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Aviation History
1937
1937 - 0109.PDF
JANUARY 14, 1937. FLIGHT. 43 HERE and THERE Australia's American Acquisitions A LEADING article in this issue discusses the political aspects of the order placed by the Australian Government for American NA-16 monoplanes. The machines themselves also call for comment. Constructed originally as an advanced trainer, the NA-16, known to the U.S. Army Air Corps as the NA-BTg, won a competition organised by that Corps in 1935. Its potentiali ties were such that it prompted the development of military variations by its manufacturers (North American Aviation, Inc., of Inglewood, California, whose " Operating Division " controls Eastern Airlines and whose " Manufacturing Divi sion " comprises the facilities of B/J Aircraft, the General Aviation Manufacturing concern, and Fokker Aircraft). A great variety of equipment, armament and power plants can be specified, the models ranging from a 225 h.p. trainer to an 850 h.p. single-seater fighter capable of 270 m.p.h. Apart from the choice of engines and equipment the NA16 can have either a fixed or a retractable undercarriage, and any of three sizes of wing panels. As supplied to Australia, Ihe machines will have Pratt and Whitney Wasps of the 500/550 h.p. "H" series, which confer a maximum speed of 210-220 m.p.h. Bringing It Home " TX presenting the play 'Night Sky,' we have endeavoured J- to bring to the stage a subject which is uppermost in everybody's mind at the present moment. We do not claim to show what will happen, but we emphatically insist that this s what might happen. "This is not a jingoistic play. It presents all sides of the problem as discussed in a normal English home, but it shows also what may one day happen to that home. .Far from being impossible, the dramatic climax of the play is the thing of which no flying man will ever speak but which is always present in his mind as the ultimate sacrifice. Clifford Whitley and L. du Garde Peach served with the R.F.C. and R.A.F. during the last war. "This play is real. We present it in the hope that it will never become reality." Thus the programme " blurb " on L. du Garde Peach's new play at the Savoy Theatre. The scene is the lounge of a 'nice" house in a London suburb, apparently within hailing distance of a civil aerodrome. The characters are, inter alia, the son of the house, an R.A.F. squadron leader; the son-in- law-to-be, an "International Airways" pilot of strongly pacific inclinations; and daughter, mother, aunt, father and so on. The time is New Year's Eve. Between dinner and midnight an international crisis boils over, and there is the oft-predicted air raid on London by a hostile power which has made no declaration of war. The Prime Minister, unsealing his lips through the All-wave Receiver Kindly Lent by His Master's Voice, tells us that the Royal Air Force has been outnumbered and decimated in the air and on the ground. Forty enemy aircraft are patrolling a beat over London while the Government considers signing away England's bulwarks on land and sea, failing which signature within three hours, apparently, they will start in tensive bombing until the country is brought to its knees. W hereupon the squadron leader and the airline pilot, the jatter suddenly developing an intensely aggressive spirit, get ousy on the telephone rounding up a" Wat Tyler's armv of Pilots who, we learn, are to go forth in "civil 'planes" (pre sumably Moths, Drones. Heracles, and anything else spared by the attackers) and swoop upon and ram the patrolling enemy formation. The two leave; anon fire-engine bells are heard—a clever and sinister touch, this, probably lost upon a lay audience— and the curtain descends on the family listening to symbolic New Year peals of victory. The play should make a strong impression upon the layman, who won't worry about such trifling details as that of organising a night rail to render fifty-odd Service aerodromes hors de combat, apart from dealing with such defending squadrons as have managed to take the air. For ourselves, we found it excellent entertainment. The crashed enemy airman, fanatically nationalistic, who enters the house, revolver in hand, and argues pacifism with the internationalist airline pilot; and such lines as "Everybody has been talking for years about what the next war will be like. But nobody has done anything. Except H. G. Wells, and he wrote a film about what it won't be like." Air Coma1 re. N. J. Gill Joins Boulton Paul IT is a--ounced that Air Comdre. N. J. Gill, C.B., C.B.E., M C.i has retired after twenty-six years' service in the Army, R.F.C. and R.A.F., and has joined the Wolverhamp ton organisation of Boulton Paul Aircraft, Ltd. Learning to fly at Brooklands in 1912, he was seconded from the Royal Artillery to the R.F.C. in 1913, and during the War was awarded the M.C. and C.B.E. In 1919 he was granted a permanent commission as wing commander. In 1922-24, after a period in command at Martlesham, he performed tech nical staff duties in Iraq", and in 1927-31 was Deputy Director of Technical Development, Air Ministry, during which time he did important work in connection with the Schneider Trophy machines. He was promoted to air commodore in 1932. • Oil In and Dirt Out I N a great many forms of machinery, • and particularly in automobile engineering, those important little fitments known as oil seals play their part in keeping lubricant in and dirt out. Similar duties, too, are performed for different kinds of mechanism by gaiters, glands and " concertinas." All these components find a place in modern aircraft engi neering; oil seals on shafts in the engine, gaiters and concer tinas on control and retractable undercarriage joints, and so forth. Well known oil sealing devices are those manufactured by George Angus and Co., Ltd., of Newcastle, who have now started production in their new Tyneside factory. A chrome leather, specially tanned by the makers' own process, is used in the Angus unit-type oil seal, while a rubberised form is the material used for lightweight gaiters and glands, which are made to order. Temperatures of 250 deg. F., shaft speeds of 45ft. per second, and high pressures, are, it is claimed, satis factorily resisted t>y these materials, while neither continued exposure to the air and to lubricants cause deterioration in the rubberised material. A non-porous material containing no rubber, but having its elastic properties, is also marketed under the name of " Gaco." This is specially recommended for pneumatic and hydraulic applications where non-porosity and density are important. It can be moulded into almost any shape to customers' specifica tions, for cups, rams and washers, and is said to be proof against all fuels and lubricants. Heat resistance up to 350 deg. F. a high surface finish, and resistance to abrasion are claimed, while the friction on shafts is stated to be onlv one- fifth that of leather. Forthcoming Events lanuary 14. R.Ae.S. Lecture*: »r. C. H. Desch. January 19. R.Ae.S. Students' Section Lecture: *>Deeds of Monoplanes," by J. Hanson. Library, 7 p.m. • anuary 21. R.Ae.S. (Coventry Branch) Lecture : " Air Route |?? Aerodrome Control," by L. A. Sweny. Armstrong Jmu.r «? Canteen. 8.15 p.m. E,i?ii". Aerodrome Owners' Association : Airports Jam.,,- I'1""0" and Conference. January 28. R.Ae.S. Lecture* : " «• A. de Bruyne Magnesium Alloys," by Critical R.Ae.S. Plastic Materials," by Dr. February 3. Royal United Services Institution Lecture : " The Antl-Aircraft Defence of Great Britain," by Ma].-Gen. R. H. D. Thompson. February 5. Cinque Torts Flying Club : Annual Dinner and Dance. February 10. Yorkshire Aviation Services Annual Dinner and Ball, 8 p.m.. Grand Hotel, Harrogate. February 11. R.Ae.S. Lecture* : " The Automatic Pilot," by W. Meredith and Mr. P. A. Cooke. De Havllland Technical School Annual Dance Hyde Park Hotel, London, W.l. Mr. F. February 12. 9 p.m.. hese lectures take place at the Royal Society of Arts, 18, John St., Lor.don, W.C.2, at 6.30 p.m. Admission is by ticket obtainable through a member.
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