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.”
On the Sunday, the day after his so remarkable escape, Harry was giving exhibition flights at Brooklands on the 80 h.p. Scout.
CHAPTER XII
SOME WAR-TIME EXPERIENCES
Testing Production Machines—The Distinguished General and the Camel—The Boredom of Old-Fashioned Transport—And How it was Remedied on One Occasion—Testing a Doubtful Machine—Harry Gives Expert Criticism—And Predicts the Performance of a Four-Engined Aeroplane.