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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 1281.PDF
16 FLIGHT, 6 July 1951 Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh P. Lloyd examines the model with which R. Copland (seen holding it) won the Queen's Cup. On the right are Dr. A. P. Thurston and Lady Spriggs. below) J. M. Clark launching the I \ft-span glider with which he won the "Flight'7 Cup. Great day for aircraft rijpellers The Queen's Cup Contest at Langley Airfield FOR the Queen's Cup Contest (flown, as we brieflyreported last week, on Sunday, June 24th), the weatherwas as kind as it had been unkind for the King's Cup on the previous day. Her Majesty's prize, let it be said, is one that is competed for annually at the gala day held by the Northern Heights Model Flying Club, open to all clubs and aeromodellers. Marking the 21st year of the organizing club's existence, this was the fourteenth gala day, and again the directors of Hawker Air- craft, Ltd., had put their Langley Airfield, near London Airport, at the disposal of the organizers—an ideal site, allowing plenty of room for many contests for all types of models to be flown simultaneously. It is not our purpose to describe the proceedings in detail here : to do so adequately, with literally hundreds of engine-driven air- craft, rubber-propelled models, gliders, helicopters and even jet- powered models taking part, would require a whole issue of Flight. Rather would we place on record our appreciation of the immense enthusiasm which these young engineers display ("young" in this context may be taken to include ages of up to about 70); of the very real understanding of aerodynamic principles which, allied to superb detail workmanship, produces results that astound any- one unaware of the present sums of model flying; and of the thoroughly sporting spirit, observable everywhere on the day, which can survive with a smile seeing the product of many weeks' . patient work wrecked in a moment : not so often by a crash (these models are designed to shed wings, tailplanes, etc., harm- lessly in a heavy landing) as by some unexpected incident like somebody else's machine landing at high speed on a parked model. Most aircraft-design, whether of the real thing or of a two-foofo. span model, involves compromise; and the modelmaker's cjrfef problem is to strike a happy medium between appearance/and performance. Generally speaking, and dependent on the facqthat there is inevitably a wide difference between engine-on and gli conditions when there can be no pilot to attend to tail-trimmer elevators, a model with a high rate of climb and good all-round flying characteristics tends to look something of a freak, often with a very high parasol wing to give pendulum stability, or with poly- hedral wing-tips. Yet, as our photographs show, there are some wonderfully faithful flying scale models, and they also perform^ well in the air. Radio control, too, which (largely owing to the introduction of a new type of sub-miniature valve) is becoming increasingly (Below, left) Busy scene at t/ie entry-point for the "Flight" Cup glider competition. (Below, right) An impressive radio-controlled model—£. J. Pritchard's sponson-stabilized seaplane, with transmitter in foreground; of 7ft span, it is powered by a 5 c.c. diesel engine. (Above) Beautifully finished, and a perfect replica of the original, is T. Nachtman's D.H. Beaver. It has a 1.8 c.c. diesel engine, and a span of54in. popular, is helping to overcome these problems. Several radio- controlled models were being flown at Langley, each one powered by the usual small compression-ignition engine and monitored by a little transmitter of attache-case size with a whip aerial about nine feet in height. In the aircraft, which carries a short trailing aerial, is a receiver —usually weighing well under a pound, complete with batteries —that, by means of relays that respond to the pulse carrier wave sent out by the receiver, operates the rudder for yaw control and (in some cases) engine speed for pitch control. With this equip- ment an owner can keep his model climbing, diving and circling wherever he wishes as long as its fuel supply lasts, and bring it into a perfect into-the-wind landing. Though acknowledging their immense popularity, and recog- nizing the reasons for it, we feel less enamoured of the control-line models, which somehow seem to be the negation of the grace and freedom of true flight. Skilfully controlled by a double line term- inating in a hand-grip, they scream round like infuriated wasps at many times the scale speed of a true aircraft, and make their high- speed circuits unbanked, which also looks unnatural; neverthe- less, we thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle of three 60 m.p.h. control-line models competing in a team race—complete with high-speed refuelling stops—and being flown in the same circle, their owners, at its centre, performing a complicated sort of Morris dance to avoid getting the control lines tangled. Launched by a method quite closely allied to full-scale winch launching, the gliders (many having spans of up to 10ft) are fascinating to watch and, in flight characteristics, uncannily like the rgal-thiflg;. Even "ware responsive to thermals, they are apt to Illustrated wHhFlight" Photograph!
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