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HONG KONG DAILY PRESS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1936,

AVIATION

LATVIA BUYS BRITISH WARPLANES

Fog And "Upper Air" Investigations

FOUR-GUN

FIGHTER

Latvia has ordered a squadron of Gloster Gladiator single- seat fighter biplanes. The contract was placed after considera- destination was influen- tion of the best. foreign aircraft; its

and 14.50 in eed by the notable display of power

manoeuvre which was given by the Gladiator at the S.B.A.C. Display at the end of June.

pending.

CHARTING THE UPPER AIR

Air pilots, meteorologists and observation stations have been since working in Newfoundland

or the much more complete wea- ther information available on the ground.

FOLLOW-MY-LEADER

how

such drill as that performed at the Royal Air Force Display at Hendon demands a high degree of The British authorities have be fying skill and flying discipline.

first that

the In particular the aerobatics done the autumn of 1934 on accumulat-Reved from the

mo- by a flight of three Gauntlet sin- ing data for one of the most com- trustworthiness obtained in prehensive weather forecasting dern flying boats is sufficient to gle-seat fighters illustrated

main- schemes ever devised. It will be

allow them to operate in safety accurately the pilots can used for the north Atlantic air

over long stretches of ocean pro-tain their intervals and distances. services and the investigations vided only that they may be cer-

tain have been undertaken on behalf.

of Anding a landing place

Those not conversant with for- free from fog at the end of their of the British Air Ministry and the Canadian and Newfoundland au-

fight. Nevertheless, they are notation Aying methods of en won- thorities. They include charting reglecting the possibilities, and ex- der how a pilot is able to spare attention for the execution of an intricate evolution and at the same time concentrate upon keeping his aeroplane in its correct positon in the formation. The explanation of the formation is conscious of. doing intricate manoeuvres. The other pilots are solely concerned with following him at their pre- scribed intervals and distances.

of the upper air and an examina-perimental transatlantic flights tion of the prevalence of fog in

will be made within the next few the Newfoundland zone and, over months by the new de Havilland the mouth of the St. Lawrence. A Albatross our-engined landplane number of log-reporting stations

which is expected to reach a speed has been set up round the const

of some 250 miles an hour.

MOBILITY AND FORMATION and Inland, and all-the-year-

FLYING round observations indicate that while dificult Aying conditions are apt to persist in areas round St. John's, there is a central clear zune in Newfoundland.

side of the fuselage it has one. The undercarriage is cantilever.

The object of the ground or without an axle to connect the two texs. These changes have de-ganization will be to keep plots on the Atlantic airway informed of creased the head resistance of the

the movements or fog and to lead aeroplane ax compared with the

them through Gauntlet, and enhanced its per-

clear channels. formance, The Gladiator is 25

Charting of the upper air will pro- miles an hour faster than its fore- vide data upon which, it is haped, a high degree of accuracy in core- runner and carries a heavier load, yet it climbs to 20,000 feet just as casting will be based, rapidly and attains a similar ser- vice "ceiling." Its four guns make

Latvia thus joins a growing list of countries that have purchased either the Gladiator or its immedi- are predecessor in the Olgster

Other 170- range the Gauntlet portant overseas contracts are Both, types are in pro- duction for the Royal Air Force: the Gauntlet has for some time paxt armed home defence “quad- rons of the Service.

Deriving power

from a Bristol Mercury air-cooled radial engine.

840 the most powerful biplane figh- supercharged to give up to

ter ordered for Royal Air Force bp. at a height of 14,000 feet, the Gladiator reaches a level speed of

squipment: two are fitted in the usual grooves at the aides of the 355 m.p.h. at 15,500 Yect. It car- ries the full and elaborate equip-fuselage, and two in "blisters" be- ment of a "day and night" fighter,

Vickers

guns, night-flying

kvar. navigation lights, radio receiver and sender, and oxygen-breathing apparatus. It climbs. from sea- level to 20,000 feet in nine minutes and Its service "cefling" the level ut which rate of climb falls to 100 fret a minute) 13. 35.500 feet- more than six thousand feet hig- her than the summit of Mount Evercat. With full load on board, its stalling speed is only 59 miles 20 hour and its speed range-- ratio between maximum and min- imum flying speeds-13, therefore more than four to one..

low the lower wings, from which comprising an armament of four they fire outside the disc swept by

THE GLADIATOR The Gladiator differs from the Gauntlet in its engine, which is more powerful, in carrying a hea- vier load, and in design of wings and undercarriage. Instead of two pairs of interplane struts on either

the airscrew.

SPEED MYSTERY

A good deal of aging by Imperial Airways pilots has been involved in obtaining the tions.

necessary observa-

Results

of this meteorological work are likely to influence the selection of sites for NewfoundTM tänd's airport. The present "pro- posal is to construct a landing

ground out of virgin forest at Hatties Camp and to equip it with an artificial" runway capable of allowing all sizes and types of landplane: to take off and land Consultations, to tate place during September, have been arranged with an Alr Ministry expert, whose advice will be a chle? factor in I the ultimate decision.

RADIO CONTROL

When the Gauntlet was put through its officialy flying trials. test pilots discovered that its best level speed was 230 miles an hour. Yet

the designer's calculations "estimata of only. 220 showed an m.p.h. The search for the reason why performance exceeded eati mate by that useful ten miles an hour has engaged many hours of research. A Gauntlet was one of the Arst aircraft to be tested in the new full-scale wind channel at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, Careful stream-te landing places by radio in ag

ring of every external part un- doubtedly has much to do with the remarkable performance of the machine, but the chief reason is Probably the well-nigh perfect shaping of the fuselage,

MOTOR

In the Atlantic service the prin ciple of radio control is to be ex- tended even farther than in the Continental services. Plots will

be instructed as to course and as

cordance with the weather reports. Thus the command of the aircraft appears to be passing gradually from the man in the air to the man on the ground and this change is to be expected in view

JOTTINGS

MOTOR ENGINEERING

PROGRESS

Remarkable Properties Of

Wear Resistance

CHROMIUM PLATING

All motorists who had experien:

fact that chromium-plating seems

ce in years gone by of the difficul- ku possess self-lubricating proper-

here at the t me, I was told re- cently by two different automobile engineers who had experimented with cylinders thus treated that, while resistance to wear was a promising feature, the trouble was an impossibility of ensuring that' the chromium Alm on, the bereR should at all times be wholly and thoroughly lubricated. It was said that applying oll to a chromium surface was like trying to moisten an olly surface with water.

But now I learn from another source that по such difficulty exists; in other words, that what some people have termed 13 im-

possible 1s being accomplished every day!

‘aluminium

Mobility is the trump card of air power and special attention is being paid to the development of this quality in the British Royal Air Force. With the large increase in size of the Service, ever greater importance attaches to 'mobility and the work that has been done In the past in perfecting forma. tion flying is now bearing fruit. Close formations, which have hit- herto been regarded mainly as de- vices for drilling the pilots are proving indispensable for shifting units from one aerodrome to an- other with a minimum toas of time.

But the larger numbers of aeroplanes which are handled to- gether have called for spe- rial safety provisions and Order un Air Ministry Flying has been lasued laying down me- thods to be used when formations are coming in to land.

$3

Thus, when a loop is being done. the leader decides how he shall make it and when. The other two Pilots simply maintain their posi- Consequently when. the tions. nose of the leading aeroplane goes up on the loop, the poses of their machines do likewise even though they

not may

know what manoeuvre is being begun. All round the loop the pliots simply look at the leader's machine and do not pay any attention to where the ground has got in relation to themselves. The leader arranges his manoeuvres so that there is available a margin of speed which will be sufficient to allow the other

to maintain machines

position without difficulty: "but otherwise ma- he concentrates upon the noeuvres themselves just as if his To avoid risk of confusion, a fix- was the only aeroplane in the sky. Aircraft qualities which aid ac- cd procedure is given. When the

curate close formation dying are formation approaches the drome, it must form echelon to a flexible engine, which responds the right before entering the pre-Instantly and smoothly to small changes in the throttle opening. Each sub- formation then finds itself in its.

good outlook from the pilot's cock- correct order for landing. On pit, and powerful controls which breaking of from the main form- are fully operative throughout the range. The remarkable also speed ation, the sub-formation

close formation flying forma echelon 10 the right work in and ultimately the "single which has been "done recently by machines

land

the Royal "Air Force must be at- may

in the

tributed in some measure to the sequence of their positions in the echelon. Unless specific orders

peroplanes with which the squad- bre given to the contrary, this rons are equipped. The Hawker procedure is to be the invariable Fury with Rolls-Royce liquid-cool- ed engine, for instance, and the rule in future.

Gloster Gauntlet with Bristol air- cooled engine, have been found to be well suited to close formation work.

scribed

circuit zone.

aero-

"Formation flying has been deve- loped by the Royal Air Force to a more advanced stage than by any other air force in the world and

severely restricted, is ascribed to, to do the work-the police or the railway influence more than to motorists? Presumably the latter, but in many cases they will be do- the interest of the public, though

they have never One can 'see some broken lamp glasses, while many owners will find for the first time that bulb-changing is not an easy matter with some types of head and side lamp.

It must be admitted that legisla-ing sorretning

done before. tion primarily for the protection of the railways has by no means

without been always

benefit in protecting road transport in- terests against themselves by pre- competition. venting cut-throat

en-

But in this country our rallways The sump'est way would have are privately owned, and road been to make It illegal to offer 'transport Interests have cause to

any bulb for sale unless it was on the marked. One cannot see this re- congratulate themselves fact. In South Africa the rall- qu'rement being effectively ways ára State-owned, and repres- forced by individual action against sive legislation has been and is rotorists. It is typical, however. far more serious from the motor of the little annoyances to which tch'cle owner's standpoint. Long- distance haulage and undampered contracts are still permitted here: but in South Africa there is a 30- mile distance Imit for road trans- port in some parts.

And now, I am told, the free- dom of cond use for goods and passenger vehicles is similarly This in turn, reminds me threatened in India. A Transport ty if not the impossiblity of pre-ties; whether or no, it is intensely other instances of the accomplish-Advisory Council was set up by the veriting the deterioration of nic- hard and able to resist corrosion"; ment of the impossible. Take Government; no member of it re- kel-plating, after a few months' far better than a steel surface.

cyl hder heads and presented road interests and no- use of a car, know full well what As regards the chrom.um plat-steel valve seats in aluminium; body was asked to attend its weel- an immense improvement is the ing of cylinder bores, I referred to cylinders,

cylinder heads.ings to speak on behalf of the lat now, universal chromium-plating; the only weakness of the latter. 13 its tendency to peel off if rust gets tinder it at the sharp edges of the metal.

of

tions, regulations, and control to be applied to motor transport Among other proposals is one to the effect that goods must not be sent by road where through "ser- vices by ra'l are avilable.

the motor vehicle user has to sub- mit, and it seems to be one more duty added to those of the police, whose time is already taken up to ED great an extent by such things that it is remarkable that they can ever find time to attend to

more important matters.

COLOURED CROSSINGS

Most drivers have on occasion unwittingly broken the Bellsha crossing rules Despite the bea- cons and the stads in the road it is in some conditions only too easy to overlook these crossings. and it is quite a good suggestion that they should be further dis-

colour for the road surface. A yellow surfaced crossing, for ex- ample, could hardly escape notice. In connection with these cross- ings there is still uncertainty as to what is expected of the Mo- torist. Bhould a'l traffic from both directions, stop directly a pedes trian leaves the kerb or should the various unite stop in turn to allow the pedestrian. an uninterrupted crossing?..

possibilides on a previous occa- "Qcite impract cable," sa'd various ter. It was made up of raway sion, and mentioned that many people, owing to the impossibility officials and members of the Gov- motor manufacture. were testing of preventing leakage and loose-ernment, and is reported to have a Dutch process. On different ness due to the widely different reached unanimous agreement lines is a British process which is rates of expansion with tempera- (no. wonder!) as to the restrictinguished by using a different It is not, however, 'at all widely claimed to overcome certain short- ture variations of the aluminium known that chrom um-pating is comings of the Dutch. such as a of the cylinder head and the cast being use to an increasing extent tendency for the chromium to be iron of the cylinder block, or the for parts subject to wear, such as deposited more heavily at one part atcel of the valve seats." But the camshafts, crankshafts, and, w

of the bore than the other, Whe-mpossible" in these cases is be The ther that is so, or not, I am noting proved every day on perimentally, cylinder bores, latter have been found u présent in a position to affirm; but I feel sands of car and aero engines to several problems that were not sure that if the chromium plating be quite possible. realised until tests had been in of cylinder bores can be made a progress for some while; but from dependable and -commercially feasible process for car engines in all accounts they appear now to be fast approach'ng solution. general we shall be e'ose to if not

ċamshafts As regards

at the end of troubles, and ex- excessive cylinder crankshafts, tests covering many pense due to *hundreds of thousands of miles wear, whether the latter, be taken as caused by friction or corrosion.

and

WHAT CAN BE DONE

have shown that chromium-plat- ing has a remarkable resistance to or both. wear; after four and a half years constant use in one. engine, for example, the

In referring above to the most cam and crank pins thus treated showed practi- recent development in the chro cally no sign of wear. This is be- mlum plating of cylinder bores. I lieved to be due in part to the cannot forget that, as mentioned

RAILWAYS AND ROAD

TRANSPORT

thou-i

WATTS ON THE BULB After October 4 every electele, light bulb in a forward lamp must have its wattage marked on it. One cannot picture every motorist Protests loud and long have been between now and then removing It seems a little unreasonable made by road transport interests the bulbs from head and s'de for a single pedestrian to stop all in this country against the ap- lamps, spot lights, etc., to see if traffic both ways. For each balf parent inability of successive Cor- they conform to the new regula- to stop in turn should be sufi ernments to restst ra'iway in-

tions. Most bulbs are" so marked clent, and the best plan would be fluence in the matter of repressive but some of the Imported ones are to place an island in the centre and restrictive legislation relating not, and in any case the markings of every Belisha crowing. If such to motor transport. goods and

are not always very clear.

an island could not be used the How in th's requirement going point is not a sultab'e one for a pastenger.

to be enforced? Are we to have Belisha crossing A London cor- police, roundupe, and if so who is respondent.

The present position, in which competition' with the railways la

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