A TAILLESS AEROPLANE

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 3, 3 July 1926, Page 20

A TAILLESS AEROPLANE

"FLYING LIZAED" THAT BE. FUSES TO "STALL."

A new tailless man-carrying air machine, called the "Pterodactyl"— from its resemblance to one of the extinct tailless flying lizards—was described recently by its inventor, Captain G-. T. B. Hill, at the Eoyal Society of Arts, London, to members of the Boyal Aeronautical Society, states the air correspondent of the "Daily Chronicle." Carrying out a three years' research, with Government assistance, it has been Captain Hill's aim to produce a type of heavier-than-air machine which, should its pilot commit some error of judgment while aloft, will not get out of hand, "stall," and come crashing to the ground. Captain Hill, a well-known pilot, described some of the 21 flights he himself has made in his "flying lizard"— which is driven by quite a low-powered engine—at the flyinng ground of the Eoyal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough. Taking, it up into the air, ho let go of all the controls, and allowed tho machine to fly itself, which it did with perfect steadiness. Then, providing himself with a parachute in case of emergencies, he tried to put the machine into such a mid-air "stall" as has been the cause of the majority of aeroplane accidonts. But the "Pterodactyl" fulfilled his expectations by refusing to stall. When its forward speed was reduced to a point at which ordinary aircraft would get out of hand, and either side-slip or dive, all that this tailless machine did was to lose height a little, while remaining under good control. And then, at a touch upon its levers, restoring normal speed, it flew ahead as though nothing had happened. Captain Hill is now to test, on a large scale, what he has proved with his first small "flying lizard." He considers that when certain minor improvements have been effected the system of control of his tailless craft —the flight of which is governed mainly by movable surfaces at the tips of its single swept-back wing—will be better than that of any air machine at present in use.