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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 1064.PDF
338 APRIL II, 1940 HERE and THERE Retirement of a Pioneer MR. FRED SIGRIST has announcedhis retirement from all business activities and has resigned from the board of Hawker Siddeley Aircraft Co., Ltd., and its subsidiaries. For many years he has suffered from a distressing chest affliction, and it has now become essential for him to live in sunnier climes. With his retirement aviation has lost one of its earliest industrialists and most forceful personalities. " Uncle Fred," as he is affectionately known, was apprenticed to marine engineering, graduated into the automobile industry, and thence into aviation. He joined Mr. Sopwith in 1910 and was chief engi- neer, organiser and adviser in connec- tion with all the Sopwith early flights, including the clean-up of the prize money in America in 1912, the Baron dt Forest Trophy victory for the longest flight in 1913, and other contests. When Mr. Sopwith decided to embark upon the design and construction of air- craft, Sigrist became part-designer and chief engineer. Their earliest achieve- ment was the Schneider Trophy victory in 1914 when Howard Pixton on a Sopwith seaplane regis- tered a victory at Monte Carlo. In passing it is interesting to record that this machine was designed entirely by Sigrist, and he was in charge of the construction. It was a race against time, and the first tests revealed that the single float with which "Uncle Fred " Sigrist. the machine was fitted was not suitable for sea use. Working day and night Signst converted the single float to a twin type and manufactured a new undercarriage in the short space of 48 hours. The machine was hurriedly flown, proved satisfactory, and trans- ported to the South of France just in time to participate. This machine was the forerunner of, the celebrated line of Sopwith types manufactured during the war. Sigrist was in control of the vast organisation to which the Sopwith con- cern grew during the war, and at the cessation of hostilities he took a well- earned rest, returning to this country in time to participate in the formation of the Hawker Engineering Company, which has grown to be part of the largest aircraft organisation in the world, i.e., Hawker Siddeley Aircraft Co., Ltd. In the early days Sigrist had an un- canny knack of producing the best results from primitive materials, and was one of the finest engine tuners then available. He possessed great executive and organising ability and, like Sopwith, had the happy knack of picking the right men and getting the best out of, them. Although of recent years his activities had been restricted by reasons of health, his advice and experience were of great value and his retirement will be felt by a wide circle of friends and colleagues. He and Mrs. Sigrist (and their baby daughter) will carry innumerable good wishes for their future in Nassau. ; >_ The Stirling in Canada • :^ ?"T HE Short Stirling four-engined bomber will be built in Canada by Canadian Associated Aircraft, Ltd., according to an announcement of Transport Minister C. D. Howe, head of the Canadian War Supply Board. He could give no in- formation on how many would be ordered, but stated that production would start immediately. Air Ambulance Service ">.:--•--,•T HE question of the provision of an ambulance service for the removal of patients from Campbeltown and the adjacent islands to Glasgow under the Campbeltown co-opera- iive scheme is at present under consideration by the Town Council. Across the ContinentF OUR of the new Lockheed Hudson bombers which have lately been supplied to the Royal Australian Air Force did a one-day flight across Australia from Sydney to Perth, a distance of approximately 2,000 miles. The Australian Minister for Air announced that, of the 100 Hudsons ordered from U.S.A., 79 had arrived. Curtiss-W right Transport Test-flownT HE Curtiss-Wright Substratosphere Transport has been wheeled out of the factory and flown, but no further in- formation is yet available. Its two Wright Double Row Cyclone 14-cylinder engines are enclosed in cowlings of unusual design. Ducts are arranged inside, so that all the air is dis- charged underneath the wing. This should reduce interference with the airflow on the aerodynamically more important upper surface. The Curtiss-Wright was described on page 28 of our issue of January n. Who Pays ? OUR contemporary, Aviation, has some interesting thingsto say about production facilities in America and the financing of them. " Taxation and profit-limitation policies raise no serious obstacles on expansion for domestic warplanes. Closing agreements provide that special equipment, otherwise unusable, can be charged as a cost in figuring profits under the profit-limitation clauses. . . . And even standard equip- ment, purchased for the fulfilment of the Army contract, can be depreciated at the rather favourable rate of 10 per cent a year. " Expansion for military export is somewhat different. All this expansion is being paid for directly by the foreign pur- chasers. In fact, the Allies are quite aggrieved because—ever since Pratt and Whitney, with Europe begging for engines, made the buyers pay for its 50 per cent, expansion—every manufacturer is insisting on a free plant. Usual procedure is for the British or French to loan the cost of the new plant to the manufacturer. The loan is charged off as deliveries are made, out of deliberately inflated prices." Informal Discussion. r - ON Saturday, April 13th, 1940, Mr. R. Hadekel, B.Sc,A.F.R.Ae'S., will lecture before the Students, and Graduates Section of the R.Ae.S. on " Undercarriages." The lecture will be delivered in the offices of the Society, 4, Hamil- ton Place, London, W, at 2.30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served after the meeting. Cloud Height in India THE collection of statistics on the height of the cloud baseis being actively pursued in India by the Meteorological Department. The "cloud lamp" method, much more effective than pilot balloons, is being used. At a surveyed distance from the meteorological station, a powerful lamp projects vertically upwards a beam of light. Where this hits the cloud base can be observed a light patch, and the angular eleva- tion of this is measured from the station. Having the base and one angle, the right-angled triangle can be solved and the cloud-base height determined. As the method consists only in pressing a switch and reading an angle, frequent read- ings can be taken. R. Ae. S. Lectures \ ON April 12th, 1940, Sir Alan Cobham and Mr. MarcusLangley will lecture before the Royal Aeronautical Society on "Flight Refuelling." The lecture will be delivered in the Lecture Hall of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, vic- toria Embankment, at 6.30 p.m. Light refreshments will oe served from 6 p.m. (<c On April 19th, 1940, Mr. S. Rogalski will lecture on M'Be Aspects of the Aerial Warfare in the German-Polish cam- paign." la the lecture the author will cover many Pom™' the materials and machines used, tactics, aircraft maintenan under field conditions, organisation of industrial plants w ing under actual war conditions, and conclusions to be a as to the performance characteristics of service aircraa constructional points as affecting military efficiency.
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