SAFETY IN THE AIR

Hokitika Guardian, 14 March 1925, Page 4

SAFETY IN THE AIR

A FRENCHMAN’S INVENTIONS. The Paris correspondent of the London “ .Morning Post ” reported recently that deep interest was being shown in French aviation circles in new intentions for preventing aeroplane accidents. which have been submitted to the Under-Secretary for Aeronautics. •'l’he jnventor is Oiptain l.epinte, a mouther of the French Army Air Forces, who has devoted himself for some years past to devising some means to assure safety in flying. The first of those inventions is based on a radical modification in the present method of constructing aeronlaiies with a view to ensuring that the nvu-hiue is composed of two distinct parts, one comprising the motors and other heavy material, and the other the passenger-carrying and supporting surfaces of the aeroplane.

Captain l.epinte’s invention consists mainly of a mechanism so devised that at the critical moment—when, for instance, the aeroplane is in danger of crashing owing to the motors having failed—the engines can be detached and allowed to drop to the ground, while the lighter parts of the aero nlano are instantly transformed into a kind ol parachute, which will Ho.il gently to earth. ’I lie chicl defect ol this device according to experts. is that it would lie of service only if put into operation while the aeroplane is still at a considerable height, as it

would have to drop a considerable distance before the parachute would open, and farther still, before the safety appliance would come into foil operation. The point of view of the citizen on the ground is not stated. Captain Lepinte’s second invention is much more interesting, and consists of a kind of exaggerated gun-barrel charged with powder, and attached to each side of the aeroplane. I his gun barrel is so constructed that it can he discharged from either fpd. II the aeroplane is in danger of crashing through loss of way from engine trouble the pilot can fire the safely gun by electricity, and the gas from the explosion, on being directed towards

the rear at a pressure of one ton per centimetre, imparts such increased s[ieed to the aeroplane that it is propelled forward like a bullet for an appreciable period, and gives the pilot time to bring it. to n sale landing by gliding. If, on the other hand, the aeroplane is making a nosedive, the pilot, by firing the safety gun Irom the forward end of it, will produce the effect of putting a brake on the nose of Lis machine, and retarding its downward flight long enough to give him time to bring the machine hack to a level keel by manipulating bis rudder. Practical tests of both inventions are about to he made under the supeivisiun of Government experts.