FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1926
1926 - 0343.PDF
MAY 20, 1926 pilot flying one of the machines was not available, took charge of it to fly from Yeovil to Monmouth. But where he found himself eventually was at Tavistock. On alighting, however, he acted very smartly, and soon disposed of his papers to a local newsagent, who was delighted enough to have them. As an instance of the speed of the aeroplane, on one morning Messrs. Courtney and Hamilton, leaving Stag Lane aerodrome, Edgware, a+ 4.30 a.m., had delivered numbers of papers to Nottingham, and were back at Stag Lane again, before 7 a.m. Our experiences emphasise, incidentally, the need for a more adequate official gazetteer, or some such volume, dealing not only with main aerodromes and alighting-points, but also with landing facilities all over the country on a much wider and more comprehensive scale. Our pilots in these recent flights could provide much practical information, and what is needed is a new committee to go into this question forthwith. The development of popular flying makes it one of urgent importance. One cannot pay too great a tribute to the way in which our aeroplanes stood up to their work, enabling us to maintain 100 per cent, efficiency. The little De Havilland " Moths," with their " Cirrus " engines, emerged from the ordeal amazingly well. They flew all day and every day, combating most adverse weather, and showing their ability to get down into, and out of, all sorts of awkward and restricted spaces. Altogether, the " .Moths,'' including those of the London Aeroplane Club, flew more than 10,000 miles without the slightest mishap. Our Avros, too, lived up to their famous reputation, and more than that one cannot say. Nor could we have achieved the success we did had it not been for our many L>.H 9\s. They were the stand-by of our fast, long-range work. An excellent account of itself was given, also, by the Puma-engined Bristol placed at our disposal by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. In addition to our Royal Aero Club organisation, excellent work was done by the " Moths " of the Newcastle, Lancashire, and Midland Aero Clubs. They carried newspapers and passengers in many highly successful flights. Apart from technical and purely flying considerations, the outstanding impression of all this air work is the enterprise and determination of the proprietors of The Daily Mail. It was natural that, after devoting nearly /50,000 to the encouragement of aviation, they should turn to the aeroplane in this hour of need. Finally, as a personal word, one may say that after having been tor 24 hours at a stretch at the end of Mr. Valentine Smith's telephone, and also making and receiving a never- ending stieam of trunk calls, at all hours of the day and night, in the movement from point to point of our fleet of 'planes, one feels now that peace has come that one is entitled to a little rest. [In the next issue we hope to publish a detailed list of all the machines and the mileage flown by each.—ED.] ^ , ««>.••*••? ^ . |||g. jit jjp v • •••*%* '•• '" " .... . , -,,y, f • '" * %m*' - k* ; fl IMPROVISED TRANSPORT : These two photographs give some idea of the manner in which the Fairey Aviation Company solved the transport difficulty during the strike. Every day approximately 400 employees of the firm were transported to and from their work by lorries and trailers. One lorry, with its trailer, was carrying about 130 people on each journey. French Competition for Multi-engined Transport Seaplanes A COMPETITION, organised by the Aero Club of France, for multi-engined transport seaplanes is to be held in the St. Raphael-Frejus area, from July 19 to August 7 next. This competition is open to P'rench entrants only, and the Secretary of State for Aeronautics has granted a sum of Frs. 800,000 for the purpose. Competing seaplanes must be fitted with at least two engines of a minimum total normal power of 500 h.p., whilst the tanks must be large enough to contain sufficient fuel for a flight of 500 kms. (310 miles) in a head wind of 10 metres per second (32-8 ft./sec.) at the maxi- mum speed fixed during the tests for the airworthiness certificate—the consumption being calculated at the rate of 250 qr. (0-55 lb.) per h.p.,'hour at nominal power. The competition will include eliminating tests, technical tests and commercial efficiency tests. The latter will consist of cover- ing three times daily, on four consecutive days (August 3—6), a circuit of 187 kms. (116 miles), viz. :—St.* Raphael-Frejus, Cape Camarat, Cape Martin, Semaphore du Dramont, St. Raphael-Frejus. This route must be covered without intermediate landings. Penalties will be incured should a fresh start be necessary. The winner will be decided accord- ing to the formula QV where Q is the useful load, V the C commercial speed, and C the fuel consumption. Repairs will be penalised and the general classification will be got by adding the number of marks awarded for the technical tests and commercial efficiency, and deducting the penalty marks. Belgian Light 'Plane Competition Postponed THE Belgian Light 'Plane Competition, which was to have been held from June 11-13, has been postponed. The new- dates have not yet been fixed, and will be announced later. Spanish Prime Minister Flies THE Spanish Prime Minister, Primo de Rivera, accom- panied by his two sons, recently undertook a flight in^a Junkers F.13 aeroplane from Jerez to Madrid, and was received with great enthusiasm at the aerodrome of the latter city by the Spanish Minister of War, the Home Secretary and the Air Force Chief. The Prime Minister was greatly impressed by this flight. The identical machine has been in service since 1923, when it won the Tyrrhenic Cup during a competition. Air Accident at Upavon REPORTS appeared in the London press last week regarding a flying accident which occurred at Tpavon, stating that the accident was due to engine failure. We are informed by the Bristol Aeroplane Co., Ltd., that as squadrons of aircraft fitted with Bristol " Jupiter " engines are in use in this centre, they made inquiries regarding the circumstances of the accident, and were informed that the crash was in no way brought about by difficulty of any kind with the " Jupiter " engine fitted in the machine. As a matter of fact, the pilot landed in a bad part of the aerodrome and one of his wheels caught in a hole, which caused the machine to crash. 297
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
