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Aviation History
1939
1939-1- - 0543.PDF
APGl'ST 17, 1939 ^©ow transport or semi-transport machines which may be used for private travelling by very rich owners. Xhere has been something like a Wall Street slump over unconventional safety-first types, but it is reasonable to suppose that the one or two which are still in existence will eventually go into production. The queer things which were made a year or two ago, more or less to the order of the old Bureau of Air Commerce, arrived a little before their time, but the lessons learned in their construction and test flying should be extremely useful. By 1941 the owner should surely be ready for tricycle—or, as I prefer to call 167 Topics of the Day them, level-landing undercarriages—two-control arrange ments and interconnected air-brake flap devices. But at the moment the conventional machine, typified by the 50 or 60 h.p. lightweight and the 200 or 300 h.p. four-seater, has reached a very fair state of air safety. Pilots do not always like strange machines and are liable to be a little superior if the aeroplane which they are expected to buy requires too little skill in its operation. Until everybody is trying to get into the air the average amateur pilot will continue to be a person who prefers a little (but not too much) of the spice of difficulty and danger. INDICATOR. Wasted Courage UNLESS they have been picked up by a ship without wire less, it can only be supposed that the two American pilots, Alex Loeb and Richard Decker, have joined the many who have been lost in strange Atlantic attempts. They took off from St. Peter's, Nova Scotia, on Friday morning with an old Kyan monoplane carrying 180-odd gallons of fuel—42 of them in separate tins, which were to be used to replenish the cabin tank. The whole supply could only have lasted for 23 hours' flying. They expected to reach Eire in 20 hours' flying. Triple Goal Flying WITH unusually favourable conditions three sailplane pilots left Huish, near Marlborough, in the early afternoon of August 7 with the avowed intention of flying to Dunstable. All reached this destination. The pilots were Messrs. D. G. Hiscox (Kirby Gull), R. P. Cooper (Rhonbussard), and C. Nicholson (Rhonsperber). All three sailplanes were winch- launched at Huish. Elmira Again AT the recent International Soaring Contest, held as usual at Elmira, New York, Lt. R. Stanley broke the American altitude record with a climb to 17,264ft. He also made quite a few long-distance flights, including one from Elmira to the World's Fair—a distance of 200 miles. He was flying a somewhat unusual all-metal sailplane which has no rudder in the ordinary sense. The two sides of the tailplane are cocked up at an angle of about 45 deg. and the elevators are differentially controlled to act both as elevators and rudders. He was unfortunate enough to shed an entire wing during the Contests—the tenth of the series—but with the new tail the rest of the Nomad sank slowly and was not badly damaged. The Contests were actually won by Mr. Chet Decker, who piled up 3,020 points. Lt. Stanley was second. Among the visitors at the meeting was Herr Wolf Hirth, the well-known German pilot, designer, and pioneer of motor- less flight, and he gave a display of "silent aerobatics" in one of his American-owned sailplanes. Actually some forty machines entered the contest. Most of them were of American design, but a fair number of Ger man sailplanes, including the Rhonsperber and the Minimoa, were represented. Incidentally, the Americans tend to go in for all-metal construction even in their sailplanes. Apart from Lt. Stanley's original machine, which is of stressed-skin con struction, the Schweitzer two-seater is also an all-metal type. The American soaring headquarters on Harris Hill, Elmira, are very complete indeed. In addition to the hangar and de monstration buildings, the visitors and sailplane pilots have ORIGINAL EMPENNAGE : The tail of Lt. Stanley's sailplane Nomad, which broke the American altitude record (and a wing) at the recent Elmira meet. The movable surfaces act, through a differential mechanism, both as elevators and rudders. a swimming pool and comfortable living accommodation. The administration building has full radio and meteorological facilities. The U.S. Government has financially aided the Soaring Society of America with the Elmira project. Another Record DURING the five days of the Bank Holiday week-end, Western Airways carried 4,872 passengers. This figure is almost double that for the five days at Whitsun, which was itself probably a world's traffic record for any airline. The majority of the passengers, of course, flew on the Weston- Cardiff route, on which there are now fifty-eight services a day. THE LATEST BEECH : Various changes are noticeable in the new 18S Beechcraft which has 450 h.p. Wasp Junior engines ^o constant-speed airscrews. The design of the tail has been modified to provide an even better single-engined performance K <ar as piloting is concerned, but the most interesting feature of the Wasp Junior-engined Beech is the design of the *?g'ns cowlings with a smooth contour which not only reduces resistance, but also gives an even flow over the upper surface w me wing. No air is discharged above, the cooling being regulated by means of flaps on the lower half of the cowling.
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