ÆRIAL NAVIGATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 199, 20 February 1912, Page 5

Æ RIAL NAVIGATION.

DANGERS OF FLYING.

9j C*Wt— Pre« AaMciatiott— CepjrifM. ■ London, February 18.

Gilmour, while attempting a volplane, encountered an air pocket. The wings of his machine collapsed, and he descended head foremost.

New York, February 18.

At an aviation meeting at Oaklands four competitors were caught in sudden gusts, driven to earth, and their machines partly wrecked. All were badly shaken. A fifth, Hoff, fell from a considerable height, and was seriously injured.

THE AEROPLANE OF THE FUTURE.

In the National Review Mr. GrahameWhite describes what, in his opinion, will be "the aeroplane of the .future"—"an air-craft with variable speeds like those of a motor-car":—

"What is desired is an aeroplane which will rise into the air at a rate of 25 miles an hour, and then increase its rate of travel up to 100 miles, again reducing its speed to 25 miles an hour when making a landing. Can such a machine be devised? There is, as a matter of fact, very little doubt but that it will be produced. The variable speed will, many consider, be best attained by using a plane with a surface capable of being reduced, or reefed, when high-speed flight is required. By such a device, the aeroplane would rise slowly into the air, with all its available surface in operation, and would then reduce its plane area gradually, thereby increasing its speed, until a maximum was reached. When the time came for landing, the reefed surface would be- unfurled and a slow descent made."