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Aviation History
1936
1936 - 2448.PDF
AIRCRAF AND ENGINEER AIRSHIPS FIRST AmoNAUT/CAfWEEKLV IN THEHVOPLD •• FOUNDED WOO Editor C. M. POULSEN Managing Editor G. GEOFFREY SMITH Chief Photographer JOHN YOXALL Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices: DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.! Telegrams : Trnditur, Sedist, Loudon. Mayujae : Waterloo 3333 <50 lines;. HERTFORD ST., COVENTRY. Telegrams: Autocar, Coventry. Telephone: Coventry 5210. GUILDHALL BUILDINGS, NAVIGATION ST., BIRMINGHAM, 2. Telegrams: Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone : Midland 2971. 260, DEANSGATE, MANCHESTER, 3. Telegrams: IlifFe, Manchester. Telephone: Blackfriars 4412. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Home and Canada: Other Countries: Year, £1 Year, £ 1 26B, RENFIELD ST., GLASGOW C.2. Telegrams : IlifTe, Glasgow. Telephone: Central 4857. 13 0. 15 0. 6 months, 16s. 6d. C months, 17s. 6d. 3 months, 8s. 6d. 3 months, Ss. 9d. No 1446. Vol. XXX. SEPTEMBER 10, 193S. Thursdays, Price 6d P! anting A corns T HERE is a pathetic story of an old Admiral who had fought under Nelson, and who, in his retire ment, planted an acorn every day of the proper season to provide oak trees for Britain's future 'wooden walls." Just before he died, ironclad war ships were introduced. This story is recalled to mind by the gallant efforts of the two American men and the one English lady who have flown the Atlantic almost on the eve of the experi ments to introduce a commercial air service across the Atlantic. Soon, we all hope, flying the Atlantic will be such a prosaic, every-week affair that private pilots who choose to make a pastime of it will need something far more sensational than a few thousand ping-pong balls to get themselves a headline in the papers. Still, if it amuses them to fly the Atlantic, no Government is likely to forbid them to do so. The ping-pong balls stowed inside the American machine, however, need not be despised. They are an ingenious way of providing a vast number of minute watertight compartments. A rough calculation suggests that 30,000 of these little balls would support a weight oi about i,8oo lb. in the water. That is but a small proportion of the empty weight of the Vultee, which is probably about 9,000 lb. In case of a forced landing jn the water, the empty sealed tanks would do far more to keep the machine from sinking; but the ping-pong calls might keep both wings awash, which would cer- woll S°me advantage- None the less> most Pe°Ple o" d prefer to make the crossing in one of the younger ' M 0;TCa,noPus' t0 say nothing of the Hmdenburg. rs_ Markham seems to have had a very rough and iar trom enjoyable trip. That is likely to be a com- and yXfm,mce °" tr>e route between Newfoundland feland. She has proved herself a very fine navi gator and instrument flyer, and though her flight teaches no serious lessons as regards air transport, she deserves congratulations on her pluck and skill. The feat is also a tribute to the qualities of the Vega Gull and the Gipsy VI, and as a result things look rosy for the chances of the Percival machines in the race to Johannesburg at the end of this month. It is to be hoped that this particular Vega Gull will be returned to this country in flying condition in good time to start from Portsmouth on Tuesday, September 29. The Trackless ^wastes T HE dangers of air bombing are now a frequent subject of conversation, and in truth those dangers are sufficiently great. It is therefore rather comforting to read an article (on pages 272a-272b of this issue) which points out some of the difficulties which the bombers will have to face while they are trying to destroy the civilisation of the twentieth century. From the enemy they can expect no weather reports or forecasts, and therefore they will have to rely largely on guesswork. Wireless directions would give away their own position and rob their raid of the element of surprise, and therefore it could not be freely used. The pilots cannot work like the sealers in Kipling's poem : "Half speed ahead by guess and lead." They would have to forge along in bad weather at 150 m.p.h. or more, trusting to "George" and dead reckoning. It does not sound an enviable task. Moreover, there are not an unlimited number of days or nights even in Western Europe when the weather conditions are quite ideal for bombing. The bombers would like sufficient clouds to give them cover, with occasional breaks below through which they can check their position, and occa sional glimpses of the heavenly bodies, while at the same time the target must be clearly visible.
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