AERIAL PROGRESS

Hokitika Guardian, 16 May 1925, Page 4

AERIAL PROGRESS

\I. I. AIKTAI. A 11!( UA !■ T. I )!■:■. Kl.i M’MKNTS I V CIfKAT i'!:l I AIN. l.nNliuV. \‘i>.

dhe .ho elopin.-tn oi ; 1 11 -nie Ia I airejalt i- |.la aes made <-iii •i-ly ol litu-alinn: n and ol her light alloy- i- making steady i progress in (I,- at Rritain. Tlia i-ad--1 mg Kuropr-an expert en lid- siihjeet. . Dr Roehrba: li, r.-eentlv --at-- tin- Royal I Aero.-ia in ha I Soeiel\ m l.omloii a !,-■ - HU .- d,-■ I ipi iva- ol Ills experin .-Ills wil It - machines of this const ruction.. Ihe ty[ie to which < III! I lelerellee - was made is a large tw in-eii:-ineii monoplane with a liigli wing loa.dmg - I'm- which l In- d-.-'i -m-r claim- many ad I Mintages. In addition to tin- Usual liy - mg boat, hull, side Meats me lilted. These add ( oil-idei a 1,1 \ to the stability - of ihe hoal on lhe w ater : il will stand up til quite a rough sea ami a high wind. W ith two Rolls-Rovi - ■ Magic engines, the maximum, speed is about I'JH til.p.li. In still air the tea- • chine tale's idf from the water in t wenty-scven seconds. Duralumin, of tvhielt these aircraft are made throughout, is a non-riisiing; alloy., wliii-h eninhin.es litlleli of tinlightness of aluminium with the strength and toughness of steel. Kvt-u for covering the wings and fuselage, thin duralumin plates are used in plan; of fabric. The metal needs no dope, paint or other treatment, yet is proof against any climatic conditions; in fact, the design of the machine would probably be obsolete before its strue- ■ tore 'howed anv signs of wear or dej terioratioii. i Si/e for size. all-moLal machines are j lighter than the ordinary typo, and, in | quantities, cheaper to build. They have I a higher wing loading, and eoiisequentj ly a belter speed and general perform- |’ m " ia the discussion following the lecture. l-'ligbt-Lieiit. Lucking. R.A.I-'., : deseribe,| rests with an ordinary wood-aiul-labrie seaplane to determine how

, far its structure w|as water-proof. - An Is.IKMI I!,, machine, after a day or : two at am-bor in harbour, was found i to have gained no less than eOi'lh. in ‘ weight, and this after all leak's bad been aeeminied for and earelullv drain--led out. That is a heavy handicap, and one which metal e.m~trueti.iii al- ' most entirely eliminates.

Tlie wings of tho monoplane described by Dr. Robt btn h are < oiistnu ied oil the cantilever principle, and the leading and trailing edges, i.e.. the extreme front and rear portions of the wings are detachable. The strength of their const ruction was well illustrated wjlu-n. during trials at Copenhagen, sixteen men walked mi ilium without doing any damage. The ingenuity oi the designer is sir,, ugly evidenced by the details. Should one's engine fail, the pilot ran set the tail I'm mi as to counteract the uneven pull exercised by the remaining engine, and remain in the air. At the lecture Dr Ruhrbaeh. who worked oil the design ef the earlier' Zeppelins and wa- largely responsible lor that of the famous Gotha bombers, showed slides and . inetnn films of liis all-metal boats oil test at Copenhagen. An interior view of the hull revealed tin l portholes and other accoutrements if a comfortable cabin cruiser. There wax an excusable murmur of amusement at several views of the flying •joat with masts and sails rigged, and “vidently making good headway in t rough sea. The lecturer stated

that she performed excellently os a yaelit, even against tlie wind, and could make over four knots with the gear shown, while a niuch larger area of canvas could be fitted. This is. of course, an important advantage in case o| complete engine failure at si'a. The rights of manufacture of ullniotal uii'crali to Dr Ruhrbneh's patents have been taken up for the British. Kin pi re by .Messrs. William Beardmore ml Co. Btd., the Scottish steel manufacturers, .shipbuilders and engineers, wlm produced the famous airships I? 3-1. l’liii and two former rigids. The Beardmure Aviation Deparniont is a hrancli of the linn's shipyard and engineering works whii h covers .110 acres on a strip occupying 1 miles of river frontage on the Clyde, eight miles down the liver from Glasgow. BRITISH ITCHTINO BLANKS !■"()IT KKROI’K. The advance in aerial ligh.ting mr.ehines in the six years since the (deal War is well rellected in the design of ;i hatch of two-seater military biplanes, Ihe order lor whu li has been secured hv William Bea.idniore and Co. Ltd., Glasgow, for a continental gov-i-r11n11;. Kacli machine has a lop speed of 1 |s miles an hour, and can rlinili to Id,(HU) ft. ill twenty minutes with lull lead. Three machine guns. ol the latest Bea rdii'ore-Kanpihar type. are •parried, two lor the pilot and olio for the gunner, the latter carried on a special Seal'll' mounting, balanced to obviate the terrilie force oi the wind in the hack seat. A special form of undercarriage, patented hy the builders, and incorporating spiral springs in compression in conjunction with l-'crodo-faced damping plungers, is cm-

Technically tile structure is of interest in that it will he exceptionally dillicult to cripple by inachin-guii lire. No bracing wires whatever are used in any part of the machine. All controls are operated by direct acting; rods or torsion tub,-., and no cables running over pulleys are employed. Ihe tail, a seiiM-eeiitilev- r si met tire employing only one bracing tube, is thus particularly clear ol obstruction's, m) as to allow a complete held of tire in this direction. Finally, the petrol is carried in tanks in the top plane, cm ploying a simple gravity teed which is not easily put out ol action, or likely to go wrong. The engine is a Rolls-Royce Kagle IX. Bc.Tglis have al.-ur been eompleied for a single-.seiile lighter and a twoseater reconnaissance seaplane, Ihe lornier i- a strut braced para.-el monoplane and i- lilted with ihe Bristol • -.ll:i>ii •■■'' M 'rk V eng in", int orporai.ing i V !!■• v \: ri.i’ le liming :ma r far I,it. |,u:i t im lea .i'll Jierloniliii!. e it t high i 'I: ltd' •■ . The lea: hum i.a va a able i ol , !im!.. Tin- scap'a a ■ ia low wing 11 ! - 1 ni, pla: i• • v,:',h shut higiing to bunts and wings and i- filled wuh : !' Ils-Royi e -'Kagle" IX el'gi'i. •