London South Collegiate Institute - Oracle Yearbook (London, Ontario Canada)

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lives by keeping in touch with the rest of the World. The radio amateur is a respected mem- ber of the community, he is recognized by the government and provided for accord- inglyg and, best of all, he has a hobby which will not only bring him hours of enjoyment, but will give him experience and knowledge which will stand him in good stead in years to come. LOS ANGELES AIR RACES ll935 KEITH COATES, Arts '37. University of Western Ontario. According to the 1933 Los Angeles Air Races, the trend along which present-day aircraft designers are working is to pro- duce airplanes with more and more power and less refinement of streamline design. The most outstanding example of the typical racing plane of the day is that of Colonel Roscoe Turner, who, with his ship, set a new United States transcontinental air record from New York to Los Angeles. His plane, a speedy low-winged mono- plane of Wedell-Williams design, was cap- able of 300 miles an hour, or more. Turner's average speed for his flight was only 250 miles an hour, due to the fact that he was unable to fly through rain- storms at his maximum speed. Before setting out from New York, Turner tele- phoned to the California Institute of Technology, where a new and very accu- rate method of forecasting the locality of storm areas had been devised. So, by turning aside a few miles at those points where he had been warned that storms were prevalent, Turner was able to bring his ship down fully a half hour ahead of his nearest rival. This year saw more power pouring from the already powerful engines used in the tiny racers. Last year, in May, Jimmie Doolittle won the Thompson Trophy for the 100-mile dash with a 750 horsepower engine pulling his monoplane through the air at Cleveland. This year saw Colonel Turner win the same event with an engine supercharged up to nearly 1,000 horsepower. These planes are rela- tively very small and consequently have a heavy wing loading. Another item of interest is the fact that these races were all clocked by electricity, and at the finish lines two-eyed cameras recorded their times and positions, accurate to H000 of a. second. These cameras and electrical timing devices have often settled defi- nitely and accurately many a dispute as ,SOUTH c. 1. to which plane really won. Thisapparatus is now regarded as a necessity in Judging finishes. The tiny racers come in two classes-the 375 cubic inch piston displacement, and the 550 inch displacement. They land sometimes in excess of 100 miles an hour, and their top speeds vary up around the 200 mile an hour mark. In the air they look like tiny insects, and, when they make vertical turns around the pvlons, the casual observer holds his breath for fear they might collapse in mid-air. Any fortunate individual who saw the races must have been more than thrilled at the exhibition of stunt iiying put on by iiying aces of many countries. Imagine witnessing the young Italian ace, Tito Falconi, do barrel rolls right off the ground! Another interesting event was the thrilling exhibition of flying put on by Ernst Udet, of war-time and present fame, representing Germany. Many of the American pilots considered his seven- year-old Fokker biplane, powered with only a 150 horsepower motor, an object of ridicule. They were, however, forced to admit, because of his prowess in the manoeuvres which he executed, that they were quite wrong. He actually pulled his ship straight up into a whipstall, only 300 feet above the grandstands. Repeatedly, he looped his plane without any power, and held the crowds spellbound by pick- ing up handkerchiefs from the ground with a hook tied to one wing. Crowds also thrilled as they watched Lieut. .Iohnnv Miller loop-the-loop in an auto-gyro. This, an all-new stunt for the National Air Races, received great ova- tions from the spectators. Can you imagine a parachute jumper leaving a plane at nearly 15,000 feet, to fall twist- ing and turning, his course marked by wisps of white smoke? He opened his first Iturn ,to page 832 page sixty-three

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A.. - - Editors: STEXVART CALVERT AND WILLIAM JARMAIN . ANlATEiUlR RADIO By W. A. NORFOLK, Arts '36, University of Western Ontario Amateur Radio! There is romance in the words. They speak of adventure, of conquest, of forging into new fields, and experiencing new thrills. To-day there are thousands upon thousands of young men, yes, and even girls, who are finding a thrilling, enjoyable and profitable hobby in the pursuits of amateur radio. When I say profitable, I am not thinking so much of profit in the mercenary sense, but of everlasting educational and instructive profit. When asked my opinion on the best extra-curricula activities for a high school student whose interests lie in science, I would say unhesitatingly, Get into radio l There is not a field of our everyday life in which radio and radio principles do not play a vital part. Years ago, when a high school student developed a passion for science, he played in his spare time with spark machines, leyden jars and gold-leaf electroscopes. Nowadays he plays with vacuum tubes, condensers and coils. But, you ask, how can I become a radio amateur? There are three what might be cal.ed first steps. Learn the elementary prin- ciples of radio communication by recourse to a good book on the subject. The most valuable and comprehensive book of such a kind is The Radio Amateur's Hand- book, published by the Amateur Radio Relay League and available at Gurd's, Ltd., Dundas Street. The price is one dollar. page sixly-two Having mastered the fundamentals, the next thing to do is to build a short wave receiver. The beginner's first receiver need not cost over ten dollars, including tubes, batteries, and phones. With such a set, having only two tubes, good reception may be had from all over the continent. As the amateur gains experience, he may wish to construct a more powerful one. This one also has two tubes, but is elec- trically operated throughout. Both the above sets are described in detail in the aforementioned Handbook, with full illus- trations and constructive advice. The author has just completed a receiver of the type last mentioned, and has had very fine reception from South America, England, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy. Its total cost was not over twenty-five dollars. To enjoy more thoroughly the possession and operation of a short wave receiver, one should learn the International Morse code. Full instructions and helpful advice for learning the code are also contained in the Handbook. Once it has been mastered, the amateur will be able to receive messages from all over the world. What a thrill to sit in your own home and listen to com- munications from amateurs in India, Africa and other out of the way places of the world, to hear despatches from Byrd's Antarctic expedition, and movie companies on location in different corners of the world! These are only a few of the thrills experienced by a short wave listener. Then, too, in times of distress caused by floods, earthquakes and disease, sometimes, when all other means of communication were down, radio amateurs have stepped proudly into the breach and have, at times, been instrumental in saving hundreds of THE ORACLE

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Twine Direc't Control Aufogyro Probably the greatest advance in auto- gyro construction since Juan de la Cievra built his first successful one, is the applica- tion of the direct-control idea. Simul- taneous experiments in England and America led to the construction of several experimental machines, and recently, it was announced that the first autogyros of this type were offered for sale in England on a commercial basis. This is a single seater model, but Juan de la Cievra is at present testing a large cabin type simi- lariy equipped. The great difference between this machine and an ordinary autogyro is that it lacks all control surfaces: that is all the hinged flaps at the tail and on the wings that are to be found in the ordinary one. These fiaps control the direction of the fiight in the old type autogyro, but a simpler and safer means controls it in the new. First of all, the blades are attached to the centre, so that they may turn around in their sockets as well as revolve around the rotor mast. Thus, when one wishes to climb, the f'stick is pulled back fit hangs from the ceiling in the new autogyrol. As the blades swing around to the front, their angle is increased, while at the back their angle is decreased, so that the lift at the front increases and that at the back decreasesg the front rises, and the auto- gyro climbs. The reverse is true of the dive. To turn, the stick is moved to the inside of the turn. As one blade goes to the outside, it takes on a greater angle: the inside one takes on a lesser angle, and page dxtyjour the autogyro tips and finally turns around. In one revolution, the angle of the blade changes four timesg it becomes greater, goes back to neutral, increases with opposite inclination, then goes back to neutral again. But this is only one method by which inventors are attacking the problem. Another method, more simple perhaps, is that of tilting the whole rotor. Thus, if one wants to climb, the rotor is tilted back, the angle of all blades automatically increases. and the autogyro climbs. The reverse is also true of the dive. In a turn, the rotor is tipped to one side, and the autogyro turns in much the same way as a boy turns a corner on a bicycle, with his hands off the handlebars. That is to say, the centres of gravity and lift do not coin- cide and in both cases the turn is an attempt to overcome this. These are the two main ways of attack- ing the problem of a simpler, safer, cheaper, more economical automobile of the air, both of which have their possi- bilities, and we may look forward to seeing more of them in the future than we have up to date. :ii 2? lRefo's Auitoiinrmtiifc Geiar Slhiilfit Flow lt wlvoiriss In the Reo self-shifting transmission, the conventional gear-shift lever is replaced by a selector control below the dash and connected to the transmission by a cable. The self-shifter replaces second and third in the ordinary transmission, and auto- matically shifts back and forth in the course of driving. Pushing the selector handle all the way in brings the transmission into the for- ward position, at the same time bringing the self-shifting unit into line. When the selector is pulled out about one inch, it is in neutral, and when all the way out, it is in emergency low. Turning the handle right and pulling it all the way out places the car in reverse. The engine is started and the clutch dis- engaged in the ordinary way, and the selector pushed in, placing the transmis- sion in self-shifting forward? The clutch is engaged by taking the foot off the clutch pedal. Pressing down on the accelerator THE ORACLE