AVIATION NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2988, 21 June 1911, Page 76

AVIATION NOTES.

An American writer, well versed in aeroplaning, writes as follows in reference to the aeroplane of the future :—' There is oio doubt that the siucoess attending recent flights has stimulated confidence in the heavier-than-air machine, and that many of our best scientific and practical minds are grappling with the problems that remrvin to be solved. If it bs true that from a comparison of ideas the truth is evolved then the present year should disclose the benehcient effect of such a process, and should lead to the production of machines in which the factors of safety will be greatly increased and the elements of danger correspondingly reduced. Just when such improvements will come, however, cannot be assorted with any degree of oertaintv. It may be that they will oragmate in nnlooked-for places. I'hat they wil/j ©o?h© fr om on© source or another—and before very long almost everybody interested in aviation confidently believes. What the world is waiting for it a heavier-than-air machine that will be self-sustaining in time of stress, and susceptible of automatic operation to a greater degree than is now possible. Until sfoch a mechanism has been designed and placed on the market most people will decline to trust themselves to a flying machine. At present, if anything goes wrong with, the motor the aviator may. be able, if his planes and steering gear remain intact, to save himself by gliding downward at a perilous speed; if plane or gear be damaged or out of oontrol he crashes to destruction. The extent of the risk has been demonstrated time and again in the cases of the most experienced and eooliheaded fliers the world has ever known. If flying be death-dealing- to

such experts, it must bo conceded that, as the situation stands now, no novice oati indulge in it with any assurance of safety. Indoed, it may bo said that the aeroplane of to-day is merely a link between the psnny time ball and the perfect, air machine that is to be. That perfect machine will bear the same relationship to the air that the steamship and the sailing e'hip of to-day bear to tho water. It must float in the air with the same relative r.rrtainty as that of a ship floating in the boa. It must bo capable of operating with tie same relative minimum of nerve strain and danger. It must be susceptible of development for purposes of commeroa, war, and pleasure. In addition, it must have a speed far in excess of that attained by any transportation appliance thus far created by man. And it will come." ROME, June 15. An aviator named Frey, who has been missing for some days, was discovered by a peasant in a dense thicket near Viterbo. His leg and arm were broken, and he had sustained terrible injuries to his face. The motor failed, and Frey tried to descend, and he fell into some trees, where he hung for 12 hours. PARIS. June 18. Lieutenant Princeteau, who was intending to start in to-day's Paris to Brussels to London race, was practising with a Bleriot aeroplane at Issy, when the* machine fell and burst into flames. The lieutenant was burned beyond recognition. Princeteau, in the presence of his brother, made superhuman efforts to escape by crawling from the wreckage, but the smoke suffocated him, and the flames were so fierce that the machine was unapproachable. Lemartin, another competitor, also using a Bleriot machine, was dashed into a tree and killed. The cause is attributed to ar faulty propeller. Dalger, a third competitor, was severely injured at Soissons. THE HAGUE, June 18. Owing to the death of M. Berteaux, the French War Minister, at Issy recently, the municipality are prohibiting the passage of aeroplanes and airships over the capital. BRUSSELS, June 19. M. Vidart monoplaned from Paris to Liege, a distance of 203 miles, in 2hr 29min 54sec. M. Vedrinea and M. Weyman arrived within four hours, and four others later. SYDNEY, June 14. A syndicate of American aviators ifi arranging to establish an aeroplane factory at Sydney.

NEW ZEALAND AVIATOR

REVISITS HIS NATIVE LAND. iFhom Our Own. Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, June 14. Mr J. J. Hammond, a young New Zealander, who was born' at Palmerston North, and who in the course of his wanderings in other lands has become a famous aviator, returned to New Zealand to-day in the Sydney steamer. He is accompanied by his wife. It is his intention to bring his aeroplane over from Australia towards the end of the year, and to give exhibitions in New Zealand. He is already thinking about flying across Cook Strait, or even from Wellington to Christchurch, if a sufficient guarantee is obtainable. He will also enter for the £15,000 prize offered by the Commonwealth Government for a flight from Sydney to Melbourne. "On the Continent," says Mr Hammond, "there are prizes amounting to £200,000 to be competed for by flying men this year." The monoplane, it would appear, is now the favourite machine for speed work, and the biplane will gradually be pushed to one side. Comparatively long distances are now done at the rate of a mile a minute, and even greater speeds will be accomplished in the near future. The advance in engine-building has been very considerable. New Zealanders have already read about Mr Hammond's very successful flights in Australia. He has also flown on the Continent. He learned with M. De La Grange, who was subsequently killed, and soon gained a certificate of competency. He is apparently one of the cautious aviators, and though he has climbed to between 8000 ft and 9000 ft, he is not a seeker after the sensational. Some of the airmen, he says, take undue risks, there being among them daredevil flyers, just as there are daredevil motorists, or even horsemen. Moissant, who was killed at New Orleans, and Hoxsey, who was killed at Los Angeles, for instance, were of this class. Hoxsey came down in a sitting posture in his machine, but he died from heartfailure. Mr Hammond's uresent visit to New Zealand is purely a holiday one.