U.S. AEROPLANE WINS PRIZE FOR SAFETY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18959, 3 January 1930, Page 1

U.S. AEROPLANE WINS PRIZE FOR SAFETY.

DANIEL GUGGENHEIM AWARD DECIDED. <United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph—Copy right.) NEW YORK, January 2. The first prize of 100.000 dollars, in connection with the Daniel Guggenheim competition for greater air safety, has been awarded to the Curtiss Aeroplane Company for the performance of their entry, the “ Curtiss-Tangier '* aeroplane. The board of judges, headed by Mr Orville Wright, found that the machine demonstrated the greatest advantage in aerodynamics without loss of efficiency. There were twenty-seven competitors. The Handley-Page entry passed the majority of the qualifying tests, but failed to obtain the minimum gliding speed of thirty-eight miles an hour. The object of the competition, which is only one of many important sides to the activities inspired by the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the promotion of Aeronautics, is not the discovery of an aircraft which could immediately come into universal use, but is rather the encouragement of research towards safety in flight. Contrary to expectations, no “ freaks ” have been entered. In the United Stages thi3 richlyendowed fund is successfully working for the inclusion of aviation as part of the curriculum of grade and high schools. The fund has already appropriated £160,000 for the establishment of aeronautical engineering laboratories and aviation courses in the California Institute of Technology, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and the University of Michigan. New York University had previously been given £IOO,OOO for aviation. Eighty cities in the States have approved of the scheme. Apart from the two main prizes, there is the further inducement that, whether the big prize be won or not, the first five aircraft sent in, and which satisfy the safety requirements laid down,. will each receive an award of £2OOO. Major R. H. Mayo is the British representative of the fund. The following is the list of entries that had been received a few months ago:— United States—Shroeder Wentworth Co., Charles Ward Hall, Inc., Mr Heraclio Alfaro, J. S. M’Donnell, jun., and associates, Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Co., Brunner and Winkle Air craft Corp. England—The Cierva Autogiro Co. Ltd., the De Haviland Aircraft Co., Ltd., the Gloster Aircraft Co., Ltd. Handley Page, Ltd., Vickers, Ltd. Italy—Societa Italiana Ernesto Breda. Entries were also expected from Germany and Holland.