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Aviation History
1928
1928 - 0537.PDF
JUNE 28, 1928 defenders thus nonplussed, and wondered what the AirMinistry were going to do about it. Also, he heaved a sigh of relief, when he read that a formation of raiders had beencaught on the coast by the fighters from Hawkinge and Tangmere and shot to blazes. Why was that not alwaysdone ? This rapidly growing spirit of intelligent enquiry ought to.and does, receive a certain amount of satisfaction by studying the various items of the Display. The main differencebetween a fighter and a bomber is almost generally realised, and also the distinction between a day bomber and a nightbomber. The programme is usually a very excellent publi- cation, and helps the enquirer to a considerable degree. Buta programme has its limitations. The intention of the present article is to give additional information about thescheme of air defence and the part played in it by various types of aircraft. In doing so the actual list of machineswhich will be seen at Hendon next Saturday will not set limits to the text. One may better understand the types which onesees if one knows something about other types which are not present. The Parade of New Types About a dozen new types of aircraft will be seen in theparade of new types this year. In previous Displays there have often been more. This parade is both the most educa-tive and the most puzzling item of the whole Display. It shows that our designers are hard at work, and that theirideas are various. But why, some spectators may ask themselves, are so many new types necessary ? The pro-gramme can hardly be expected to explain that while many experimental types must be produced, they do not all gointo production. " Many are called, but few are chosen." The fact is that the Air Ministry desires to have as fewtypes as possible in actual service use. But this ideal cannot be easily realised. Not only is aircraft design a youngscience, constantly advancing, but often two types in the same class are so even in merit that one can hardly be pre-ferred to the other. Moreover, it is an unquestioned necessity for the Air Ministry to keep alive, by means of orders, allthe dozen or so of aircraft firms on which the country depends for its air equipment in time of war. Therefore, when twomachines of equal merit are produced, the probability is that orders for both will be given, and so many squadronswill be equipped with the ojie^-and so many with the other. Occasionally a " radical " machine, like the Fox with " Felix,"or the Sidestrand with twin " Jupiters," will be produced, and then the policy is to equip one squadron with the type,and give it an extended trial. Hence we find numerous types in the Air Force list, though the functions of thesquadrons (apart from the Coastal Area and Fleet Air Arm) are divided into four classes only, i.e., fighters, bombers,army co-operation, and communication. The Fighters The fighter is a defensive aeroplane, despite its aggressivename. It tries to form square round some position or some convoy, and by its fire to drive away all who would interfere with its charge. But the Royal Air Force knows betterthan most that the best form of defence is attack. Therefore, so far as the Air Defence of Great Britain is concerned(and that constitutes the primary function of the Royal Air Force), a fighter is almost an anachronism. Were it practical politics to pursue the purest strategicalideal, the fighter would be abolished, and all available funds be put into raising squadrons of bombers. To bomb theenemy's aerodromes and aircraft factories is by far the most effectual way of preventing him from bombing anythingbelonging to us. To catch him on our coasts, which is the best which the fighters can hope to do, is a tardy way ofdealing with him. Strike at the nest and the eggs, rather than wait to strike until the young cobras are striking atyou—that is the soundest policy. One could somehow imagine Spartans or French men rising to such an ideal.The French showed in 1914 that they were prepared to lose Paris so long as they could save France. But everyone,apparently including the Air Council, is doubtful whether Englishmen possess such a philosophy of war. In the lasttwo years of the great war there was a certain amount of squealing about the air defence of London, and somesquadrons were actually withdrawn from the front to engage in the defence of the capital. That really was risking bothEngland and France, and all the other allies as well for the sake of the lives of a few hundred Londoners. So the AirMinistry feels that it must have fighters, and, that being so, it intends to have them as good as possible. We should pause here to reflect that while the fighter seemsto have no essential place in Air Defence, for it lias not the range to be able to act as escort to our own bombers onlong raids, it does seem to be a necessity in military defence. Army co-operation aeroplanes and short-range army bomberswill certainly be attacked by hostile fighters, and therefore need the protection of fighters on their own side. The samewould apply to aircraft carriers and, in the future, to airship carriers. Not only the carriers, but also their reconnaissanceaircraft will need protection. Four types of fighter are at present on the service list, theGamecock, the Grebe, the Siskin, and the Woodcock. The Woodcock, with a Jupiter 4 engine, has not a spectacularperformance, but it is easy to fly and has a low landing speed and a wide track. It was therefore adopted and givento two squadrons (Nos. 3 and 17), with the idea that it would be a good night-flying machine. In those days there was moredoubt than there is at present about what types could be used for night flying. The whole problem hangs, of course,on landing. Presently it was found that the speedier Gamecocks and Siskins could be landed safely at night, andboth were used for night flying. Only the Grebe was con- sidered quite unsuitable for night flying. Grebes andWoodcocks are now obsolescent, and will shortly disappear from the list. The Siskins and the Gamecocks represent two differentschools of thought in the design of fighters. The former is metal—steel, in fact—and has a supercharged Jaguar engine.The latter is made of wood, and has a Jupiter VI engine. IIIHlrnl^—Ml ^1 ^ ^i^.^^^^HB Rehearsing forthe R.A.F. Dis- play : Struts in-terfere somewhat with the view,but nevertheless quite a numberof Fairey III F's may be seenflying over the Welsh Harp, witha Hawker "Hors- ley" looking verysmall in the background. [" FLIGHT " Photograph 485
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