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Aviation History
1936
1936 - 0171.PDF
JANUARY 23, 1936. FLIGHT. 77 The Outlooks The Human Element M EMORIES of the early days of flying inevitably lead to a contemplation of the technical progress made during the last quarter of a century. Speeds have "one up from about forty miles per hour to more than four times that figure. Speed range has increased from the rather less than two to one of the early aero planes to as much as four to one. Aeroplanes are more stable, and much more controllable than they were. And vet, when all is said and done, the safety of the aircraft ultimately rests with the pilot. The human element is still a tremendous factor in the evolution of flying. That Major Cooper, the Air Ministry's Inspector of Accidents, should find himself compelled, as a result of the most painstaking investigation of the Tatsfield acci dent, to the conclusion that the pilot was guilty of an error of judgment, to which bad weather contributed, and stalled the machine, will be the cause of nothing but symoathy and understanding. The foreman of the jury stated that no blame attached to the pilot, and indeed the conditions at the time were such that the accident might have happened to any pilot. Finding himself in a valley and flying towards rising ground, he did the only thing any pilot could do. In trying to get out of the valley he stalled the machine. The margin between clear ing the ground and avoiding a stall, if any margin existed, must have been extremely narrow, and all flying folk will agree with the jury that no blame can be attached to the pilot, who was a man of very long experience. The Heroic Days FOR a few hours last week some of the pioneers of flying recaptured in reminiscence something of the glamour and adventure of the old flying days. Louis Paulhan and Claude Grahame-White, as recorded in this issue, were the guests of the Aero Club of France, and the "Vieilles Tiges," at a somewhat belated celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the London-Manchester air race, won by Paulhan in 1910. What memories are recalled by such names as Louis Bleriot, Louis Breguet, Henry and Maurice Farman, and JIoore-Brabazon! Those were, indeed, heroic days. The aeroplanes were mostly contraptions built of sticks and stang, their top speed was in the neighbourhood of forty miles an hour, and ailerons were not interconnected, so that while the machines were taxying they flapped about m the breeze. Engines that would run for two or three I < ours without breaking down were regarded as marvels of pliability_ anci tneu; \ow power necessitated flying "all rout the whole time. Pilots were, for the most part, seated out in the open, with a gale blowing up their trouser fWv,nd °Ut belnnd tneir necks. But what fun it all was! , en the London-Manchester race was first announced Ih !? Were many wno considered it premature and fool- L \and Pernaps it was. But the race was flown and prize won. The competitors were given twenty-four L Urs ln which to complete the 186 miles, and that was Icon it enou8h- both Paulhan and Grahame-White' doing a lioad rl61*16 amount of nieTht flying. Think of it! Machines about; al30u* f°ur pounds per square foot and wallowing " ery gust and eddy that struck them ; the differ-out in e\ • a'mo en '' P°wer required '' and '' power available '' land m'' enSines 01 verY doubtful reliability ; and forced Dron ^ t0 ^e m'd^e in the dark. __ The modern Super those 1*° bave seemed overpowered by comparison in 'day And yet serious accidents were relatively few, the reason undoubtediv being that landing speeds were in the neighbourhood of 25 miles per hour. The penalty for a mistake was not as heavy as it is now. Lesson from a Rescue r WENTY miles from the wireless masts and supply dumps at Little America, after 2,000 miles flying, the fuel supply in Lincoln Ellsworth's Gamma, Polar Star, gave out. Herbert Hollick-Kenyon, the British- born pilot, put the big Northrop down safely, and pushed on with Ellsworth to complete the journey by sledge. Their wireless failed, and they resigned themselves to the inevitable wait for rescue. At the request of the Australian Government, the British-manned Royal Research Ship, Discovery II, sailed • in December for the Ross Sea, carrying a Moth and a Wapiti of the Royal Australian Air Force. Ten thousand miles away, in Somerset, the Post Office wireless station at Portishead was keeping in constant touch with the ship as she made her way farther and farther beyond the Antarctic Circle. On Wednesday and Thursday last week conditions were such that Portishead could only receive and not transmit to her. The operator managed, however, on Thursday to pick up a code message to the wireless station at Awarua, New Zealand. Discovery II had arrived at the Bay of Whales and a man had been sighted. The Moth/ made the discovery; the man was Hollick- Kenyon. He was very fit ; Ellsworth had a cold. Thus we have one more demonstration of the general rule that the aeroplane, be it exploring or rescuing, or flying on its commercial, military or naval business, can be used to full advantage only in co-operation with other means of transport and communication. Suiting the Customer / F there is one type of aeroplane which Great Britain can build to perfection it is the general-purpose machine. For years now that class has enabled the Royal Air Force to maintain control over, watch, and assist in the development of vast areas of inhospitable country with pronounced efficiency and economy. The "G.P." bug has bitten hard and deep, and to-day a very large por tion of the R.A.F. is equipped with small manoeuvrable biplanes, all of one basic design, but used by squadrons undertaking bombing, fighting, army co-operation, fleet reconnaissance and general-purpose work. All of this stamps the design concerned as an unusually good one. It appears, however, that while this country has been specialising in aircraft of this type, others, notably, of course, America, have been developing a different class to interest the export market, and seem likely to do good business in consequence. The sort of machine one has in mind is the fast, large, but relatively unmanceuvrable single-engined monoplane, first cousin to a commercial type, and able, in consequence, to carry a large dispos able load for a longer range than the sprightly biplanes already mentioned, on very little more power. The fact that this type of machine does not make an efficient two- seater fighter, and that terminal velocity diving is not recommended, may not concern the customer. Happily, we are not in such a bad position as we might well have been, for within recent months certain manufac turers have produced twin-engined types of similar power which should suit a large number of foreign customers in that they have a good range and carrying capacity linked with high performance. And they use no more power .ban the single-engined " jacks-of-all-trades."
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