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Aviation History
1936
1936 - 1033.PDF
FLIGHT. APRIL 23, i93o. is stimulated by solitude high above beautiful clouds, land and water, and knowing that the brain functions most brilliantly when the body is in a recumbent position he or she prefers the sofa to the bucket seat during ethical dis cussions. So, one person wants a cabin seating two or more, the other is content with accommodation for self only, and there mixes with the music of the spheres the voice of a mechanical Mephistopheles humming jovially Goethe's Song of the Flea. It is, perhaps, wise to invest in what is produced in one's neighbourhood. Alterations, repairs, overhauls, are simplified. The machine should, certainly, be of the country in which the owner is domiciled. Inspectors, apparently of the same mental and social stratum as the old women who love to assume a familiarity in addressing a man by some military title instead of by the courteous "Mr." and his name, have the national conceit that puts all foreigners in a category of semi-idiots and that con demns, at sight, anything foreign it does not instantly comprehend. Parasitology is as valuable to the private owner as it is to the doctor or to the veterinary surgeon. **4Lc<Jz,Xs4-n AN OPEN MACHINE ! —but a Refined Design : Mr. Eric W. Watford's Requirements HITHERTO the private owner of an aeroplane has not received much encouragement, and it has even been maintained by people who ought to know better that subsidies should not be awarded to women, or to men above "military age." As an "antique" (I received my aerial baptism as far back as 1910) I naturally hold very different views. Every pilot and, more particularly, every owner of an aeroplane is an active propaganda agent in inducing younger people to take up flying, and should therefore re ceive every possible form of assistance to wards this end. It is, perhaps, natural that such a person as myself should have different notions as to what constitutes the ideal machine for a pri vate owner from those which would be held by a younger and more able pilot. Long distances at high speed do not appeal to one as one grows older, but that does not mean that one loses anything of the charm of flying. Probably my greatest enjoyment is obtained, not in stunting or in trying to beat records, but from a leisurely progress over beautiful coun try, or through delightful cloud scenery, from aerial photo graphy, and from giving my friends and those who have never previously been in the air an opportunity of enjoy ing these things and flying generally. Good all-round visibility would be one of the outstanding features of my ideal machine and, consequently, I much prefer an open machine, but the cockpits must be much more draught-proof than on my present Gipsy Moth, which, cf course, is, in a sense, out of date. Side-by-side seating does not give one the ground visibility on both sides which I like/ and conversation in an open machine of this type still necessitates the use of earphones. This brings one to the important matter of audibility, and that to noise Ordinary earphones, unless very carefully attended to, do not encourage one to chat very much to one's passenger Silencing, such as it is, is not carried far enough in most machines. As regards maintenance, the conventional biplane takes more looking after than a cantilever monoplane, and the latter is a more efficient machine, but for my particular purpose I find that the low wings interfere too much with ground visibility and photography. On an open high-winw monoplane it would seem that lift wires or struts are pos sibly essential, and for this and other reasons this type is not so efficient, but to a " potterer'' like myself that is not of very great moment. Summing up, my ideal—and I cannot but think that it would form a suitable machine for many purposes—would comprise a tandem-seated high-box-wing monoplane with a four-cylinder engine which is simple to maintain and is efficiently silenced. The cockpits would be proof against draughts from below and the screens of ample size. It would have something very much better than the ordinary mouthpiece-earphone communication between the occu pants. I should not want a maximum speed in excess of 100 miles an hour nor a landing speed below about 35 miles an hour. It must have folding wings and, of course, a real landing chassis and air wheels. The ideal machine, for my particular and peculiar pur poses, would probably resemble somewhat the Drone, on a larger scale, with tandem seating, if that were possible. CL~*sUr*j •JLfa^* CABIN COMFORT I —with Low First Cost and Generous I Seating Accommodation Appeal to Mr. G. S. Davison AS one who took up flying only in middle age, with no previous war experience, I am scarcely qualified to L make statements as to what is the ideal type of machine for the private owner. Perhaps, however, my very inexperience may make it easier for me to visualise the ideal, for I am not hampered by knowledge of manufacturing costs and technical difficul ties. I have owned three different types of air craft—a two-seater open biplane, a high-wing cabin monoplane, and a low-wing cabin mono plane. I prefer the low- wing construction, largely because it seems to make manoeuvring on the ground in strong winds easier and safer. I think a cabin machine is essential, There is as much differ ence between flying in an open machine and a cabin machine as there is between motor cycling vclin? and motoring. Whilst in my own opinion motor c. ^ ^ is a finer sport than motoring, a car is far SUP^?P^ so motor cycle as regards comfort and general uti it) it is with the cabin aeroplane. tPOwners Furthermore, it must be remembered that private
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