LAND SPEED RECORD

Otago Witness, Issue 4074, 12 April 1932, Page 33

LAND SPEED RECORD

DISPUTE BETWEEN PRINCIPALS

LITIGATION IMPENDING. AUCKLAND, April 5. Wizard Smith will return to Auckland to-morrow from Ninety Mile Beach. His car, the F. H. Stewart Enterprise, also will return to Auckland by steamer. The object is not officially announced, but the statement is made that Smith will have the car overhauled, and take it back to the beach next week.

It is learned that Mr Don Harkness, the designer and builder of the Enterprise, will return to Auckland from Australia next week, and that to-morrow the firm of solicitors acting for Harkness will issue a writ against Smith claiming a sum of money alleged to be due from Smith to Harkness; also that Harkness will launch an action claiming damages for alleged libel, Harkness alleging that some of Smith’s statements in the recent technical controversy have injured his reputation as an engineer. “WIZARD” SMITH’S PREPARATIONS NOVEL REVOLVING WINDSCREEN. AUCKLAND, April 10. The construction of a novel revolving windscreen for Norman Smith’s racing car is proceeding at H. Nattrass’s workshop, the staff having been busy throughout the week-end doing most of the machine work required. Although the new fitting will entail no structural alterations to the car, it has been found necessary to remove the present windscreen, the steering wheel, and the facia board carrying all the instruments except the revolution indicator.

The idea of a revolving windscreen is not as fantastic as at first sight it might appear to be. Although there is no record locally of a revolving sheet of glass being employed to give the driver a clear vision through mist and spray, a somewhat similar device using a four-bladed fan instead of a sheet of glass was successfully tried in the United States some time ago on a class of speed boat which was inclined to throw spray over the windscreen, thus obscuring the pilot’s vision. A fan was mounted in front of the windscreen and effectively prevented the spray from smearing the screen. “ Wizard ” Smith said on Saturdaj’ that while the construction of a revolving screen was in the nature of an experiment, he was hopeful that it would succeed. Since the officials left Ninety Mile Beach Smith has had a cowl of a different shape fitted behind the radiator. The new cowl conforms as nearly as possible to the shape of the engine and should add materially to the value of the streamlining.