RELIABILITY RECORDS.

Waikato Times, Volume 117, Issue 19515, 2 March 1935, Page 22 (Supplement)

RELIABILITY RECORDS.

SAFETY OF BRITISH ENGINES PHENOMENAL FIGURES QUOTED ■lt has been mentioned that British air transport machines have eliminated tilc risk of forced landings. This has been done by two related methods; by using multi-engined designs capable of maintaining height with full load with any egnine out of action, and by improving the trustworthiness of the engines themselves. Figures which have just been compiled throw interesting* light upon this •quality of trustworthiness. Captain Huber!. Broad, who has been chief lest pilot to the dc Havilland Aircraft Company since October, 1021, gives one sol of figures, which ho lakes from liis flying log hook. Captain BAad has had more varied flying experience than most pilots. lie has not only performed the routine test work of tiie de Havilland Company and taken most of its new aeroplanes into llic air for the first time: but he lias also taken part in an unusually large number of races and conipclilions. Thus lie has competed in Hie King’s Cup air race seven times and he won it in 1926. He' has also part in many international competitions and he has flown many hundreds of hours at full throttle while doing development trials. In all. Caplain Broad finds that he lias flown more than two thousand different Gipsy engines. During the wliole of Iliat period lie lias never had a forced landing through Hie failure of a Gipsy engine.

A tribute of British design and workmanship in aero-engines hardly less remarkable comes from Captain Duncan Davis, and again refers to Gipsy engines. Captain Davis is one of the most experienced flying instructors in Great Britain, and is 'managing-director of Brookiands Aviation. He states that his licet of Gipsy-engined Moth aeroplanes lias flown a total distance of one million miles on training alone, not including taxi-flight’s, tests and demonstrations. During the whole of that distance there lias not been a single compulsory landing due to mechanical breakdown. Antwerp’s Air Club. In addition to these reliability records established in Kngland, others have been established abroad. The Antwerp Aviation Club, which uses British aeroplanes, sends some details of its work during seven years’ operation. The club has increased its activities rapidly and from 21 flying hours in the year 1027 its members augmented their flying hours to 1100 in 19X7. Membership at. the end of I Odd was 1 10 and by the end of 1084 it was 22.1. Members do a great deal of international louring and wiiliin the last twelve months they visited Kngland. Holland, Germany,' Poland, Czechoslovakia. Hungary. Auslria, Switzerland. France. Algeria. Morocco. Hu' Belgian Congo, the French Congo, Tunisia, Tripoli, Kg\pl and Halesline. All this (lying has been done with British machines and engines; the club’s cf|uipmenl. when machines belonging to members arc included, tola] I i aeroplanes. These range from the Gipsy Moth biplane lo the Leopard Moth cabin monoplane, which is a machine with a high cruising speed and full weather protection for the occupants. i These trustworthiness statistics form a remarkable tribute to Hie typo of touring aeroplane evolved in Great Britain, a type which differs in many

respects from those evolved elsewhere. One of its leading characteristics is practical utility. It is a type that has been used in all countries in | the world and has completed success- j fully flights extending over -the long- j est distances. Although its engine is ! normally of less than 200 h.p. it is i capable of undertaking any journey i that can he undertaken by a higher- ■ powered machine. These good quali- ' ties are now widely recognised, and the Antwerp Club is but one of many foreign air organisations to standard- j ise British aircraft for all purposes. !