DEMONS OF SPEED

Hokitika Guardian, 2 November 1929, Page 3

DEMONS OF SPEED

SCHNEIDER RACE OVER THE 1 SOLENT.

(Bv “Barnacle” in Auckland “Star”)

With tens of thousands of other Londoners I took train lor Portsmouth and the Solent over which was to be flown liie greatest race in history. If made at order the day could hardly have seen more perfect, and even' at its best the beautiful Waitemata never looked more lovely than the gklfitius stretch of water lying between the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth. With'these few opening remarks- I have said enough. My job is not to rhapsodise but to give Aucklanders some idea of what high speed flying is really like both as to the design bl the niachines and the pliysf al effects of their nearby passage—for at Soutlisea, where ! took my stand* the machines passed within a few hundred yards of my particular perch; this was close enough ior anything. I have been in a train running at over 80 miles an hour, and know what tnat means, but here, time after time, were machines, hurtling through space at nearly five times that rate. It should be remembered that the average speed of the winner (over 328 miles per 1 haur.) owing .’to. the many sharp turns on the diamond-, shaped. -course'/'was. (Very much 'less' than Wughdhi’s speed'on the’ Straight, estimated at up to 370 nixies jfer bo ill-. ;

THE ENGLISH MACHINES. " . • : • *” * \ * • The, English'machines'differ apparently opiy in size from the, ’plane in' which Webster 'won- at 'the , Lido 'iii. •1.927, and'as ih’is little flyer/ (which/ by the way, competed again This year)' lias been on view in the South Ken-* singtoii Science Institute the general appearance of the racers when at close quarters was familiar enough to me. lhe body is like a kpig-fish with its under fluke cut off, two small lateral ‘ins taking itsj place, thus we have tiie horizontal and vertical rudder ’pianes. 'From- the nose is suspended ihe propellor of tremendous “pitch,” with its sweeping curves: more nearly approximating the screw: of a steamer. The powerful motor—buried in the head. o .f the “fish”—reported to be in the case of Wagliorn's machine of oyer lOjO h.p. Underneath the tiny cockpit are the floats two-, beauiifuiiy stream-lined boats nearly as long as the jody connected; with the {machine itself by four struts and 'a ■ small ( num-. ner of 'guys. These latter Jock what appear to./e, the absurd,!/ small wings to the whole .framework, of . body and floats. Not an ounce of superfluous metal shows. Every part is exquisitely stream-lined. Air resistance ; at. very high speeds is of course,, .enormous..

I - - ■; ! J i{ K.\l ENDOWS . .SPEEDS.'. .•/ - ■ "IT < fJC 1(1-i About right angles' to iny vievv, of the dianlojid'-shaped : ebiii'se f . ' ; lt' : wate there I had •'••my • first impression 01 head-long speed, ■ the. way the tins insect of a thing showing black against the sky, simply ate up. the males-;' where an'' ordinary; ’plane at that distance seems to almost'hover this thing simply lept' through 5 'space. ■• Particularly was 1 interested'ih the turn at the pylon marking the'' ctiurSe from which lie must come' doubling back almost straight for where 1-. was sitting. Like a flash the tiny insect vanished, and m its place two'silvery wings stand.ng almost straight, for where I was itcing. Like a flash the tiny insect /an.shed, and in its place two silvery wings standing almost vertical caught the sun’s rays. (Just so does a guli* bank steeply as' it wheels to make its dive for some tit T bit floating below). It was really 'beautiful. Only the tremendous centrifugal force opposed by air pressure behind could make possible a turn which seemed to defy all the laws of gravity. Then the machine completely It was head on four miles away,’ and nothing can better give the idea of slimness when' !' ■say that nothing’ whatever could be seen. Then a whirl of light smoke' showed, a sort of tiny Catherine wheel' oeloved of small hoys, and in tite centre a black dot; In a moment tlte knife—edge ’plane showed with two black dots hanging below. On 'she came, tiny, slim, stripped for incredible speeds..'A warning hum cahuf and roar—‘‘sliding” is the Only word' which gives the [true impression, of her dead level flight—the thing flashed by, 'taking the slight turn off the pier'with a gentle lift of one wing and vanish-' 1 ing into space. So fine are the bodies of these racers tnat.it is only' when they are broadside on that one can at anv distance pick them up. ■, Round the course they went, sometimes as many as four passing jn Quick succession, the English machines dark and purposeful, grimly efficient with their deep-toned bass cradi,,ahd roar, the Italian machines beautiful and spectacular, tlieir burnished searlet, and gold coats flashing and glistening in the sum as they sped by. How the watching [thousands cheered tliem. ihnn I

A HOWLING KACKftT. ' The first to come over was the little scarlet Macehi,. witlf which Italy won the three kilo, test a few years'ago, a, small, beautifully proportioned thing, glistening and crackling in the sun. with its peculiar high tenor note 1 . In nothing did it remind me so much as a ladybird airing herself in the sunshine. Then icame a real sensation. This was the passage of the big new Macchi watched with the keenest interest by everybody as, up to the navigability trials of Friday, it- had never been flown; it was built for the test in 19 days;-'an amazing record. Tt is a more massive machine than the

Rolls-Royce ereatiofis.' “Apparently living at a tremendous pace, it cthte very low, appearingfPto cross the |ier head -close by at only 50 feet elation. It was the noise it made wligh niad e everybody gasp. Imagine a fg brass band concentrating in octavo on a single note with an accompail ment in the form of a battery df-.pnei matic road breakers at work (thos horrible torture machines) and’ tlf drone of a steam, turbine thrown iir Slid as nearly as I can describe.'it yotf have the sort of howling racket that by. It was a great da'y’s sport. - ■ . ; I