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Aviation History
1937
1937 - 1187.PDF
MAY. 6, 1937 FLIGHT. The Merlin-engined Supermarine Spitfire is the fastest military aeroplane in the world. AIRCRAFT MILITANT, 1919-1937 Historical Section II Some Service Types from " Demob." to Expansion (Illustrated by " Flight" Photographs) T ' F the war had gone on a little longer" is a phrase which would be hard to exclude from any discussion on military aircraft of post-war years. When we settled down to our fight for peace we had on our hands some aircraft which unquestionably would have left their mark on German centres, and, more indelibly, on the pages of history. But as designers groped for guidance into what they hoped would be the Elysian Fields of civil aeronautics the pace of development slack ened, and there followed a period of characteristically British peace-time "plodding." Taking the broad view of the past eighteen years, we must be thankful that our technicians have done as well as they have in keeping the Service supplied with sound aeroplanes, for orders have been thin. Happily we have been able to establish good connections in the export market which have given stimulus to development in certain directions. The way in which manufacturers have come up to scratch in constructing prototypes superior to anything of their kind abroad, on which we have been able to base our Expansion policy, and their efforts toward efficient quantity production, have been magnificent. A review of post-war military types is best approached systematically, particularly in view of the multifarious official classifications which have arisen, lapsed or stood. Single-seaters Fighters.—In spite of incessant predictions of inevitable extinction the single-seater fighter is still very decidedly with us. True, the time has come when many of its characteristics must undergo a metamorphosis or be sup planted entirely, but as a carriage for fixed guns its use fulness seems by no means so near an end as many tacticians would have us believe. Development from 1919 to 1935 was along very definite lines, all types accepted for service during that period being biplanes armed with two machine-guns. The Sopwith Snipe, retained as standard equipment for a short time after the war, was the last first-line aircraft to mount a rotary engine (the Bentley B.R.2), and was soon to give way to machines with much more power at their disposal. Some notable experimental fighters, in cluding the A.W. Siskin (very different from the Siskin known to the Service, although it was a sesquiplane with the same substantial undercarriage), and one or two others born under less fortunate auspices, made their appearance. By 1923 Bristols had completed their experimental Bull finch with 400 h.p. Jupiter engine. A parasol monoplane, A standard fighter of not so long ago : the Jaguar-engined A.W. Siskin. the Bullfinch, had wings which thinned down toward their tips and over the centre section. Glosters, improving on their Mars (or Sparrowhawk) models, produced the Mars VI, a two-bay biplane with Jaguar engine from which were developed the successful Grebe and Gamecock types. One interesting development of the 1923-4 period was the Bristol Fighter, basically similar to the warrior of earlier years, but mounting the 400 h.p. Jupiter which gave a speed of 133 m.p.h. The Fairey Flycatcher made its debut in 1924 as a Fleet fighter, and, subsequently adopted, remained as the standard R.A.F. type in that category until the acceptance of the Hawker Nimrod about fifteen years later. Throughout its term of office the beloved old "'Catcher," remembered by display "fans" for its cacophonous assaults on tents and convoys, received surprisingly little modification. Like the Flycatcher, the contemporary Gloster Grebe mounted the Siddeley Jaguar two-row radial, but was planned for land service. Capable of 150 m.p.h., it was not long before the Grebe was "snapped up" as standard equipment. A competitor of the Flycatcher, the Parnall Plover, had a number of com mendable features. Profiting from their experience with the Silver Streak, an early experiment with duralumin construction, Shorts built the Springbok two-seater fighter for the Air Ministry, which proved of greater interest structurally than tactically. As a matter of interest to those who regard Italy as the spiritual home of the single-seater fighter flying boat, we may mention the little Supermarine Sea Eagle amphibian, which reached the peak of its development about this time. Originally christened the Ajax, an Armstrong-Whitworth two-seater fighter of 1925 was actually the prototype of the successful Atlas series of " A.C." and "G.P." biplanes
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