FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0861.PDF
20 June 1958 877 CORRESPONDENCE The Editor of "Flight" is not necessarily in agreement with the views expressed by correspondents in these columns; the namesand addresses oj the writers, not for publication in detail, must in all cases accompany letters. Solent G-AHIL derelict (see letter "Last at Poole," below). The Cody Controversy THE letter from Mr. Geoffrey Dorman in Flight for June 6•*• strikes at the basis of all serious historical studies. The only true historical method is the reliance upon contemporary records,cross-checked for accuracy wherever possible : memory can enrich the knowledge so gained, and enable us better to enter into theminds and thoughts of the pioneers, but it cannot be trusted on crucial questions of fact or dates. It is overmuch reliance uponmemory that has bedevilled so much aeronautical history; Capt. Pritchard, and now Mr. Gibbs-Smith and others, are doing a mostvaluable service by turning to more reliable methods. Reliance upon memory in preference to records will producenot history but reminiscences. So far as Mr. Hurren's related argument is concerned, it wouldbe odd if a man left no written record, published or unpublished, of his first flight, and had made no reference to it when describinghis later flights. Incidentally, were there any aeronautical activities at Eastchurch or Hendon in May 1908? I suspect that the case of what happened on Sir AlliottVerdon-Roe's flight trials at Brooklands in June 1908 is more diffi- cult to settle than that of Cody's May trials; here we do have con-temporary accounts, but they do not say Roe flew; his letter to Wilbur Wright in August refers to towed flights, and an articlein Aeronautics for June 1909 states: "Owing, however, to insuffi- cient motive power, no actual flights were made." Yet in 1912various men stated that they had seen Roe fly. I should like to suggest that the explanation could be that Roe had left the groundfor a short distance, aided by the downhill gradient at the top of the Finishing Straight; and, naturally enough, did not considerthis showed his machine could fly. But the conflict of evidence remains confusing, and the weight of it seems to be against theclaim that Roe made the first flight in England. Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. DAVID SAWERS. "EXTRACT from L'aerophile, November 1, 1908: "Chute de•*—' Vaeroplane militaire anglais: Apres plusieurs semaines d'essais presque quotidiens au camp d'Aldershot, Faeroplane TONILEA,construit pour le War Office, sous les ordres de son inventeur, le colonel Cody, paraissait absoluement au point."Le jeudi 15 octobre, l'aviateur resolut de tenter enfin son premier vol. Apres avoir roule quelques metres, l'appareil s'enleva,et, parfait de stabilite, parcourut entre 3 et 4 metres en ligne droite. "Mais le colonel, pour eviter un bouquet d'arbres, voulut virertrop brusquement et Faeroplane, desequilibre, s'abattit lourdement. L'aeroplane a ete completement detruit. Le colonel Cody estindemne." London, W.I. F. H. SMITH, Librarian, Royal Aeronautical Society. Last at PooleT HE breaking-up of Short Solent G-AHIL City of Salisburyis now advanced and brings to an end the link between air trans- port and the marine airport at Poole, after two decades. Thisparticular machine was originally allocated to B.O.A.C. but as far as I know was not used on their services, since it reverted to theM.C.A. and for several years has been one of a group moored in the Wareham Channel dispersal area. The enclosed photograph,taken in mid-April, shows City of Salisbury awaiting a spring tide in order to float her farther up the beach at Hamworthy to facilitatethe removal of the engines. A few trial runs with flying-boats at Poole were made prior tothe war, but regular operations did not begin until September 3, 1939. Subsequently, besides normal C- and E-class boats, theSaro-Guiness "air yacht," a Cloud and various Qantas boats were moored in the main channel. Mercury (G-ADHJ) called severaltimes, and Maia (G-ADHK) was destroyed by enemy action one night; her sister aircraft in Wych Channel—the PBY Guba—wasdamaged at the same time. Sunderland and Catalina squadrons were based upon Salternsand Hamworthy, whilst H.M.S. Dcedalus flew Walrus, Kingfishers and Seafoxes from Sandbanks, at the southern end of the harbour,where a coastal flight of A.S.R. Walrus were also based. One so far unidentified type flown by Dcedalus was a machine resemblinga Vickers Venom—but with two seats and with three floats, similar to the Kingfisher. The radial engine made as much noise as any three Harvards. [Kingfisher with square-tipped wings, or CurtissSeamew?—Ed.] At this period one day saw G-AEUG Coogee, G-AFBJ Carpen-taria and G-AFCI Golden Hind milling about at Poole with all the others. Still later two R.A.F. Coronados used the base, togetherwith the Boeing Clippers and a Sikorsky VS-44. Finally, Sandringhams, Sunderlands, Hythes and Solents cameand went, leaving only five of their number awaiting sale. One went to Aquila and one to South Pacific Airways; the rest are nowawaiting their end. Surbiton, Surrey. JOHN GAYLARD. Postprandial Poundage T NOTICE that in your report of Mr. Rumbold's dinner ["TheA Industry," May 30] you mention my reference to "2j megaton lb (or pounds sterling—he did not specify which)." My actual state-ment was, or should have been, 2\ megapounds sterling"—one megapound sterling meaning, of course, in the modern idiom,one million pounds sterling. I hope this makes the matter clear. Hatfield, Herts. C. T. WILKINS. Updraught VOUR picture "Quieting Vulcan's Forge" (June 6, page 759)•*• makes one wonder whether we may expect the Vulcan's ground silencers to be adopted shortly by seagulls and glider pilots aslegitimate "thermals." If ruffled feelings (or feathers) are to be avoided, I suggest thatan authoritative statement be issued at once. Leek, Staffs. A. R. MARGARY. Who was Jatho? Y^ITH reference to Roger Bacon's comments ("Straight and* ™ Level," May 30) on the commemorative stone at Hanover, the name "Jatho" seems to be a personal one. I cannot place himfrom memory, but possibly some such source as M. Dollfuss's Histoire de I Aeronautique would have a reference.However, the translation given is somewhat in error. The inscrip- tion reads 'To the first motor-powered flier of the World.""Flight," of course, would have been "Flug." Southampton University. DENYS J. VOADEN. Early Air-brakes ALTHOUGH I came into the picture much later than Mr. EricL Arnsby [Correspondence, May 23] it might be of interest to him to know that, as far as I can remember, no air-brakes werefitted to the l-§-Strutters supplied to the cruisers from which these aircraft were launched. I did a few hours on the U-Strutter whenI was not flying Camels and can well remember one launching from a cruiser which nearly resulted in my hitting the water justahead of the ship. It may be that air-brakes were there and I had not been toldabout them, but it is more likely that I was overloaded carrying a 50-lb bomb. It is probable that after 1917 no one bothered to use the air-brakes, resulting in a modification which dispensed with it. Kenley, Surrey. ERIC BREWERTON. Unsung Heroes of 1914-18I WAS most interested in Mr. Malone's letter (May 16) concern-ing the late Air Marshal Conyngham, Capt. Glennie of No. 7 (R.E.) Sqn. and Capt. Carberry of No. 59 Sqn. I thinkMr. Malone is rather modest about his knowledge of 1914-18 aircraft and airmen; for I have a suspicion, on reading his previousletters, that he was one of the latter, and could, with a little encour- agement, write some good gen on these forgotten squadrons.Capt. Carberry's exploit brings to mind Capt. D. Grinnell-Milne's affair with a German battery when one of his "eggs" blew up anammunition dump, blew off half his tail, and wiped off his under- carriage when his S.E.5a hit the ground! In this unhappy stateCapt. Grinnell-Milne staggered home and crash-landed behind the British lines. This brings me to another question. Did any of the fightingpowers produce an aircraft with a retractable undercarriage during the 1914-18 war—a prototype, for instance?Birmingham, 14. MAURICE AUSTIN.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
