AEROPLANES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 220, 18 August 1931, Page 9

AEROPLANES.

FAMOUS FLIGHTS RECALLED

ADDRESS TO ROTARIANS v “Father and Son” Day was observed by the Palmerston North Rotary Club at its luncheon yesterday, and the address, entitled “Aeroplanes,” given by Major G. A. C. Cowper, was a happy selection for the occasion, tire subject being one which interests young and old alike. Itotarian W. G. Black presided over a very large attendance including, in addition to the boys, Messrs A. M. Davies, .F. W. Furby, M. N. Wallace, D. F. Smilhe, J. M. Pearson, G. S. Petheram, J. Moore and M. H. Oram (Palmerston North) and Rotarian D. Davies (Masterton). Additional interest to the address was lent by an aviation exhibit arranged by Messrs Collinson and Cunninghame, Ltd., consisting of a large map of the world with air routes, photographs of famous fliers, etc. Using aeroplane models. Major Cowper dealt with the machines used by noted airmen, suclr as the Marquis de Pinedo, and traced the routes used on the world map. Pinedo’s flying boat was unique in that it was doublehulled and the flight was one of the greatest ever made. A Vickers cargo ’plane, such as that used by. Messrs Owen and Moir on their England-Aus-trala flight, in which they crashed, was shown in model form and the construction of the machine used explained. It was not a fast machine and was under-engined. A Bellanca monoplane, similar to that used by Levine and Chamberlain in their hop from New York to Berlin, was illustrated. At the latter place, the speaker recalled, Levine had taken over the machine, despite lack of pilot’s knowledge and had flown to London, with remarkable luck.

Flying-boat engines were cooled by I water and the majority of land machines were air-cooled. The more simple the construction of the engine the less likely was trouble to occur; that was why the air-cooled engines were most favoured. A DH.SO model was also shown—the type in which Sir Alan Cobliam had made some of his longest flights. The death of Mr Elliott, Sir Alan Cobham’s mechanic, who was shot by Arabs when the machine was flying over Arabia, was recalled. A model of the machine used by Parrer and Mackintosh in their flight to Australia was shown. This flight the speaker characterised as a great feat. The airmen had purchased a used machine from the Air Force, taken it about commercially in order to obtain funds for the flight and had actually used the machine, which had seen so much use and was not what would be termed fully equipped for such a test. A Vickers-Vimv — “like a travelling bird-cage”—was the next machine illustrated. It was primarily built for the French Air Force with the object of bombing Berlin. The Armistice had intervened before the test was made. Sir Arthur Whitten Brown and Sir John Alcock’s flight acros stlie Atlantic in 1919 was recalled, also Lindbergh’s and Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith’s flight to Australia. The Moth, Avro Avian and Blackburne machines were also illus-' trated. The Moth was famous for the long flights of Miss Amy Johnson, Kingsford Smith, _ . Chichester and others. The speed in these flights was not remarkable, the speaker added. They were very fine, but why not do the flights in machines proper to the job ? There was no reason why a flight from Australia to London should not be done in six days if suitable machines were used ; sav those with a cruising speed of 150 m.p.h. The standard type of flying boat was also shown and its construction outlined.

Dealing w r ith long cross-country flights, the speaker mentioned the types of pilots selected for this work in wartime —mostly the cool, thinking resourceful fliers. No detail in flying was to be neglected—it was perhaps all important. Monoplane and biplane flying and wind resistance were next dealt with. The monoplane, the speaker said, would be the machine of the future, because of its advantages such as lack of wind resistance. At the commencement of a croS6-country flight it was necessary to see that the machine was in good order; the next thing was to choose as good country as possible to fly over and take no unnecessary risks, although flying was quite safe. The speaker concluded by illustrating various “stunts” in flying —spins, looping, rolling, half-rolling, inverted flying, the “falling leaf,” Immelmann turns and the like, his remarks being listened to with keen attention. On the call of Mr J. D. Pattle the speaker was accorded a vote of thanks. In yesterday’s address Mr A. H. M. Wright was to have spoken on “Cement Concrete,” but the dates of the two addresses were exchanged.