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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 1585.PDF
FLIGHT, 2 September 1960 323 Correspondence The Editor of "Flight" is not necessarily in agreement with the viewsexpressed by correspondents in these columns. Names and addresses ot •enters, not for publication in detail, must in all cases accompany letters. Manchester and the Private Pilot IT is generally known that a state of Permanent IFR now prevailsin the Manchester Control Zone. Initially an experiment whichcould be cancelled should any delays or restrictions occur, it would appear to be here to stay, this in spite of annoying delaysand all too many restrictions. Alas, the voice of the delayed and restricted private pilot is weak compared with that of the instigatorof the offending Notam. When the Notam was introduced to the already heavily restrictedand oversized Manchester Control Zone, with only ten days' notice, the prospect of flying in and out of Barton along eitherof two "free" lanes-;—one mile wide, with a ceiling of 1,000ft on'.y —looked very grim indeed. Fortunately the majority of the regularflyers got together, and telegrammed MPs, the Minister, and anybody else whom was considered to be "in" at the Ministry.The result was heartening, inasmuch as a very sympathetic party from ATC Divisional HQ visited Barton and, after a friendlymeeting with local club representatives and the North-West secre- tary of the PFA, gave some gratefully received concessions. Thetwo existing lanes were widened to three miles, the ceiling to 1,500ft, and a new free lane of the old dimensions was providedto the south. However, this is still very restricted flying. Every time onefeels like doing something really enjoyable—sightseeing, or per- haps even a simple visit to another club—one first has to negotiatea lane some thirty minutes long, keeping a weather eye open for training aircraft and the regular procession of air traffic in and out. Special VFR flight plans are allowed in the zone (provided, ofcourse, you are equipped with radio communications with Man- chester Zone and Tower), but these are subjected to the discretionof the Ringway controllers, who consider weather and airline traffic. I must say the people in the tower have always given everyassistance possible to the private and executive pilot. Finally, as to flying in general in Manchester and district,apart from the aforementioned IFR problem, Barton is the only field for many miles where any form of flying tuition can takeplace. Conditions for this are poor; there is only one hangar available and this is overcrowded and leaks like a sieve. No radiofacilities are available, three of the main approaches have obstruc- tions that should be treated with respect, and unless you are amember of the Lancashire Aero Club (who have premises at Barton) there are no toilet or refreshment facilities or even abuilding where one can shelter in bad weather. In spite of this, there are many very keen types who continue to fly from here.No doubt many of the latter are, like myself, praying for the day if and when the Ministry will release the ideally situatedStretton Airfield, now disused, to the local flying clubs. Oldham, Lanes JOHN A. COWAP A Cayley Glider Model T READ with interest the article by C. H. Gibbs-Smith in Flightx of July 29 on Cayley's man-carrying glider.. When the news of the discovery of the drawings of this aircraft was first published,in The Times of June 13,1 made a large model (scale about one- fifth) of the machine and it flies really well, giving a proof moreconvincing than any words of the remarkable genius of Sir George Cayley. I kept carefully to the kind of wing construction Cayley wouldhave used—based on the kite and the square-rigged ship—but I abandoned wire bracing and a wheeled undercarriage. Thiswas done because their use on a model would lead to constant breakage and to the wing going out of truth after each landingand thus to failure to give Cayley's aerodynamic layout a chance really to show its form. I do not think this was "cheating," sinceCayley was a good engineer and his wire braced wing with its short span, very low aspect-ratio and good angle to the lift wireswould almost certainly have been strong and stiff enough for flight m smooth air. Admittedly he did not cater for negative loading,out his flat, lightly loaded, low-aspect-ratio wing, with its stable c-p. travel, would have avoided the trouble which led to so many3Cnnfms with cari.y monoplanes 60 years later. 1 he model, which weighs 61b and has an area, excluding then'u 16 SCJ ft' has made several flights of over 100yd, which is au that the available field, with its 1 in 8 slope, will allow. Thegliding angle is about 1 in 6 at around 20 m.p.h. Due to the very light wing loading of 6oz/sq ft (the full sized machine onlycarried 9±oz!) and low A/R it seems proof against normal stalling, ^ny undue increase in angle of attack results in a steady sink Maj-Gen Parham's model o! the Cayley glider. In the upper view it is sesn—os modified with 8° dihedral—about to touch down till speed is recovered ... a "governable parachute" as Cayley so aptly called it. The controls would certainly have been very ineffective, prob-ably only just powerful enough to permit the angle of glide or the direction to be gently modified however much the totallyuntrained pilot panicked ... a wise if probably accidental pro- vision on the part of the designer. When first flown the model had no dihedral and was adequatelystable; later I learned that Cayley used an 8° dihedral and the model was later rigged thus. It flies with great steadiness and isa fine sight in the air. One feels after watching it that had Cayley been a youngerman in 1852 we might well have arrived at controlled flight in man-carrying gliders half a century earlier than we did.Hintlesham, Suffolk H. T. PARHAM Maj-Gen (Retd) By Auster to Nepal ^ would refer to the last item on page 159 of your issue datedJuly 29. We feel certain that you will be interested to learn that the Auster referred to is one of our aircraft, which weadvertise in your columns as being available for "self fly"; in fact, the contact with Mr Brown was a direct result of advertising inyour magazine. The particular aircraft which will be travelling to Nepal is ourAuster Autocar G-AMZV. Grantchester, Cambs GIUNTAIR LTD, G. W. Yates, Managing Director [The news-item concerned two undergraduates from Oxford and onefrom Cambridge who are planning a flight to Katmandu and back.—Ed.] Old-timer Looks Back YOUR 1910 "Retrospect" item in the issue of July 22, aboutM. Leon Molon swimming from his Bleriot in the Channel, "rang a bell" with the undersigned. I was a young mechanic inFrance several years before that date, and raced in motor cars driven by Molon, whom I knew very well. Before he took toaviation he had a big garage in Le Havre, which I understand still exists. A great friend of his was M. Maurice Tabuteau, who onlylast year flew himself and his wife from France to Filton. M. Tabuteau is now 74, and still continuing his flying. Flight—the late Mr Spooner—found me my first job in aviation,with the late Capt Bertram Dickson, the first British Army pilot, who paid for his own tuition in France. At Bournemouth I helpedto get poor Rolls from the wreckage of his Wright aircraft. I went to France to get the "know-how" of early aviation in1910-11. In 1928 I got my civil pilot's and ground engineer's licences at Stag Lane, and well remember such people as AmyJohnson, Lady Bailey, Winifred Spooner and Will Hay. I had 30 years' service with Bristol, ten years with Hawker, two yearswith Westland and 15 months with Gnome Rhone in Paris. After a few years on my own in the garage game I am now in enforced"retirement" (at just on 70) as a petrol pump attendant. I still have numerous records and cuttings covering 50 years ofaviation and motoring, hundreds and hundreds of copies of Flight and several fine framed pictures of 1914-18 aircraft. What areyour suggestions (as I'm getting on)? Burn it all? Bristol HAROLD SOLOMON [That would be a pity; somebody may be interested. Mr Solomon'saddress is 18 Queen's Drive, Bristol 7.—Ed.]
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