The Flying Flea

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21905, 5 October 1936, Page 8

The Flying Flea

The report of the French Air Ministry on the " flying flea ” type of aeroplane, coming hard upon the declaration by local builders of small aeroplanes that they are determiped to fly in them, may give pause to these intrepid young men. It can be taken that the French Air Ministry has subjected the “ flying flea ” to exhaustive tests and that, as a result, the machine has been proved definitely defective. That is not to say, of course, that the local machines, fitted with the improvements invented by their

builders, might not-survive tests as exacting as those to which the French aeroplanes were subjected, but in the absence of facilities here to test the machines in safety, it is very questionable whether the aviation authorities should allow the builders of the local “ fleas ” to risk their necks £o prove their machines’ safety or otherwise. The enthusiasm and enterprise of the local amateurs are to be applauded; and it may seem a pity to deter them with any apparent lack of corresponding encouragement by refusing them permission to fly their baadi-, work. It is undoubtedly true, as Mr Barnard Owen says, that “ the whole science of aviation “ owes its existence to amateurs, who experi- “ mented at great cost to themselves and under “strong fire Of ridicule.” But it is also true that l the object of those pioneers was to make flying safe beyond the remote possibility of accident common to any form of transport. Thanks to their experiments and self-sacrifice that object is in a fair way to being achieved and from their experience have been evolved tests for airworthiness, which render it un-. necessary for the risks they took to be encountered. Those tests being available, it would be criminally foolish to allow the builders of new types of craft to take the air in them after their rejection by established tests. We can feel only admiration lor the spirit of these talented amateurs but it Would be de- ' plorable if their enthusiasm were to be permitted to expose them to unwarranted risks. Young men of vision cannot easily be spared.