•
THE CHINA MAIL, SATURDAY, JANUARY 11,-1936.
THE "FLYING FLEA"-SHOWING HOW IT FLIES
SATISFACTORY TESTS
AT HESTON
TRIUMPHANT DISPLAY
BY INVENTOR
TOTAL COST SLIGHTLY UNDER £100
IN England, as in most air-conscious countries: many aero-dynamic experts are anticipating the day when aeroplanes will be as ordinary-as- automobiles that is, they will be as easily avail- able as cars, and as easily housed and operated.
Such popularisation and fabrication of flying machines neces sitates the production of so-called midget planes designed to carry only one or two passengers; ships that will fit into a garage, and which do not require long runways for taking off and landing. "Presaging such machines is a current vogue, which has de- veloped almost into a competition, for building home-made ships like The Flying Flea." recently flown successfully from Heston aerodrome.
"The Flying Flea,” so named¦gine, and took off before he had because of its tiny proportions.į negotiated even half the distance doesn't fly like a flea at all, for of the runway. He' then cizele a fez merely hops. Before it to an elevation of 1,000 feet and took off on its original test attained an even speed of 70 miles flight, however, there were an hour after he had levelled out. many spectators who would not have been surprised if the plane had hopped.
Following a completely satis- factory spin, which proved up all the inexpensive and home-made But they
were disappointed instruments, Appleby then brought The ship, which is almost incre his "Flea to earth in a graceful dibly small. acted as à plane landing. He and mwamy other should, and took its passenger up fliers believe that "The Flying and landed him safely after a Flea" has brought ariation near- flight that measured up to all ex-er to the stage where private pectations of the inventor, S. V.planes will become almost as or: Appleby.
dinary as automobiles, and even Fiess expensive.
Low First Costs ~Appleby betieres that individual- it is possible-that-some-English aeroplanes can be built and sold zeroplane-- plant wil adopt
at a profit with a cost to the pur-some of the ideas embodied in the chaser of no more than £100, His tiny one-man ship. *Flying Flea," which
measures
less than 10 feet across was built for an outlay slightly under £90. It was not manufactured in a fae- tory, but was constructed by the designer and a few workmen, whol possessed no partitular skill, andi who had accumulated no previous experience. They merely follow-j ed out the designs under super- vision of the man who had con- ceived the tiny machine. From stem to stern it is just a trifle over | 10 feet.
HOW AIRWAYS ARE WORKED
Public's Chance To Learn
LONDON EXHIBITION
One of the new Douglas machines now being used on the Amster Europe of five and a half days.
Sorte da tavia mum of the 5.1.M. Airways. They permit a schedzie to
LORD SEMPILL'S CLAIM
PLANE FOR ETHIOPIAN RED CROSS
Everest Fier For Abyssinia
The aeroplane which is being | presented to the Ethiopian Red Cross by a number of people in Britain will be flown to Abys- sinia by Air-Commodore P. F. M Fellowes, a former Director of Airship Development at the Air Ministry and leader of the Hous- ton expedition which few over Everest in 1933. He will be a companied by Capt. F. C. E Hayter, whe 这 to pilot the 'plane in its Bed Cross duties.
AIR TRIPS TO ENGLAND
Enthusiasm For Comforts
70-YEAR-OLD MEN'S COMMENDATION
Melbourne.
comforts!
AIR LINE SURVEY
NEW ATLANTIC ROUTE
Full Co-Operation With America
JOINT INTERNATIONAL SERVICE?
Montreal Survey fights for ja North Atlantic air mall ser- vice will be made next year. An experimental service will start
FIRST FLIGHT IN soon afterwards, leading to the
-BRITAIN
Scotsman's Ascent 151 Years Ago
UP IN HOT-AIR BALLOON
The first fight in Britain was made by a Scotsman 151 years land three months ago, said Lord Sempill in a speech at the 271st anniversary dinner of the Royal Scottish Corporation at the Connaught Rooms, London, last !mouth
establishment of regular trans- Atlantic fights with a minimum of two flights each way weekly.
to
This was announced last month, when delegates to a conference on trans-Atlantic airways which end- ed here recently left for Washing-| ton
open discussions with United States officials "with a! view: to seruring the fallest
co-operation with measure of understanding and States in the development of the United
trans-Atlantic fring":
Longer Route
The Washington discussions re- call a tentative agreement between Imperial Airways and Pan Ameri- an Airways for a service be tween Great Britain, the Azores, Berhada, and New York, with British aeroplanes flying as far as Bermuda and American machines completing the journey to New
Lord Sempill later told a repre- sentative of the press that it was popularly believed that the first fight was made by the Italian, Lanardi
"This is not sc," he added, "the honour belongs to a Scottish doc-York tor named Tytler. He made an as- This is a considerably longer cent in a bot air balloon-at-Edin-froote between Britain and Canada burgh Although he did not re- main-long in the air, the fight was quite successful"
France
than the "Great Circle" route be- tween North Sydney, Nova Scotia, and Ireland-favoured by the Canadians part of which was
Sir flown by
Arthur Whitten į
10.3
the
cock when they crossed the Atlantic in 1919 and Dealy Mail prize of $10,000.
Sir Donald Banks, Director- General of the G.O.P., recently predicted a service eventually car- rying letters between Britain and Canada for three cents. (14%)
an ounce.
Enthusiasm for the
Earlier Experiment provided on the air service be
In his speech Lord Sempill re- tween Australia and England is called an earlier Scottish experi-Brown and the late Sir John expressed by R. Q. Blackwood of meat, when an Italian undertook St Kilda Road, Melbourne, who to dy on wings from Scotland to was the first passenger to book a
with despatches from passage and purchase a return (James TV. ticket on the air route. Mr. Black-In the presence of the King he wood is a septuagenarian.
leapt from the walls of Sterling "It is a strenuous trip because Castle, but landed in the midden of the hour you have to leave each He explained that his wings had London The Empire Air-day," said Mr.Blackwood. Contained the feathers of fowl, way Exhibition opened by the always preferred to be called in which naturally had a greater When it was completed recent-Secretary of State for Air, Sir ample time and was never called affinity for the midden than for
the air. (Laughter.) ly. Appleby carted the machine to Philip Cunliffe-Lister, at the later than 3.45 a
Mr. W. M. Miller, secretary, the Heston aerodrome, and Science Museum, South Ken-! The Eying time each day variedį
said the King had sent his annual We general-! crowd gathered to watch
sington, recently, was the most from 12 to 16 hours. what they fully believed would be at
ambitions of its kind ever held ly arrived at the terminus for the subscription of 50 guineas to the unsatisfactory test. Appleby got
It showed all the details of the day by 6 pm. All the way the at- Corporation, and that the Chair Itention we received was wonderman, Sir Eric Geddes, had con- into the cockpit,
operation of an air line. started the
tributed 100 guineas. The contri small motor, which is no more ex- pensive than a motor-cycle
Successful Trials
TELEVISION AS GUIDE
PLAN FOR AID IN FOG
NEWEST HELP FOR NIGHT FLYING
London.
3
en-
The public were able to see ful Excellent hotel accommodaTMbutions totalled more than £4,472
free of charge, working and statiction was available at most places Imodels of aeroplanes and engines, where stops for the night were.
including all types used by Im-made." perial Airways in the past and
Sections of the new big ones now
being built
A large photographic screen gave a symposium of air trans- port, its economies and advant- }ages.
Many Models
The lay-out and organisation of land and sea airports were shown by models, and visitors saw.de monstrations of the method of controlling traffic in weather.
***
DUCK FIGHTS FLIER
And Wins The Contest!
Vancouver.
Scotsmen Again.
'PLANE LANDS IN STREET
Misses Tramway Wires
By Few Feet
People living in Sackville-road,
circling over their roof-tops and Southend, heard an aeroplane expected it to crash every mo-
memi
Sir Eric Geddes suggested that the reason for Scotsmen occupy ing so many big positions in Eng- {land was a matter of strategy.
The pilot, however, made a safe Trable to beat the English pro-landing in the street, his wings perly at war, the Scots adopted when he pulled up being just over the method of peaceful penetra the kerb. tion.
*
Sir Eric said he wondered why the Abyssinians did not repeat these tactics, and leave their [country.
Other speakers were
Lord
A wild duck engaged the pilot Alness and Sir Alan Anderson, foggy of a Boyal Canadian Air Force M.P. flying-boat in a mid-air battle at
Television experts have propos They were able to listen in to vancouver, and won. ed a method which may supersede the roar of the engine, and heard Sergeant N. E. Small and s existing radio aids to "blind" fy the captain of an air liner call up passenger were flying 200ft, above ing. At present aeroplanes de (the control tower, asking for his the Gulf of Georgia when the pend, in fog and bad weather, on position, and the reply enabling duck flew into the cabin of the various types of radio beacons for him to correct his course. arsistazz in landing, and for The exhibition included a model face. Sergeant Small lost control aeroplane and attacked the pilot's wind tunnel and testing tank, as and the machine crashed into the The Air Ministry, which has used in the development of the gulf, while the duck few away. financed a programme of reair liners.
unhurt."
The sergeant and his passenger were rescued, but the aeroplane was a total wreck
ning of high obstacles.
search, undertaken by the Nation-
al Physical Laboratory to estab fish the best methods, is watch- ing closely the possibilities of television..
Special Screen
The television proposal in volves installation of a screen in the aeroplane. On it the pilot could see a moving spot represent- ing his machine moving over a map of the landing field. A
OLDEST DIRIGIBLE
Ten years of age, the Los An- geles is now the oldest dirigible in the world
PRIVATE BEACON LIGHTS
He missed the overhead traza- way wires by a few feet.
-
son, who was on a test fight for The pilot was Mr. Harold Hud-
Imperial Airways from Lympne! and was trying to fnd Southend to Croydon. He lost direction
municipal airport.
He was unhurt and the machine, was undamaged. It was pushed?
building plot for
on
HEART ATTACK IN night
THE AIR
But Pilot Lands Safely
Bakersfield (California)-
INSTRUMENTS TESTED
A 400 mile instrument flying test, the longest ever undertaken by U. S army aviators, was suc- Captain Donald Buckzumcessfully completed recently at collapsed while piloting an aero-Hamilton Field, army bombing plane, but managed to land safely, base
A few minutes after the wheels had touched the ground he was dead
The three-passengers described
OLDEST RIGID AIRSHIP
IMMIGRANTS BY AIR
United States iminigration” an-
how they saw Captain Buckman The oldest rigid airship now. suddenly turn white and fall for thorities announce an increase The U.S. Bureau of Air Com-of 7,000 this year in the number ward over the controla. Then, merce now is rating private aero- of persons arriving in this coun- they say, he gripped the “joy
Wireless direction-finders at nautical beacon lights. : the aerodrome would have to locate the position of the intvizi-
ble machine. Its movements would then be projected on to a map
Itry by air.
and the whole picture televised Old Plane As Tearoom
back to the pilot The densest fog would thus have no terrozz
COMMERCIAL AIRPORTS
IN AMERICA
Southend New uses for old
During the case it was revealed aeroplanes were suggested here that the owner parked the plane in a field and sold teas from I during the summer.
When the magistrate
recent court cas
A summons had been served on [z seroplane owner for: ting whet up a temporary building
Pennsylvania leads the States the
nsent of the local authority dufiding was
in the number of Commercial air- The said tempor sports, with 70 felda în. This class this aeropla
asked ational situa
"for erk declared
part of
stick," shut off the engine and swooped down to the ground. He made a perfect landing
The
He was unconscious when they looked inside the cockpit. cause of death was a heart attack
- FLYING TRAINING FOR ARMY GRADUATES
actually tying in the United States is the six-year-old all metal ship, ZMC-2
Coming
JACK BUCHANAN
Brewsters
Millions
THESTARI
BRITISH
SECURITY
FOUR ENGINES Every air liner of these great cons panies employed on the main routes has four engines ARIGOROUS FLYING, TESTS are applied to every type of air liner of these companies, not only by them but by the Air Ministry" as well-
AFTER EACH FLIGHT every air-finer has its engines. and its whole structure meticulously examined in strict accordance with Air Ministry rules.
CAN OFFICIAL LICENSED BY THE AIR MINISTRY. satisfies himself that each of these air liners is absolutely Sit for duty before it is allowed to start on any journey in any part of the world
AFTER A SPECIFIED NUMBER OF WORKING HOURS all the engines in every air liner are stripped, re-built and tested, and this applies to every part of the route throughout Europe and the British Empire
THE CAPTAINS of the air liners of Imperial Airways and its associated companies are the most experienced body of pilots employed by any air transport company in the world NO OVERWEIGHT is ever tried by these air liners. Every gallon of petrol, oil and water, every passenger and all mail and luggage is weighed before leaving the ground-
IMPERIAL AIRWAYS
AND ASSOCIATED COMPANIES Booking Agents:-Butterfield & Swire, The Bank Line (Chins) Ltd.
KLM
:
ROYAL DUTCH AIR LINES TWICE WEEKLY
& ACCELERATED SERVICE
HONGKONG LONDON
VIA SINGAPORE
11 DAYS
Through Fare Hong Kong -London
£164.0.0.
For Particulars Apply to:-JAVA-CHINA-JAPAN LINK.
GAS FIRES
PROVIDE
COMFORT
York Building.
WITH CONVENIENCE AND CLEANLINESS.
Gas Fires Fixed for $5. Annual Rental
$5.
HONG KONG & CHINA GAS CO. LTD.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.