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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0732.PDF
FLIGHT, JULY 17, 1931 TAKING OFF SpLO BY INSTRUMENTS ONLY: An instructor takes off solo with the hood up. He put themachine into a spin and flattened out before lowering his hood. We believe that this is the first photograph ever published of this extraordinary feat. (FLIGHT Photo.) " Siskin," a " Gamecock," and a " Bulldog." Surely nostranger formation ever took the air. The formation, however, was perfectly kept, even when the " V " wheeled,and the "Bulldog," which acted as pivot, must have been just as near the stall as was comfortable. The third course given at Wittering is instrument flying,vulgarly called " blind flying." This is no mere " stunt," as some people suppose. If pilots are to take their aircraftsafely through dense fog and to manage them on dark nights, they must learn to trust their instruments, evenwhen their five senses seem to contradict the story which the instruments tell. It is well known that in fog a pilotloses his sense of the force of gravity as well as of direction ; and may get into a spin or on tohis back without being aware of it, except through the pull of his straps. Sir John Alcock, when flying theAtlantic, emerged from a cloud to find that he was in a spin. Kingsford Smith says in his account of his Pacificflight that he would never have got safely through the great cloud banks and kept on his course withal if he hadnot sedulously practised himself in flying solely by instru- ments. At firs-'t it goes against the grain to trust solely tothem. Officers at Wittering undergoing this course confess that at first the instinct to disobey the instruments isalmost insuperable. The method of training is to put a cover over the rearcockpit so that the pupil cannot see out. The instructor aits in the front cockpit, which is uncovered, and directsthe pupil. At first mistakes will be frequent, but the The Society of Aircraft AgentsWE have received the following letter: — I have been requested by my Committee to askyou if you would be good enough to allow us editorial space for the following notification. We are anxious for this to be brought to the notice ofas many traders as possible, and should be most grateful for any assistance that you can give us in the matter. In order to try and stabilise the position of the AircraftAgent in this country, it has been proposed that a Society of Aircraft Agents should be formed, the membership ofwhich should carry with it a high subscription, and that it should be confined to bona-fi.de traders only; and it isalso proposed that the manufacturers be asked to recog- nise this Society, so that only its members should beeligible for trade discounts. Whilst it was found impossible to circularise all sellingorganisations and manufacturers dealing in aircraft, some of the available agents were asked to give their views onthe matter, and, as a first step, two preliminary meetings were held, and a temporary committee appointed to lookinto the whole question. This committee will be glad to consider all suggestionsthat may be put up by agents or manufacturers, and 686 instructor is there to prevent a mistake from causing acatastrophe. Two of our photographs show an instructor and a pupil in an Avro, one with the hood down and theother with it up. During our visit to Wittering, however, we wereprivileged to see a most remarkable feat. One of the instructors actually took off solo with the hood over hishead. Our last photograph shows the Avro with its tail up a couple of seconds before the wheels left the ground.It can be seen that the front seat is empty, and we can vouch for it that there was no instructor crouching downin the cockpit. The pilot took off perfectly, climbed to a safe height, and actually put his machine into a spin. Hecame out of it, brought his Avro to an even keel, and flew level round part of the aerodrome before he put hishood back. It was an amazing performance—possibly thegreatest feat of piloting we have ever been privileged to see. Yet the only special instrument fitted in the machinewas the Keid and Sigrist gyroscopic turn indicator. With that, and with his ordinary instruments, this instructor wasas sure of himself as if he could see the horizon all the time. When skill at flying with instruments can be broughtto this pitch, fog begins to lose its terrors for the pilot. Such skill, however, is not yet universal. We believe,though we are open to correction, that nowhere else in the world can one see a pilot take off solo, spin, and recoverwith this hood over his head. This feat is unique, only to be seen at Wittering at the Central Flying School. <$> <s> special attention will be paid to points dealing with tradediscounts and the abolition of price-cutting, or any matter which affects the Aircraft Agent. Whilst it is realised that there are great difficulties tobe overcome, and that ideas will vary considerably, it is hoped that all companies concerned with the sale of air-craft will do their best to co-operate for the common good, and that, if they have any suggestion to put forward, theywill not hesitate to communicate with any member of the preliminary committee or write direct to me at HestonAir Park, when their letters will be placed before the next meeting. The temporary committee which was appointed tolook into the question consists of Mr. Brian Lewis, Mr. Powis, Mr. St. Barbe, Mr. Duncan Davis, and Mr. Clarkson,and, in view of the fact that it was found impracticable to write to many of the members of the trade who would beconcerned in further developments, and that no further steps can be taken until the present committee has inves-tigated all suggestions which may be put forward, it would be of the greatest assistance if traders who feel that theywould support the Society would communicate with me as soon as possible. C. CLARKSOK. Heston Air Park, Hounslow, Middlesex.
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