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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 0159.PDF
JANUARY 18, 1940. pronounces it) steamer struck a treacherous iceberg and sank. All this should surely give rise to another quaint Goebbelesquerie. No less a body than the Aircraft Section of the Standards Institution has perpetrated a merry jest in these dull days, and no less portentous a phenomenon is that the Air Ministry declares that the jest is a good one. I read with awe that the Aircraft Section of the S.I. (whom Allah encourage!) has decided in plenary session, wearing its chains and regalia of office, that aircraft deriv- ing lift from freely turning wings shall in future be called rotaplanes, and that, although these have hitherto been officially termed gyroplanes, this must now cease, under penalties not exceeding £5 (the same as for spitting in a railway carriage). It is more vitally important still, accord- ing to the Aeronautical Correspondent of The Times (to whom hats off, please, and stand properly to attention!), not to call these things helicopters, for doing which one may be stripped of one's buttons and drummed out of the Royal Aero Club. The Air Ministry definitely and officially follows the lead of the A.S. of the S.I./ and for your guidance, you half- educated twerps, will soon issue a definition laying it down as a sort of twelfth commandment that a rotaplane derives its support from one or more rotors which normally rotate freely. But should you find yourself in a rotaplane which fails to derive support from one or more rotors, which abnormally cease to rotate freely, you may waive ceremony and call the darn thing a flickering, pop-eyed, bunged-up, catastrophic windmill—and then jump. The Air Ministry, 57 Commercial Aviation however, will still persist in calling things by their proper names, and in referring to you as the late Mr. will add: "It wos a rotorplane wot did 'im wrong." Curiously enough, I notice large quantities of bales of furs being imported from Russia via Scandinavia by air. I wonder our Mongoloid friends can spare them, and I should have thought they'd need them for their ridiculous army, whose main hope of escaping from the Finns would be to use the furs to disguise themselves as badgers so as to creep away, grunting, through the woods. Anyway, these furs are coming in, and the best thing to do with them, after due disinfection, would be to send them to the Finns actually, which would be fun. In the meantime, Generals Itsmewotsoff, Wichwayovitch and Ivan Orfulwindupski, not to mention Comrade Sergeant Serge Parrtsoff, have been decorated by Stalin with the Ancient and Opprobrious Order of the Bullet in the Neck to encourage the other starving and frozen troops to take a bit of interest in things. A most attractive picture, for it is not a poster and has no sort of advertising matter on it, not even the name of the company concerned, has just reached me. It is a delightfully coloured reproduction of an oil painting, en- titled ''The Yankee Clippei sails again, 1838-1939," and depicts the Yankee Clipper flying boat above a tea clipper of the 1830 period. It is, perhaps, a trifle reminiscent of the K.L.M. "Flying Dutchman" posters, a succession of which have been issued regularly ever since the company started operations 20 years ago, but that cannot be avoided as the " tea clipper " idea is too good, to be lost as a propa- ganda medium. A NEW AMERICAN The Lockheed " Lodestar " ^HE Lockheed Aircraft Corporation continues to show its usual lively interest in the transport market with the announcement that its new Model 18, the Lode- star, is ready to go into production. It will be sought in markets which should have belonged to the DH Flamingo —if all De Havilland production had not been taken for military work. Externally the new machine conforms to what has become almost traditional Lockheed appearance. Twin fins and rudders are set a little in from the ends of the high tailplane, leaving the small tailplane tips outside. (One wonders how effective aerodynamically these small areas are.) The fairly highly tapered wing is provided with Fowler flaps, and fixed slots are built into the wing tips. Apart from being a low-mid-wing monoplane with a cargo hold of 190 cu. ft. under the cabin floor, it is practically a "formula" aeroplane. The fuselage is of alclad on frames and stringers, and the wing has the usual Lockheed single spar. TECHNICAL DATA Length, overall 49/*. 95m. Wing span 65ft. 6i». Height aver cabin ... 11//. 10J»». Wing area 551sq.fi. Aileron area 35 sq. ft. Flap area 107.5 sq.ft. Horizontal tail surfaces ... ... 133.9 sq. ft. Vertical tail surfaces ... ... 64.1 sq. ft. Standard gross weight ... ... ... 17,500 Ib. Useful load 6,330 Ib. Weight empty* 11,170 Ib. FuelcapacUy 644 U.S. gals. Oilcapacity ' 44 US. gals. • Empty weight includes 230 Ib. for radio and is calculated for the P.&W engine installation. PERFORMANCE (with Hornets) Max. speed at sea-level (750 &.*.£./£»?)...218 m.p.h. Max. speed at critical alt 0 b.h.p.lEng)...2*0 m.p.h. Cruising speed at 12,000/i (525 b.h.p.!En°)...22O m.p.h. Take-off run at s.l. with flaps .. (850 b.h.p.lEng)...800ft. Distance req. at s.l. to clear oOft. obstacle '.. 1,825//. Landing speed at sea-level with flaps 65 m.p.h. The Lockheed "Lodestarhas accommodation for 14 passengers and a crew of three.
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