SCHNEIDER CUP

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 185, 30 March 1932, Page 7

SCHNEIDER CUP

WHY BRITAIN WON hazardous flight shows ! up important ' i weakness. SECRET REMEDY EVOLVEtJ. After the lapse of many weeks I am able tov reveal the faet that dur- . ing the prepatation for the Schheujer Trophy contest Squaiiron-Leader (now Wing.-Commander) A. H. Orlebar, the Chief of the High Speed Flight, had one of the most dreaded atid tritibal experiences ili the life of an airman (writes Major C. C. Thfnfer in the Daily Telegraph). One of the 1929 Schneider Trophy seaplanes, an .S6A, to which new and biggfer floats' had been fitted to hold the greater quantity of fuel needed, was taken up by Squadron-Leader Orlebar for a first test. Suddenly the tail of the seaplane began to "flutter." This_ is a viole'nt oscillation which, reacting on -the pilot's eontrols, cannot he stopped. Even oh an ordihary sloW aerbplane undergoing prelim'inary type testS it is a terrifying experience, fbr tiie cbntro.ls tend to master the pilot.' The eontrols break, and the maciiihe falls out of coritrol, with inevitably fatal results, save for a parachute, an accessory not carried in Schneider Trophy seaplanes. In the case of a machine flying at 360 miles per hour it is iwmeasurahly more critichl and serious than in any ordinary mdchine. Moreover, a Schneider Trophy machine needs 'perfect visibility, and a clear three miles. for alighting, and there is very little time to decide what is to be done in an emergenby landing. Squadron-Leader Orlebar landed at the mouth of the Beauliefi River. Calshot saw it clearly, and on the instant fast motor boats were despatched in the almost vain hope of hefrig of serviee. The explanation of the flutter was synchronisation in the periods of chance vibrations, but it was very alarming, bccurring to a type upon which So much depended and which had not given before any trouble. The sequel is ho less remarkahle than the escape. It was a critical ' period in the fortunes of the contest. If the worst had happened the cause would have not definitely been known, and Great Britain, besides possibly suffering further casualties, would not have won. But at this juncture the Aeronautical Research Conlmittee and the National Physieal Laboratory set to •work. In the course of a week-end of ceaseless toil the experts not only arialysed the cause ttf the trouble but found a remedy. They evolved the "static control balance," a queer-lobking stream-lined knob on each aileron, elevator, and rudder. This caused much specuiation when the Schneider Trophy machines were first exhibited last September. This was a remarkahle technical triumph, to which, and above all to Wing-Comnierider Orlebar, otu* victory was due. Wing-Commander Orlebar has just been appointed chief air staff officer to Air Commodore W. F. MacNeece Foster, commanding No. 1 Air Defence Group. This command administers eight squadrons of the Auxiliary Air Force and five Special Reserve Cadre Squadrons, besides other details.