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t66 sq. ft. would require roughly 120 ft. of bracing wire, the resistance of which has been taken as o -047 lbs. per foot at 60 m.p.h. The resistance of this wiring has also been plotted i n the graph, Fig. 8, and, finally, this resistance has been added to that of RAF 15, giving figures of resistance for the complete RAF 15 wing with bracing. The curves show that for this loading the resistance of the two wings is the same at 52 m.p.h. and at 68 m.p.h., while at speeds between these two there is actually a slight gain in the case of the cantilever wing. I t is true that this only amounts to about 2 lbs. at about 63 m.p.h., but at any rate it appears that the cantilever wing is not so very inefficient. Furthermore, in designing an actual cantilever wing, one would probably not design it

with a perfectly flat bottom camber, and, consequently, a small gain might be expected. From an aerodynamical point of view it would appear that the cantilever wing is not so bad as it has been painted, and it appears to the writer that it would be well worth while to have a model of one similar to the one outlined, or, better still, a model of the Fokker wing, tested in a wind tunnel to determine experimentally the data which here have been estimated from figures relating to propeller sections. That results even better than those just arrived at can be obtained is very probable, and the advantage of cantilever wings, as will be indicated shortly, for sporting machines of small and medium size, are quite considerable. (To be continued.)

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Flying from Holland to Java FOR some time the Dutch Government has had under consideration the question of the practicability of an aeroplane flight from Holland to the Dutch East Indies, and it has been decided to offer a large money prize to the Dutch aviator who first completes the journey within 30 days. Three competitors have entered, and it is expected that a start will be made in about three weeks from Soesterberg. Two of the competitors, Lieut. Backer and Lieut. Wulfte Palther, propose to fly together in a Vickers F. 3 flying boat, fitted with two Rolls-Royce " Eagles " of 350 h.p. each. The third entrant who has entered for the competition is Lieut. Kotten, who proposes to use an Albatros machine, but there is likely to be some difficulty in arranging for assistance from. British aerodromes along the route to an aeroplane of German origin. The distance from Holland to Java is roughly 9,200 miles. Three routes have been mapped out, all of which coincide in part with that followed by Sir Ross Smith in his flight to Australia. The one which Lieuts. Backer and Palther propose to follow is via Brest, Marseilles, Naples, Taranto, Piraeus, Adalia, Famagusta, Abu Kemal, Basra, Busbire, Bander Abbas, Charbar, Karachi, Bombay, Mangalore, Tuticorin, Madras, Calcutta, Akyab, Rangoon, Mergui, Penang, Singapore, Muntok and Batavia. Aviation for South America DURING a visit to New York Senor Francisco Yanes, formerly in the Venezuelan Consular service, and now Assistant Director of the Pan-American Union, the international organisation and office maintained in Washington by the 21 American Republics, has been urging American aircraft manufacturers to take advantage of the open field in Latin America for aircraft " before your foreign rivals enter the field." He emphasised the need for aeroplanes for South American exploration purposes, and referred to other commercial opportunities, if Americans would only send missions to study conditions and remove difficulties. He said European countries had already sent such missions, and were bending all their energies in thatjdirection.

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