EMPIRE STUDENTS AND THE ARMY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 54, 4 March 1913, Page 11

EMPIRE STUDENTS AND THE ARMY.

gITT OF AN AEROPLAKE. pom Our Special Correspondent.) LCKSTKDX, January 23. c rtnd-eate of the International Cor--Lißdenee -Sctroote • throughout the iX-e have offered to the Army Council ieropl ane > a nd the machine has been iLpted on behalf of the Royal Flying 'ZjL by Colonel Seely, Secretary of rfj° f or War. The new aerial craft i≤ ifbe formally handed over on Tuesday Zjt when Colonel Seely i 6 to receive a mutation which, headed by Lord DcsShh*. will include Sir Richard Soloon "High Commieeioner for South Africa; Captain Muirhead Collins, dented 'to represent, the Common-wealth by the High Commissioner; s Hon. Thomas Mackenzie, High Comlisionex for Sew Zealand; Sir Joseph ffard ex-Premier of the Dominion; all rtaAgente-General, and a large number of gentlemen representing the International Corr«pondence Schools in various -its-of the world. idea of presenting a machine to fte Army was first mooted in .lune. when ft was decided to organise a demonstration of aviation work for the benefit of tie students of the Internationa) CorreHxmden 06 Schools, who number throughout the Empire about 200,000. The iniaition was to arouee mtereet among the technical students a≤ to the future importance of aerial flight. The majority dt tße .indents are engaged in engineering jrarsiiitß, and it wae desired to eneouraget4e : study of the science of flight gad to consolidate and develop ideas thereupon. The authorities of the johoole were encouraged to persevere in this-objeet, as in New Zealand one of the students designed and constructed tie engine vse& in the firet flight there; and'ateo eeveral had secured pilot certificates in various parts of the Empire. The maximum amount of subscription wae one shilling, and the minimum one pamjj and the. <*Jst .of the.aeroplane was very 600H obtained.

lie machine eelected is a single-seated Bleriot monoplane, type XI., reinforced, End fitted TviSh a seven-tylinder Gnome engine of 50-horse power. The actual Tveight of the machine is five hundTed pounds, but when loaded up with fifteen gallons of petrol and five gallons of lubricating oil —enough for three hours' Sight—and the pilot, the weight is about 820 pounds. The machine has covered in tote a distance of 1,700 miles, an-i has a normal 6peed of sixty milee an hour, but several long flights have been at aiont seventy miles an hour without very much assistance from the wind. These flights ■were very successful, and proved the stability of the monoplane and ite perfect poise. The trial tonr was made in a flight from Hendon to Bedford, Leicester, '.Nottingham, Birmingham, Stafford, Manchester, Southport, Carlisle, and Edinburgh. The retan was by way of Newcastle, Harrogate, Leeds, Sheffield, Covemtry. Rugby, London, Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings, Folkestone, Dover, and Chatham. There was no mishap to eitheT pilot or machine. The flying, and testing -of the machine was carried out by one of the International Correspondence Schools' students, Mr Robert Slack, of Nottingham, a certificated Bleriot pilot. As an aviator -he .was previously hardly known, having done but little in the way of exfrom the- trial" tonr, Mr Slack made several crosseonnfox.flights of considerable duraticmj end tested the machine severely before tie War Office was approached on the enbject of its accepta-nce.

Weather permitting, Mr Slack -will probably make "Sis "handing over flight" from Hendon to Farnboroug'h—the headqnaTteiß of the Royal Flying Corps—on fte same day that Colonel Seely receives the presentation deputation.