur pilot to realise his responsibilities. A few still do not trouble to keep to the rules of the air, which are even more vital than the rules of the road. The practice of turning on or even before the aerodrome boundary has been reached, or of crossing directly over an aerodrome at an unreasonably low height are both examples of carelessness which might have serious conse quences. At long last the private owner is realising that the Air Ministry means what it says when he is ordered to keep clear of controlled areas in Q.B.I, conditions; though one can still wander radio-less right into Croydon when visi bility is confined to a few hundred yards without being punished other than by the glares and hard words of the righteously incensed control officer. At club and such aerodromes, however, examples of sheer carelessness can be seen hour by hour, and at regular intervals some law-abiding pilot is frightened but of his wits. Blind as modern light aeroplanes still are in certain directions, even the most careful pilot finds himself break ing rules on occasion, but consistent care would go a long way towards the prevention of minor mishaps.
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