The sun., 1919-03-09
AERO MAGNETIC IS
Big SHOW FAVORITE
More Than 85 Per Cent. Of En-
agincs Have the Splitdorf
Product.

Il, going through the aerona utical
show with Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker
sid speaking casually of the ignition
7, aupmcnt the startling fact became
evident that OF all the engines at the
show. foreign and American, fully SO
rer cent, or 1870 out of 152, are fitted
with the Splitdorf Aero magnetic. Ordl-
,arIly such compliment to an Amcri-
,su product would 20 by with not quite
80 much notice but when 1t Is re-
called that the foreign engineers are
additionally seekers for the best made
iu 50 important unit as an ignition in
s'rument, the predominance OF the
American magnetic is doubly compli
, mentary -...-
service is dependability Of ignition so
vital MS in aviation. When an aviator
SKINS through the sky swooping down
ward toward the earth In 4 dizzy dive.
or shoots aloft in "A steep climb, he and
his machine are one. Every difficult
aerial mannuvre. every daring stunt
seems mere child's play to this per-
fectly Coordnated combination.
Yet should the ignition suddenly fail
= on, one of these death-defying dips It
might cost the aviator his life and
smash the plane into crumplcd mass
~ Wreckage. Or II the' arnan Is
Climbing. ignition failure will force him
10 turn the nose of his machine down
and volplane to earth. hoping to make
g. safe landing. If he is not quick
enough in starting To volplane down
ward. his machine is likely to slip into
a tail spin with probably disastrous
consequence to both pilot and plane.
As one OF the American aces put it in
discussing the Importance of a reliable
type of ignition system, from the air
\, mans point of view: "A plane or
snip as we usually call them. is a
very different matter from a fiivver, a
truck tractor or even motor boat. in
regard to ignition. II your spark goes
Jack on you when you're up
where there's nothing to see. YOU can't
step out on a cloud and tinker with
your engine till it runs smoothly
again No, sir, Those clouds don't
help Mt all as isles of safety for avi-
ators, That's why airplane ignition
las got to be the very best and most
eliable obtainable. The pilots life ac-
Il tually depends on it
| America had not been in the world
war long before its aviators had proved
The truth of these statements. The
Government called to it's aid the lead
NJ manufacturers of ignition equip
lnent the need for reliability making
me development of maSuetUS for air
plane engines essential.
= The work done by these manufac.
turers and their engines constitutes one
~ the most valuable technical contri'
buttons toward winning the war. one
,t these companies. the Spitdorf Elec-
tricsl Company OF Newark, y. j.. dc
Neloped a new standardized type o.
magnetic. known as the Aero type Dixie
which by means of sixteen interchange
able parts may be converted In q shor
lime from magnetic for an!
one Of the important types Of arplan'
engines into an instrument for an en-
tirely different type of power plant.
The Splitdorf company also improved
- standard line of Dixie magnetos by
II simplification of parts and adjustment
20 that a screwdriver il the only too
required to make almost any change O
adjustment
So important and valuable were Thu
Improvements introduced into the DiXi
nnagneto for airplane ignition that tn
Sphtdorf company Incorporated then
in the Aero type magnetic, made 70
automobile engines and other automo
II We applications requiring high eff
4 cheney, "A hot. clean, positive spark ant
strong. durable construction
The Aero type magnetos differ iron
A Tho other Dixie Instruments in that the
NJ are sturdier throughout, having eXtrt
large platinum points, use d siugl
square carbon brush. have Americanit
distributor blocks and Micarta gear
and finally they are unidirectiona
This latter means that they are so ar
ranged that after each spark is ere