Test Yourself by This Questionnaire
THE questions given below are taken from the stories in this issue. They will serve, by your ability to answer them, to test yourself in your knowledge of aviation. By thus testing yourself, you will be able to fix in your mind a number of important facts of aviation that are presented by the stories.
The pages, on which the answers are given, follow each question.
1--What is the general conception of the safe way to make a landing? (Page16).
2--What ability to maneuver has an airship over an airplane? (Page 33).
3--What is the best way to take off when there is a wind? (Page 45).
4--What should be done in order to lose altitude? (Page 44).
5--What can a pilot do, who has misjudged his landing, when near the ground? (Page 46).
6--What would be the advantage, to air travel, of islands in the air? (Page39).
7--How could a motorless plane get its power? (Page 44).
8--What is the effect of a tornado on a plane? (Page 69).
9--How could a tornado be made artificially? (Page 69).
10--How might one go about making a winged race? (Page 70).
11--Why might a pilot be necessary for a radio controlled plane? (Page 58).
12--What would he do after his work was done? (Page 58).
Advertisement for a Science Fiction Stories Series.
"Aviation News of the Month" portrays in plain yet concise language every important aviation advance during the month. Nowhere can the average reader get such a wealth of accurate and vital information condensed into such a small volume. Some 40 aviation magazines and newspapers are utilized by our editors in the compilation of this department. The publishers welcome short contributions to these pages from the various scientific institutions, laboratories, makers and distributors of planes, etc.
Huge Planes Being Built in Europe
HUGE planes are under construction in Europe at present, says Anea Bossi, president of the American Aeronautical Corporation. Mr. Bossi's company will begin the construction of American editions of the Savoia Marchetti seaplanes and amphibians. The Handley-Page Company said Mr. Bossi is completing an all-metal plane for fifty-five passengers which will be used by the Imperial Airways on the London-Paris route. Dr. Dornier, in Germany, expects to conduct tests soon of a huge twelve-engined flying boat each engine of which is expected to develop 500 horsepower or 6000 horsepower in all. The largest land plane in the world is the 100-passenger Junkers in which the passengers will be carried in the wings. The motors are also completely enclosed in the wing sections which at the roots has a thickness of nine feet. The propellers it is understood will be carried on long shafts well ahead of the leading edge of the wing and they will be adjustable while in flight for speed at high altitudes.The motors will be equipped with superchargers. Oxygen equipment will keep the cabins at normal atmospheric pressure, also it is understood great secrecy however shrouds the actual equipment to be used.
France said Mr. Bossi has a new fighting plane called "the Jockey" which is reported to have shown a speed of 200 miles per hour.
New Hybrid Airplane Ordered
A NEW type airplane, a combination or dirigible and heavier-than-air craft is being built in Germany for an English customer says Popular Science Monthly. The craft will have a 420,000 cubic foot gas bag and be 130 feet long thereby making it a full fledged airship, but it will also have a set of airplane wings which will extend from the body to help support it in flight and help in the landing. It is intended for passenger service and will carry 6 passengers and a two-man crew besides baggage. Two motors of thirty-five horsepower each will give it a cruising speed of sixty miles per hour.
Diesel Engines for Planes
THE PACKARD MOTOR COMPANY, says Scientific American, has tested successfully in flight a Diesel engine seven cylinder air-cooled developing over 200 horsepower and weighing only a trifle over three pounds per horsepower. By the use of this engine the ignition and carburetion systems can be eliminated and heavy fuels can be used that are non-inflammable in character. The value of this considering the terror of the burning plane is very evident.
The use of the Diesel engine is possible says the article only after many changes. The ordinary Diesel engine is low speed, and coupled with the low mean effective pressure developed is unsuitable for airplane service. A high speed engine therefore has been developed. No spark or hot bulb is needed for combustion of the fuel or the high pressure and temperature alone will do this. That the fire hazard is much lower with the Diesel is explained by the fact that the fire point of gasoline is below zero Fahrenheit and that of the Diesel fuel is 175 Fahrenheit.
In the Packard tests lasting over a year, in the innumerable cases where the fuel lines leaked or were broken, not a single fire occurred.
Helicopter Ready for Trial
A HELICOPTER (bird-like airplane) designed by a Brazilian workman has been completed with the aid of his government and is now ready for official trials. The problem of being able to rise vertically from the ground had occupied the Inventor for some time and he had already built a machine motored by four horsepower which rose 30 centimeters (about 12 inches) when tried out. The new machinery however is much more powerful.
Four Motor Planes for Sleepers Says Lindbergh
THE large passenger air-liners of the future will probably have four motors instead of three to reduce the noise and vibration and increase the percentage of safety, said Col. Lindbergh, who is acting as technical expert to the Transcontinental Air Transport. This company will operate the coast-to-coast air-rail line which Lindbergh stated would be put into operation this summer. "Safety in flight" was one of the reasons given for the advisability of the four motor plane on which it is expected sleeping accommodations for passengers would be made. The sleeping service is not expected until sometime in the future, however, when planes with larger fuselages are made. In speaking of the plans for the opening of the Transcontinental Air Transport service this summer, he stressed the point that absolute safety would be the primary consideration, and no planes would be flown until everything was in perfect readiness. He visioned then a service to be as safe as travelling by rail.
200-Mile-an-Hour Army Plane Expected
THE Army Air Corps is now working on an attack plane which with full war-time load is expected to show a speed of 200 miles per hour. This would give the plane a decided advantage over the general run of pursuit planes which develop 165 miles per hour at best. Manufacturers are now working on these planes. One without the war-time load is reported to have attained a speed of 218 miles per hour but the addition of equipment will probably reduce it to about 196 miles per hour according to Major-General James E. Techet, Chief of the Army Air Corps. The improvements have been along the line chiefly of reduced head resistance and increased power. The use of a new highly efficient cooling fluid has also helped in the increased speed obtained.
Helicogyre Machine Invented
THE description of his invention of the Helicogyre was made by V. Isacco before the Royal Aeronautical Society of England. Signor Isacco has the backing of the Air Ministry and one of his machines is now being built. The Helicogyre is in reality a revolving wing airplane. Each of the four wings has four Bristol Cherub motors on the wing tip and another motor on the nose of the fuselage. The wings in this case are propelled by the motors on the tips. Each engine has its own gasoline and oil tanks so as to make it independent of the others. Ailerons to act as elevators extend along the entire trailing edge of each wing. The inventor believes that if any wing failed the others would keep the plane moving and in case all the wing engines failed, the nose engine would propel the machine. Signor Isacco believes that in the future, jet propulsion will replace the present engines. According to the Inventor, by his machine 30 lbs. can be lifted by one horsepower developed.
Giant Airships Planned
COINCIDENT with the plans for the building of a huge hangar for lighter-than-air craft at Akron, Ohio for the United States Navy comes the statement that the large aircraft of the future will be the lighter-than-airtype. For with the science of this type of craft being understood there is virtually no limit to the size possible. And also that the effective load possible increased proportionately with the size. With the heavier-than-air machines however increases in size bring increases in weight which reduce the carrying efficiency. The new hangar which will be on rollers to compensate for temperature changes will have a ground area of 1,500,000 square feet or equal to that of fourteen regulation football fields. In it will be constructed ships for the navy that will exceed greatly those of the past. The first craft will have a volume of 6,500,000 cubic feet and a cruising range of nearly 10,000 miles as compared to a volume of 2,470,000 cubic feet and a range of 3,500 miles for the Los Angeles. With the building of such ships the prophets foresee that over short distances (up to 1000 miles) the heavier-than-air planes will be used but on long trips the giant lighter-than-air machines will operate carrying small heavier-than-air planes which will discharge and take on passengers.
World Air Cruisers Near Completion in Britain
AFTER nearly two years of experimenting laboratory tests, etc. two lighter-than-air cruisers (dirigibles) built expressly for the British Government for long range transportation within the British Empire are nearing completion. Work is said to be far enough advanced to make shed tests within a month and final tests in three to four months. These monsters of the air which are costing about $1,250,000 each are the first of their kind built expressly for worldwide service. The backers of the project believe that these airships will be the thing of the future for long-distance transport. They are said to embody the very latest in airship design, and are built to withstand the changing temperature and atmospheric conditions they will meet in their terrestrial journeyings.
Steam-Driven Propeller-Less Airship Promised
A NEW revolutionary lighter-than-air-airship is promised to New York during the summer by the Bryan Steam Corporation of Peru, Ind. The ship will be fueled with oil and driven by a steam turbine. It will have no propellers but a rotary blower at the nose which by blowing the air sideways and backward creates a vacuum in front of the ship which pulls it along. The turbine drives the blower and the exhaust steam from the turbine before being condensed will heat the cabin. With a driving power of 300 horsepower and a cruising speed of nearly 100 miles per hour the craft will have only one-tenth the displacement of the Los Angeles and will yet be able to carry as many passengers. It has no interior bracing and thus is able to reduce its weight 700 pounds and increase its paying load correspondingly. Not the least among the renovations featured is the promise that the craft will anchor on top of large buildings in the city and discharge its passengers by means of an elevator running along the anchor line.
Telephone Service For Airplanes
THE equipping of planes with radio-phone attachments to their radio receiving sets is allowing pilots to converse freely with the ground and thus ascertain weather conditions, to receive orders, etc. Tests made by the Boeing Air Transport has proved the practicability of this, as well as the communication between planes while in the air. Both means of communication are deemed necessary by aircraft operators to avoid collisions in the air, which will become more of a factor as the air traffic continues to grow. Radio, or at least radio-phone, control is considered to be equivalent to the railway block signal in abiding accidents, and for this purpose Federal Radio Commission has been asked by aircraft companies for exclusive use of four short wave channels. The possibility of a person in a plane conversing with telephones in neighboring cities has also been successfully tested but no immediate use will be made of it.
New York-Argentine Air Line
A NEW air line, The Tri-Motor Safety Airway, has been organized for mail and passenger service between New York and Buenos Aires, Argentina. The trip, is estimated, will take only seven days, one third of the time now consumed by steamship. Rio de Janeiro will also be a point on the route. The company has already been awarded, by the Argentine government, the exclusive right to carry mail from that country to the United States. The company will use for its passenger service six thirty-two passenger flying boats.
Ignition Does and Does Not Cause Fires
A BELIEF among aviators that if the ignition switch is opened before crashing the dreaded fire will be averted is founded on fact says Bradley Jones in U. S. Air Services. This does not mean however that the fire is caused by the exploding of gases by the electric spark caused by the ignition. A test to determine the cause of fires in crashes was made. Old airplanes were slid down a long runway and into a brick wall. Slow motion moving pictures were taken of the ensuing crash. By removing the batteries from the planes, it was found that just as many fires took place as with batteries in place. What Jones concludes is that the gasoline tank being ruptured throws the gasoline against the hot pipes which ignites it. This the ignition is not responsible. But, he says, if the ignition is switched off before a crash the pipes will cool and no fire should occur when the gasoline is thrown against them.
New Air Thermometer Devised
A THERMOMETER by which the minimum temperature of the air thru which a plane is flying can be determined has been invented by H. B. Hendrickson of the Bureau of Standards. The instrument makes use of a bi-metal strip mounted on one of the struts of the plane. It is very light, and a number of them can be used to determine temperatures at various points on the plane.
England-India Non-Stop Flight Made
ALTHOUGH the first India-England non-stop flight was made, in a Fairey-Napier Monoplane by an English crew, the original purpose of the flight, the breaking of the non-stop record, failed. The record which is held by the Italians is 4,417 miles. The projected flight of the Britons from Lincolnshire, England to Bangalore was 6,300 miles. But the plane was forced down 1,170 miles short of its goal thereby completing a flight of 4,130 miles. A heavy head-wind in the Persian Gulf so reduced the plane's speed that they ran short of gasoline and had to return to the shore. The actual flight time was forty-eight hours as compared with seven and a half days which is consumed by the new air mail service. Commenting on the flight, the British Air Ministry said that the results were satisfactory in view of the weather conditions, and that attempt would be made soon to better the duration record at sixty-five hours and twenty-four minutes held by Germany and the altitude record of 38,432 feet held by America. For the latter, an airplane driven witha supercharged engine and men equipped with oxygen breathing apparatus and electrically heated clothing would be used.
Aviation Progress Slow Says Expert
A PROFOUND dissatisfaction with the progress made in the development of the airplane since the days of Wright's Kitty Hawk, characterized the statement of Grover Loening, aeronautical expert, in the New York American. Mr. Loening is one of the pioneers in aviation in America, having been associated with the Wrights during their early days. Mr. Loening's indictment is directed against the exploitation of aviation as a commercial venture at the expense of the development of planes. Although we have made great strides in the refinement of design in planes and in the use of the planes (development of airports, use of beacons and radio communication) we have made very little progress in the development of new principles of planes. A much greater safety and greater speeds are necessary to justify our claims to progress. What is necessary, he says, are planes capable of doing 300 miles per hour, climbing to 21,000 foot altitudes above storms and clouds, landing at lower speeds and rising more quickly; and the universal use of amphibians. Better designing of planes, improvement in engines, higher power and efficiency, and use of lighter fuels are all necessary to get 300 mile an hour planes, capable of having that speed during sustained flights. The three greatest dangers to distance flying, he said, --fuel-consuming head-winds, fogs and ice- forming weather --- would be avoided by the planes he advocates. Such a plane can pick its own course, outrun any storm, fly above the ice and fog, and would have a cruising range which would make unimportant small delays due to unfavorable winds. The plane, he said, should make a trans- Atlantic trip in 12 hours.
Planes Protect Ontario's Timber
THE talk of protecting Ontario's 160,000 square miles of timberland against fire, once quite hopeless, is now being pushed vigorously by the adoption of aircraft. Where formerly the only means of inspection was trekking wearily across the forests, or floating down the streams, now an airplane can inspect thoroly a whole district in a few hours. The aircraft is also used in making surveys of the forest land and in penetrating into possible areas where minerals in great quantities may lie.
Aerial Towing Begins
WHAT appears to be the first job of towing an airplane is recorded in Aero Digest. A glider was towed by a Fokker plane for over 200 miles across the Sierra Nevada, inasmuch as it was necessary to have an altitude of 7,500 feet to navigate the peaks, the glider rose to a height few of its kind have achieved. The crossing of the mountain had already been made when the tow line broke and the glider was left to make to its own way to safety. Both planes headed toward the Los Angeles Airport, 20 miles distant. The glider weighted by the tow-line managed to get within one mile of the port before it landed in safety.
Thirty-Hour New York-Frisco Air Mail
WITH the instituting of night flying in the air-mail service between New York and San Francisco, a schedule of service has begun which will put a letter or package across the continent in less than thirty-two hours. A piece of mail leaving a city on either coast at night will arrive on the other side, of the continent the morning after the following evening. This is possible by having 68% of the distance flown at night. The cities along the route, by the new schedule, will have a twice-a-day service in either direction. Stops will be made in fifteen cities. The route that will be taken by the Coast-to-Coast Service is the same used by the Pony Express all the nineteenth century. In 1860, for example, the Pony Express had a cross country service which consumed thirteen days and cost the user $5 per half ounce for mail or packages. The same letter that cost $10 then goes for 6 cents now by air mail.
Moving Plane Makes Ground Pickup
A DEVICE has been successfully tested which allows a plane to make a pickup from the ground while in motion. It may deliver mail supplies or fuel. The device is a catapult fitted on a special mounting which releases a car on which the load to be picked up is placed. The load is made to move at the same speed as the plane so that no jar to the under carriage will occur when the pickup is made. On a test a 23 pound sack of mail was picked upfive times and a 37 pound gasoline load once.
New Altitude Attempts Probable
RUMORS concerning new attempts to break the present altitude records by France and England, are current. It is said by Aviation that the English plan an all metal plane, with the engine enclosed in the fuselage and heated by its own exhaust. In this plane they hope to ascend 8 miles. The French attempt is said to be along the same line as the English.
Plane-Cooling Liquid Successful
NEWS despatches recently mentioned a mysterious liquid to cool airplane engines which has been developed by the War Department. Now the name of it is divulged as ethylene-glycol, and a report that on a standard fifty hour test, the liquid was used at an outlet temperature of 300 degrees Fahrenheit (far above the boiling point of water) and no serious adverse effects were noted. It is also revealed that this compound is not new; it has, in fact, been sold at gasoline stations as an anti-freeze compound. The War Department offers certain cautions however about its use as a cooling agent on planes. It recommends tighter joints and a closer cooling system. A larger expansion space, to take care of the large expansion of the liquid when hot, is also necessary. The fuel must also be treated, with some anti-knock solution to offset tendencies toward detonation.
Air Passengers Speak Over Land Phone to New York
THE first commercial apparatus for maintaining telephonic communication of a plane with the ground was successfully tested when passengers in a plane 2500 feet above Plainfield, N. J., carried on a telephone conversation with New York. To make the call the passengers called the radio station W3XN of the Bell Telephone Company at Whippany, N. J. As the receiver was cut into the circuit the operator asked the customary "Number please," and there upon the Plane was connected over long distance land lines to New York. The reception at both ends, despite the roar of the plane travelling 96 miles an hour, was deemed as good as tho one were sitting in a private booth. A four tube radio set was used on the plane, three being of the screened grid and the fourth a heating tube to increase the sensitivity. The set is run from a generator attached to the motor, requiring 2 horsepower at 1,100 volts to pick up and amplify the ground messages. The sending set runs from a wind-driven generator mounted outside the cabin.
New Cooling Fluid For Airplanes
A NEW cooling fluid for water-cooled airplane engines has been developed by the Army Air Corps which they declare will revolutionize the operation of all aircraft which uses it. Composed of a number of chemicals whose nature the War Department has not divulged, the fluid is said to be vastly more efficient than water. Only 4 1/2 gallons of it are required to do the work of 18 gallons of water. This means a saving in weight of 84 pounds. The reduction in the amount of fluid allows a corresponding reduction in the size of radiator required which means a further saving of 40 pounds. Furthermore the reduction in the size of the radiator means a reduction in its resistance and as the resistance of the radiator is often 20% of the total resistance of the craft the saving is apparent. Having a much higher boiling point than water the fluid will also permit operation of the craft over a much greater speed for a longer time. With a saving in weight of 100 pounds and a greater range in operation of planes the fluid is expected to do wonders to advance the cause of aviation. Some inkling of the nature of the fluid is expected to be divulged by the War Department shortly.
New Aviation Light-Beam
THE use of a rotating beam of light half red and half white to guide aviators to the landing field is now in use in the Cleveland Municipal Airport says Science. By this rotation the beam will be seen by the aviator no matter from what angle he approaches the field. The use of the multicolored beam will unable him to distinguish it.
Auxiliary Plane to Aid Take-Off
THE problem of the take-off especially of heavily loaded planes which has dogged the aircraft industry from the start is said to be solved by an invention of Dr. Henry Junkel, a famous German expert. He makes use of an auxiliary plane to get the heavily loaded one into the air when it can then operate under its own power. The plane to be started is placed on a platform built on the auxiliary. The motors of both planes are started and their combined power lifts them both into the air where at a predetermined altitude they part company. The use of blocking keeps the planes together until they are ready to separate.
Tail Spin Causes Most Crashes
THAT the tail spin is the principal cause of air catastrophes and has accounted for more fatalities in the Navy and Marine Corps than any other cause was divulged by Secretary of the Navy Adams. During the last five years he said, tail spins accounted for one-third of the 150 fatalities that occurred in the aviation of the Navy and Marine Corps. In order to use a preventative for the tail spin which occurs principally at the time of a stall the Navy Department is experimenting with the Handley-Page slotted wing which is said to have so much success in England. Other efforts toward safety include the use of the parachute, the development of more efficient aerological service, more frequent flight inspection reports and better training.
Airplane Tracks Rum Runner
THE use of airplanes to bring rum from Canada into the United States has been well known. Now the customs authorities of Canada reversed the procedure by using a plane to track down a rum runner. Word was received at Quebec that a runner was making a landing at Shelter Bay on the south shore of the St. Lawrence. Unable to obtain a boat to make the trip, the customs men chartered a plane and flew there. Although the rum barge had already departed the customs men found the liquor and seized it. Then by the aid of the signal service the movements of the barge were traced and it was finally apprehended.
Air Becoming Safe, Says Lindbergh
THE perils of the air are becoming a thing of the past said Col. Lindbergh before a Congressional committee. Safe air transportation between this country and South America will become a reality in a year or two he declared with planes flying directly between Washington or New York to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. Planes will soon be able to land without seeing the ground by the aid of intersecting radio beacons and the use of sonic altimeters. Other devices, he believes will overcome the difficulties of smoke or fog. He advocates the building of an airport in Washington that should be a mile square with a special concrete runway, repair shops and a passenger terminal. He stressed particularly the necessity of hard surfaces at landing fields being reminded of his own experience of being stuck in the mud at Bolling Field in Washington. He believed also that the helicopter is a thing for the distant future there being no present way to develop one economically.
Safety Slot Keeps Planes Stabilized
THE inability of pilots to keep their planes on an even keel when the engine stalled has resulted in the loss of many lives. The result was the using of a safety slot which enabled the machine to maintain its position even tho it moved at almost a snail's pace. But tho this was a safety device for the experienced pilots it took the plane somewhat out of the control of the pilot and for war purposes constituted a serious handicap. Now by a new device of the Handley Page Company of England, an interceptor has been placed on the plane which gives the control back to the pilot. The British government has paid the Handley Page company $600,000 for the use of the interceptor slot indicating that they are apparently satisfied with it.
Plane Used to Explore Canadian Wilderness
A PARTY of exploration has been started to cover 7000 miles of the Hudson Bay region of Canada on a trip after the modern fashion. Penetrating a land which has been closed to man except for a few months of the year the explorers will search for precious metals, water-power sites and will make various other geologic surveys. An incentive to the search has been furnished by the discoveries of gold in the region by men working on the old Hudson Bay Railroad. Two planes will be used in the surveys, provided by radio communication with each other and with their base. By the use of skis instead of landing wheels, the planes will be enabled to land on the snow or on lakes or rivers.
10,000 Planes Produced for 1929
AN estimated production of airplanes in the United States for 1929 has been put at 10,000 by F. B. Rentschler, president of the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce. This will be twice the Production of 1928 and three times that of 1921. The growth of the number of workers in the industry is also phenomenal rising from 6000 in 1921 to over a hundred thousand at the present time.
Air Secretary Reviews Tremendous Growth
WILLIAM P. McCRACKEN, Jr. retiring Assistant Secretary of Commerce in charge of civil aviation reviewed recently the tremendous growth of aviation in this country. He pictured an air network in which 57,516 miles were flown daily or more than 70,000,000 miles a year. One of the reasons for the great growth of commercial flying he said was the increase in lighted airways. Three years ago there were only 2,000 miles of it, with lights 25 miles apart, now there are 10,000 miles with standard lighting equipment 10 miles apart. In addition we have revolving beacons, course lights, and lights that flash the messages to flyers in Morse code. A complete chain of radio broadcasting stations serving the principal airways is expected before the end of the summer. Fifty weather gathering bureaus have been established so that flyers may know the weather almost any hour of the day for almost any part of the country. The growth of night flying for passenger and freight service is also remarked. The planes of today are provided with every comfort for passengers so that they resemble luxurious Pullmans. He calculates further that we have twice as many airplanes in 1929 than in 1928 and that each one flew five times as much, making the increase in flying for the year tenfold.
Americans to Operate Chinese Air Service
BY the granting of a Contract by the Chinese government, the Aviation Exploration Company of New York, a subsidiary of the Curtis Company, will carry mail for the Nanking Government. Three lines will be operated connecting four of the principal cities of China: Nanking, Peking, Hangkow and Shanghai. The Americans will establish schools to train Chinese pilots, and will engage on their own account in a passenger service. The representative of the Americans, Major William Robertson is said to be the man who first discovered Lindbergh and gathered the funds to finance his trans-Atlantic hop.
Sailplane Built for Soaring
AN improved type of glider called a sailplane has been built by William Bowlus of the San Diego Air Service Corps, one of the pioneers in gliding in America, which he believes will materially improve soaring performance. He describes the details of its construction in Aviation. The sailplane, he says, differs from a glider in that it offers less air resistance by adopting cleanness of design; and can be kept in the air indefinitely. He believes that his machine is the first built in America. The method of reducing air resistance was by streamlining. The machine has a span of 44 feet, a weight empty of 160 pounds and an overall length of 25 feet, while the chord at the root is 5 1/2 feet. Under test, having a weight of 306 pounds, the take-off was 22 miles per hour and the glider ratio about 20--1.
Plane Turns On Airport Lights
THE scream of a wind-driven siren controlled by a pilot 2,000 feet in the air was picked up by an electric ear on the hanger of the Newark, New Jersey, Airport and put on three batteries of Westinghouse floodlights providing 24,000,000 candle power. This was the method used to inaugurate the opening of the Newark Airport. This was the first practical operation of this device which, it seems, will be invaluable for aviators trying to locate their position and make a landing. Used in the operation said to be the most sensitive tube ever developed, the Knowles, grid-glow which is affected by the energy calculated to be that of a fly climbing up a wall one inch. When the apparatus is set to the frequency of the plane siren, it operates only when that particular note is sounded. The tube energy is amplified sufficiently to provide the power necessary to put on the floodlights .
Night Aerial Photography Perfected
MANY photographs that we see as taken from the air are never recognized as having been made at night. Their day-light appearance is due to an invention of great aid, both to science, business and military tactics, by Lieut. Goddard of the U. S. Air Corps. The field of air photography at night was practically untouched when Goddard began work on it. He finally perfected a method of dropping a flashlight bomb from the plane and making a time exposure when the bomb exploded. The films however were blurred and dim. He finally perfected a device whereby the operation of the shutter of the camera was synchronized with the flash. The task presented of synchronizing these things, which are necessarily hundreds of feet apart, may be readily realized. Exactly how it was done, the War Department does not care to state. But the success of the method is evidence by the photographs that have been taken.
85 Pound Radio for Planes
THE problem of the control of airplanes from a central point involving the use of the radio on the planes has been worked out satisfactorily by the Pan- American Airways. The engineers of the company were given the job of installing radios in the plane, but the limitation of 100 pounds was placed on the weight. After much study the engineers designed their own set which will weigh but 86 pounds as compared with sets of 160 to 200 pounds used by the army and navy.
32 Passenger Plane in Detroit Exhibit
OUTSTANDING among the 104 types of aircraft assembled in Detroit for the Second All-American Aircraft Show, is a 32 passenger Fokker Plane, which is said to be the largest ever built in the United States. Only the fuselage shell was displayed as the completed ship would be too large for the exhibition hall. The ships, which the Fokker Company is expecting to turn out in standard production will be motored by 626 H.P. Wright Cyclone engines. It is expected that they will be used in passenger air lines in the Middle West. Conspicuous about the show is the large number of small sport planes, indicating that the manufacturers expect, within the near future, that a great many Americans will be owning their own planes.
Expand England-India Air Service
WE Americans so absorbed in our own aviation progress sometimes forget what our neighbors across the sea are doing. England, with the problem of holding together her Empire, has made great strides, particularly in the England- India service. Now comes the announcement of the placing of orders by the Imperial Airways, Inc., on that route for the construction of a number of 2,000 horsepower, 40 passenger planes to be built by the Handley-Page Company. Every Provision will be made for the comfort of passengers, even the motors being placed on the wings where their roar will not be so apparent.
Gliding Makes Progress
COINCIDENT with the progress in aviation is the progress being made with gliders--the motorless airplanes. By the interesting of men of wealth in the development of the glider, the experimenting with it, and testing its possibilities under all conditions, has come a new great interest. A manufacturing organization called Gliders, Inc., are building the machines, and a number of associations thruout the world formed as clubs are enthusiastically promoting the art. In America there is the American Motorless Aviation Club, foremost in the sport (for sport it is at present). The Germans having been the first to play with gliders have developed it to the highest point. They use three types of machines. There is an elementary glider heavy and sturdy for the beginner. This is not intended for soaring but merely for getting off the ground and giving the pilot opportunity to use controls. Then there is a secondary or intermediate ship, a little more efficient than the first and with a greater tendency toward soaring in a breeze. The third type is meant to get up into the air and stay there. This is made for a skilled pilot. It is hoped by those interested, that by 1930 the art will be sufficiently advanced to permit of national and international contests.
Fewer Airplanes Makes Say Ford
COMMENTING on the 104 types of airplanes exhibited at the Detroit show, Henry Ford prophesied that this number would be materially reduced in the future by the consolidation of companies now operating independently. Drawing his analogy from the history of the automobile industry, he finds that many types of craft can have their good features pooled to make designs that fill a particular need in the industry.
Rabelais Foresaw Flying
THAT Rabelais, the famous French writer of the sixteenth century, foresaw tho possibility of flying and many other scientific triumphs is indicated in an excerpt from his writing as recorded by Aero Digest.
"Who knows," he says in part, "but that by an herb they may contrive a way for humankind to pierce into the high aerial clouds, get up into the spring head of the hail; take an inspection of the snowy sources, and shut and open, as they please, the sluices from whence proceed the floodgates of the rain, then prosecuting their aethereal voyage they may step into the lightning workhouse and shop where all the thunderbolts are forged . . . Then they will set forward to invade the territories of the Moon; whence passing thru both Mercury and Venus, the Sun will serve them for a torch to show the way from Mars to Jupiter and Saturn. We shall not then be able to resist the impetuosity of their intension nor put a stoppage to their entering in whatever regions, domiciles they have a mind to see, stay in, or travel thru. Some will take up their lodgings at the Ram (a celestial constellation of the zodiac) others at the Bull (another constellation) some at the Balance, some at the Scorpion,etc....
Says the Digest, we have achieved much in aeronautics without the new herb but Rabelais four hundred years ago dreamed of an aerial itinerary which will keep the industry on its toes to complete.
Weather Report System Improved
A NEW weather report system for aviation was put into effect by the Weather Bureau which is designed to materially improve the service rendered. Forecasts of weather and wind at various levels are issued twice every day at noon and midnight to cover the ensuing twelve hours. Forecasts are issued for each of fourteen zones into which the country is divided.
Glider Thrives on Storms
WHERE the storm is a fearful thing to an aviator, to the glider it is source of power, says Dr. Wolfgang Klemperer, glider expert who is now in America to encourage the art. Operated without a motor the glider depends on air currents to carry the craft upward. A storm will provoke vertical air currents, which the skillful glider can use to carry him to altitudes of 1,000 feet or upward. It is only the calm air that keeps the glider on the ground, said Dr. Klemperer.
Flight to Mars in Rocket Planned
FLIGHT to Mars, to take only five minutes is the plan of an Evansville, Indiana, high school professor according to the Akron (Ohio) Times. The craft which is on the rocket principle will look like a radio loop aerial. It would take its energy from space, using no known fuel and it will acquire a speed of 180,000 miles a second, equal to that of light itself. The inventor claims he will be able to rise vertically and descend vertically. The motor at the top is pivoted so that it will be upright no matter at what angle the craft rises or takes. When the machine gets halfway out to Mars, it will pass from the earth's gravitational field and be pulled toward Mars. Then it will gradually swing around and manage to land on Mars right side up. Oxygen tanks will be carried so that the 100 passengers contemplated can explore the mysterious planet. The difficulties encountered in outer space where there is only ether and no air would be surmounted, the inventor believes, by having power radioed to him.
(The fallacies of this idea are, of course, evident to anyone. By the Einstein theory a body travelling at 186,000 miles a second would have its length reduced to zero. Furthermore, the Heavyside layer, existing about 100 miles above the earth's surface, would bar the passage of radio waves, except those of very short wave lengths. These are just a few of the more glaring fallacies.-- Editor)
"Caterpillar Club" Now Has 120 Members
THE present membership of the Caterpillar Club composed of aviators who found it necessary to jump from their plane by parachute to save their lives, now number 120 men. This was divulged by Capt. Falk Harmel of the Army Air Corps Reserve who is unofficial historian of the Club. Col. Lindbergh, by virtue of four such dives from his plane has earned the title of Noble Caliph, Grand Vizier and Eighth Mogul. Among the members is one who jumped at an altitude of 7.600 feet and another who at 34,000 feet became unconscious and recovered when the plane was only 9,000 feet from the ground. Moving earthward at terrific velocity he was forced to jump when only 900 feet from the ground when fire occurred in the engine cockpit.
New Flying School Regulations
NEW regulations for flying schools that wish to obtain Department of Commerce licenses or approvals have been completed. The obtaining of the ratings of approvals by the Flying School is voluntary but the Commerce Department believes that reputable schools will wish to obtain them and thus weed out those who cannot and will not comply with the regulations. Schools are divided into three classes; private, limited commercial, and transport, the regulations for training and equipment becoming progressively stiffer from private to transport. Students of the first must have ten hours of dual instruction and eight hours of solo flying. Credit may be obtained, however, for "check" flying or that with the instructor in the plane with the student. Limited commercial students must have at least thirty hours of flying time of which fifteen or twenty hours may be "check" aviation time. Transport students must have at least 200 hours of which 30 to 60 hours may be checked. Students in limited commercial and transport must also have experience in other planes than the one used for instruction, notably in cabin planes. Students must also have a minimum number of hours of ground instruction on air commerce, airplane construction, navigation and meteorology. With the new regulations the Department hopes to make a great stride forward in increasing the safety in
Warns Aviators of Stalling
A DEVICE to warn an aviator that his plane is approaching a speed where a stall is probable has been invented by R. A. McLean of the Ottawa (Canada) Flying Club. A note of warning is sounded into the ears of the pilot by special earphones which he wears. An air speed indicator on the wing strut is attached electrically to a small electrical device which causes a buzz when the speed falls to a dangerous point.
Nine Million Miles With 102 Forced Landings
IN order to determine how effective their motors were in use the Wright Aeronautical Corporation sent questionnaires to users of their Whirlwind motors. In response they learned that 802 Pilots had flown over nine million miles or thirty-eight times the distance to the moon with only 102 landings due to engine trouble. This was an average of one landing every 91,000 miles or every 912 hours of flying. Seventy-one of the pilots reported one or more landings to each 27,293 hours of running. The record of the other 231 pilots showed 65,687 hours of flight without a single landing due to motortrouble.
New Atlantic West-East Hop
A NEW effort to successfully hop the Atlantic on the West-East route will be made this summer by two or three Frenchmen. The pilot will be Jean Assolant, a former French Army pilot and he will have with him a mechanic and possibly Armand Lottit the owner of the plane.
Army Seeks Fliers for One Year
IN order to keep up with its air expansion program, the Air Corps of the United States Army is seeking civilian and army reserves fliers to accept a commission in the Air Corps and serve for one year. Qualified commercial transport pilots will receive commissions in the Air Corps reserve and will then be ordered to active service for one year. No reserves officer higher than the grade of second lieutenant will be ordered to active duty but those above that grade may resign and be reappointed as second lieutenants if they wish active service.
Story of Airmen's Death on Plane
THE dramatic story of the death or two airmen who had disappeared while on a hunt for the missing Southern Cross was revealed when the bodies of the men were found beside their plane in the interior of Australia. The men, Robert Hitchcock and Lieutenant Keith Anderson had evidently been forced down on the rough terrain and died of thirst several days later altho the rescuers found water several miles away. The story of their struggles to keep alive had been scratched by one of them on the rudder of the plane. In view of the distance of the place where the bodies were found from civilization the rescue party was unable to return the bodies but had to bury them there.
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