THE SPEED RECORD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23691, 24 December 1938, Page 15

THE SPEED RECORD

NEW BRITISH ATTACK An attempt to set up a new land aeroplane speed record is likely to be made by the R.A.F. shortly. The present record (writes Major C. C. Turner In the Daily Telegraph and Morning Post) is held by Dr Wurster, a German pilot, who flew a three-kilometre course—approximately 1.8 miles—in a Messerchipddt monoplane at 379.644 miles per hour. The British machine which will be used is a Supermarine Spitfire monoplane fighter, fitted with a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. Although the land aeroplane three-kilometre speed record is one of the important basic flight records, the speed so reached is much less than the world seaplane record of 440.67 m.p.h. held by Italy. T.he record attempt will have to be flown within 50 metres—approximately 164 feet—of the ground. When that condition is not imriosed greater speeds are possible, fortJermany holds the 100-kilometre—about 62 miles—land aeroplane speed record of 394.166 m.p.h„ flown at a height of nearly 10.000 feet, the increase of speed being due to the reduced air resistance at

that height. For a new record to stand, the speed must be beaten by about five miles per. hour. For the com<ing British attempt the same methods and the same apparatus will be used as in the world record flight which was made at the time of the last Schneider Trophy contest in 1931. Two kinema cameras record the passage of the aeroplane at each end of the course, which has to be flown five times in each direction. Each exposure automatically records the time in terms of the vibrations of a tuning-fork in electrical connection with counters in both cameras. Accuracy within one-twentieth of a second is thus secured, and the speed of an aircraft flying at more than 400 m.p.h. can be measured with an error of no more than half a mile per hour.