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Aviation History
1928
1928 - 0914.PDF
• cater for this demand ; the rest of the industry has i not hitherto considered it worth while to dislocate their production work on service types of aircraft in order to produce commercial types, the need and demand for which was rather problematic. It is not our intention here to discuss the wisdom or otherwise of this policy, nor to attempt to forecast whether the same attitude is likely to be maintained in the future. Suffice it to point out that such is the position at the present moment. The inevitable result has been that when Germany's representative called on the British aircraft firms, he was met with ' an explanation, very much like that given above, as to why it was impossible for the majority of firms to exhibit at Berlin. Another reason for the comparatively small response has been that, through the refusal of the Treasury to grant a relatively small sum towards expenses, the Society of British Aircraft Constructors has been unable to follow the most desirable course of taking concerted action in the matter, and has been, reluctantly we are sure, compelled to leave it to individual firms to uphold British prestige at the Berlin Show. That, under the circumstances, the British Section is as large and representative as is the case speaks well for the initiative of such of our firms as do produce commercial and civil types of aircraft, and forms an effective reply to the allegation, not infrequently made, that the British aircraft industry has been " spoon-fed " so long that it has lost the energy to go out and look for orders abroad. In the case of the makers of the one type of aircraft which England has developed to a higher state oi perfection than any other country in the world, the light aeroplane, we have cause to be satisfied with the British response. Three out of the four firms which have seriously tackled the production of light 'planes are exhibiting at Berlin. The fourth firm has been unable to get a light 'plane prepared in time. A British Aero Show Next Year ALTHOUGH the final details have not yet been settled, it has been decided to hold an aircraft exhibition in this country next year. This will be the Seventh International Aero Exhibition, organised jointly .by the Society of British Aircraft Constructors, Ltd., and the Society of Motor Manu- facturers and Traders. It will be held in July—probably at Olympia, from July 16 to 27. OCTOBER 4, 1928 The limitations which have reduced the size of our commercial and civil aircraft exhibits do not apply so much to engines, and it is extremely gratifying to find that all our most important aero engine firms have taken stand space at the Berlin Show, so that British aero engines, occupying as they do a very high position in the world's estimation, will be thoroughly well represented. That this fact will do much to uphold British prestige cannot be doubted for a moment. The point which we would ask readers, particularly our numerous foreign readers, to bear in mind is that the British Section at the I.L.A. represents private enterprise and initiative. The majority of foreign nations have given financial and other support to their aircraft industries. Consequently it is very much a case of British private as against foreign national effort. By bearing this fact in mind, one is able to form a truer picture of the relative merits of the various exhibits, and to avoid being unduly impressed by mere size of show and area of floor space. One thing we do regret extremely in connection with the Berlin Show, and that is the absence of a repre- sentative British flying-boat. The Short " Calcutta " would have served admirably to represent this particular branch of British aircraft design and construction, but the first of these machines cannot, presumably, be spared, while the remaining machines of the same type are not sufficiently far advanced to be exhibited. Great Britain has made enormous strides in the development of this type of aircraft, and we do feel that a machine of the modern British flying-boat type should have been included in the British Section. It might have been possible for us to spare one of the several service types recently produced, but the military nature of this would not have been in keeping with the commercial character of the German exhibition. The fact is to be regretted, but was, we are afraid, unavoidable. o o Fire Alarm from the Air THE pilot of an aeroplane engaged in R.A.F. manoeuvres near St. Andrew's, Fife, gave the alarm when fire broke out at Rhynd Farm, a short distance from the R.A.F. base. His attention was drawn to smoke issuing from a threshing mill. He returned to the base and summoned the R.A.F. brigade, which was able to render valuable assistance before the arrival of the St. Andrew's brigade. o <s> flying-boat, fitted with three Roils-Royce SLir Phjiirt Qaccnnn <? ooffirlnri nut" tt tCiUr SIR PHILIP SASSOON'S AIR TOUR : The Blackburn "Iris" Condor " engines, in which the Under-Secretary of State for Air, Sir Philip Sassoon, is carrying out a of the R.A.F. Stations at Malta, the Middle East, Iraq, and India. 844 ' .•••••
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