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Aviation History
1936
1936 - 1675.PDF
68o FLIGHT. JUNE 25, 1936. A Miles Nighthawk training aircraft will be among the " new and experimental " types. The 130 h.p. Gipsy Major and 200 h.p. Gipsy Six are alternative power plants. The newest class of squadron to be recognised by the R.A.F. is designated "general reconnaissance," and is chiefly concerned with making reconnaissance flights over the sea from coastal aerodromes. Only one specialised type of aircraft has so far been adopted for this work and is now being issued. It is the Avro Anson monoplane (developed from the Avro 652 commercial machine) with two Siddeley Cheetah IX radials rated at 310 h.p. at 6,000ft. It has a high performance (the top speed is 188 m.p.h.) which is attained through efficient aerodynamic design. The undercarriage is retractable. For over-water flying the Anson carries elaborate' navi gating equipment, sea markers (which leave an aluminium patch on the surface of the sea) or flame floats, which are used to mark the sea by night, a collapsible dinghy and two-way wireless. If necessary a light bomb load can be stowed within the wing, where it offers no resistance. Foi making attacks from coastal aerodromes on enemy shipping we have the two-three-seater Vickers Vildebeest torpedo bomber with 590 h.p. Bristol Pegasus II M. This class of machine carries either a torpedo weighing over 1,500 lb. or an equivalent bomb load. Air bags are fitted to float the Vildebeest should it be forced to descend into the sea. Flying Boats Perhaps the most fascinating and impressive of all the aeroplanes employed by the R.A.F. is the flying boat mainly intended for long reconnaissance or bombing flights over the open sea, although such duties as coastal recon naissance and transport fall to its lot on occasion. An inspection cf the drawing on pages 692-3 will satisfy the most exacting student who wishes to know what lies behind the metal hull-plating of a modern Service flying boat. For bombing its sighting, fusing and release equipment is similar to that found on a typical heavy bomber. Three machine guns are normally carried (the crew consists of five or six men), but one R.A.F. boat, the Blackburn Perth, has a mounting in the bows (not "nose," please!) for a large gun firing shells weighing i| lb. The Short Singapore III, as shown in our drawing, pro vides an excellent example tc show what comfort is pro vided for the crew on long expeditionary flights. There are bunks, a complete cooking installation, ice box, stowage for suit cases, etc., ship's clock, awnings to spread over the hull when on the water in the tropics, a lavatory, and even a cash-box for the money necessary to buy stores when the boat is operating far from its base. Apart from the Singapore III we have in use, or on order, the following flying boats: Supermarine Southampton (obsolescent) with two 450 h.p. Napier Lions, Supermarine Scapa (two 525 h.p. Rolls-Royce Kestrel III Ms), Super- marine Stranraer (two 840 h.p. Bristol Pegasus Xs), Black burn Perth (three 825 h.p. Rolls-Royce Buzzards), and the Saro London. The last named, powered with two 690 h.p. Pegasus Ills, is a roomy boat, in the design of which seaworthiness and comfort have received, consideration over extreme perform ance. For navigational training the Service uses another Saro type—an amphibian known as the Cloud. A. cantilever monoplane, it mounts a pair of 340 h.p. Siddeley Serval ten-cylinder radials. Training The most extensively used trainer in the R.A.F. is the Avro Tutor, fitted with the 225 h.p. Siddeley Lynx radial. The Tutor replaced what was, perhaps, the best known of all the Avros—the 504N, which was developed from the 504K of War-time and post-War fame. A certain number of Avro Prefects—navigational train ing machines resembling both the Avro 626 general-pur pose trainer and the Tutor—are also in service. Then there is the Gipsy Major-engined De Havilland Tiger Moth—a smaller and lighter type. The most powerful aircraft in the training category is the Hart Trainer, fitted, in its current form, with the 575 h.p. Kestrel X. The Tutor, Tiger Moth and Hart Trainer will be seen at Hendon. The Fleet Air Arm Operating from the hard, steel decks of aircraft carriers, exposed to the salt air for long periods, the aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm must indeed be thoroughbreds. The smallest type carried is the Hawker Nimrod single- seater fleet fighter, with 600 h.p. Kestrel V. Then comes the Osprey—a fleet fighter reconnaissance type with the same engine. For torpedo dropping and bombing (Pegasus II M) opera tions there are the Blackburn Baffin, Blackburn Shark (Siddeley Tiger VI), and Fairey Swordfish (Pegasus III). The Baffin, a comparatively old type, is known as a torpedo bomber, but the other pair are classed as torpedo spotter reconnaissance types, which means that they can be used to torpedo, bomb, reconnoitre enemy shipping or direct the fire of the big guns. The Fairey Seal and the older IIIF are fleet spotter reconnaissance machines, capable, although their title does not infer it, of being used as bombers. A new Fleet Air Arm type is the Supermarine Walrus amphibian with Bristol Pegasus engine. When equipped with wheel undercarriages for flying- off and landing on the carrier's deck, Fleet machines are provided with flotation gear in case of a forced descent. This takes the form of air bags filled with air at atmo spheric pressure; bags wdiich are inflated automatically when the machine hits the water; or what is known as a Youngman dinghy, which, when disconnected, offers comparative safety to the crew, or which can be used to support a sinking aircraft. Other '' gadgets'' common to the Fleet Air Arm are deck-arresting hooks (which engage, during a landing, with transverse cables on the carrier's deck to arrest the run of the machine) ; catapulting spools on the fuselage, and cables for slinging and salvaging. Before long we may see monoplanes flying from the decks of our carriers, for the Fleet Air Arm, like the rest of the service, must keep abreast of the times. •t, < Our standard trainer : the Avro Tutor with 225 h.p. Lynx engine.
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