FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1936
1936 - 1806.PDF
JULY 2, 1936. FLIGHT. 15 Errington recently did a 132-mile trip at 184 m.p.h. and 163 m p.h., out and home, at altitudes of 8,000 and 10,000 ft. respectively. In each case the times included the climb from 2,000 ft. to operating height, and the engines were only at full throttle for a few moments. All the seven machines are very thoroughly equipped, apart, of course, from the standard landing and naviga tion lights, and so forth. In addition to the normal flight and engine instruments, including boost gauges, the dash board of the first machine carries a Sperry artificial horizon and directional gyro, a Reid and Sigrist Gyorizon, and a K.B.B.-Kollsman sensitive altometer. The radio equipment is of the very latest Marconi type •—an AD 49 transmitter and an AD 50/62 receiver incor porating a homing device. On the first machine the hom ing signals will be aural only, but others will also have a visual indicator on the dashboard. In the military version the fixed aerial may be discarded to allow the rear gunner a full range of movement. Homing is carried out with a fixed loop inside the fuselage. Certainly this civilian-nurtured machine has little of which to be ashamed even when directly compared with the earnest craft with a military pedigree. The pilot's range of view is as nearly perfect as it is possible to be, and the rear gunner has a thoroughly adequate field of fire both to the front and the rear. Only the sector imme diately beneath the tail need be unprotected. Further more, the convertible Envoy can be flung about with ease and safety. It can be put into a near-vertical climbing turn with the most commendable alacrity, and it has even been dived at a speed approximating to 300 m.p.h. during its initial tests. INSTRUCTORS and all ABOUT THEM THE civil flying instructor, as we find him to-day, falls into one of three classes, (a) Badinstructors; (b) Good- instructors; and (c) Superinstruc- tors. Badinstructors are just pilots who find, to their horror, that they are compelled for some reason or other to become instructors; they are very often good pilots. Goodinstructors arc pilots who wake up very early one morning and run into their parents' room and say Daddy something tells me that I must become an instructor ; in other words, instructing is to them a vocation. Superinstructors instruct Goodin structors and Badinstructors; they are very, very rare. Each has a pedigree as long as your arm in which it is shown that all the sires were Goodinstructors and all the dams angels. They are invariable grey-headed and have been known to turn white in a night. They fly in any position with equal grace and dignity. All instructors are identifiable by their wild eyes and shy, wary manner. The wild eyes in the cases of the Super- and Goodinstructors are the outward and visible sign of the voca tional phrenzy within. In the case of the Badinstructor it is simply the wildness seen in the eye of the man who thinks he is going mad, but isn't. There is much of interest to be observed in a close and de tailed study of the habits of each type, but considerations of space confine us to a detailed study of only one class, the Badinstructor, and to only that day in his life upon which he becomes, an instructor. It is the most -interesting period of his brief and meteoric career (Badinstructors' never live very long, but'while living they are very beautiful and dif fuse a weird and purple glow). As has been said, they begin as simple pilots (usually very simple), then to their horror it becomes necessary for them to graduate as instructors. They learn by heart the C.F.S. patter word for word and comma for comma. Because they are very simple it means nothing whatever to them ; however, they learn it because they are told they can't become instruc tors until they can rattle it off from memory without a mistake. When this has been done they go into the air for ten agonis ing hours with a Goodinstructor, who makes it quite clear to them, either intentionally or otherwise, that they can't fly and can't instruct and have forgotten every word of the patter, anyway. They then return to earth and again commit the patter to memory. When they have done this they are taken (usually under escort, in case they run away) to a Superinstructor, who examines them as to their capabilities. This examination usually proceeds on the following lines. Or, the Student's Guide to the Habits of the Lesser Patterer The Badinstructor and the Super- instructor strap themselves very tightly into the same aeroplane; very tightly because the Superin structor knows what is coming, while the Badinstructor dosen't. They then go into the air and the Superinstructor says in as soothing a voice as he can encompass, "just do a steep turn, will you, and give me the patter," The Badinstruc tor then opens hip mouth like a fish, but no sound comes, and the machine lurches into a turn of in credible steepness and velocity, the centrifugal pressure becomes enor mous and the horizon whizzes round and round and, alack, some times up and down, but if this happens the Badinstructor knows all is lost and leaps overboard. This phenomenal turn goes on and on and round and round for a long time in deathly silence as tar as the Badinstructor is concerned, then he straightens out and says with a note of interrogation in his voice, " Er—that was a steep turn and that's the way you do it, I mean—er." The SupeTinstructor then says "quite, and now will you give me the patter, please." The Badinstructor then shuts his eyes and, counting on his fingers, gabbles away, forgetting all about the punctuation, which is so important, and with an over powering feeling that this isn't really the patter for a steep turn at all but is the rhyme of the three little pigs. When he has finished the Superinstructor says, "quite; now will you do a steep turn and patter, please, and do them together this time." And off they go again, and again, and again. The Mayfly • Thus he becomes a Badinstructor or not. If not, and he fails in the examination, he just rushes away and nobody has ever discovered what becomes of him. If he passes, the first thing he does on receiving his licence is to do a screaming climbing turn off the deck on a cold engine in front of a Good- instructor and a lot of pupils; he then shoots-up the manag ing director's office. He does these things because he is a simple fellow and is very happy and proud. For doing these things he is sacked, but he doesn't mind and rushes away very happily and proudly to find a new job. He is at this time in full feather and is very l>eautiful, but it is cruel to trap him; he can never be tamed and pines and dies in cap tivity ; he'll pine and die just the same if left free, but he doesn't know this and for a short time is wildly happy rush ing about showing everybody his new licence. During the summer of his short life he flies from job to job, roaring with laughter and singing in his bath. Then suddenly there comes a day when he knows his time has come; he creeps heme to die and one can only hope that this strange, elusive and in many ways attractive creature finds there one face he loved when all was young. ICARUS.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
