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Aviation History
1937
1937 - 1329.PDF
MAY 20, 1937. FLIGHT, 499 Commercial Aviation Singapore's Aerodrome f\N May 12 the new aerodrome at Singapore, which has VV already been described in Flight, was officially opened. Within two miles of the city centre, this aerodrome is one of the largest (if not tho largest) on the Empire routes. The runways are something like 1,000 yards in length and the aerodrome site, which was once a swamp, is bordered on one side by the sea, where the Geylang channel has been dredged and a Slipway has been constructed for use by Imperial Air ways' and Service flying boats. There are six floodlights as well as the usual boundary and obstruction lamps, and the short- and long-wave D/F equip ment is already in action. 'A particularly interesting feature of the layout concerns the shape of the landing area itself. Since the entire area has been, s"o to speak, built on a swamp it was possible to arrange it just as required. It is, in fact, circular, with a smoke smudge in the centre and a taxying strip around a third of the circumference! Bellancas for Air France '"FWENTY Bellanca '' 28-90 '' high-speed monoplanes, gener- •*- ally similar to the Dorothy (nee Irish Swoop) but fitted with Pratt and Whitney Twin Wasp engines in place of the Twin Wasp Junior of the prototype, have been ordered by Air France for the carriage of mail"on internal air lines. Later plans may involve their use on colonial routes. The first group of machines will be exported to France within the next few weeks. Test flights have indicated, according to an announcement by the manufacturers, that the machines will be the fastest commercial aircraft in the world, which seems a very reasonable claim in view of the fact that the Twin Wasp Junior-engined version does 275 m.p.h. On the first take-off made by the vice-president of the Bellanca Co. in the new model, only half the available power output was used. The "28-90" accommodates a crew of two and i,ooolb. of mail. The wings are of two-spar wooden construction, the bracing being effected by a system of tie-rods to the top of the fuselage and to two faired supporting struts at the bottom. Plywood is used to cover the leading edges and the top of the wheel wells. Landing lights are recessed into the leading edge. The fuselage is of welded chrome-molybdenum tubing, the structure round the mail compartment being formed of rela tively few large members. The Twin Wasp engine specified develops a maximum of 950 h.p. at 2,550 r.p.m., the critical altitude being 6,000 ft. An N.A.C.A, cowling of very long chord is fitted, incorporat ing a sturdy nose ring and four readily removable side seg ments. Oil under pressure from the engine lubricates the valve rocker boxes and an oil radiator with an adjustable scoop under the control of the pilot is situated adjacent to the cockpit. True Benevolence FOR some time the Court of the Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators has held the opinion that a substantial benevo lent fund should be in operation for professional pilots or their dependents. During the past year no fewer than ten members of the Guild have lost their lives in flying accidents, and in some cases it has transpired that little or no provision has been made for their widows and children. In order to ensure that such provision shall be available, a charitable trust, known as the Guild of Air Pilots Benevolent Fund, has been legally constituted and rules have been adopted which provide for its administration by members of a repre sentative committee. A number of donations have already been received or promised and Lord Derby, the Duke of West minster, Lord Leverhulme, Lord Lloyd and Sir Knaston Studd have consented to become vice-presidents. Nevertheless, it is essential that the fund should be adequate to meet all needs and a sum of £50,000 is aimed at in the pre liminary appeal. As air transport develops such a sum will not be considered in any way unreasonable, and charitable sup port should only be necessary in the early days of the indus try when few of the companies concerned are in a position to arrange their own pension funds. All those who believe in the future of air transport, and who realise that flying must necessarily be carried on for the present with at least some of the hazards of experimental work, will feel a sense of responsibility to the personnel who are build ing up the services. The honorary organiser of the Fund appeal is Mr. F. W. Jones, Room 172, Airport of London, Croydon, Surrey. Trans-Canada "THE Canadian Department of Transport has received tho -»- first of the fast mail machines which arc to be placed mi the trans-Canada airway. This, a Lockheed 12A, is being used for radio beacon and communication testing prior to the opening of the service. Incidentally, the department has appointed four new assistant inspectors to the civil aviation branch, bringing the total to twenty-two. They are K. F. Saunders, formerly in charge of the St. Lawrence River north shore air mail, who will be stationed at Rimouski on the St. Lawrence; Donald Saunders, formerly instructor at the Halifax Air Club; F. M. Carter and G. C. Upson, both former members of, the Saskat chewan Government Air Service. Commercial Celebrations AS a small informal celebration of two years' successful opera tion and expansion Mr. and Mrs. Stace, host and hostess for Air Commerce, of Heston, entertained some fifty guests to a very pleasant luncheon in the club on Tuesday of last week. It was intended during the afternoon to fly the guests over the Fleet in the Thames Estuary, but the prevailing con ditions ruled out all such hopes. A radio telegram was received during lunch from the Gaumont British people congratulating Air Commerce on flying 100,000 miles for them without mishap—and this mes sage gives a better idea than anything of the amount of work carried out nowadays by charter companies. Besides their transport contracts, Air Commerce carry out most of the charter work for British Airways. A three-months' trip to Khartoum has recently been completed, and a further trip to Istanbul to bring over five ladies in strict purdah is in pro gress, the special arrangements entailed including the clearing of aerodromes for arrival and the fitting of blue glass cabin windows. The Air Commerce stable is now composed of two D.H. Rapides, two D.H. Dragons, two D.H. Leopard Moths, a Miles Falcon, and a Percival Vega Gull. The ultimate aim is to use multi-engined machines throughout for passenger work. More D.C.4 Details "PARTICULARS of th long-heralded Douglas D.C.4 Trans- -*- port have been trickling in spasmodically and the latest information to hand is given hereafter. The wing and fuselage, although typically Douglas, differ in a number of features, apart from size, from those of the D.C.2 and D.C.3. For example, the wing, although retain ing the characteristic leading edge sweepback and straight trailing edge, lacks the parallel-sided centre section featuring in the earlier machines. Points of outstanding interest are the "tricycle" landing gear, the arrangement of which was shown in a sketch in last week's issue of Flight, the triple-ruddered tail unit and the 9j-degree dihedral of the tailplane. The inboard engines are toed-out at 2J deg. and the outboard units at 6 deg., pre sumably to get ample slipstream on the tail surfaces. The flaps are of generous size and conventional design, extending partially beneath the fuselage to eliminate the third panel used on the D.C.2 and 3. Cargo is stowed in a belly com partment beneath the passenger cabin. From floor to ceiling, the cabin measures about 7^ft., the width being 10ft. Forty people will be accommodated during the day and, when the machine is used as sleeper, there will be, room for thirty double lower berths being arranged on each side of the aisle with singles above. The power plants will be farther removed from the cabin than in any previous Douglas model and this should aid in noise reduction. The following figures for the. new machine and the D.C.3 are enlightening :— No. of passengers Crew Span Length Height Engines Cruising range Top speed ... Gross weight Absolute ceiling ... Service ceiling Flight on two engines at... Useful load Mail, express, baggage ... Landing speed D.C.4. 40 5 138 ft. 3 in. 97 ft. Oin. 24 ft. 4 in. ... Four at 1,250 h.p. 2,200 miles 237 m.p.h. 00,000 lb. 24,OIK) ft. ... . 22,800 ft. 7,700 ft. 20,000 lb. 6,500 lb. 68J m.p.h. D.C.3. 21 3 115 ft. 0 in. 64 ft. 5 in. 17 ft. Oin. Two at l,10»h.p. 1,800 miles 210 m.p.h. 24,000 11). 24,000 ft. 21,800 ft. On one at 8,200 It. 8,204 lb. 3,450 lb. 64 m.p.h.
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