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Aviation History
1932
1932 - 0638.PDF
FLIGHT, JULY 1, 1932 ,.;.... ^^^ <^ S^ • i '. INVERTED FLYING : " Tiger Moths " from C.F.S. In the upper photograph the leader is inverted and the others " right way up." Below, all five machines are upside down. (FLIGHT Photos.) speed in line astern, then they flew over the aerodrome across-wind in line abreast, each pilot checking his speed by a series of stalls. At first the third machine rapidly " underhauled " his rivals, but lost altitude in his effort. Finally No. 3 machine fell behind in fine style with only a comparatively small loss in altitude. It was quite an interesting event, which certainly " tortoised " a lot re garding the advance made in present-day flying with the help of automatic slots, etc. Air Combat—" Hart " v. " Furies " Somewhat arbitrarily the programme is divided into Pre liminary Events and Main Events, and it usually happens that each section includes an air combat. One expects the first one to be good and the second one to be better. This year, however, the air combat at 2.02 p.m. was the most sensational sham fight ever seen at Hendon. Few, if any, people have ever before seen three " Furies " attack a " Hart." This combat was fought at a speed which was quite unprecedented, and deserved the much abused epithet of " thrilling." Incidentally both the programme and the loud speakers deliberately attempted to mislead people by describing the " Hart " as a " day bomber," though the programme itself gave the case away in a subsequent line by admitting that the " Hart " came from No. 23 (Fighter) Squadron. It was, in fact, a two- seater fighter, unhampered by all the gear which are neces sary to an efficient bomber. It was flown by Fit. Lt. W. L. Bateman. We pay no attention to the casualties represented by streaming smoke and wing tip flares (the smoke used, by the way, was blue, hitherto believed to be a colour for which Major Savage's chemists had striven in vain), and so we do not waste time wondering why one surviving " Fury " was able to shoot down the " Hart " after the combined efforts of three had resulted in giving two victories to the rear gunner in the two-seater. It seemed that even then the " Hart " should not have fallen had it not been so imprudent as to fly straight for a while with the last " Fury " under its tail, So long as the " Hart " kept manoeuvring, it was obviously very hard for the single-seaters to get their sights on to it. Anyway, the fight made a grand show. The " Furies " belonged to No. 25 F.S. and were flown by Fit. Lt. C. R. Hancock, F/O. K. B. B. Cross, and F/O. F. P. R. Dunworth. up-wind, and again all bombs were neatly placed on the mark. The Tortoise Race The next event was a demonstration of slow flying, in the form of a "fly the slowest race," in which the follow ing pilots, Fit. Lt. L. R. Stokes, F/O. D. D. Christie, F/O. V. R. Moon, and Pilot Serg. S. ]. Mansell, in D.H. " Tiger Moths " (" Gipsy " engines), endeavoured to fly at the slowest speed at which the aircraft would not lose height. First the four " Tiger Moths " flew past at normal
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