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Aviation History
1937
1937 - 0934.PDF
352 FLIGHT. APRIL 8, 1937. Topics of the Day Qoing Abroad A YEAR or two ago, when everyone appeared to be howling for derestriction in the matter of airworthi ness certificates for ultra-lights, the howlers seemed to have forgotten just one thing. Without a C. of A. it is not possible to take a machine abroad. Now, for the first fifty hours or so with a per sonally owned machine a pilot will probably be quite happy to fly around his home aerodrome or to make little trips to other aerodromes. Eventually, however—if the machine turns out to be anything more than a somewhat unreliable toy—the owner will start to examine the possi bility of going abroad for the week-end or even for a pro tracted holiday. Subject to the never-to-be-foreshadowed whims of poli ticians, whether dictatorial or otherwise, and to the non stop range and reliability of one's machine, the pilot knows no barriers. One country looks very like another, and flying over water (provided that there isn't too much of it) is exactly the same as flying over land. Conse quently, one might just as well fly to Berck or Brussels as to Birmingham or Brighton. Anyone with a bicycle or car can make his way to Brighton—and stay after lighting-up time—but there is something of a perform ance about making one's way to Brussels by surface trans port. Consequently, the aeroplane is only really useful for cutting off corners, for hopping across ditches, and for going reasonably quickly without risking damage to one's nervous system. If an owner's flying activities are restricted to fine- weather travel between Heston and Southend, then his aeroplane is really not doing its job. It is surely bad enough that dozens of perfectly good aeroplanes should be left, because of the English weather, in their hangars for three or four months in the year. When we do use aeroplanes we expect to be able to use them properly and to make up for all their enforced bad-weather uselessness by covering more ground in six months than would be possible in twelve by more normal means of transport. Viceless ONCE again—and for what it is worth—I must state my opinion about one aspect of the ideal flying characteristics of a really useful ultra-lightweight. For very good reasons it should have a viceless stall. A sloppy turn with too much bottom rudder should pro duce nothing worse than a diving turn, and a straight stall, carried out sharply, should cause only a momentary drop of the nose. A gentle stall, bringing the stick right back, should leave the machine wallowing and losing height on a level keel. These, of course, are characteristics which should be possessed by every machine except those in which every thing has been sacrificed either for speed or for some other "competition" feature. They are particularly necessary in any machine with a small reserve of power and which flies so comparatively slowly that aileron drag is out of all proportion to aileron lift. With a very clean ultra- lightweight the need is not, perhaps, so great, since speed is necessarily conserved to a greater extent. While the experienced pilot realises that liberties must not be taken with a 30 h.p. engine, the more dashing novice may feel perfectly safe until a badly executed steep turn leaves him suddenly with no speed in hand. He may then be trying to keep the nose up with his elevators, or, worse still, may try to get the nose down with full rudder. Result: A perfectly good spin. And I may say that very few ultra-lights have ever been spun, for the simple reason that there is precious little room for a parachute, and without one the test pilot does not care to risk the possible consequences of such an evolution in an untried type. Furthermore, it is a Sab bath Day's journey up to the sort of height at which a parachute could be used. I've only spun one of the little fellows—and half a turn was quite enough for me. How was I to know whether this particular machine's spin would go flat after a full revolution? I knew it was strong, and I had seen it looped, otherwise I would not have dared to attempt even a very small piece of autorotation. But let us not get excited about this particular test. It is doubtful if any big transport has ever been spun; imagine Mr. Parker test-spinning a Short boat! A spin should not be possible on any machine, and I only prac tise them on occasion because machines are not perfect and I want my reactions to remain absolutely reflex—just in case. Though I quite like them, those who don't are in very good company. Dead'Stick Practice VERY few pilots of the new generation have ever had to pull off a forced landing with a good motor, except, perhaps, because of weather or shortage of fuel. Nevertheless, they are still taught, but I wonder whether the average amateur understands the difference between a tick-over approach and one with a genuinely dead stick. The glide is much steeper, the stall is much more sudden, and the silence (with the black airscrew blade across the horizon) is somewhat nerve-shaking. My only forced landings have been into aerodromes either with half an engine or from the odd five hundred feet after accidentally stopping a cold engine, but I once stopped a Pobjoy engine in a Swallow—knowing that I had a string- starter to pull—and the effect was very educative. Only one school, so far as I know, teaches real dead- stick landings, and that is Air Service Training. One cannot but admire the instructors! INDICATOR.
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