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XXII 1919–20
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Into the later months of 1919 comes the flight by Captain Ross-Smith from England to Australia and the attempt to make the Cape1 to Cairo voyage by air. The Australian Government had offered a prize of £10,000 for the first flight from England to Australia in a British machine, the flight to be accomplished2 in 720 consecutive3 hours. Ross-Smith, with his brother, Lieut. Keith Macpherson Smith, and two mechanics, left Hounslow in a Vickers-Vimy bomber4 with Rolls-Royce engine on November 12th and arrived at Port Darwin, North Australia, on the 10th December, having completed the flight in 27 days 20 hours 20 minutes, thus having 51 hours 40 minutes to spare out of the 720 allotted5 hours.

Australian Flight finish, 10th December, 1919.

The crew and machine.

Cape to Cairo.

The ‘Silver Queen’ and its crew.

Early in 1920 came a series of attempts at completing the journey by air between Cairo and the Cape. Out of four competitors Colonel Van Ryneveld came nearest to making the journey successfully, leaving England on a standard Vickers-Vimy bomber with Rolls-Royce engines, identical in design with the machine used by Captain Ross-Smith on the England to Australia flight. A second Vickers-Vimy was financed by the Times newspaper and a third flight was undertaken with a Handley-Page machine under the auspices6 of the Daily Telegraph. The Air Ministry7 had already prepared the route by means of three survey parties which cleared the aerodromes and landing grounds,271 dividing their journey into stages of 200 miles or less. Not one of the competitors completed the course, but in both this and Ross-Smith’s flight valuable data was gained in respect of reliability8 of machines and engines, together with a mass of meteorological information.

The Handley-Page Company announced in the early months of 1920 that they had perfected a new design of wing which brought about a twenty to forty per cent improvement in lift rate in the year. When the nature of the design was made public, it was seen to consist of a division of the wing into small sections, each with its separate lift. A few days later, Fokker, the Dutch inventor, announced the construction of a machine in which all external bracing9 wires are obviated10, the wings being of a very deep section and self-supporting. The value of these two inventions remains11 to be seen so far as commercial flying is concerned.

The value of air work in war, especially so far as the Colonial campaigns in which British troops are constantly being engaged is in question, was very thoroughly12 demonstrated in a report issued early in 1920 with reference to the successful termination of the Somaliland campaign through the intervention13 of the Royal Air Force, which between January 21st and the 31st practically destroyed the Dervish force under the Mullah, which had been a thorn in the side of Britain since 1907. Bombs and machine-guns did the work, destroying fortifications and bringing about the surrender of all the Mullah’s following, with the exception of about seventy who made their escape.

Certain records both in construction and performance had characterised the post-war years, though as design advances and comes nearer to perfection, it is obvious272 that records must get fewer and farther between. The record aeroplane as regards size at the time of its construction was the Tarrant triplane, which made its first—and last—flight on May 28th, 1919. The total loaded weight was 30 tons, and the machine was fitted with six 400 horse-power engines; almost immediately after the trial flight began, the machine pitched forward on its nose and was wrecked14, causing fatal injuries to Captains Dunn and Rawlings, who were aboard the machine. A second accident of similar character was that which befell the giant seaplane known as the Felixstowe Fury, in a trial flight. This latter machine was intended to be flown to Australia, but was crashed over the water.

On May 4th, 1920, a British record for flight duration and useful load was established by a commercial type Handley-Page biplane, which, carrying a load of 3,690 lbs., rose to a height of 13,999 feet and remained in the air for 1 hour 20 minutes. On May 27th the French pilot, Fronval, flying at Villacoublay in a Morane-Saulnier type of biplane with Le Rhone motor, put up an extraordinary type of record by looping the loop 962 times in 3 hours 52 minutes 10 seconds. Another record of the year of similar nature was that of two French fliers, Boussotrot and Bernard, who achieved a continuous flight of 24 hours 19 minutes 7 seconds, beating the pre-war record of 21 hours 48? seconds set up by the German pilot, Landemann. Both these records are likely to stand, being in the nature of freaks, which demonstrate little beyond the reliability of the machine and the capacity for endurance on the part of its pilots.

Trial Flight of the Tarrant Triplane at Farnborough.

The machine before the crash.

Meanwhile, on February 14th, Lieuts. Masiero and Ferrarin left Rome on S.V.A. Ansaldo V. machines273 fitted with 220 horse-power S.V.A. motors. On May 30th they arrived at Tokio, having flown by way of Bagdad, Karachi, Canton, Pekin, and Osaka. Several other competitors started, two of whom were shot down by Arabs in Mesopotamia.

Considered in a general way, the first two years after the termination of the Great European War form a period of transition in which the commercial type of aeroplane was gradually evolved from the fighting machine which was perfected in the four preceding years. There was about this period no sense of finality, but it was as experimental, in its own way, as were the years of progressing design which preceded the war period. Such commercial schemes as were inaugurated call for no more note than has been given here; they have been experimental, and, with the possible exception of the United States Government mail service, have not been planned and executed on a sufficiently15 large scale to furnish reliable data on which to forecast the prospects16 of commercial aviation. And there is a school rapidly growing up which asserts that the day of aeroplanes is nearly over. The construction of the giant airships of to-day and the successful return flight of R34 across the Atlantic seem to point to the eventual17 triumph, in spite of its disadvantages, of the dirigible airship.

This is a hard saying for such of the aeroplane industry as survived the War period and consolidated18 itself, and it is but the saying of a section which bases its belief on the fact that, as was noted19 in the very early years of the century, the aeroplane is primarily a war machine. Moreover, the experience of the War period tended to discredit20 the dirigible, since, before the introduction of helium gas, the inflammability of its274 buoyant factor placed it at an immense disadvantage beside the machine dependent on the atmosphere itself for its lift.

As life runs to-day, it is a long time since Kipling wrote his story of the airways21 of a future world and thrust out a prophecy that the bulk of the world’s air traffic would be carried by gas-bag vessels22. If the school which inclines to belief in the dirigible is right in its belief, as it well may be, then the foresight23 was uncannily correct, not only in the matter of the main assumption, but in the detail with which the writer embroidered24 it.

On the constructional side, the history of the aeroplane is still so much in the making that any attempt at a critical history would be unwise, and it is possible only to record fact, leaving it to the future for judgment25 to be passed. But, in a general way, criticism may be advanced with regard to the place that aeronautics26 takes in civilisation27. In the past hundred years, the world has made miraculously28 rapid strides materially, but moral development has not kept abreast29. Conception of the responsibilities of humanity remains virtually in a position of a hundred years ago; given a higher conception of life and its responsibilities, the aeroplane becomes the crowning achievement of that long series which James Watt30 inaugurated, the last step in inter-communication, the chain with which all nations are bound in a growing prosperity, surely based on moral wellbeing. Without such conception of the duties as well as the rights of life, this last achievement of science may yet prove the weapon that shall end civilisation as men know it to-day, and bring this ultra-material age to a phase of ruin on which saner31 people can build a world more reasonable and less given to groping after purely32 material advancement33.

The Tarrant smash.

Front view of crashed machine. Searching for the injured after the smash.

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1 cape ITEy6     
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风
参考例句:
  • I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
  • She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。
2 accomplished UzwztZ     
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的
参考例句:
  • Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
  • Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。
3 consecutive DpPz0     
adj.连续的,联贯的,始终一贯的
参考例句:
  • It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
  • The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。
4 bomber vWwz7     
n.轰炸机,投弹手,投掷炸弹者
参考例句:
  • He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
  • Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。
5 allotted 5653ecda52c7b978bd6890054bd1f75f     
分配,拨给,摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • I completed the test within the time allotted . 我在限定的时间内完成了试验。
  • Each passenger slept on the berth allotted to him. 每个旅客都睡在分配给他的铺位上。
6 auspices do0yG     
n.资助,赞助
参考例句:
  • The association is under the auspices of Word Bank.这个组织是在世界银行的赞助下办的。
  • The examination was held under the auspices of the government.这次考试是由政府主办的。
7 ministry kD5x2     
n.(政府的)部;牧师
参考例句:
  • They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
  • We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。
8 reliability QVexf     
n.可靠性,确实性
参考例句:
  • We mustn't presume too much upon the reliability of such sources.我们不应过分指望这类消息来源的可靠性。
  • I can assure you of the reliability of the information.我向你保证这消息可靠。
9 bracing oxQzcw     
adj.令人振奋的
参考例句:
  • The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
  • The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。
10 obviated dc20674e61de9bd035f2495c16140204     
v.避免,消除(贫困、不方便等)( obviate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
11 remains 1kMzTy     
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹
参考例句:
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
12 thoroughly sgmz0J     
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地
参考例句:
  • The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
  • The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。
13 intervention e5sxZ     
n.介入,干涉,干预
参考例句:
  • The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
  • Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。
14 wrecked ze0zKI     
adj.失事的,遇难的
参考例句:
  • the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
  • the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞
15 sufficiently 0htzMB     
adv.足够地,充分地
参考例句:
  • It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
  • The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。
16 prospects fkVzpY     
n.希望,前途(恒为复数)
参考例句:
  • There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
  • They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。
17 eventual AnLx8     
adj.最后的,结局的,最终的
参考例句:
  • Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
  • Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。
18 consolidated dv3zqt     
a.联合的
参考例句:
  • With this new movie he has consolidated his position as the country's leading director. 他新执导的影片巩固了他作为全国最佳导演的地位。
  • Those two banks have consolidated and formed a single large bank. 那两家银行已合并成一家大银行。
19 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的,知名的
参考例句:
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
20 discredit fu3xX     
vt.使不可置信;n.丧失信义;不信,怀疑
参考例句:
  • Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
  • They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。
21 AIRWAYS 5a794ea66d6229951550b106ef7caa7a     
航空公司
参考例句:
  • The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
  • At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。
22 vessels fc9307c2593b522954eadb3ee6c57480     
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人
参考例句:
  • The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
23 foresight Wi3xm     
n.先见之明,深谋远虑
参考例句:
  • The failure is the result of our lack of foresight.这次失败是由于我们缺乏远虑而造成的。
  • It required a statesman's foresight and sagacity to make the decision.作出这个决定需要政治家的远见卓识。
24 embroidered StqztZ     
adj.绣花的
参考例句:
  • She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。
  • She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。
25 judgment e3xxC     
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见
参考例句:
  • The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
  • He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。
26 aeronautics BKVyg     
n.航空术,航空学
参考例句:
  • National Aeronautics and Space undertakings have made great progress.国家的航空航天事业有了很大的发展。
  • He devoted every spare moment to aeronautics.他把他所有多余的时间用在航空学上。
27 civilisation civilisation     
n.文明,文化,开化,教化
参考例句:
  • Energy and ideas are the twin bases of our civilisation.能源和思想是我们文明的两大基石。
  • This opera is one of the cultural totems of Western civilisation.这部歌剧是西方文明的文化标志物之一。
28 miraculously unQzzE     
ad.奇迹般地
参考例句:
  • He had been miraculously saved from almost certain death. 他奇迹般地从死亡线上获救。
  • A schoolboy miraculously survived a 25 000-volt electric shock. 一名男学生在遭受2.5 万伏的电击后奇迹般地活了下来。
29 abreast Zf3yi     
adv.并排地;跟上(时代)的步伐,与…并进地
参考例句:
  • She kept abreast with the flood of communications that had poured in.她及时回复如雪片般飞来的大批信件。
  • We can't keep abreast of the developing situation unless we study harder.我们如果不加强学习,就会跟不上形势。
30 watt Lggwo     
n.瓦,瓦特
参考例句:
  • The invention of the engine is creditable to Watt.发动机的发明归功于瓦特。
  • The unit of power is watt.功率的单位是瓦特。
31 saner 3d0ae5c6cab45f094fb6af1ae9c6423f     
adj.心智健全的( sane的比较级 );神志正常的;明智的;稳健的
参考例句:
  • He seemed wiser than Hurstwood, saner and brighter than Drouet. 他看上去比赫斯渥明智,比杜洛埃稳舰聪明。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • Such brooding didn't make him any saner. 然而,苦思冥想并没有使他头脑清醒。 来自辞典例句
32 purely 8Sqxf     
adv.纯粹地,完全地
参考例句:
  • I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
  • This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。
33 advancement tzgziL     
n.前进,促进,提升
参考例句:
  • His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
  • The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。


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