The Aviation World

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21716, 3 February 1934, Page 5 (Supplement)

The Aviation World

AUCKLAND AERO CLUB NEWS f BiT AILERON In the course of visits to many towns and country districts in the Auckland Province during the last two months the machines from the Aero Club have taken up a total of 840 passengers. This large figure was reached at the end of last week, after the completion of a tour by three of the aeroplanes to the Northern district, where an air pageant had been arranged by enthusiasts at Kaitaia and Rawene. The trip to Kaitaia, following so soon on the heels of a previous one at the beginning of the month, was not expected to yield an exceptionally great return, because it was thought that people in the district would have seen and heard enough about aeroplanes for the time being. But the interest that the three machines aroused was very good, and many spectators came out to the landing ground to watch the* fb'ing and take trips. The Puss Moth was flown by Mr. R. A. Kirkup and the club's chief instructor, Flight-Lieu tenant D. M. Allan, piloted the Moth that always looks as if it had just come out of a bath of red paint, so well-coloured are the component parts. The third machine was in the hands of Mr. E. B. Firth, who has been a consistent attender at the tours of the club. The usual exhibitions were given over the- field by the pilots and stunt flights were made by the instructor. An incident occurred at Kaitaia which is worthy of repetition on account of its unusual nature. The instructor took up a passenger who had not experienced a flight before, but wished to be stunted as. much as possible in the time that the machine was in the air. The contrfiot was carried out in workmanlike fashion, but when the machine returned to a normal position and glided in to land the occupant of the front seat was nowhere to be seen from the outside. The stunting had been too much for him, and he had subsided into the cockpit suffering from a first attack of air-sickness, which can be quite devastating in its effects. The point of the tale is that it was the first occasion in a very long time that anyone had suffered ill-effects from being stunted by the instructor, showing that the average human is normally well adapted to suit the different conditions up in the air. Interest in North Auckland The following day was spent at Kaitaia, and the pilots took off in the afternoon for Rawene, where arrangements had been made for a display on Saturday. The landing ground is situated in the neighbourhood of hills, and when the wind is blowing off the slopes the ground is rather difficult to fly from. Hundreds of people came down to watch the machines, and passengers were taken for the greater part of the day, about 70 people being given flights. That same evening the party of members returned to Mangere with the satisfaction of having carried out a job that reflected credit, on the club they represented. Takapuna Beach was the venue last Sunday, when Mr. Kirkup piloted the Puss Moth and Mr. Firth took one of the biplanes, and both spent several hours taking people up. The same type of cross-wind was blowing that was encountered on the previous visit to the beach, and the scattered groups of people on the sands made it a hard task for the pilots. Early in the afternoon the tide came in and left too narrow a strip of sand, so the aeroplanes were obliged to return to Mangere, leaving some disappointed spectators behind. On Anniversary Day the pilots carried out a plan to fly up the west coast to Bayly's Beach. Dargaville, but they were rewarded with the appearance of only a few people. It was realised that it would not be to the benefit of the club by remaining in the rather deserted surroundings, so the party took to the air again and landed some miles further south at the beach, in the vicinity of Te Kopuru. This place did not provide many flights, so the machines were loaded tip and flown back to Mangere, with a brief halt at Muriwai Beach. Future oi Speeds To speculate on the future of speed in the air provides food for thought that is probably relished by many who are not actually concerned with the practical value of aviation at the moment. Whenever one hears of the higher cruising speeds that appear to be the constant objective of aircraft designers in America and on the Continent, one is faced with the question of what is the limit to which manufacturers can go. In his book on highspeed racing in the last two Schneider Trophy events, Wing-Commander Orlebar states that as far as the physical side of humans is concerned, there is no limit to speed in the air. Apparently there would be no more discomfort in hurtling through the atmosphere at 400 miles an hour than there would in pursuing a comparatively stately course at 200 miles an hour. But the main advantages must be reckoned in the saving of time, which is, after all, the greatest asset connected with air travel. In a simple example set out here it is possible to discover exactly how much is to be gained in increasing the cruising speed of an aeroplane by 100 miles an hour at a time. Taking a journey of 200 miles as a standard distance, the difference in time taken by machines of 100 and 200 miles an hour cruising speeds would be exactly one hour. When these speeds are increased to 200 and 300 miles an hour, the difference in the time that they would take to cover the distance would only be 20 minutes, and between 300 miles an hour and 400 miles an hour there is a difference of only 10 minutes. It is evident, therefore, that the incentive to increase cruising speeds is considerably reduced at about the 300-mile an hour mark, because the saving of time sinks to almost negligible proportions. Opossum's Misadventure The flying times for the week ended January 26 total 50 he ars 10 minutes at Mangere and 25 hours 15 minutes at Te Rapa. The times at Mangere are made up as follows: —Dnftl, 4 hours 40 minutes; solo, 30 minutes; hire, 16 hours 35 minutes; test, 40 minutes; passenger, 27 hours 45 minutes. The instructor at Te Rapa, Fliglit-Lieu-tenant W. H. Lett, reports that the work at the aerodrome has been again hampered by high winds, although instruction has been given in the early morning and the late evening. Owing to a slight illness, Flight-Lieutenant Lett has been absont from the aerodrome for a few days, but ho has resumed his duties again. The times at Te Rapa aro as follows: —Dual, 11 hours 50 minutes; solo, 1 hour 40 minutes; hire, 5 hours 50 minutes; passenger, 1 hour; test, 40 minutes; crosscountry, 4 hours 15 minutes. The tale of an opossum that innocently surprised the pilot of an aeroplane and then fell out and gave another man a surprise is told in connection with the visit of a Wellington pilot to M.-isterton recently. The pilot had attended a dance at Masterton and took off early the next morning on his return flight. He was amazed to see a furry-looking object staring at him out of the front cockpit just after the machine had taken oil : , and could scarcely believe his eyes when it clambered on to the centre-section and regarded him gravely through the windscreen. Eventually it jumped on to tho wing and was blown off. A man walking in the fields below saw what he thought was a lady's fur drop out of tho aeroplane, but when ho went to pick it up, the "fur" got. up and climbed a tree. The opossum was later captured and killed, and the pilot, it is believed, has been presented with tho skin.