SCIENCE V. NATURE.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4745, 1 September 1924, Page 4

SCIENCE V. NATURE.

THE MATTER OF SPEED. Tiie aeroplane Has tnat many birds are not nearly as speedy as had been thought (writes Kenneth Dawson in the “Daily Mail”). Wild ducks and geese' are not able to exceed a mile a r minute, and tha> snipe and golden plover can only beat this by about 10 miles an hour. The fastest of British birds, the peregrine falcon, flying on the level, can reach 100 miles an hour, which can certainly Supipuoif e jo osuu am uj peiquop eq swoop from' a height on .to 'tp quarry. The spine-tailed swift, which breeds in the mountains of North-eastern Asia, is the fastest bird in the world, be t ing capable, it is estimated, of about 200 miles an hour. Even this is a good deal less than is possible with the, modern aeroplanes. The present record ip held by an American Curtiss Navy Racer machine with a 500-h.p. engine, which has attained a speed of 266 miles an hour. This was, of course, on a straight course, and as an aeroplane can dive at anything up to three times its maximum pn the level, this machine should be capable of well over 500 miles an hour when so doing. On land, man, with the aid of the motoi-car, is agaih superior to the four-legged beasts., The present record for a mile vyith flying start at Brooklands is just over 136 miles an hour. Compared with/ this, the cheetah, or hunting leoparjd, pf India, the fastest thing on legs, which : s able for a short distance fto reach 60 miles an hour, is a sluggard. Even in the water, where man unaided can swim no faster’ than some. miles an hour, he can, wSth the assistance of the modern boat, 'beat the fastest fishes. The tarpon’s is believed bo be about 80 miles an hour, and this speed was slightiy "exceeded by Miss America I.„ with her •SOO-h.p, engines, at Detroit in 1923. A later edition df this motor boat,'With’engines of 1800'-h).p. B is reported" to have thig to, more than 83 miles an hour t