with three passengers and 1,300 lbs. of ballast, and also with seven passengers on board. It is, however, said that with full load on board the machine refused to leave the water, and that certain alterations in the floats were therefore made. On Saturday the machine rose well with seven people on board, the total weight, including passengers, being about 2 tons. The speed is computed at only 65 miles an hour.

The Seaplane Circuit of Britain.

The following is the complete list of entries for the Seaplane Circuit of Britain, for the "Daily Mail" £5,000 Prize, which starts on August 12th from Southampton Water.

1. British Curtiss biplane flying-boat. Two 100-h.p. CurtissAustin engines. Pilot, Mr. A. Loftus Bryan. Entrants, White and Thompson, Ltd., Bognor.

2. British Curtiss biplane flying-boat. 120 Beardmore AustroDaimler engine. Pilot, Capt. E. C. Bass. Entrants, White and Thompson, Ltd., Bognor.

3. Sopwith tractor biplane. 150-h.p. Sunbeam engine. Pilot, Mr. Howard Pixton. Entrants, the Sopwith Aviation Co., Ltd., Kingston.

4. Sopwith tractor biplane, 100-h.p. British monosoupape Gnome engine. Pilot, Mr. H. G. Hawker. Entrants, the Sopwith Aviation Co., Ltd.

5. Grahame-White propeller biplane, 100-h.p. British monosoupape Gnome engine. Pilot (to be announced later). Entrants, The Grahame-White Aviation Co., Ltd, Hendon, W. 6. Avro tractor biplane, 150-h.p. Sunbeam engine. Pilot, Mr. F. P. Raynham. Entrants, A. V. Roe and Co., Ltd.,

Manchester.

7. E.A.C. tractor biplane, 120-h.p. Green engine. Pilot, Mr. F. B. Fowler. Entrants, The Eastbourne Aviation Co., Ltd., Eastbourne.

8. Blackburn hydro-biplane, 130-h.p. Salmson engine. Pilot, Mr. Sydney Pickles. Entrants, The Blackburn Aeroplane Co., Ltd., Leeds.

9. Beardmore tractor biplane (D.F.W. type), 120-h.p. Beardmore-Austro-Daimler engine. Pilot (to be announced later). Entrants, Wm. Beardmore and Co., Ltd., Glasgow.

Mr. Hawker's Smash.

One of the most extraordinary accidents in the history of aviation, and a still more extraordinary escape from death, occurred to Mr. Harry Hawker at Brooklands on Saturday evening last. Mr. Hawker went up about 7 p.m. on the Sopwith Scout (100-h.p. monosoupape Gnome) and at about 1,200 feet he made one of his famous loops with the engine cut off, by diving steeply and then pulling back. He made the loop perfectly, out over the Byfleet Road, and as he came out of it he started a vertical dive with a spin in it.

When I first caught sight of him from the Paddock, he was doing a perfect "tourbillon" spin, à la Chanteloup that is to say the wings were revolving round the centre-line of the fuselage, and the machine was standing vertically on its nose. It was coming down quite slowly for such a fast machine, the pace being nothing like its ordinary vertical diving speed. Then the tail seemed to swing out and the vertical path became an irregular spiral to the right, till finally the machine seemed to be doing a banked turn with the body nearly horizontal and the left wing up. The dropping speed had by then decreased noticeably, but it was obvious that the machine was not under proper control, for it seemed to "slash" or "flutter" round like a falling leaf. At this point it disappeared behind the trees on St. George's Hill.

As quickly as possible a number of the people from Brooklands got to the spot, and after considerable difficulty found the machine on the ground in a thick coppice, with Mr. Hawker standing alongside it absolutely unhurt. A few minutes afterwards he went off back to Brooklands sitting on the carrier of a motor bicycle, leaving the machine in charge of the Sopwith machine crew.

Apparently the machine had struck partly sideways and partly nose on into the top of a tall tree, into which it had flown rather than fallen. It had then fallen vertically, bringing several big boughs of the tree with it, and had finally sat down right side up, flat on its chassis on top of sundry saplings and undergrowth. The wings had folded up neatly as it fell through the trees, and had come down like a lid on the cockpit-how Mr. Hawker got out is a mystery. The chassis had telescoped into the front of the fuselage. The cowl was dented and bent, but not torn off. Two or three valve tappets had been wiped off the engine, which was evidently revolving when it struck the trees. The propeller was broken at the ends, but not at the boss. The fuselage aft of the tank, with the elevator and rudder, were absolutely untouched.

The first thing we did was to test the controls, and then found the elevator and rudder working perfectly. The warp wires were also uninjured, so there can be no question of controls going wrong. What, then, was the cause of the

accident?

For some time previously Mr. Hawker had been proving the extraordinary stability of this machine. He used to take her up to 1,000 feet or so, switch off his engine, and let the machine glide. Then he would pull his elevator slowly back to stall her. With the elevator hard back she would neither tail-slide nor dive, nor side-slip. She would simply descend on an even keel like a parachute, but moving gently forward and

rolling slowly first onto one wing and then back to the other. Occasionally, in a gust, she would slide to one side, descending sideways at about 45 degrees, which is hardly a side-slip. On pushing the lever forward she would pick up her gliding angle promptly. In fact, she seemed absolutely stable in every direction. She recovered promptly also from a straight dive which was almost vertical.

Now comes this smash, and it is worth studying, for according to the rules of the game the machine should have come up when the elevator was pulled back. During the afternoon Mr. Hawker had been arguing with an officer of the Naval Air Service about the need for more vertical surface aft on these small high-speed scouts. The officer in question held that, owing to the short tail, if a "scout" started to spin round its own nose it would never come into control again.

When Mr. Hawker disappeared behind the trees he undoubtedly had his elevator lever hard back, and, as he was then banked well over to the right, his elevators were acting, if they were acting at all, as rudders, and so were forcing his tail round and increasing the spin. In this position the rudder should act as an elevator and throw the nose of the machine down, so causing a straight nose-dive from which it should be easy to recover. Mr. Hawker tells me that he tried to do this but could not get it round against the air pressure, and he ascribes this to the rudder being of the unbalanced type. He thinks that with a balanced rudder and no fin he could have done it.

Also, he admits that if he had pushed the elevator forward as soon as he found the spin developing, and had made a straight dive, he could have pulled up straight, but he thought he was too near the ground to risk doing so.

It must be remembered that the Caudron on which Chanteloup does his "tourbillon" dive has a tail that warps in unison with the wings and that it has two big balanced rudders, so that it really has more control than the "scout" class, and as it is a much slower machine it changes its attitude in a much shorter distance even if it takes the same length of time to do so. Still, it looked to me as if Mr. Hawker was getting the machine under control just as she disappeared, and I believe that if he tries the experiment again at 3,000 feet (no one should try experiments lower than that) instead of about 1,000 he will have come into control at 1,000 or so.

Anyhow, he is very lucky to be alive, and only for that opportune clump of trees he would not have been. Still, to please the Navy it might be worth while trying one of the scouts with a bigger rudder and fin-and a proportionately strong rudder tube, just to avoid B.E. habits-so as to see how it affects their normal flying. If it does not slow the machine appreciably, it might be well to adopt a larger size simply to give extra directional stability and control, and simplify the flying of the type by less clever pilots.

Has it struck anybody that there may be a very good reason for the old Antoinette system of having vertical fins and rudders exactly equal to the tail fins and elevators? An arrow with its vertical feathers differing in area from its horizontal feathers would probably steer curiously, so why not try a symmetrical "empennage" on aeroplanes?--C. G. G.

The latest Nieuport-shown in the photograph on page 17 -is a single-seater armoured scout. On standard Nieuport lines, fitted with an 80 Gnome, this machine with pilot and two hours' petrol and oil, flies at 68 m.p.h. and climbs to 1000 metres (3,280 ft.) in 5 minutes (656 ft. per minute), takes 262 feet to leave the ground and alights and stops in 197 feet. Nickel steel plate of 3 mm. and 2 mm. thickness protects the motor, tanks and the pilot from rifle fire.

The Nieuport Co. expect to be represented in the LondonParis-London race on Saturday week, July 11th, by M. Malard, who is known as one of the most expert of French pilots, and has done some remarkable performances. This entry is particularly interesting, apart from the fact that it is so long since a Nieuport appeared in competition in this country.

A Useful Tool.

From Mr. Geo. Adams, of 255-6, High Holborn, there has been received a sample of the "Triple Lever Screw-driver" illustrated below.

As the illustrations show, this instrument has two handles secured to the shaft of the screw-driver proper, through a hinge joint and a butterfly nut. With both handles in line

TRERASMITHATO TRIPLE LEVER PERFECT HANDLE PATENTED

an ordinary straight forward screw-driver is formed-by turning one handle at right angles pressure may be applied with the one hand and a great turning effort with the other. With the handles forming a T-head a still greater twisting effort may be obtained. Both handles may be turned at an angle to get

T

into awkward corners. The screw-driver is some 9 inches long over all, has a blade of -in. wide and is strongly and substantially made, and seems likely to persuade the most stubborn of screws into turning. The price is quite moderate, and the tool's value to all having to do with machinery should be obvious.

The internal faces of the handles at the joint are recessed, and there are corresponding studs on the butt of the blade, so that the joint cannot slip when screwed up.

Mr. Geo. Adams holds a large stock of useful tools of every description, and has the reputation of invariably giving prompt delivery. His catalogue should be in the hands of all those who use tools of any description.

A Sound Job.

The Pognon plug is sufficiently well-known to those who have to do with petrol motors to need no general introduction, but it may be as well to draw further attention to their merits as these plugs are now being made suitable for aero engines of both the stationary and the rotary types. Owing to the special arrangement of the eltctrodes in Pognon plugs it is claimed that all risk of pre-ignition by incandescence, or misfire through rapid wear of the points is eliminated.

The accompanying sectional view indicates the sub-divided porcelain system, which allows for expansion and contraction without risk of cracking. It also shows the special form of the lower porcelain-which is in the form of a thin tube, giving a very long insulating surface, is kept at a sufficiently high temperature to burn off oil, and so prevent soot depositing thereon.

The Shoreham Flying School, Ltd.-This company has been registered with a capital of £1,000, in £1 shares. Objects: To acquire the business of a flying school and motor agents, etc., now carried on by W. H. Elliott, G. J. Lusted, and B. H. England, at the Shoreham Aerodrome, Shoreham, under the style of "The Shoreham Flying School," and to arrange and carry out public expositions of aviation, to carry and transport persons and goods through the air, to arrange and conduct an aerial passenger and goods delivery service, and to carry on the business of general carriers, etc.; also to enter into an agreement with W. H. Elliott, G. J. Lusted, and B. H. England. First directors: W. H. Elliott (managing director), 12, Carfax, Horsham, Sussex; B. H. England, Hall Land, Slinfold; G. J. Lusted; and H. H. R. Aikmann. Qualification, £25. Private company.

The 12-ft. propeller, built by Lang Propellers, Ltd., for the
Trans-Atlantic Martinsyde.-In the vernacular of the aero-
drome, "Some wind-stick!"
Amusements.

The White City at Shepherd's Bush, which has now become more or less a Pink City, is now in full swing. This year it is occupied by the Anglo-American Exhibition, though as a matter of fact the actual subject of the exhibition matters little at a show of this sort.

From the aviation point of view the chief interest lies in the Land and Aerial Travel Building, where the Aerial League have collected quite a nice show of things connected with aeronautics. This section is a credit to its organiser, Colonel' H. S. Massy, C. B.; in fact, much information concerning the very early days of aviation, such as may be gleaned from old prints and manuscripts, may be seen here and nowhere else. The display of modern photographs of existing machines and aviators is the finest yet seen. A number of these photographs have been lent by THE AEROPLANE. There is also a particularly fine exhibit by Mr. Birkett, who has already attained the position of the leading aeronautical photographer. His exhibit includes excellent portraits of most of the leading pilots and pictures of the chief events in the history of aviation during the past year or two. It is to be hoped that when the exhibition closes this collection of photographs will not be dispersed, for it deserves to be acquired undivided by someone interested in some place where those interested in aeronautics foregather, as, for example, one of the big aerodromes, or one of the leading hotels on Salisbury Plain or at Farnborough. Apart from the aviation exhibit the exhibition contains many things of interest as well as the usual amusements. The "flipflap" is in full working order. One finds that quite a number of people who are at home in an aeroplane at any height say that this weird instrument gives them quite a thrill.

During such hot weather as may be vouchsafed to us this Summer there are few pleasanter places at which to cool off during the evening than the Earl's Court Exhibition. There is nothing there of specifically aeronautical interest, but the place seems as popular as ever as an out-door resort among those concerned with aviation.

Visitors should on no account miss seeing the show of Spanish music and dancing in the Empress Hall. This is quite one of the most interesting and most amusing performances at present on in town. One hopes the management will improve the acoustic properties of the theatre in some way before long and will also arrange the seats so that it is possible to see the stage better than at present.

Many of our aviators seem to find the usual amount of amusement in the various mountain railways and the Maxim flying boats.