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Aviation History
1932
1932 - 0819.PDF
FLIGHT, AUGUST 12, 1932 craft, which are normally, of course, perfectly adequate. Coupled with the load imposed by the pilot is the practical certainty of heavy bumps immediately below the cloud. On the day of the Meopham crash the bumps were as bad as any I have met in England. On the day of Mr. Bossom's crash (on which day I did not fly) the conditions were obviously extremely bumpy. My contention is that in both cases the primary cause of failure was temporary loss of control in blind flying—a cause which should properly be recorded in the " error of judgment " category. The moral is this: In the course of their initial instruc tion all pilots should be convinced by trial that they cannot rely on their ordinary abilities in blind conditions, that to do so is to run one of the major risks of flying, and that even a fair measure of success over a series of short periods is no insurance against an accident in the long run. I do not necessarily advocate general instruc tion in instrument flying. As in teaching spinning, only enough instruction should be given in the first place to convince the pilot of the reality of the risk. If, after that, he elects to fly blind deliberately, he alone can assume the burden of the consequences. There is apart from the above a tendency to take terrific risks simply because instruments are fitted. It should be emphasised that a really experienced pilot will only fly blind if he must, and then with proper trepida tion. I think I have done at least 400 hours actually in cloud, and there is no one who will sooner hedgehop or turn back or land than myself in thick weather. It should be remembered that the real use of instrument flying is adjunctory to radio. Without radio it is a question for very serious consideration whether the step should be taken of turning over to instruments, unless merely for getting through a well-defined layer of cloud or in similar circumstances. One sincerely hopes that specific warnings may be issued in some way to guard against further crashes of " blind- flying " derivation. London. W. E. P. JOHNSON. August 3, 1932. BETTER VALUE FOR MONEY [2805] Will you permit me to express my entire appro val of the views expressed by Mr. Downes-Shaw in his letter [2801] published in your issue of the 5th inst. ? There is no doubt that machines could be designed for the private owner which would meet Mr. Downes-Shaw's requirements, and that such aircraft would command a ready sale once their advantages were appreciated, which would not take much time. But it seems to be practically impossible, especially at present, to get such a type financed ; in fact, experience suggests that money is much more easily attracted to the hopeless and impossible freak design than to a sound and practical proposition. London, W. O. MANNING, F.R.Ae.S. August 5, 1932. BOOK REVIEWS LEAGUE OF NATIONS BOMBERS An International Air Force. By J. M. Spaigkt, C.B.E., LL.D., author of " Air Power and War Rights," etc. (Gale & Polden, 5s. net.) One can never read Mr. Spaight quickly and easily. Every sentence which he writes requires thought and con sideration. Usually, however, when he is arguing a diffi cult point, the way in which he marshals his facts and builds up his case makes his writing intensely interesting to read. One has to keep wide awake while one reads, but usually Mr. Spaight himself has the effect of whetting the intellect of the reader to its keenest point. It is sometimes said that many really great barristers are only at their best when they are arguing a really difficult case. Give them a brief in a case so strong that the issue is hardly doubtful, and they may become unconvincing and even dull. So it seems to be with Mr. Spaight. The suggestion of an International Air Force, which has been put forward seriously by France at the Lausanne Disarm- mament Conference, is obviously a proper subject for an international lawyer to discuss. Mr. Spaight has discussed it thoroughly. He has looked at the question from well- nigh every conceivable point of view. He has taken every suggestion which has been put forward or which could be put forward. In each case he finds insuperable difficulties. The difficulties, when he puts them forward, seem so ob vious and so insuperable that one wonders why it has been necessary to consider the matter at all. Mr. Spaight, in fact, has been breaking a butterfly on the wheel. He finds so little to argue about that for once it is not very interest ing to listen to his pleadings. Yet, in spite of everything, Mr. Spaight writes that " an international air force will be seen some day, but that day will not be ours." He reiterates his belief that the force will come into being some day—to us it seems that that day will probably be the Kalends of Greece. It has occurred to less profound thinkers that there cannot be an international airman. Every member of an international force must have some nationality, and may have scruples about dropping bombs on his own country. Perhaps Mr. Spaight may have remembered the old free companies of adventurers, who would sell their swords to the highest bidder, and who rated the bargain as more binding than any claims of blood or patriotism. Perhaps the future international air force may have some resemblance to those free companies. Yet, somehow, it is not a comforting thought that our fates may lie at the mercy of aerial Dugald Dalgettys. There is rather more comfort to be found by considering the case of the Indian Police, which is in a way an international force. It recruits both Hindus and Mussulmans, and in the Punjab it recruits Sikhs, too. Yet when religious riots take place, the police force never hesitates to do its duty, and uses its lathis without undue discrimination on the heads of co-religionists and others. The Indian police are animated by loyalty to the Raj as well as to their engagement, but above all they are loyal to officers who are neither Hindus nor Mussulmans, and are quite impartial. Perhaps we may in the future visualise a body of airmen who are whole-heartedly loyal to the League of Nations—but how are we to find the neutral and impartial officers? F. A. DE V. R. Flights for Indian Workmen THE Delhi cloth mills are giving free flights in air craft belonging to the Delhi Flying Club to the workmen who produce most cloth in a given time. The question is: will Ram Baksh look on a flight as a reward or a penalty? A Gallant Pilot Honoured FLT. LT. E. W. BOUAR, of the R.A.F. Reserve and Northern Air Transport, Ltd., has been awarded the medal of the British Empire by the King for rescuing a pilot from a burning aeroplane at Barton in May. Bouar un fastened the pilot's harness and dragged him from the blazing cockpit, but the man died in hospital a fortnight later. Italian Air and Naval Manoeuvres NAVAL manoeuvres by 100 Italian warships are taking place in the Mediterranean between Italy and Tripoli. Twenty-three naval air squadrons are also engaged. The King of Italy is attending the manoeuvres in his yacht. General Nobile in Russia GENERAL AMBERTO NOBILE is now Deputy Chief of Soviet Airship Construction. An airship of 6,500 cubic metres of gas, which will carry 12 persons and a ton of freight, has been built under his supervision at Leningrad. Gen. Nobile will command the airship on her trial flight to Moscow. Flying Instructors FROM the beginning of next year no person who has not had his licence endorsed by the Air Minister as a qualified instructor will be allowed to teach flying for a fee. It is expected that certificates issued to instructors by the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators and by certain approved schools will be accepted by the Air Ministry. 763
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