Revival Of Gliding In Aeronautics.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19075, 21 May 1930, Page 8

Revival Of Gliding In Aeronautics.

'T'HE revival of gliding in England emphaA sises the fact that those who claim it is merely a sport and leads nowhere ignorethe lessons of the past. The glider, with its freedom from risk of fire in the event of an accident and its landing speed of less than one-half, on the average, of the landing speed of a power-driven aeroplane, i? definitely less dangerous than any othe;* form of flying. In proof of this, in the \Va6Serkuppe Gliding School alone 139 pupils last year obtained their A license.an glider pilots, 121 their “B” licenses, and 30 their “C” licenses without any serious accident. The most advanced type of sail-wing glider *.n Germany to-day has a vertical rate of descent of only two feet a second, and is capable in suitable weather conditions of rising thousands of feet above its starting point, of maintaining itself in the air for hours on end, and of covering long distances even over level country. Scientists have calculated that if thi« vertical rate of descent could be reduced (as they believe it can be) to li feet a second, the glider would be capable of making engineless flights from one point to another with the aid only of a catapult start off the level ground. Gliders are now built, and when found successful, are fitted writh light-weight engines to improve their performance. To obtain a yet higher performance, the strength of the machine and the power of the engine are both increased.

In this way, was evolved the light aeroplane of to-dav. But with the increased horse-power comes increased landing speed and increased cost of operation. Flying is limited to a small number of comparatively wealthy people. As a result fresh enthusiasm springs up for gliding, but each time we start from a point more advanced in our knowledge of design and atmospheric conditions.