Abstract
THE proceedings in Section G opened at Melbourne with a paper by Prof. Petavel on aviation research. The author described the results of recent experiments on the air resistance of various shaped bodies at different speeds, and also on the lifting power of planes of various shapes. This was followed by a paper on railways and motive power by Prof. Dalby, who showed a number of curves t elating to the development and cost of working of British railways, and discussed briefly the relative advantages of steam and electric traction. Mr. Hedley Thomson followed with a paper on a transmission system suitable for heavy internal-combustion locomotives, in which he maintained that the difficulties of the internal-combustion locomotive were mainly due to the want of a suitable variable-speed control mechanism, and that these difficulties were overcome by the Thomas transmission gear, which he described. Curves were shown illustrating the high efficiency and other advantages to be obtained in this way. The internal-combustion locomotive is of special importance in Australia because of fuel and water difficulties. A paper was then read on the Canberra plan by Mr. W. B. Griffin, who was awarded the premium offered by the Commonwealth for the best town-planning scheme for the new Federal capital. The paper dealt with the principles underlying the design of such a town and their applications to the site at Canberra. The Government exhibited a number of elevations showing what Canberra will look like if and when the present scheme is carried through. The concluding paper on the first day was by Mr. Kirkpatrick, on the development of the Port of London.
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Engineering at the British Association . Nature 94, 265–267 (1914). https://doi.org/10.1038/094265a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/094265a0