MAKING FLYING SAFER

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 118, 16 February 1928, Page 10

MAKING FLYING SAFER

“Britain has led the world in research and experiment to secure safety ijn the air and we are definitely about to enter an era wnen flying will be shorn of many ot its risks,” Air. F. Handley Page told a London press representative recently. He was speanmg of his firm’s invention, which is .ntended to eliminate "stalling” in aircraft. The invention,. which is the result of seven years of patient experiment, takes the form of a small curved subsidiary wing, which is fitted to the front of the main planes ot an aeroplane, wonting automatically tins wing secures greater stability ny giving tne an'Ciart a better “grip" ot tne air when going at a low speec. It is perfection or the “slotted wing device” invented by Mr. Handley Page in 1921. The invention has been patented in all countries, and the American license for it for naval and military machines has been bdught by the United States Government. “The problem we had to tackle.” said Air. Handley Page, “was that which confronts a pilot when his craft loses flying speed. Then the machine stalls and drops. That is one of the greatest dangers in flying. Again, a machine when leaving the ground often gets engine trouble, and maybe the pilot is confronted by trees, houses, or a hedge. He attempts to turn his machine, but it sideslips and falls. The new device enables you to retain control even when you are stalked, and so enables you,' to get back on to a level ‘keel’ so to speak. You are able to land more slowly and with a greater margin of safety.”