Giving Aircraft "A Flying Start"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22961, 12 February 1938, Page 11 (Supplement)

Giving Aircraft "A Flying Start"

flight. The .combined power of the motors, four of each machine, will be used to* lift the composite from the water, and at a safe operating altitude the catches will be released, and Mercury set free to continue her longdistance flight unaided, while Maia returns to the base. . Que of tho disadvantages of the scheme in long-distance operation, to which attention has been drawn by critics, is that two mother-ships are required for each seaplane, one at each end of the route Ultimate Proving-Ground This X is true, but, as the designers have replied, the mother-ships need not be idle while they are not doing assisted take-offs. Being so similar to the Empire flying-boats, they could easily be used on shorter runs, their schedules being devised so as to bring them back to the bases in time to set the seaplane off again when required. Whether or not the Mayo will ever be used on tho Tasman is problematical. It has been stated in Sydney that it is a; likely move, but general opinion is that the Atlantic and not the Tasman will be the ultimate proving-ground. Whatever the designers choose to do with their novel craft, and wherever the ingenious launching method is applied, it will be to the lasting credit of New Zealand that a Dominion-born flier has been so closely associated with the whole of the experimental work. Mr. Piper, who flew from England to Australia with Flight-Lieutenant C. E. Kay in a Besoutter monoplane some years ago, is yet another of the young New Zealanders to gain distinction in the air, and though his rise to prominence has been with a minimum of publicity, he ranks with Jack Burgess, Jean Batten and one or two others as the outstanding fliers the Dominion has produced.

Great Possibilities of Mayo Composite

ANOTHER YOUNG NEW ZEALANDER WINS FAME IN AVIATION < ' Specially Written for the New Zealand Herald by AILERON

ONE of the most important achievements in commercial aviation in recent years was the successful separation in mid-air of the two components of the Shortj[ayo composite aircraft at Rochester, England, this week. Particular interest in the success of the experiment is taken in New Zealand, for two reasons, the first being that one of the two pilots concerned, Mr. H. L.' Piper, -is a Canterbury man, and the other that it has been suggested that the Mayo craft- may possibly be used on the Tasman jun, 1 before a passenger service is -commenced. The successful outcome of years of work, involving first the overcoming of tremendous prejudice and the securing of backers sufficiently .far-sighted to see the ultimate possibilities of the scheme, is represented by the first separation" Major H. 11. Mayo has long dreamed of seeing his composite design a reality, and critics and supporters alike will join in congratulating him, as well as Short Brothers, makers of the machines, and their two test pilots, on the result of » daring experiment. ' * ; : Ingenious Theory Beginning with nothing but an ingenious" theory, Major Mayo set out to golve one of the major problems remaining to be surmounted in air transport. It had long been realised that Tjntil some new form of power-unit could be devised, providing equal propulsion but weighing substantially less than present units, or until some other means of improving the power-weight ratio had been discovered,, there was likely to be little increase in the pay-load that any aeroplane could carry, over useful operating distances. An aeroplane designer has always before him the problem of producing a machine powerful enough to lift its own weight and that of the fuel necessary for a long range, and at the same time capable of carrying a useful load. ' * Small Margin With existing methods of construction,..and with present power-units, the margin left for load is comparatively small, and designers the world over are seeking means of increasing the pay-load without sacrificing either performance or safety. It" 1 has long been known that aircraft will fly safely with loads which i; y*;'

they nre incapable of lifting from ground level. In other words, if a machine could be given literally a flying start, at' a safe height, it could be grosisly over-loaded according to present standards. The problem was how to get it to the required altitude, and how to start it on its journey. Launching one aircraft fj-om another in flight has been done before, but it has not proved easy, nor has it become a really practicable scheme. Major Mayo started from the beginning, put his theories on paper, and then had models built. The Two Components Wind-tunnel tests followed, and these seemed to confirm the designer's belief in the success of his plans. Fullkcale machines then started to take shape at the great factory of. Short Brothers, at Rochester, home of the Empire flying-boats, and last year there emerged from the works the two components of the composite aircraft. Maia, the lower half, was finished first. It is a massive flying-boat, identical in most respects with the Centaur us, which was recently seen in New Zealand, but different in details on account of ] the "special task it is to perform: The second machine, Mercury, was finished later, .and. both- craft, the flying-boat and the slim seaplane, were tested separately. . , . Results were most encouraging. Both Mercury and Ma'ia handled well, on the water and in the air, and. another stage was reached' when the seaplane was lifted on to the living-boat's back and the two machines were locked together for the first time. Taxi-ing tests followed., and this week the crucial moment arrived, when the two machines took off pick-a-back fashion, and were separated in mid-air. How Machines Are Locked A particularly ingenious system was devised by the designers for attaching the machines.;.; There. were three locks, one being operated by each pilot, and the final one being released, automatically. The. pilots, are in telephone communication as long as the machines are joined, .and the locks are of such a nature that those controlled "by the pilots can be fixed again should any trouble Ibe encountered after they have been released, and before the machines separate. 7 , In commercial operation, Mercury will be fully laden with fuel, mail and freight before the take-off, while Maia will be almost empty, carrying only the crew and sufficient fuel for a short