AVIATION.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 403, 12 January 1909, Page 5

AVIATION.

THE NEW ARMY AEROPLANE. .. COVERS A HUNDRED YARDS. (IIT Tltr.EDßil'U— niESS ASSOCIATION—CorTUIGItt.) > London, January 10. ■ Colonel S. P. Cody, on board a British army aeroplane, flow a hundred yards at . a height of 10 feet at Earnborough, nearAAlderr r shot. : . ; fSACHipJE bESCRIBED.—AN ACCIDENT On October 16 Mr. ,Cody made a flight of 27 seconds, covering over a quarter of a mile, with tho British Army aeroplane, and then anacoidont happened. . To avoid a clump of trees, he turned tho rudder too. quickly, and the aeroplane lost its equilibrium, and pitched upon its left-wing, with a heavy crash. Mr. Cody, crouching behind the engine, was . thrown' from a height of 15ft. into a ditch, but ho sprang up: quite unhurt, to survey tho wreckage of his machine. He, subsequently stated that it would be repaired on six weeks, and that., the. fact that an ■ accident' had occurred ■ through mishandling of tho rudder in a first flight would not prevent success being attained. ■ R So far,as V? ?.1 nc ft rn f d .'" a 3 d( * d . Mr. Cody, "the secret ot flight—that is, of maintaining one's etruili- . bnum in the air—issolved." l • - The .British- Arnw aeroplane has been described as follows:—The aeroplane is a largo one, and consists essentially of two straight planes made of bamboo framework covered with the strongest balloon silk. It has been built, ff T - J? T °9 y , j'?ted, on a different principle from the VVright invention, the wings, which spread sternwards from the upper plane, being curved downwards, instead of upwards. Theso bear the closest resemblance to the shape'of a sea-gull's wing.- In the. centre of the aeroplane is the motor, _a 50-h.p, Antoinette.', The motor is unvon by both cross-bolt and cross-chain gearing, and' enough petrol can be carried for a 31 hours , run.. The carburetters are on eachsido of the engine. The propellers are double, one on each hand and are capable of revolving at suoh a rate as to vanish from view, just as the blades of a rapidly driven electric fan do. The aeroplane weighs, all told, 12cwt., but its weightcarrying power has not yet been calculated., •Vnen the propellers are at work the- noise is a deep roar, which can bo heard a quarter of a milo away, even when the shed is closed.