AVIATION.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20234, 12 May 1931, Page 13

AVIATION.

SCHNEIDER TROPHY.

NEW SCHOOL OF FLYING.

(PBOM Otm omt COEBESPOKDSKT.I

LONDON, April 1

For the first time in the history ol the Royal Air Force tho Chief of tho Air Staff is to make an official tour of inspection of squadrons stationed overseas. Air-Chief Marshal Sir John Salmond plans to go on board a big three-engined Irish flying boat- of No. 209 Squadron at, Marseilles and to travel by air to Malta, Egypt, Palestine, and Transjordan. After the visit to Malta Sir John will re-embark in the flying boat, and fly, non-atop across the Mediterranean to Solium, a sea coast town on the borders ot Libya and Egypt. There he will tranship to a land aeroplane sent from the R.A.F. headquarters at Cairo for to® remainder of the tour. Two boats of No. 209 Squadron ar® scheduled to leave this country immediately for Marseilles. They will fly along the recognised route followed by many British flying boats in the past, alighting at Hourtin seaplane base, near Bordeaux, and then flying across the south of France to the Etang d© Berrc. Marseilles. Sir John will be away about a fortnight. In Transiordan lie will approach the borders of the command he held in 1922. whpnhe was first Air Officer Commanding Iraq, following the conference at Cairo in 1921, when Iraq was transferred to Royal Air Force control. The tour will take him to flying boat, bomber, and\ army co-operation units, all placed in important strategica points and emphasising the peculiarly fnr-flung and vital interests of t ne R.A.R Duties such as these place the R.A.F. in a unique position among the world's air services, and at tne same time throw into sharp relief tn nresent inferiority of numbers of nrstline aircraft in the R.A.F. compared with those flown bv several States whose aerial responsibilities are less wide.

The Schneider Trophy. Course, date and team for the j Schneider Trophy contest are announced. As in 1929, when a British seaplane won the event at the rcc average speed of 328.6 mile§ an ' l0 " this year again the competing cira will flv over a course plotted out Solent and Spithead. Full consideration was given to the claims of ot localities, including Belfast Lough, tn mouth of the Humber, the Firth ot Forth. , and Morecambe Bay. But «ie special Schneider Committee of too Royal Aero Club decided that the Solent and Spithead provide the most suitable stretch of water for safe and efficient conduct of the contest. The date chosen is September 12th. This year teams from three countries are expected to compete, Franco having entered a team of men and machines to challenge the British and Italian teams. A Man of Iron. Flight-Lieutenant G. H. Stainforth is the only member of the 1929 team who finds a place in the list of those selected this year to fly the racing craft, thougu Squadron-Loader Orlebar, holder of t le world's speed record, will again have administrative control. Stamforth was thought by many experts in 19-9 to one of the very«best of the splendid British and Italian pilots then enga-gea in practice flying and he was unfortunate in that tho aeroplane selected toi him to fly developed annoying fuel-feed, trouble which kept it out of the race. He showed that he was practically im-

mune from the ill-effects noticed by most pilots in turning at extremely high speed. Where other very fit men suffered temporary "blacking out" due to blood being drawn from the head on high speed turns, Staiaforth remained unaffected. A further point about the team is that for the first time it includes an officer of the Fleet Air Arm in Lieutenant G. It Brunton. The other officejs chosen follow expectations, four of them being attached to the Marine Aircraft Experimental Station at Felixstowe, where high speed research flying with the 1929 Schneider racers was done throughout last year, while the remaining member of the team belongs to the staff of the experimental section of the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough. "Degree" Courses. This month a new international .flying school which can fairly claim to be a "university- of the air" wll open its doors at Hamble, near Southampton. The courses of instruction, both theoretical and practical, are devised to cover a yery wide field in the flying of land andi seaplanes, and on the service side reproduces in a civilian organisation _ the entire system of training adopted by the Boyal Air Force. Thus, in addition to full instruction in pilotage and navigation the course intended for service pilots of little or no previous experience embraces instruction on engines, rigging, meteorology, airmanship, and the theory of flight. Special courses may be arranged in "instrument" (or "blind" flying), in night flying, and other branches of service and commercial or private flying. The scheme is designed to appeal particularly to service officers from foreign countries! who in the space of a few weeks or months may learn all that the R.A.F. could teach them about their jobs. The chairman of Air Service Training, Ltd., the company running the school, is Air-Marshal Sir John Higgins, who till recently was Air Member for Supply and Research of the Air Council, and the school commandant is Group Captain R. J. F. Barton, an officer of high R.A.F. rank and a distinguished service record. Bjery one of the instructors is an ex-officer of the R.A.F. and each possesses a high reputation for skill and knowledge. Four types of land aeroplane and three types of seaplane are included hi the fleet of school machines, the pupil who takes a full course beginning with instruction on a light aeroplane or a service training aeroplane and proceeding to army co-opera-tion craft and fighters.

Land and Sea Flying. The school will be conducted on lines similar to those obtaining at a

British service Squadron, the pupils being accommodated in pafmanent buildings with a mess, separate sleeping quarters, a private room tor each pupil, garage, and so forth. Overhauls and repair of aeroplanes and engines ..will ■ be done in works located on the spot. The aerodrome, two hundred acres of level turf, adjoins a Btretch of Southampton water eminently suited for seaplane training flights. Fall ijwtruction is provided for commercial and private as well as for service pupils. At the end of his course each pupil Will be set a final examination; success in which will gain hima certificate liljely - . to occupy a place in aviation similar to degrees won by students at the world's leading universities. „

Irißh Pree state awn ' The Irish Free State Army Air Corps has placed a repeat order with Vitekers {Aviation), Limited, for the -supply, of . four Vespa two-seater biplanes, - following a year'# successful use qf machine® of this mala supplied . last year. Another Vespa attended by a test-pilot and engineer, has been shipped to Shanghai and Is to fly in demonstration before expert air. repra-' eentatives of the Chinese National Gov- , eriiment. This is a craft equipped for army co-operation and reconnaissance work, armed with machine-guns and able to climb to a height <rf 18,400 ft (5000 metres) in thirteen.minutes.- Its cruising speed, with the Bristol Jupiter air-cooled radial; 500 horsepower engine running at normal speed, is 126 mnes an hour. The machines ordered by the Irish Government closely resemble the demonstration aeroplane sent to China, but are equipped with a single Jaguar radial motor instead of the Jupiter unit. Thus powered the maximum speed of the craft is about 150 miles an hour.