278 



NA TURE 



[May 5, 1910 



Anomalous Reading of Hygrometer. 



Mr. Richardson's explanation in Nature of April 28 of 

 the anomalous readings referred to does not seem very 

 satisfactory, because, owing to the presence of dust in the 

 atmosphere, the air is never supersaturated ; indeed, it is 

 seldom even saturated, owing to the presence of some 

 particles having an affinity for water vapour. But even 

 supposing there had been supersaturated air at the time, 

 then the " dry bulb " would also form a condensing sur- 

 face and would have been heated as well as the wet bulb. 

 Fortunately, the observer of the anomalous reading noted 

 that the temperature was rapidly falling at the time, and 

 the bad conducting covering of muslin would quite account 

 for the wet bulb falling slower, and so reading higher than 

 the dry. j. a. 



THE LONDON TO MANCHESTER FLIGHT. 



n^HE success of M. Paulhan in reaching Man- 



-■■ Chester from London by aeroplane, and thus 

 gaining- the Daily Mail prize of 10,000/., for which 

 Mr. Grahame-White had made such a valiant 

 struggle, is the second case in which an English 

 aviator has been within measurable reach of a suc- 

 cess which has actually been achieved by a French- 

 man. Last summer it was Latham who attempted 

 and failed to cross the Channel, and Bleriot who 

 carried off the palm. 



The success of the present effort affords a striking 

 measure of the rapid progress that has been made 

 within the last three years in extending the perform- 

 ances of aeroplanes. When first the offer of the prize for 

 the Manchester flight was announced it certainly looked 

 as if a more useful purpose would be served by offer- 

 ing a prize to anyone who could fly at all. It is 

 hardly likely that if the only inducements offered to 

 aviators had been prizes for such long distance flights 

 as the present one, the same amount of attention would 

 have been devoted to short flights ; but numerous pri- 

 vate individuals, notably in France, filled up the gap 

 by offering a large number of smaller prizes for more 

 modest achievements, and, as soon as a flight of a 

 hundred yards had been performed, the main diffi- 

 culty of performing a flight of a hundred miles was 

 overcome. All that remained necessary was experi- 

 ence, and such increase in the carrying capacity of 

 aeroplanes as was necessary to provide an adequate 

 supply of energy for the journey. 



Owing to the fact that both aviators used Farman 

 biplanes, the results do not teach us anything regard- 

 ing the relative merits of different types of machine; 

 and it would be premature to draw any inferences 

 regarding the relative merits of " monoplanes " and 

 " biplanes," in view of Bleriot's monoplane success 

 last summer. The Farman biplane, like most other 

 aeroplanes, is probably longitudinally stable and 

 laterally unstable, and in a short trial which Mr. 

 Grahame-White made early in the afternoon before 

 starting, the machine is described as swaying from 

 side to side dangerously. In this respect, both com- 

 petitors had the same difficulties to contend against, 

 and in view of the fact that Mr. Grahame-White is a 

 proficient flyer both on the Farman biplane and on the 

 Bleriot monoplane, and that he made a good sixty- 

 five-minutes flight on the Farman machine, it is 

 probable that under reasonable weather conditions the 

 contest would have resulted in a tie. Mr. Grahame- 

 White 's failure was certainly attributable to the bad 

 weather. He only started from London at 6.29 p.m. 

 on learning that Paulhan had started an hour before, 

 and thus he was only able to get that night to Roade, 

 about the time when M. Paulhan descended at Lich- 

 field, fifty-seven miles in front. 



On the following morning chances were again 

 against the English competitor, for, after struggling j 



NO. 2 1 14, VOL. 83] 



against the wind, he was "twisted from side to side 

 and progress seemed impossible, so he decided re- 

 luctantly to come down " ; four minutes after Paulhan 

 had again started and only ten miles behind him. If 

 the result proves anything, it is that the French 

 aviator was either more skilled in checking the lateral 

 oscillations of his machine in a high wind, or that his 

 greater experience of meteorological conditions en- 

 abled him to seize opportunities which Mr. Grahame- 

 White missed. Possibly, too, the difference of altitude 

 may have affected the conditions, for, according to 

 all chronicles, M. Paulhan seems to have flown 

 higher than Mr. Grahame-White. At any rate, Mr. 

 Grahame-White was at a disadvantage, for he 

 started off without waiting for a meal on the first day, 

 after hearing of M. Paulhan 's start, and was prob- 

 ably less fit for his task the next morning. What- 

 ever the explanation, however, it is abundantly shown 

 that the time has not yet come when aeroplanes can 

 be generally used for touring or for regular purposes 

 of transport, but that much practical experience and 

 fair weather are still required before a successful 

 flight can be relied on. It is, indeed, a matter of 

 congratulation that the landings were all effected in 

 safety, and that neither Mr. Grahame-White nor M. 

 Paulhan had any misfortunes of a serious character. 

 At the same time, M. Paulhan is reported to have 

 stated that he would not repeat the experience for 

 double the prize, adding :— 



" People fancy that because I did the flight well within 

 the time it was all plain sailing. I can assure them that 

 from the time I left Crewe the strain and anxiety with my 

 machine was a tremendous burden, and when I put on 

 speed and came within sight of Manchester I felt a perfect 

 rag, wondering all the time if I could ever reach my goal. 

 I don't believe, now that it is all over, that I could have 

 kept it up a quarter of a mile further." 



M. Paulhan has well earned his prize ; but it is 

 sincerely to be hoped that those who have money to 

 give away in the future, and wish to promote the 

 development of aviation, will devote it to competitions 

 which are less strenuous tests of physical endurance, 

 and more rigorous tests of the development of real 

 advances in the construction of aeroplanes. The 

 Aerial League's appeals in this direction have not met 

 with too generous a response from the British public. 



The use of the Gnome motor in these flights clearly , 

 demonstrates that the rotating-cylinder type of engine [ 

 has a future before it. It obviates the vibrations | 

 necessarily associated with reciprocating engines, and j 

 affords a simple means of cooling the cylinders. The 

 principle is old enough, and mathematicians have I 

 long puzzled over how to apply it, but the practical j 

 difficulties appear not to have been overcome until 

 quite recently. 



The flight has not been without its lessons regard- 

 ing the means of finding one's way in the air. In f 

 this case the London and North- Western line was 1 

 followed, the course being indicated by whitening thet 

 sleepers in places, and the possible halting places also j 

 being clearly marked. j 



If one success has thus been scored in April, the | 

 Deutsche Zeitschrift filr Luftschiffahrt, on the other ? 

 hand, describes April as the black month for aerial ! 

 navigation, and April 3 as the Dies irae. In the j 

 issue for April 20 are portraits of Prof. Abegg, Dr. 

 Delbruck, and Herr Benduhn, victims of the accidents j 

 to the balloons Schlesien and Pommern, both of which 

 sailed on that day; next we have Dr. Alberti's acci-„ 

 dent with a Bleriot machine in Munich, Le Blon'^ 

 death at St. Sebastian, Molon's misfortune at Cannes,' 

 Grade's accident at Leipzig — all chronicled or figured 

 in this single number of the journal. In view of this 

 series of misfortunes, we again express the hope 



