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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 1404.PDF
214 FLIGHT International, 9 August Jin: Letters The Editor of" Flight International" is not necessarily in agreement with the views expressed by correspondents in these columns. Names and addresses of writers, not for publication in detail, must in all cases accompany letters. Naming the ACV SIR,—What a pity that no name has yet been agreed upon for air-cushion vehicles. The first issue of the journal of that name, however, made me quite lyrical as I recalled your own proposal of ""rider." I saw in my mind's eye:— Land-rider, Sea-rider, Swamp-rider, Sand-rider. Road-rider, Rail-rider, Mud-rider, Flood-rider. High-rider, Low-rider, Ice-rider, Snow-rider. In-rider, Out-rider, One-up-the-spout Rider. War-rider, Fun-rider, Doing-the-ton Rider. Seriously, though, the name ought to be RIDER. "Air- cushion vehicles," "ground-effect machines" and their con tractions are utterly unworthy of this swift, smooth, master ful form of locomotion. "Rider" is both descriptive and dynamic. "Hover" and "cushion" are soft and static by comparison, acceptable though they may be as registered trademarks. And, of course, "rider" would be in the tradi tion of "steamer," "liner" and "clipper." The word clipper, incidentally, was an American one which was quickly adopted by our own mercantile marine. So why in this century should not the Americans borrow a word from us? "Supercraft" was very good, I thought. But too much of a mouthful, like most of the other proposals. London WC2 A. STEED U-2—and ACV SIR,—My reply to Mr Carr Flight International, July 12) is that he is probably complicating the triangle of velocities unnecessarily in view of the short duration of the zoom and a substantial margin of momentum available for control correction purposes, granted that the U-2 was no higher than some 10,000ft above the operational ceiling of the ramming fighter. My answer to "Hardbitten" (same issue) is that he appears to lack a sense of historical responsibility. Diplomatic commentators have compared the U-2 episode to Bismarck's handling of the Ems telegram. It would be a pity if a simple but wrong explanation is handed on to posterity. To exchange the subject for a more agreeable topic, I would like to suggest the name ARAB for the existing type of ground-effect vehicle, partly in recognition of the role fulfilled by the Arabian breed of horse in revolutionizing transportation and cavalry tactics in medieval times. The initial letters would stand for Amphibious Rolling Aero dynamic Buoyancy and are an attempt to place this ingenious modern invention in its correct historical perspective. First, I suggest that a significant but somewhat forgotten stage in the quest for ultimate freedom from the wheel, as currently represented by air-sliding techniques, were Ronald Marsden Hamilton's inventions such as the Train Ship project, Swiss Roll floating bridge of D-day fame, and Lily floating runway, as recorded by Gerald Pawle in his book The Secret War. I understand that Hamilton used Rolling Dynamic Buoyancy to describe his method of gener ating a wave or hump ahead of a wheel rolling on a floating carpet that could be climb:d on to by accelerating to gain height and save power. Secondly, it might be said that ingenious recent inventions, like those of Cockerell in England and Weiland in Switzer land, have really succeeded in converting a liquid wave to an aerodynamic cushion that is held rather than pursued, by the simple expedient of blowing inwards from all direc tions. The term hump continues to be used for the visible water displacement ahead of a craft travelling at low speed. In brief, the Hovercraft principle could be interpreted as semi-static rolling (aero)dynamic buoyancy and some recognition of Hamilton's early contribution deserves to be taken into account by the name. Possible variations on a RAB theme include SCARABS for Sea Carrier or Sea Cargo, CRABS for landing-craft, and RABBITS for ground-runners. A likely venue for the ARAB is of course the Mediterranean area with its land locked seas, inter-continental isthmus and adjacent deserts. Long may the wide-nostrilled breed flourish! Cirencester, Glos GEORGE BATHURST Alec Ogilvie's Aircraft SIR,—With regard to Alec Ogilvie and his aircraft (letter from Mr R. E. Nicoll, July 19), here is the roster:— (1) Ogilvie's first machine was a standard Wright (of the type now known as the 1907-09 type) which was the second of a batch of six built under licence in 1909 by Shorts. (2) His second was a Wright Model R of 1910, often called the "Baby Wright": this elegant little machine had a span of 26ft 6in; was a biplane: had no front elevator; but had a rear elevator hinged to the end of the tail outrigger, in back of the rudder; this practice followed the experimental fitting of an extra elevator at the back to one or two of the standard 1907-09 type Wrights in 1909; it was the first Wright machine designed with a wheeled undercarriage, again following experimental fitting of wheels to the standard types in 1909. It was, of course, a pure Wright design, and owed nothing to Ogilvie. It was on this machine that Ogilvie competed in the Gordon-Bennett contest at Belmont Park, New York, in October 1910. It was brought over to England in that year, and fitted with the first of the new two-stroke N.E.C. 50 h.p. engines; it was with this Baby that Ogilvie (at Camber Sands) competed for the British Empire Michelin Cup in December 1910, the cup being won by Cody. In July 1911 Ogilvie flew the Baby in the Gordon-Bennett International Contest at Eastchurch; unfortunately he ended fourth and last, the contest being won by the American C. Weymann. The Baby was also shown at the 1911 Olympia aero show. (3) His third machine was another standard 1907-09 Wright, and the sixth of the famous batch built by Shorts. This machine had belonged to Rolls, and was sold to Ogilvie by the latter's executors after his death at Eastbourne. Rolls had bought two of the batch of six, in addition to the French- built Wright on which he was killed. He had presented the first of these Wrights to Farnborough in 1910. London Wl CHARLES H. GIBBS-SMITH SIR,—There is a mistake or two in Mr R. E. NicoO's excellent letter (July 19) on Alec Ogilvie, which it might be worth while getting straight for historical reasons. The Baby Wright was of pure Wright design, flown first in October 1910 in the USA. Ogilvie, who was over there staying with the Wrights, ordered one; and it was fitted in England with a 60 h.p. N.E.C. two-stroke vee-four of English make. It is not clear to me whether the "Baby" was built to the Wright design by Shorts of Eastchurch, but it may well be so. Wilbur Wright (who was then over in Europe) supervised the testing of the aircraft, which, after one preliminary crash, was flown in the Gordon Bennett Race at Eastchurch on July 1, 1911, finishing third at 51 m.p.h. against the win ning Nieuport monoplane's 78 m.p.h. But Ogilvie stopped once to refuel and the Nieuport had 100 h.p. and was far better streamlined. Hintlesham, Suffolk H. J. PARHAM, Maj-Gen [Our report of the 1911 race gave Ogilvie's placing as fourth, not third; this tallies with Mr Gibbs-Smith's statement—Ed.)
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