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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0965.PDF
936 FLIGHT International, 13 June 1963 LETTERS . . Fontanel's rocket-propelled bird model of 1420 and, right, an 1880 phantasy attributed to Edison (letter from Mr C. H. Gibbs-Smith) in fact did, despite your correspondent's excellent letter. Unfortunately, only three aero-historians to my knowledge have written about Mr B: Max Jacobi, G. Boffito, and Antonio Fararo, and I cannot yet lay hands on their respec tive papers to see exactly what their sources and assessments are. Mr Cynk could have helped a lot here by quoting his sources in the original language, with his translations in brackets. I say this with great diffidence, as I have no reason to doubt his translations except to say that one has to be very experienced indeed in both linguistics and aeronautical history to get a really valid equivalent meaning in modern terms. I was recently caught out good and proper by a fellow historian, as I had failed to realize that the French words gauchir and gauchissement, which were universally used from 1908 onwards for wing-warping (in the Wrights' sense) did not mean the same thing at all in 1890 when Ader used them. Therefore may we please see exactly what words were used for "served only as lifting surfaces," etc, etc. (d) The earliest separation of lift and thrust in aeroplanes I know of, but which is not very important (in the same way as Mr B is not very important) is the Fontana rocket- propelled machine of 1420 (Fig 1). (e) There is an uncanny resemblance between Mr Cynk's drawing of Mr B's machine and the alleged Edison fantasvof 1880 (Fig 2). May I repeat that we are grateful to Mr Cynk; but may I ask him to be very careful with his assessments of impor tance, and his diagnosis of what Mr B achieved? More in formation all round will be gratefully received. London Wl CHARLES H. GIBBS-SMITH Safer Seats, Easier Exits? SIR,—It must be a matter of concern to many potential passengers that the seats in the Trident and Boeing 727 (sub jects of recent articles in Flight International) still face front and that there are apparently no exits at the rear of the Trident's cabin. Objections against the cost and complication of convert ing existing aircraft to backward-facing seating were perhaps not unreasonable a few years ago. To an ordinary fare- paying customer, however, whose main concern is to reach the other end alive, it is most difficult to understand how politicians, Civil Servants, accountants, designers, etc, can continue to override the introduction of a safer form of seating in a new generation of aircraft. Not one of the new arrivals has yet been shown to feature backward-facing seats, in spite of the fact that passengers have been knocked out in forward-facing seats, and that lives have been saved in backward-facing seats. If even one passenger's life has been so saved, no further objection should be allowed to the adoption of backward-facing seats as standard layout, assuming the protection of life and limb to be of paramount importance. To an ordinary type of passenger who pivots about his middle when seated (perhaps the politicians, etc, are too rigid to so unbend!), it is difficult to see how his head can fail to make violent contact with the back of the seat 34in in front, if his own economy-class seat, to which his behind is secured (by his lap-strap), is rapidly decelerated from run way speed without prior notice. It is evident from descriptions of Trident seating that the manufacturers have paid considerable attention to the safety aspect by padding the rear surfaces of the seats. Evidence enough that an impact danger does exist, but is a knock-out blow any less likely from a padded seat than from a padded boxing glove? Also, at the moment of deceleration, will all the seats be inclined at the same angle, with tables folded away, and will each passenger's belt be fastened as tightly as possible ? Supposing that insuperable objections to backward-facing seats still remain (outside the Royal Air Force and Australia), perhaps the seats for the new aircraft could incorporate a simple built-in harness of shoulder or lap and diagonal type, such as is commonplace among motorists in anything from a royal limousine to the writer's Mini. Safe, simple, cheap, light, unobtrusive—what objections can remain? With high-backed seats the anchorage problem should not be serious, assuming that the backs can be locked against break ing forward. Held in place thus, the passengers should at least feel almost as secure as the crew. The absence of any cabin exit in the Trident behind the rearmost passenger—in the safest part of the aircraft as a rule—does seem a surprising omission. Surely every pas senger should have an exit to which he can turn in an emer gency in either direction, fore or aft. It is an appalling pros pect; upwards of forty anxious passengers trying to get out through four small holes somewhere up front, in the dark and all crew for'ard too. Perhaps a hatch in the toilet roof might solve this problem. The proper protection of tightly packed customers against unnecessary injury or extinction seems to be an issue of com parable importance to "kerosine versus JP.4." Until we have an airliner which does alight gently and which does not catch fire, can we all have a chance to get out in a hurry if necessary ? Herts G. c. s. Meteor Variants SIR,—On the subject of flying test beds mentioned in Mr Rickard's letter (May 23 issue), although not all FTBs in the strict sense of the word, the Meteor variants easily top the Ambassador's record for different types of engine. Meteors were powered by Welland, Derwent, Trent, Beryl, Avon, Sapphire, Atar and Nene, and pairs of SFECMAS S.600 ramjets and Soar engines were fitted to the aircraft in addition to the main Derwent engines. If the Gloster F9/40 prototypes are included, the Rover W2B, de Havilland H.l, Power Jets W2/500, and Metrovick F3/1 engines can be added to the list to make a grand total of fourteen—at least. London SW1 DEREK N. JAMES FORTHCOMING EVENTS June 16 June 20- June 22 June 22 June 23 June 29 June 29 June 29 June 30 Tiger Club: Air display, Fair Oaks. 26 Club International d'Assistance Aeroportuaire: 1st International Airport Ground Equipment Exhibition, Geneva. RAeS Rotorcraft Section: Rally and garden parly. Exeter air day. East Anglian Flying Club: At home. RN Air Station, Yeovilton: Open day. 30 Royal Aero Club: Le Baule Rally. 30 Basse-Normandie Aero Club: International rally, Flers. Tiger Club: Air display, Southampton.
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