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Aviation History
1937
1937 - 1594.PDF
bo4 FLIGHT. JUNE 17, 1937. THE PASSING OF A FAMOUS DESIGNER R. J. Mitchell of Super- marines : His Brilliant Work BY the death last Friday, at the early age of 42, of R. J. Mitchell Great Britain has lost one of her most versatile aircraft designers. Although the world in general had no knowledge of the fact, Mr. Mitchell had been seriously ill for many months, and had in fact not been really well for several years, although his manner and habit of never complaining disguised the fact even from those who knew him fairly well. The designer of modern aircraft, unlike his early counter part, obviously cannot possibly evolve all the details himself. It was, perhaps, the ability of " R. J." to weigh the pros and cons quickly and to arrive at a decision which made him the great designer he undoubtedly was. His versatility will be appreciated when it is pointed out that his productions ranged from heavy long-range flying boats to tiny single-seater land- plane fighters, and on more than one occasion he had two or three very different types of aircraft passing through the design stage at the same time, so that he frequently had to switch his mind from one problem to another of a totally different character. The success of Supermarine aircraft is proof that he was able to do this without losing that perfect judgment which is the essential of good compromise. Yet in spite of his success there was no more modest man than Mitchell. He began to design flying boats at a time when little was known of the subject, and he evolved some of the world's most successful types. He turned his attention to racing seaplanes, and produced world's record holders. Finally, he produced the Spitfire, which is generally held to be the world's fastest landplane single-seater fighter. At one time he designed what would have been the largest flying boat in the world, and construction was actually begun when the Air Ministry decided to cancel the order in the interest of economy. There is little doubt that had this machine been built it would have been as outstanding in its own way as were the other Supermarine types. Yet Mitchell was, in spite of all his experience and skill, the last man in the world to "lay down the law." He was never dogmatic; ever ready to listen to the arguments of others. Pioneering Work Although not one of the pioneers among British aircraft designers (he joined Supermarines in 1916) R. J. Mitchell may truly be said to have done real pioneer work in seaplane pro duction. When the war finished in 1918 there came a period of comparative inactivity during which the seaplane, and more particularly the flying boat, was treated in a very stepmotherly manner by the Air Ministry. Orders were few and far between, and one school of thought held that, because the flying boats of the war period were considerably inferior in performance compared with contemporary landplanes, the flying boat was not worth developing. That was the time, if ever, when R. J. Mitchell might very easily have been side-tracked into some other industry, and his great gifts lost to British aviation. Fortunately, his then directors, Commander James Bird and Mr. Hubert Scott-Paine, were firm believers in the ultimate triumph of the flying boat ;• in face of apathy and indifference they decided to carry on, and "R. J.," who had become Mr. Scott-Paine's chief tech nical assistant and designer, was able to lay the foundations of the greatness of the house of Supermarines during the years immediately following the war. In those early days of flying-boat development " R. J." designed such successful types as the Channel type with Sid- deley Puma engine. In spite of the low power this type did much good work in pioneering commercial flying-boat opera tion. Flying boats were also built for the Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Chilean and Japanese navies. The latter, incidentally, were probably the first aircraft exported from Great Britain after the war, and they were the first machines to go into service with the Japanese naval air arm. For the Air Ministry competitions in 1920 Mitchell designed the amphibian flying boat Sea Eagle, which secured second place. First place was secured by a Vickers Viking III curiously enough, in view of the close association which was later to be established between the two firms. For the Schneider contest held at Bournemouth in 1919 Mitchell designed the Sea Lion, a tiny biplane flying boat fitted with Napier Lion engine. The machine struck some object on the water and had to be beached, so that it did not get an opportunity to show its paces, but in 1922 at Venice a somewhat similar machine won the contest at a speed of 143 m.p.h., piloted by Capt. Biard. Actually Biard covered many laps at 160 m.p.h., in spite of the fact that the course was a short one and 39 turns had to be made. But for this win there would have been no more Schneider contests. In 1923 the Schneider was won by Lieut. Rittenhouse, of the U.S. Navy, on a Curtiss seaplane at 177.38 m.p.h. The biplane flying boat was obviously outclassed, and Mitchell set to work and for the 1925 contest produced the Supermarine S.4 monoplane with Napier racing engine. Before going to America for the race the S.4 had established a world's speed record for seaplanes by averaging 226.752 m.p.h. over the straight-line course. In America the machine developed wing nutter and crashed, Capt. Biard escaping unhurt. For the 1927 contest, held at Venice, Mitchell designed the Supermarine S.5 also with Napier racing engine, and Fit. Lt. S. Webster won the contest at 281.5 m.p.h. In addition to winning the race this flight also established a new world's speed record. High'poiver Design By 1929 the Rolls-Royce " R " engine had become available, and Mitchell designed the S.6 around it. The great power and large fuel supply needed for the contest created serious problems, but they were solved, and the contest was won by F/O. Waghorn at 328.6 m.p.h. A short time afterwards a world's speed record of 355.8 m.p.h. was established by Sqn. Ldr. Orlebar on the S.6. Finally the Schneider Trophy was won outright for Great Britain by Fit. Lt. Boothman in 1931 when, on a Supermarine S.6 B with Rolls-Royce racing engine, he covered the course at 340 m.p.h. Shortly afterwards Fit. Lt. Stainforth, on the same machine, established a world's straight-line record of 407.5 m.p.h. While these machines represented the spectacular side of Mitchell's work they were regarded by him rather as some thing of a nuisance which interfered considerably with the output of his "bread-and-butter" machines. Of these he designed many, but here we need mention but those which " made history," such as the Southampton, which was first built of wood and later of metal, and its modern successors, the Scapa and the Stranraer. The amphibian class was con tinued from the 1920 Martlesham competition machine by such types as the Sea Gull and Walrus, and about a year ago Mitchell challenged landplane designers of very long experience by producing the Spitfire. Reginald Joseph Mitchell was born at Stoke-on-Trent in 1895 and was apprenticed to Kerr Stuart and Co. of that city. He joined Mr. Scott-Paine in 1916 and, as already mentioned, became chief designer in 1920. In 1923 Mr. Scott-Paine sold the company to Vickers Aviation, and Mr. Mitchell remained as chief engineer and designer. In 1927 he was made a director. He leaves a widow and one son, to whom the sympathy of the entire British aviation world will go out in their sad bereave ment. The funeral took place at Highfield Church, Southamp ton, last Tuesday.
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