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Aviation History
1937
1937 - 0417.PDF
FEBRUARY I8, 1937- FLIGHT. 159 The Outlooks " The Halfpenny be Demmed" D EVOTEES of the immortal Charles Dickens will recog nise the above quotation. It may never have occurred to them that this phrase should be the motto of a number of commercial aircraft enterprises in foreign countries which are backed by their respective Govern ments. Yet that conclusion may be drawn from the address given last week by Col. Burchall to the Institute of Journalists. His text was that national air services have become a symbol of national prestige, and that Govern ment grants encourage the running of many lines which do not pay for themselves and show no prospect of paying for themselves in the near future. He mentioned the in significant loads with which France runs to South America, said that the vast network of German air services in Europe was not for trade purposes, as that country is following the policy of self-sufficiency, questioned the commercial pros pects of Holland's schemes for services to Manila, Aus tralia, and South Africa, and quoted the United States Federal Aviation Commission which prophesied in 1935 that '' financial disaster is in the making for a large part of the present air transport system. . . We cannot see how it can be postponed indefinitely." Germany spent in 1934-5 ten million pounds on her civil air transport, the United States last year spent five million, France over one and a half million, Italy £795,000, while the United Kingdom confined itself to a modest £639,000. We may not have achieved such wonders as the United States has admittedly accomplished, but it certainly seems that our air transport is in a healthier state than that of some other countries. The Singapore Manoeuvres C ORRESPONDENTS who watched the recent large- scale manoeuvres at Singapore have written home to say that the defences were thoroughly tested and were proved impregnable. We take leave to doubt whether any sham fights can prove any position to be im pregnable, but, all the same, it is comforting to believe that Singapore is very strong. One notable incident was the apparent ease with which the shore-based aircraft dealt with the aircraft-carrier Hermes. When she came into range, the reconnoitring flying boats sent wireless messages to the garrison, and the bombers made a surprise attack and riddled her flying deck with imaginary bombs. That is what many experts teU us will be the normal procedure whenever a fleet is engaged, either with a shore fortress )r with another fleet. The carriers on the other side will b%h ^ tatget of the striking air force- They should e the easiest target, and, so long as it is not found possible 0 armour-plate the flying deck, dive bombers should be fae-+1 make flyinS off and flyinS on quite impossible. ^apital ships can and will have their decks so heavily moured that dive bombing by light bombers will do the ips no considerable harm. But will the Admiraltv be able to TO armour-plate the decks of future carriers? and rl J?6"' who reSard tne gun as a far more accurate the cW weaPon than the bomb, look on spotting as as th + Service which aircraft can render in a fleet action, point |?Crt:ases the effective range of the gun. From that diminish +T'ew the, c°ming of the aeroplane does not officers f ^avy's power, but increases it. Gunnery obServerPfrn Ihat the sPotting should be done by an K„ iL . ° m their own shin, and +hprpfnrp set more store by their aircraft Wn cataPuIt seaplanes than by the carrier-borne Flying Boats and the Fleet r HE four London flying boats of No. 201 (F.B.) Squadron had to return from their cruise in the Mediterranean without taking part in exercises with the fleet because the weather was too bad. This was distinctly unfortunate, as it is very desirable that data should be accumulated about the degree of use which that type of aircraft can be to a fleet at sea. It is evident that large flying boats must have either a land base or a mother ship from which to refuel, and if they are to go with the fleet for any considerable distance the latter would seem a necessity. Even so, refuelling in a heavy sea can never be an easy operation. But if bad weather forbids the boats to take any part in the fleet's exercises there would seem small reason for naval officers to claim, as some have done, that the Navy ought to have flying boats of its own. Pre sumably the Admiralty has never asked for any, apart from the small catapult machine, the Walrus, for if it had done so the request would surely not have been refused by the Air Ministry, especially as the Admiralty pays for the whole of the Fleet Air Arm and would likewise without doubt have paid for any flying boats which it ordered. The indications are that for warlike operations in Home waters the flying boat, which may yet grow to a size only faintly foreshadowed by the Short Empire class, will remain invaluable for really long reconnaissance, while in the Over seas Commands its uses will remain varied and important. More cannot be said at present with any certainty. Air Cooling's Future * J~\URING the next five years it would appear that the / J smaller the size of the aircraft the more difficult will it be to obtain a suitably scaled radial or in-line engine of sufficient power, whereas the larger the size of the aircraft the less, it seems, can be said against the radial. In fact, in the largest category the engine is almost entirely lost in the section of the wing." This is but one of several aspects of the air-cooled engine problem which Mr. Roy Fedden will discuss in his lecture to the Royal Aeronautical Society to-night. His view is that in the matter of engine arrangements the present fashion of engines abreast along the leading edge of the wings will continue to be in vogue, the number of engines being four, six or even eight, according to the size of the aircraft. It seems possible that during the discussion some of the aircraft designers may join issue with Mr. Fedden on the spreading-out of eight engines abreast, four in each wing- half, although it is obvious that a machine which required this number of engines would be a very large one, so that the turning moment with one outer engine stopped would, presumably, be met by a correspondingly long fuselage if the present ratio of span to length is maintained. It is interesting to discover that Mr. Fedden expects to be able to meet new aircraft demands with four sizes of engine, a 750 h.p. unit weighing 820 lb., a 1,150 h.p. weighing 1,250 lb., a 1,550 h.p. weighing 1,550 lb., and a 2,000 h.p. weighing 2,100 lb. An interesting point here is that the 1,550 h.p. engine appears as the most economic size, its weight being exactly one pound per horse power. In smaller sizes, and again in larger, the weight goes up. The fact that Mr. Fedden will also deal with such in teresting subjects as engine layouts from the geometric and aerodynamic aspects, and with a comparison of the petrol and the compression-ignition engine on a basis of fuel consumption and cost, suffices to ensure a very interest ing and informative meeting.
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