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Aviation History
1937
1937 - 0102.PDF
40 FLIGHT. JANUARY 14, 1937. Topics of the Day We Are Free WITH the formation of the Air Registration Board it can now be expected that both professional and amateur constructors will obtain the freedom for which they have so long been crying. It remains to be seen how the new arrangements will work out, but the pre-Gorell system was certainlv quite impossible. In those bad old days it was necessary for every constructor to obtain written permission from the Secretary of State for Air before his machine could be flown even above his own aerodrome. True freedom, whether in citizenship or anything else, has always involved responsibility, and the manufacturer of any civil machine carrying less that the equivalent of ten passengers will not now be able to put the blame on Grand mother,, Air Ministry and her calculations if anything untoward occurs. Further, it is unlikely that the new arrangement will be much less expensive, since the machinery of inspection and testing was previously only a part of that used by the Air Ministry for all its work. The nev. Board will need to provide its own. Our Responsibility LAST week's unfortunate Warlingham accident, the -? direct result of structural failure in an experimental machine, drew attention to the new risks which have to bo faced, and for a short while afterwrrds I felt that we ought all to run straight back under the wing of the Air Ministry. That, of course, was sheer inexcusable panic. A moment's reflection in previous months would have told me "that there were bound to be occasional accidents with the new freedom, but that the great majority of con structors would, if only to save their own or their friends' necks, obtain the advice of some experienced designer and submit their calculations to the Air Ministry or, in future, to the A.R.B. Needless to say, no insurance broker would take the machine On unless he was satisfied that it was safe—and third-party insurance will eventually be compulsory. This regrettable accident has, however, made one thing quite clear. Newcomers in the constructional world may have a difficult time while the flying public is waiting to see whether their products are safe and sound, and this time will be mSde more difficult by every accident, It is up to these newcomers to see, in their own interests, that no risks are taken and that their machines are as safe as, or safer than, they would have been when the Ministry held the reins. The old-established firms will, of course, have none of this trouble, and they will probably be rather better off than they were before the change. In common with the majority of amateur pilots, I shall want to know a good deal about a machine and its sponsors before I even consent to fly it—let alone buy it. During the past year I have flown quite a few contraptions with a confidence backed by the knowledge that both the designer and his workpeople knew what they were about. This confidence has now been mildly shaken on two occasions, but so long as the people concerned will make full use of the A.R.B.'s inspection and stressing departments, I shall face future ordeals with fair equanimity. The other occasion, incidentally, concerned the case of a machine which, I afterwards discovered, had never been flown at mere than 80 m.p.h., and had never been side slipped ; I happily did both under the impression that the machine had been fully tested. Such confidence does no credit to anyone; when I 'nave gained the experience necessary to be a test pilot, I shall say so—and demand a test pilot's fees. Confidence Trick WHILE on the subject of flying trials, whether carried out as a journalist or as a prospective purchaser, there is one excellent " bluff-caller " which can usefully be applied to enthusiastic aircraft salesmen. One is always being told that this or that machine is absolutely fool-prool and that anyone who can fly at all can manage it with safety. Just say that you have done twenty hours' solo, and ask if you can fly the beastly thing. The salesman will cither find that the demonstration machine has (without his knowledge, curiously enough) gone indoors for its twenty-five hour overhaul, or he will become all earnest about difficult insurance arrangements. At the best, he will get a second stick put in the machine and accompany YOU with beads of perspiration on his forehead. At the; very best, he will give you so much detailed information about gliding and climbing speeds, hold-off methods and stalling characteristics that you will begin to wondt r whether, after all. you really want to fly the machine. I've.not met a foolproof aeroplane yet—and neither have vou. Neither has either of us met a foolproof car, bicycle, or perambulator. The most we can expect is a machine which will always give the pilot a second chance, in which overshooting and undershooting we equally impossible t the person of normal judgments, and in which any reason able kind of landing can be made without expensive '>r painful after-effects. When we have attained that very reasonable and attainable ideal we shall be able to sit back and enjoy life. > INDICATOR-
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