airisms

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXV, Issue 160, 22 June 1935, Page 8

airisms

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"Loop"

Week’s Plying. Improved flying figures are shown in the H.B. and E.C. Aero Club’s flying log for this week. In all some 42} hours’ flying were done. Only two cross-country flights were made during the week, both being to Masterton. Yesterday the instructor flew a passenger there in ADK and G. Field with J. McHardy as passenger flew down in AAB. To-day Jock McHardy is returning solo in this latter machine. Stan White also flew to Mastertjn yesterday in ADT. The only visitor during the week was Hamish Armstrong in his green Moth ACM. Gordon Cup. To-morrow the competition for the Gordon Cup will bo held at the Bridge Pa ’drome. Competitors arc required to make three landings, each from 1000 feet. Tho first is made- over a mark, tho secoud is made up to a mark and the final landing is made as near to a third mark us possible. Tho Gordon Cup will be decided on tho actual marks obtained but the half-hour’s free flying will go to the entrant who does best on a handicap basis. Competitors should be on the ’drome early to-mor-row afternoon. Aero Ball. On Thursday, July 4, the club’s annual ball will be held in the Assembly Hall. The Aero Club is always ono ot the best iu the season and this year a very strong ladies’ committee has got matters will in hand. It is expected that there will be a goodly proportion of visiting pilots from neighbouring aero clubs here for this function. Committee Meeting. i A meeting of the executive will bo held next Wednesday, June 26, in tho offices of the secretary, R. D. Brown, Queen street. Arrangements for the annual ball will be finalised and business arising out of the present meeting of the New Zealand Aero Club will be dealt with. Pupil Flying. During the past week the Napier Aerodrome has dried up considerably to the gratification of pupils there. The arrangement whereby the instructor visits Napier on Saturday afternoons is proving popular, so that the club Is one body at least that benefits by Saturday closing. Jock McHardy who has been staying at the clubhouse for the past ten days, is now ready for his “A” license tests. Other pupils are also ready and arrangements will be made to have these pupils examined in the near future. Pupils are reminded that under the new regulations- they must provide themselves with a doctor’s certificate of fitness before presenting themselves for test and that the examination fee of ono ruinea is no longer necessary.

Entrants to N.Z. Air Force. Those members who desire to apply for commissions in the New Zealand Air Force (Territorial only) are reminded that their applications should be submitted without delay. All applications should Im made through the instructor, Flight-Lieutenant Gcrrand. It is proposed to commence a scries of night lectures at the clubhouse for those who desire to sit for the first appointment examination. These will be given by the instructor and will be commenced as soon as pupils can ar-

range to attend. Pilot members of the club who desire to take out “B” licenses are also urged to attend. What’s in a Name? "Equitation, Aviation, Natation” — could anyone imagine three more perfect examples of jargon? Contrast thorn with tho three perfectly good English words, Riding, flying, swimming. It is strange that, while no bloated aristocrat who follows hounds talks about Equitation and ’Arry after his annual dip at Westshore never murmurs “Natation,” everyone who indulges in flying is shameless in rolling the word “Aviation” round his tongue. Yet if Julius Caesar and Cicero were to return to earth and hear the words “aviation” and “aviator” they would certainly be puzzled. “Avis” certainly means a bird but no educated Roman would have derived aviation from that word, any more than an Englishman would talk of birdation. No, Cicero would reflect, "via” means a road and "viator” means a traveller and "aviu.s” means lost; therefore, "avia-

tor” means a traveller who has lost his way. He would bo nearer the mark than would bo admitted by many club pilots but it’s not tho true sense of tho word.

Sleeve-Valve Under Test., Four of the new Bristol "Perseus” sleeve-valved engines, which have excited much technical interest in England and elsewhere, will shortly be substituted in an Imperial Airways liner for the poppet-valved "Jupiter” units at present fitted and will be submitted to exhaustive trials iu regular service. More than a year has been spent already in tests on the new engines. Tho results of those tests have been completely satisfactory, but the Bristol company intends that there shall be no possibility of trouble with the engines and further tests, including the Imperial Airways experiment, are planned before the engine is put into production.

The "Perseus” engines will be installed in one of the Short Scylla typo aircraft employed on the London-Paris service. Comparative figures of the actual performance of tho Scylla and its estimated performance when reequipped show marked advantages for the sleeve-valve type. Tho cruising speed should be 8 miles per hour higher as the power output has been increased by 60 horse power per engine for a fuel consumption of two gallons per hour less. The range with full tanks is increased by fifty miles and the "ceiling” by a thousand feet. Other advantages arc simplicity of manufacture, greater all-round efficiency, and a reduction in maintenance work required. Tho sleeve-valve engine, which lacks the valve-springs, push rods and other mechanism of the poppet valve type, has extremely few component parts; tho number of cylinder components is about one-eighth of the number of parts of tho equivalent poppet-valve cylinder. Further, absence of the poppet-valve mechanism enables higher engine rotational speeds to be employed. When the "Perseus” engine first went through tho 100 hours’ official trial, followed by two periods of fifty

hours’ running on weak fuel mixture and at high power respectively, no adjustment or "servicing” of the engine was required and it was not even necessary to remove tho sparking plugs for examination. Consumption of fuel and oil was lower than had been recorded with any comparable poppet-valve engine, and the power output was higher.