FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1935
1935 - 1359.PDF
JUNE 6, 1935 • FLIGHT. SUPPLEMENT '-Bulldogs " of No. 54 (Fighter) Squad ron attacking a "Southampton." This photograph shows the view from the front cockpit of the flying-boat. Above the tail plane is one " Bulldog '' turning to break away after attacking, while another can be seen below diving out of range. (Flight photograph.) bombers command such a field of fire overhead that the fighters do not think so much of the " bolt from the blue " tactics. Therefore, if flying-boats flew low over the sea they would handicap the fighters too severely for the affiliation to be very instructive. Moreover, if an im petuous pilot delayed his pull-out too long, dives by the fighters would have an element of danger. In conse quence, the fiat went forth that there must be no sham fighting below 2,000 feet. The fighters also had to put up with some restrictions in the interests of safety. " Southamptons " have no gun position aft of the rudders, but all the latest flying-boats have tail gunners, and therefore no useful lessons can be learnt by relying on the absence of the sting in the tail. On the other hand, the " Southamptons,"' in common with other types of boat, have gunners in the nose. It is a nice point for the fighters to decide whether attacks from behind or from in front would give them the best chance of success. To charge head-on in war might be taking only a legitimate risk, but in sham fighting the risks of a collision would be too great, and so the fighters were forbidden to attack from in front. Making allowance for these precautions, the affiliation went on merrily. Flying-boats often have to work alone. To the writer of the present article it seems that when a fleet has to be shadowed, it would be better for them to work in forma tion so that cross-fire should make the blind spots under the hulls rather uncomfortable for the ships' fighters ; but, when the total number of flying-boats is limited, forma tion work is not always possible. A single boat has to learn to hold its own against a flight of fighters, and cer tainly the tail gun position greatly reduces the blind area underneath the hull. -The first exercise practised in the affiliation at Plymouth was the attack by a flight of three " Bulldogs " on a single " Southampton." This was fol lowed by attacks by flights of fighters on three boats flying in formation. The boats flew up and down the Devon coast, keeping within reach of land, as the fighters are landplanes and had no flotation gear. The whole of No. 54 F.S. would come out, but each flight in rotation would practise, its attacks by itself. When the fighters' petrol ran low, they would retire to Roborough, fill up, and come out again, while the " Southamptons " carried on up and down the coast. The " Southampton " is slow, according to modern ideas, but it can keep on cruis ing for nine or ten hours. The " Bulldogs " kept attacking from the rear, and when they were directly behind a " Southampton " they were well shielded by the triple fins and rudders. There are three gun positions in a " Southampton," one in the extreme nose, and two behind the wings. These last two are staggered. When a " Bulldog " dived to break away
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
