BENEATH THE WINDSOCK

Evening Star, Issue 22351, 29 May 1936, Page 2

BENEATH THE WINDSOCK

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“ AUTOMATIC ” AEROPLANE. A direct-lift flying machine which is to have the same flight powers as the “ hover fly ” is being built in London (write the Air Correspondent of the London ‘ Daily Telegraph ’). Everybody has seen that curious insect which, poised motionless in the air, suddenly darts forward, or with equal celerity darts astern. Its movements are so swift as to defy analysis.

Discussing his invention with Mr N. Pemberton Billing, the designer of what 1 have called the “ hover-fly ” machine, but which he names the “ durotofin,” I learned that he had not been inspired by _ observation of the insect. The machine includes remarkable mechanical innovations, and an application of centrifugal force. That force is applied in the autogiro, an established type used for many purposes, but in the “ durotofin ” it is adapted in a different .way. The machine is not an autogiro, for the rotating members—there are two, rotating in opposite directions—are driven by the engine. The “durotofin” has no ordinary airscrew, but depends for all movements upon the horizontally-rotating built-up rotors, the six biplane blades of which deflect automatically, and under control. The pilot’s controls are the normal joystick or wheel, foot pedals for rudder, motor controls, and a speed lever. If the inventor’s claims are justified in tests, this machine should be the most completely automatic flying machine ever designed. Without a pilot it could be started up. It would ascend vertically, and at a pregoverned height remain hovering until the fuel was exhausted, when it would descend, and, heading into the wind, land safely. Mr Billing was a designer of aeroplanes before the war, and established the Supermarine name and works. He learned to fly in a day under the terms of a wager. A NEW " BABY ” PLANE. In 1936 a journey by air from Gosselies, Belgium, xo Paris at an average speed of not quite 100 m.p.h. does not at first glance appear worthy of mention. Nevertheless, the trip made at that speed recently by the first “ production ” model of the new Tipsy monoplane has distinct news interest. It introduces to a field of aircraft manufacture that has known considerable activity what is probably the most efficient ultra-light aeroplane yet built. The flight was made in 1J hours, without any helping wind, at an average of 156 km./h.(96.9 m.p.h,), which is notable cruising on the power of tho small four-cylinder 25 h.p. motor. The aeroplane, which is a lowwing cantilever monoplane with open cockpit for one, was designed and manufactured at the factory of the Eairey Company’s Belgian subsidiary, Avion Fairey, where a considerable batch is now in production. Empty, the Tipsy weighs less than 3001 b, and is thus a light aeroplane in the true meaning of the word. Nevertheless, it is extremely robust, thanks to skilful design and the high quality of the materials employed, and can safely be put through all the usual aerobatic evolutions. Its fuel economy is astonishing; in competition a Tipsy has . flown more than 100 kilometres (62.1) miles) in an hour on just over one gallon of fuel. It lands at about 35 m.p.h., and comes to rest after running a few yards. A RADIO METEOROGRAPH. An instrument which has been perfected at the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory at Harvard University is likely to speed up and facilitate the regular forecasting of weather conditions. It consists of a group of instruments which can bo installed in an aircraft or attached to sounding balloons which automatically transit by radio, at intervals of 30 seconds, records of temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure; the signals are received on a recording drum at the university. One installation has been made on a United States Army aircraft which ascends daily from Boston Airport for the United States Weather Bureau. It transmits its signals on the ultra-short wavelength of five metres, and tests so far made show that satisfactory results can be obtained from the upper air at distances up to 50 miles. CHEAP FLYING. Lord Sempill, flying a Drone, which is a combination glider and plane, established a new Loudon to Berlin light plane record. He travelled over 600 miles in 703 minutes. The machine is fitted with a Douglas motor cycle engine, developing 19 horse-power. Lord Sempill said that the main object of the flight was to prove the reliability of the machine, which is a “ poor man’s aeroplane.” Lord Sempill flew back from Berlin to Canterbury, about 520 miles, non-stop, in nine hours, despite a >O-mile-an-hour wind across the Channel. Petrol and oil cost less than a farthing a mile.