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Aviation History
1935
1935 - 1120.PDF
532 FLIGHT. MAY 16, 1935. AN EXPERIMENTAL EXPERIENCE Empire Air Day Preparations : A Visit to Martlesham and Felixstowe " K ND I landed on the concrete between those two /\ buildings." It was at Martlesham last week, and * *• a test pilot was telling his story of a parachute drop from a disintegrating aeroplane. He was telling it, under relentless pressure, for the express benefit of a visitor who could develop no enthusiasm for partial climbs and radiator suitability tests. He told his tale in roughly two dozen words and, on its completion, em phasised that it took place in the old days—ten years or so ago. Those were the days, of course, when pilots testing high-flying fighters tied a hand to the throttle lever so that the engine would shut down should they " pass cut" through defective oxygen apparatus. They usually came round again at about 7,000ft. Oh, rather, oxygen gear was pretty reliable these days. It had to be. You see, fighters, the " Gauntlet,". for instance, were getting to 35,000 and over. . . . No Heroics If anyone intending to visit the Aeroplane and Arma ment Experimental Establishment, Martlesham Heath, on Empire Air Day (May 25) expects to be regaled with tales of how Martlesham pilots dice with death, cheat the grim reaper, and flirt with disaster, he will come away unsatis fied. But he will meet the "most modest, charming and skilful pilots in the world. He will see some wonderful new aeroplanes, and will be shown over an aerodrome equipped for the testing of new types of military and civil machines, armament and aircraft equipment. On our visit to Martlesham the other day, the CO., Group Capt. Maund, said that on the " big day " he hoped there would be among the wide assortment of aeroplanes at Martlesham (often over thirty different types fly during the course of a week) Scott and Black's " Comet," an Autogiro, the Northrop bomber, and the Handley Page G.P. monoplane. Of these, the last two were there during our visit. Incidentally, it seems that Marti esham's opinion of the Northrop might be summed up m the words of an officer who said that here was an example of how a very good commercial machine would make a fairly good bomber. Full-load Tests The Handley Page G.P. monoplane was flying with its full military load, which included a shiny, red-nosed torpedo. We saw also the Miles " Merlin," not yet with C.-P. airscrew, a Fleet Air Arm "Shark"—the collapsible dinghy of one of these sturdy torpedo bombers came adrift during a dive the other day—a production " Gauntlet," a brace of " Overstrands " (there was talk of " Pegasus X's " to be fitted to one of these), the Gloster T.S.R., a " Vincent " and a " Vildebeest," and a " Valentia." A pilot told us that this latter, which is really a modified ' Pegasus-Victoria, will do about 125 m.p,h. A great number of the aeroplanes at Martlesham are standard Service types, which are used for testing new armament, instruments, and equipment. There is, for example, the " Vildebeest," painted night-bomber green, and used to test night-flying gear, and the " Gordon," the pilots of which try out the latest electrically heated clothing. The armament section is busy experimenting with gun mountings which can be used on high-speed two-seaters. We flew in a " Demon " fitted with an experimental type of gun ring and, incidentally, with target-towing equip ment. Although no gun was fitted to the ring, it was apparent that at speeds over about 160 m.p.h. the use of a gun would be very restricted. It is not only wind pressure that beats the gunner, but the "G " developed during rapid manoeuvring. New types of machine guns are tested at Martlesham for functioning at high altitudes and are fired at night as well as by day so that the sights may be tested and the muzzle flash noted. Live bombs are dropped on the shingle at Orford Ness, a few miles away. The public will see nothing of this on May 25, although there will be exhibitions of " bombing-up " and the dropping of bombs from machines on the ground on to bags of sand beneath their wings. Every Service landplane type is put through its tests at Martlesham and, in addition, one of every civil type must undergo tests there for its C. of A. When a military aeroplane arrives it is weighed and the C. of G. is deter mined. The actual flying tests include full-load, full- throttle climbs, oil-cooling tests—in which the machine climbs to a stated height, where the oil temperature is noted, and glides down until the oil cools—speed trials over a camera obscura, " stick " and " unstick " trials, taxying and braking tests, and camera gun trials. The military qualities are noted by different pilots, and tests are made to determine the steadiness of the machine as a gun platform. Terminal velocity dives are not usually commenced lower than 20,000ft., where the petrol is turned off. Instrument readings are normally recorded by the pilot on a pad strapped to his knee, but experiments are being made with dictaphones for this purpose. So far perfection has not been attained. From one and a half to three months is usually spent by a pilot in learning to synchronise flying and recording instrument readings. • At Felixstoive Taking leave of Martlesham, we went on to the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment on the Felixstowe flats overlooking Harwich harbour. Before the massive hangars was a bevy of marine aircraft sunning themselves on the concrete apron—a Saro " London," looking very sophisticated with polygonal cowlings, a " Perth " with no tail, a handsome " Scapa," a IIIF, and a " Seal floatplane (with a " Panther VI " and the new Siddeley cowling which gives it a much cleaner look), while riding at their moorings in the choppy, grey sea were two " Southamptons " and the fnew Supermarine boat with two "Pegasus" engines, known at Felixstowe as the "Mark V." Boarding an R.A.F. pinnace, spotlessly clean and handled in a masterly fashion, we went out into the har bour. The " Mark V " and the " Southamptons " had, by this time, taken off, and a " Singapore III " had come over from beyond Harwich to have a look at us. One by one the big boats alighted beside our pinnace for the benefit of photographers. The " Mark V " was particu larly impressive. She was flying " light " and the two 690 h.p. " Pegasus Ill's " lifted her off the water after a run not many times her length. One gathered that this boat, although her all-up weight is roughly 5,000 lb. more than that of the " Scapa," has a considerably higher per formance—and the " Scapa " is a 124-knotter. One our way shorewards we saw the '' Mark V '' lifted bodily out of the water by the great fifty-ton crane on the jetty and lowered on to her land chassis. Ihe tests made with landplanes at Martlesham are, in the main, carried.out on marine aircraft at Felixstowe, Additional tests which are required are those for deter mining pitching and riding qualities in different seas, rough and smooth take-offs, tests in various tideways, and those to determine salt-water corrosion. The station has an up-to-date hull-pressure testing section, and its marine section handles an assortment of the British Power Boat Company's motor craft.
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