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Aviation History
1928
1928 - 0538.PDF
The Gamecock develops its highest speed up to an altitudeof 5,000 ft., the Siskin is slower until it reaches 15,000, and then its supercharged engine tells, and it catches up theGamecock. At 25,000 the Siskin is as fast as any standard fighter anywhere. Some authorities hold that it is a mistake to wait untilsuch great heights have been obtained before developing your best performance. That is only necessary, they say,on army work, when opposing fighters are expected. When your object is to shoot down bombers, they will not fly atthe height which is most convenient to the fighters, and if they are very fast they will keep low down, and finish theirjob while the fighters are still climbing. If this is true, a fighter of the Gamecock school should be more useful thanone of the Siskin school. However, the Siskin is considered the most useful compromise, and every service aeroplane,and every other aeroplane, has to be some sort of compromise. So the Gamecock is being discarded in favour of the Siskin,not only for the above reasons, but also because wood has to be supplanted by metal. But finality is never reached, and at this stage of develop-ment it never ought to be reached. While the supply of Siskins for the various fighter squadrons is still incomplete,the Air Ministry has to be on the look-out for something still better. In the parade will be seen four new fighter types,the Bristol Bulldog II, the Hawker Hawfinch, the Boulton and Paul Partridge, and the Westland Wizard. The firstthree have Jupiter VII engines, and the last a Rolls Royce F.ll. These have been described as "Day and Night"fighters, and the term may become official. It is a descriptive term, but perhaps rather misleading. What it means is JUNE 28, 1928. raiding bombers. In the sectors of the inner ring roundLondon, the standard fighters will also go up and cruise about in readiness. They will require a little more petrol,as they must be in the air before the raiders draw nigh, and they must have a somewhat lower landing speed, as they willhave to work by night as well as by day. It requires no occult powers to prompt the guess that the development ofthe interceptor fighters is connected with the appearance of the " Mercury " engine in the " Crusader " last year. It is also not impossible that the Air Ministry may alsohave in mind the production of a special type of night fighter. It is at least a speculation which will add interest to a visitto future displays at Hendon. The General Purpose Aeroplane The newly introduced term of " General Purpose " machinehas led to some confusion of thought, especially as it is being supplied to bombing squadrons whose previous type,the D.H.9A. was originally a day bomber. The explanation is that a general purpose machine was required for workoverseas where no enemy aircraft is to be encountered and where, therefore, specialized types are not necessary. Twotypes have been selected as general purpose machines, the Wapiti and the Fairey III F. For the police work whichhas to be carried out in Iraq, the Middle East, and to some extent, in India, the general purpose machine is invaluable.It will do photography, reconnaissance, light bombing, and army co-operation work. The Fairey IIIF. has alreadymade some great flights in Africa. The " Wapiti " is shortly to appear in Iraq (first with No. 84 Bombing Squadron) andIndia. In India there is a great deal of army co-operation work to be done, and so squadrons with specialised A.-C. In Formation : A squadron of Hawker " Hors- leys" in the clouds. [" FLIGHT '\Phoiograph •:•!• that these machines are standard fighters, fitted for all usualdescriptions of work which a fighter may be called on to do. While not specially designed for night fighting, they will beable to go up by night to meet raiders and to land again with- out undue risk. Two of these, the Bulldog and the Hawfinch, have beenselected as better than the others, and have been sent to .squadrons, after doing their tests at Martlesham, for extendedservice tests. The specimen machines are sent together to one squadron after another, and it is understood that every-where both have won the highest praise from all the pilots who have tested them. In fact, it has so far been foundimpossible to decide which of the two is the better ; and it may be presumed that both will be put into production, andin due course each will be served out to so rriany squadrons. Both have frameworks of steel. It will be remembered thatBulldog 1 was seen at the Display of last year. The earlier version showed high promise, and the modifications embodiedin the second edition have produced a first-class machine. Both the Bristol and the Hawker firms deserve high praiseand congratulations on their success. There has been talk lately of a new sub-class to be known as" Interceptor " fighters. If any such machines exist, they are still secret. Still, the observer who followed the courseof the Air Exercises last year would naturally expect the Air Ministry, which is by no means a sleepy body, to haveunder consideration a specialised type of fighter, which would not be so much of a compromise as most service aeroplanesare, but would sacrifice some qualities, such as low landing speed and flight endurance, to enhance others such as highspeed and rapid climb. It would also be natural to predict that such machines, when they appear, will be supplied tothe squadrons with aerodromes on the south coast. The picture which comes to the mind is that on receipt of a raidwarning the interceptor fighters will go up very rapidly along the coast, prepared for a short sharp fight with the machines will persist there. In Iraq, there is no need forsuch work, and possibly the one A.-C. squadron there, No. 6, may be supplanted by, or perhaps converted into, a so-calledbombing squadron, using general purpose aeroplanes. In the Air Defence of Great Britain, the general purpose aeroplaneplays no part. Bombers Bombers are divided into two main classes, day bombersand night bombers. Until quite lately, the former were all single-engined machines and the latter twin-engined. Theadoption of the Sidestrand with two " Jupiters " as a day bomber has modified that distinction. It is being suppliedto No. 101 Bombing Squadron, and it will be interesting to watch developments. The Sidestrand is the first twin-engined day bomber used by the R.A.F. since the D.H. 10. The two standard dav bombers are the Horsley with" Condor," and the Fox, in which the " Felix " is being supplanted by the Rolls Royce F.ll. The Fox is a lighter,faster bomber, but with less endurance than the Horsley. There is obviously work for both types. It is very gratifyingto be able to discard the foreign engine from that admirable machine, the Fox. Rolls-Royce are to be congratulated onproviding both types of engines for both types of day bomber. Night bombers remain a specialised class, in that speedand manoeuvrability are sacrificed to endurance and range and other qualities incidental to the work demanded of them.They are, of course, heavily armed with machine guns ; but it remains an interesting point of minor tactics of the air,whether the armament of a bomber will be able to drive off attacking fighters, even though the bombers keep formationand use covering fire. One would imagine that once the bombers were caught in the rays of a searchlight, or evenwhen the searchlights began to cross each other in its vicinity, and so brought up the fighters, the gunners on the bomberwould have little chance of hitting the fighters as they dived from out of the darkness. 486
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