SCHNEIDER CUP

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 222, 20 August 1931, Page 7

SCHNEIDER CUP

DEATH OF NAVAL LIEUTENANT. DISASTER PURELY ACCIDENTAL. PREPARATIONS FOR CONTEST. (United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) (British Official Wireless.) Received August 20, 10.5 a.m. RUGBY, Aug. 19.

The body of Naval Lieutenant G. Brinton, who crashed in a Schneider Cup ’plane and was drowned in the Solent, was found at the tail-end of the wrecked fuselage. Evidently it was forced from the cockpit by the rush cf water.

An expert examination of the machine after the crash revealed that the disaster was purely accidental and was not due. to any defect in the machine. 1 Lieutenant Brinton’s death has cast a gloom over the camp at Calshot, but the preparations for the contest are being continued.

Lieutenant Brinton visited the Antipodes as a midshipman on board the Dragon, when she formed part of the special service squadron on the world cruise. Later he was posted to the aircraft carrier Courageous, after a short period of service in the Hood. Pylons marking the three angles of the contest course are to be placed in position to-morrow. Instead of the black-and-white chessboard pattern adopted for the last contest, the pylons will be plain orange, which will make them more visible.

In order to enable the pilots travelling at tremendous speeds round the course to pick up the pylons quickly in a crowd of shipping it may be possiij.o, if tests now being made are successful, to employ searchlight beams which will be cast on the water from each pylon in the direction lrom which the machines are coming. The beams should be visible at a distance of six miles. MAY BE THE LAST RACE. FRENCH OPINION. 'PARIS, Aug. 19. A French authority is of the opinion that this will be the last Schneider Cup contest. Ho sayis that the costliness in lives and money will cause the competing Governments to be glad to see the end of the event. Great Britain, he adds, should win outright in September unless there is an unforseen catastrophy, and there is little likelihood of any nation offering a prize to perpetuate the race.

NEW BRITISH ’PLANES. A GREAT SPEED. INSPECTION BY EXPERTS. The closely guarded gates at Calshot air tiase were opened on August 11 to admit a party of aeronautical experts and Press representatives, who were allowed to learn some of the secrets of the two wonderlul new Schneider Trophy seaplanes, both of which were viewed. The seaplanes were built at the Supermarine aviation works of Vickers, Ltd., writes a London correspondent. They have Rolls-Royce engines modified from the 1929 type in view of the altered conditions for the preliminary trials, which necessitates machines carrying more petrol than in 1929. They are expected to prove the fastest British aircraft ever built. It is said that a speed of 390 miles an hour has already been recorded. They are known as the S6B’s, and closely resemble, in external appearance,- the broad principles of design of tire 1929 winning machine, which was known as the S6A.

British participation not being assured until January, the period remaining was insufficient to build and test aircraft designed qn novel lines, hence the Supermarine’s designer, Mr R. J. Mitchess, was compelled to work on the basis of the successful 1929 design, and, given increased horse-power from more powerful Rolls-Royce racing engines, had-to sfeek greater speed from detail improvements. Mr Mitchess, in the narrow limits imposed by the circumstances, was able to devise important modifications. The ten chief points of difference between the 1931 and 1929 types are as follows: Increased horse-power; provision for greater loads of oil and fuel; more efficient oil-cooling system; more watercooling surface and increased radiator efficiency- redistribution of the fuel load in the floats, in order to balance the more powerful engine; new design for floats; statically balanced control surfaces; strengthened wings, chassis, and bracing wires; new type of air screw; slightly increased all round dimensions, except fuselage. REMARKABLE FEATURES.

The modifications embody remarkable features. For instance, as regards the water-cooling system, the entire upper and lower surfaces of the wings and upper surfaces of the floats constitute water radiators. The surfaces are built with a double skin of duralumin. Hot water from the engine cylinder jackets circulates in the space between, and is cooled by tiro flower of air over the exterior of the wings and floats. As regards the oil-cooling system, the lubricating oil is carried in the tail fin and moves between the engine and the fin through three oil coolers, extending on each side of the fuselage Extensive research since 1929 has increased the oil cooler’s efficiency bv 40 per cent., without extending or altering the cooling area. The secret lies in a special form of internal construction of the coolers. This conveys the heat from the oil to the outer surface, where it is dissipated. Practically all the external surface of the seaplane is used for heat dissipation. In other words, the radiator surface is equivalent to the entire external surface of the wings, floats, tail fin, and sides of the fuselage. The fuel, which is carried inside the floats, is forced by engine-driven pumps to a small pressure tank in the fuselage and then fed direct to the engine. The tank carries just enough fuel to keep the engine running during a steeply-banked turn, which prevents the pump operating. The starboard float, for a technical reason, carries much more fuel than the port. The air resistance of the floats is markedly diminished and the take-off characteristics are improved. One designing triumph concerned the necessity for fitting water-cooling radiators to the floats. The upper surfaces of . the

radiators, when filled with water from the engine at a temperature near boiling point, expanded nearly half an inch, causing the outer skin to buckle. The designer devised an ingenious elastic framework able to take the expansion. It was also necessary to insulate the fuel tank from the water-cooling surface to prevent fuel evaporation. PREPARATIONS FOR FLIGHT.

The visitors saw the operation of preparing the SOB for a flight. A dozen mechanics tended her minutely, like a mother attending to her baby, for more than an hour. After refuelling, the supermarine expert climbed into the cockpit. The engine was' started by a compression outfit. It is allowed to warm up for five minutes. Loud as it then roared, the noise was a whisper compared with the thunder when a little later full power was turned on. Shouts could not be heard when one was standing beside the sliouter. The draught created could be felt 100 yards behind the machine.

Soon afterwards, the machine was wheeled to a slipway, where a small slight, helmeted figure, clad in dirty khaki, cool as a cucumber, climbed into the cockpit. It was FlightLieutenant Long. Before a battery of cameras and talkie apparatus, the engine was started again, and the beautiful blue and silver machine was trolleyed to the water. In the next second the engine roared its loudest, and the ’plane taxied half a mile from the shore in a flurry of foam, spray and exhaust smoke. Then it turned into the wind, and gathering speed, lifted from the water, streaked several miles in a minute, returned in a sweeping circle, and passed over the point from which it had recently departed. This was Flight-Lieutenant Long’s first flight in the S6B. Previously, Squadron-Leader Orlebar. Flight-Lieutenant Stainforth, and Flight-Lieutenant Boofiiman had flown it. THE AIRMEN. The sight of the little group of men forming Britain’s high-speed flight inspires as much confidence as an inspection of the seaplanes. They are all of the quiet, cool, efficient type of Britain. Besides SquadronLeader Orlebar, only Flight-Lieuten-ant Stainforth is above medium height. Flying-Officer Snaitli is a real midget, who, in 1927, /was the Royal Air Force’s champion hklf-miler and was scrum half in the Royal Air Force’s Rugby. XV. from 1922 to 1924. Only three have a chance of earning fame in the contest itself.. These will most probably be Stainforth, Long and Snaitli, or Boothinaii.