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Aviation History
1936
1936 - 1036.PDF
APRIL 23/ 1936. FLIGHT. 43i usually getting on towards middle age. The gilded ?outh who owns an aeroplane bought by his father is "nie Among more than a dozen private owners at my own club there is only one, I think, who is under thirty rears of age. The older the pilot the less he likes open machines and aerobatics, and the more he likes cabin comfort and cleanliness. Up to date, therefore, my ideal is a low-wing cabin mono plane. Now what about the engine—or engines? For safety's sake I would say two engines, but the ideal machine must be cheap—certainly it must be well under ^1,000— and. si far as one can see at present, this means one engine. Well, then, radial or in-line? Each has much to com mend it. The slow-running four-cylinder in-line type im parts a feeling of confidence, but on the whole I think I prefer the smoother-running radial pattern which, further more, should have the advantage as regards power-to- weight ratio. Now, as to seating accommodation. Side-by-side seating with an occasional seat for a third passenger should be ideal. If four can be carried, with the accommodation of a baby saloon car, without the price reaching £1,000, so much the better. A really good take-off, maximum of no m.p.h., cruising speed of ioo m.p.h., and landing speed of not more than 30 (whether obtained by flaps or not) seem to complete the specification. £?.-! SPORTING FLYING — with "a Moderately Clean Face" : Mrs. Elise Battye is Well Content with Her Present Machine YOU have asked me to give my views on what I con sider is the ideal machine and equipment for the private owner. This depends a great deal on how much the pilot wishes to fly and for what he or she intends to use the machine. I have no experience of anyr aeroplanes other than the two I have actually owned. The first was a Gipsv I Moth and the ". second my present Hawk Major. I used that Moth ceaselessly for three and a half years. I learnt to fly in J930 and got it about a year later, after 1 had done about one hundred n°urs solo; and I used it exactly as one would a car. I took it abroad and ra<*d it in . this country, getting n«?.e amaz*ng speeds out of it, but nowhere myself, 5 to my own very peculiar method of naviga- m those days. But that was not the fault of the owing tion d^? • which used to give about 106 m.p.h.—usually ext across whatever course I was making for. I had an hou^ fitted to give me a range of four and a half to rS'i 3 cloc^ which never failed me, and Sutton harness as [ uc< the bumps in rough weather—not because I I fl 1 aerobatics, as these have always terrified me. forCec]T lll,at Moth about 500 hours and I had only one real gine t n^juig during the whole time, due to some miner en- J°le. I arn only recalling it now because it was on that occasion I first met Fit. Lt. Tommy Rose, who came from Sywell to collect the pieces. The Moth had a broken longeron and its owner a black eye, and—so like Tommy— he never once mentioned the fact that the field was at least a mile square; he made me feel that I had been really clever in getting down at all. Next I sold half a pearl necklace and a fur coat and bought the Hawk Major, and I do consider that this machine is ideal in every way for the private owner, lt is warm inside the cockpit, so one need not arrive at a place looking like an arctic explorer. It is fast and easy to fly. I fitted a turn-and-bank and a pitch-indicator, instruments which I consider are really essential, as they prove the greatest help even if the weather is only slightly hazy, particularly across the sea. I put harness into both seats and have a back tank which can be fitted into the locker when necessary. One feels that in this machine one can fly to anywhere at home or abroad in the greatest comfort as one wishes, and it has that extra turn of speed that seems to make all the difference for getting places. Speaking as the worst navigator in Europe, I found that the Hawk was a great help, as somehow the places turned up where I expected them to, and the compass remained permanently steady in rough weather. 1 have never owned a closed machine, so I have no ex perience of how I should feel flying one, but I know I have been perfectly happy in both my open ones and I have had more fun than I should have believed possible. I do feel most strongly that no private owner could have a better aeroplane to-day than the Hawk Major, in which he or she can combine cross-country flying, touring abroad and a bit cf racing thrown in, and safety and comfort; and you can step out at a garden party with a moderately clean face. I expect most professional pilots will be very scornful about the foregoing, but I hope my remarks will help the mugs, and, after all, that's what you asked my views for, wasn't it? [Well, hardly.—ED.] pe Concerning a New Car THE car which is seen in the heading picture on page 445 of this issue is the new 12/48 h.p. Wolseley, a fully illus trated description of which appears in to-morrow's issue of The Autocar. Piston-ring Data ENGINE repair shop managers and others will find much use ful information in a wall chart of detailed piston-ring types, dimensions, wall pressures and loads, with metric equivalents. It is obtainable from Wellworthy, Ltd., Lymiug- ton, Hants. Mr. P. E. Gordon-Marshall IT is announced that Mr. P. E. Gordon-Marshall has joined the Sperry Gyroscope Company, to take up duties iu con nection with the sale of their blind-flying instruments. He has been manager of Brian Lewis and Co., Ltd., since Fit. Lt. Christopher Clarkson vacated that position some months ago. The Finishing Touch POINT of interest worthy of mention in connection with C. W. A. Scott's Flying Display—the opening of which was reported in Flight last week—is that the striking finish ol the motor fleet and some of the aircraft is carried out with " Syntholux " and " Cellusol " dope and lacquer, products of Docker Bros., of Ladywood, Birmingham, 16. A
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