Download Free Technical Aspects Of The Schneider Trophy And The World Speed Record For Seaplanes Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online Technical Aspects Of The Schneider Trophy And The World Speed Record For Seaplanes and write the review.

T.E. Lawrence found global recognition for his leadership of the Arab Revolt during World War I, preparing the ground for the final Allied offensive in 1918. He was hailed as a hero, but little is known about this mysterious and charismatic man after those events. Here is Lawrence's life after Arabia, his service in the RAF and the Tank Corps as a mere ranker, and how he became an expert in the technology of the new RAF. The book examines the work he did for the 1929 Schneider Trophy Race, the development of the new RAF 200 seaplane tender, and the development of its armour plated offspring, the Armoured Target Boat. It also investigates his literary endeavours and his tragically early death, a sad end to a Renaissance man of all talents, an academic, a talented engineer and a soldier sans pareil. T.E. was offered exalted diplomatic positions by Churchill, implored by Nancy Astor to re-enter the fray as the Nazi threat grew, socialised with the Cliveden set, argued with the Archbishop of Canterbury. He made lasting friendships with humble squaddies. His self-loathing was expressed physically. Consulting primary sources and also having interviewed some of those who knew Lawrence after Arabia the author portrays the last years of one of the most astonishing figures of the 20th century.
R. J. Mitchell at Supermarine is the definitive account of the life of Britain’s best-known aeronautical engineer. Shelton calls upon unpublished letters, extensive press accounts, and updated material from his previous publications, concentrating particularly on the harsh conditions of Mitchell’s apprentice years, the precarious state of the aircraft firm he joined, and moments of good fortune of which he took advantage. He was a ‘chancer’ as well as a methodical developer of, mainly, slow flying seaplanes. Mitchell’s progress from draughtsman, with no formal training in aeronautical design, to internationally known chief designer is charted through a chronological study of his designs, revealing a formidable work ethic with a complex personality that combined ‘dreams and common sense’. It will also be shown how the success of his high-speed Schneider Trophy designs propelled him reluctantly into public attention and how his anxiety for his pilots’ safety matched an equal concern that his designs should not let down an expectant nation. Later expectations on him to produce a ‘killer fighter’ were equally daunting, and the outcome was often uncertain, but details of colleagues’ accounts highlight the essential and unique contribution of R.J.’s experience and drive to the eventual appearance of the iconic Spitfire.
Attracting entries from the U.S., Great Britain, France, and Italy, the Schneider Trophy fostered a rapid advance in aviation technology. This book devotes an entire chapter to each of the 12 races, with details of pre-race planning, navigation and seaworthiness trials, the race itself, and, of course, aircraft designs and engines.
R.J. Mitchell was virtually self-taught and almost all his aircraft were slow-flying seaplanes. The story of how this man from the land-locked Midlands, apprenticed to a locomotive works, became responsible for the Spitfire is a great tale in itself. This detailed book tells us how Mitchell learned his trade – contributing to the production of the cumbersome Nighthawk (designed to combat the German Zeppelin threat) and gradually coming to produce record-breaking racing floatplanes that won outright the prestigious international Schneider Trophy. Mitchell was thus well placed to design a high-speed aircraft when war was imminent; however, as John K. Shelton reveals, the production of the famous fighter was by no means a certainty and its vital contribution to winning the Battle of Britain was 'a very close run thing'.
Three years after American raceplanes failed dismally in the most important air race of 1920, a French magazine lamented that American "pilots have broken the records which we, here in France, considered as our own for so long." The Pulitzer Trophy Air Races (1920 through 1925), endowed by the sons of publisher Joseph Pulitzer in his memory, brought about this remarkable turnaround. Pulitzer winning speeds increased from 157 to 249 mph, and Pulitzer racers, mounted on floats, twice won the most prestigious international air race--the Schneider Trophy Race for seaplanes. Airplanes, engines, propellers, and other equipment developed for the Pulitzers were sold domestically and internationally. More than a million spectators saw the Pulitzers; millions more read about them and watched them in newsreels. This, the first book about the Pulitzers, tells the story of businessmen, generals and admirals who saw racing as a way to drive aviation progress, designers and manufacturers who produced record-breaking racers, and dashing pilots who gave the races their public face. It emphasizes the roles played by the communities that hosted the races--Garden City (Long Island), Omaha, Detroit and Mt. Clemens, Michigan, St. Louis, and Dayton. The book concludes with an analysis of the Pulitzers' importance and why they have languished in obscurity for so long.