High Speed Aloft

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 752, 27 August 1929, Page 8

High Speed Aloft

Science Outpaces Man’s Endurance HIGH speed aloft is imposing a severe strain upon the human frame, and medical science is kept busily employed in fitting man to retain consciousness while rushing through the air at 400 miles an hour. But the fascinated attention of the world is now centred upon the preparations for a supreme test of air speed machines, which will be undertaken on the Solent, South England, in the race for the Schneider Cup on September 7.

Great Britain might or might not have produced the world's fastest air machine. At present a British pilot enjoys the distinction of having travelled faster than anyone aloft, under official timing, though not sufficiently fast to wrest from Italy the world’s speed record by a margin of five miles an hour over the existing record. The world gasped last week when one of the Italian planes, in its preliminary trials for the Schneider Cup, attained a speed of nearly 360 miles an hour, but the subsequent prediction by .experts that the British .aircraft will fly at anything up to 400 miles an hour has shown that Italy is not likely to retain the record without a keen struggle—if she competes at all. It must be understood, of course, that the air speed record and the Schneider Cup Trophy race are two entirely different events. Britain holds the Schneider Cup, and Italy possesses the world's official record for speed, although the flying of the Schneider Cup race will be accepted as a convenient opportunity to attack the record, as the machines will be available for flight over an officially planned course. STRAIN ON PILOTS The record now stands at 315.620 miles an hour, established by the Italian pilot Maggiore Mario de Barnardi in March of last year, and although this speed was actually exceeded in November last, when Flight-Lieutenant David D’Arcy Greig, under official observation, flew at 319.570 miles an hour, the requisite margin of five miles an hour was not in hand. This rule setting the margin at five miles an hour over existing records was instituted because of the difficulties of accurate timing of machines travelling at high speeds, and the possibility of a record being lost through an infinitesimal error. For example, a machine flying at 320 miles an hour covers approximately 470 ft in a second and 94ft. in a fifth of a second. It is possible, then, for timing errors to be made which,, though small in themselves, would have a vital bearing on the ultimate result But timing is not the only difficulty connected with high speed flights. Medical men are now investigating the problem raised by the strain imposed upon the human frame when airplanes are banking at great speeds, for in extreme instances momentary unconsciousness results when a turn

is taken too suddenly, causing a rush of blood to the pilot's brain. This is one of the reasons for a popular belief that speed tests have gone beyond the point at which human beings can carry them out. Man, they say. can stand only a certain amount of strain, but mechanical ingenuity seems to possess no limit. Just where it will end depends in a great measure upon the physique of man, and upon the ability of science to overcome these difficulties of speed. The Schneider Cup has an interesting history, and one that is touched with pathos. When M. Jacques Schneider, a prominent French sportsman and pioneer in aviation, gave the trophy to the Aero Club of France in 1912, he could not foresee that less than a score of years later when the world was thrilled by the achievements his donation had inspired, he would be consigned by circumstance to spend the autumn of his life in poverty on the Riviera. CRESCENDO OF SPEED Nor could he anticipate that France, to whom he gave the trophy, would win it once with a speed of 44.7 miles an hour, and never touch it again, but eventually rest content to watch other nations struggling for its possession at speeds nearly ten times as great. Following France’s win in 1914 Britain captured the trophy, and held it during the war until the competition was revived in 1920, when Italyentered the field and won it at a speed of 102.3 miles an hour, following a year later with a speed of 117.4 miles an hour. Britain took it again in 1922 at a speed of 146.5 miles, the United States held it for two years, and then it passed through Italy’s hands again and into those of Britain, the speed working up to 281.49, at which the 1927 race was won. As the cost of organising the Schneider Cup event is about £20,000, no race was held last year, but efforts’ were redoubled for this year’s contest. Neither America nor France is competing this year because they cannot even approach the high speeds attained by the Italian and British machines, but three planes from Britain and a similar number from Italy will fly the course on The Solent, a course of 50 kilometres, which, when covered the requisite five times, will be the equivalent of about 218 miles. L.J.C.