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Aviation History
1936
1936 - 0127.PDF
JAN \RY l6, 1936. FLIGHT. 61 Private Flying ^&r ****** un '% ~VfM~ iif Topics of the Day how Power Points SINCE the early days of the light aeroplane movement, when we learnt to fly very happily with 60 h.p. or so, the modern generation of pilots has become accustomed to the use of anything up to 200 h.p. in what is still called a light aeroplane. Very pleasant it is, too, though expensive, and consequently, when flying again with a tiny engine, it is necessary to remind oneself of the fact that a Service take-off and climb are not of para mount importance so long as a machine does its job properly. The actual time taken to leave the ground or to reach 1,000 ft. with, say, 35 h.p., is only of academic interest so long as the '' unsticking '' speed and the climbing speed are low. It may take twice as long to reach the aerodrome boundary during a take-off, but your height when at the boundary is almost, if not quite, equal to that at which you would cross it with a normal aeroplane. If there is a strong breeze blowing your height will be very much greater in proportion. In the bad old days, and with far less power, courageous pilots flew satisfactorily out of fields and recreation grounds because their flying speed was so low. Aviation was a problematical thing, largely because the maximum speed was very little higher than the stalling speed, and, with lamentably feeble controls, things happened when the engine failed—as it so often did. Thinking Again ; (^NE must, in fact, be re-educated in the low-powered 1 ^-' machine with a low wing-loading, and one must resist :the temptation to turn up a nose at the apparent lack of urge." Even the Super Drone is not under-powered when its loading and climbing speed are taken into account. Last week I spent an hour or so, in different weather J conditions, in the.Praga Baby, which is being built under licence in this country, and learnt eventually to like the somewhat " glidedsh " manner in which it flew and to : reel that 36-40 h.p. was ample for all purposes. ^ It is all a matter of custom. Only one flying feature is, at first, going to worry the : P'lot who has been brought up in normal training aero- i planes—its flat glide. On my first approach, in a 15 m.p.h. «md, I turned towards the aerodrome with a feeling that [ could not possibly reach it, used a little engine, and finally crabbed in over the boundary with lots of height ;to sPare. During my second approach I closed the throttle at 1,700 ft. to the'south of the control buildings at Heston,, completed halt a circuit, hung about across wind to the east of the airport until I felt that I had been blown far ; enough, and still found it necessary to do a crab side- iSlP- All of which is as it should be, I feel, in a machine [° ™s kind, and, as I got in quite comfortably on my very hwi attempts, there could be no real difficulty for any- pody after an hour or two of practice. Parachute Approaches IN any case the Praga's stall is so utterly viceless that, in a light breeze, it should be safe to sit up a few hundred yards from the boundary and to parachute until within a hundred feet of the ground. Using these tactics in a 15 m.p.h. wind, your ground speed would be a matter of 25 m.p.h. or even less. However, I should prefer to try a number of long-period stalls at a safe height before feeling certain that such a method was safe and practicable. Nearly every ultra-light aeroplane, and quite a few light aeroplanes, give me the idea that they have been designed for five-footers. One so often feels like a crouching witch doctor stirring a meteorological potion in an iron bowl, and this is not a comfortable position for a long flight. The Praga was not bad, though it could be improved in this respect, and one becomes accustomed to anything. I remember feeling completely out of place when flying quite a well-known type for the first time. Yet at the end of a few hours I had learnt to prefer its short stick which ap peared to be so oddly placed. A little judicious cranking can make a world of difference to arm comfort—par ticularly where no tail-trimming device is fitted. New or Secondhand ? PEOPLE often ask whether, with so many good and inexpensive used machines about, there can be a reasonably sound market for the ultra-light aeroplane unless this is offered at an absurdly low price. The whole question appears to hinge on the two factors of low run ning costs and small maintenance costs, with the pleasure of purchasing a brand-new,, and different machine as a point with which to clinch the argument when the pur chaser is wavering. Every prospective owner tends to retain a soft spot for the type of aeroplane on which he has learnt and which has been on the market for a sufficient time for its main tenance costs to be fairly assessable. However, quite an old machine with a twelve months' C. of A. will sell for a high price, while a newer machine without one will go for a comparative song. In other words a C. of A overhaul may cost ^20 or it may cost £80, and a new machine on which no expensive replace ments will be necessary for a couple of years, is likely to be a sound speculation. It is always pleasant to know a machine's history, since the previous owner's idea of what constitutes a heavy landing may be quite different, and a series of such landings can eventually cost /io a time. Remembering the way in which some club machines are flown and landed, the fact that they rarely, if ever, break at an awkward moment says much for our ground engineers and manufacturers. In the old days of high-pressure tyres and stiff undercarriages, the replacement and repair bills at the clubs were probably a great deal higher than they are to-day. INDICATOR.
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