AVIATION GOSSIP

Waikato Times, Volume 108, Issue 18140, 3 October 1930, Page 10

AVIATION GOSSIP

By “Eagle”

MUNICIPAL AIR PORTS.

A STEP IN THE BIGHT DIRECTION. F' . The Civil Aviation Section .of the London Chamber of Commerce has for "some time been urging the necessity for establishing municipal airports, and the London Chamber’s resolution for the provision of .such "airports by local authorities in all the "larger towns throughout the Empire •was recently adopted by the Congress of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of the. British Empire at 'the Guildhall. Up to the present local authorities -in England have in many cases been prevented .from acquiring the most suitable site for an aerodrome owing 'to the impossibility of coming to 'terms with the owner of the land. The section, in conjunction with the Association of Municipal Corporations, made representations early this year to the Air Ministry advocating that compulsory powers should be granted to local authorities for the acquisition of land for this purpose, and has for some time been, conducting a vigorous campaign with this end in view. It is, therefore, a source of much gratification to the Civil Aviation Section that in the Public Works Facilities Bill now before Parliament, the of which is to facilitate the acquisition of land by local authorities for works for the relief of unemploy.rnent, provision is made for the compulsory acquisition of land for aerodromes under the Air Navigation Act, 4929. At the moment there are some six municipal airports in the country, including Blackpool, Hull, Notting--ham, Manchester, Bristol, and Ipswich; but it is hoped , that as soon ,as this Bill becomes law a number of other local authorities who have had in the acquisition of sites will be able to expedite the 'establishgnent of their airports. .vc Tt would be a great thing for aviation in New Zealand if more municipal aerodromes could be formed. •Landing grounds in the Dominion are Very scarce.

AN INSTRUCTION MODEL.

BHELL-MEX INTRODUCE NOVELTY. ‘ Shell-Mex, Ltd., have recently secured the European rights for a device of American origin, the Curtiss Instruction Model, which may, in addition to being a very amusing “toy,” derve a more serious purpose in giving beginners a very good idea of the '’manner in whicli aeroplanes respond to the controls. The Curtiss Instruc-. tion Model consists of an electric generator driving a fan, the slipstream from which is deflected by a scoop and directed, via a honeycomb arrangement to straighten the flow, on to a small aeroplane model supported on a vertical spindle on a parallel link mechanism. All the controls of the model work as in the fullsize machine, and a variable resistance represents the engine throttle lever. The flying controls of the model are joined up to a full-size joystick and foot bar. The pupil takes his seat and grasps the controls. With his left hand he opens the “throttle,” and when a sufficient airspeed is attained the model rises from the “ground,” and is except for the absence of sideslip, to*-, all intents and purpose's - a small flying machine. The model can be made to rise and descend, turn, bank,' and so forth. A trained pilot can even, with a little practice,, cause it to stall. The behaviour of the model is very realistic, and the apparatus possibly be of use at schools and clubs for giving prospective pupils a very good idea of how an aircraft is controlled. It can never, of course,, take ■ the place' of actual flying experience, nor is it claimed to do so, but for ab initio training it may have certain advantages.

PRINCE AND GLIDING.

KEEN INTEREST DISPLAYED. H.E.H. the Prince of Wales has for some time expressed a keen desire to see Herr Kronfeld’s exhibition of soaring flight, and has tried to attend one of the public demonstrations. Unfortunately his engagements have prevented this. The B.G.A. therefore arranged to give him a private demonstration at Ivinghoe Beacon, as being the most convenient site, and arrangements were made for a demonstration to be given on Tuesday, July 15. His Royal Highness was flown down to Ivinghoe Beacon, landing on the field at the bottom of the Beacon, the machine being piloted by Flight-Lieu-tenant Armour. The Prince proceeded to another field at the bottom of the Beacon, and there had presented to him Herr Kronfeld, Mr Gordon England, Captain Latimer Needham Mr Ashwell-Cooke, and the members of the London Gliding Club, who were to act as a launching team. A demonstration was then given by Captain Needham on the Zogling, and Flight-Lieutenant Armour made ins first flight. His Royal Highness was so enthusiastic and interested that he asked Sir Sefton Brancker to lend his machine and pilot for the purpose of going over to Hendom Aerodrome and fetching Prince George, whom, the Prince felt, would be equally interested to see the gliding. Flight-Lieutenant Armour then launched for his A certificate and made a well-judged flight of 48sec. Shortly after this Prince George arrived and Herr Kronfeld took up a Prufling, and although there was not sufficient wind for soaring gave .a pretty exhibition, gradually losing height but landing on the side of the Reaenn Flight-Lieutenant Armour was then sent off on the Prufling to make his first flight on that machine. He finally landed in a field at the bottom of the Beacon, after having Seen Tn the air for Msec. Then Herr Kronfeld took up his Wien The wind being only just sufficient to .epable him to soar, for several; minutes he had a very , hard struggle to keep ffis altitudl As he flew backwards and forwards along the face of the Beacon, struggling to gam height, he carried on a conversation with the Prince of Wales. Presently Herr Kronfeld- was able to pick up an area of ascending current which enabled

him to gain considerable height, amL, ,he made an impressive flight of 20 minutes, landing from - where he took off. Captain Needham then made a flight from the top of the Beacon for Prince George, who had missed that part of the performance.

AIRCRAFT FIRES.

USE OF CHEMICALS. Experiments are being carried out which bid fair to eliminate Are hazards' in the event of a crash by the automatic release of chemicals for extinguishing the flames. The wood from several dummy aeroplanes with wings of regulation size and structure was piled up in all possible attitudes resembling a crash and was thoroughly soaked with petrol from the different angles that would result from a break in the feed pipe of the petrol, supply. The automatic release of carbon dioxide gas under high pressure from wide nozzles . was tested from different angles and found a most efficient fire extinguisher. The gas quenched a large body of flame in a few seconds, so that rescuers could approach the burning wreckage immediately without any risk of Are from the intense heat. The effect of carbon dioxide gas on the aircraft passengers has not yet been investigated, but the chemical preparations for this purpose that have reoently been put on the market are claimed to have no ill effects.

AIR RAID ON MILAN. During the busiest part of the day on July 11 an aeroplane flew low over Milan and dropped anti-Fascist leaflets. These were promptly collected by the police and militia, while two fast aeroplanes were sent up in pursuit of the raider, but without success. Later a machine crashed in the St. Gothard fortified area—a forbidden area—and the pilot, one Bassausi, was injured and taken to hospital. As a quantity of anti-Fascsit literature was found on the machine it was assumed that this was the visitor to Milan 1

w. AUSTRALIAN AIRWAYS. Airways Bulletin publishes the following statistics regarding West Australian Airways services up to May 26, 1930:—Passengers carried: PerthDerby, 7311; Perth-Adelaide, 3160; taxi and joy-rides, 14,380; machine flights, 10,448; miles flown, 1,517,789; letters carried (Perth-Derby) to March, 1930, 1,728,560; Perth-Ade-laide, 36,6381 b; freight carried, PerthDerby 307,9701 b, Perth-Adelaide 20.7201 b.