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Aviation History
1937
1937 - 1693.PDF
JUNE 24, 1937- FLIGHT. During this final part of the approach he must watch the deck closely and adjust his height, which is liable to constant variation owing to the effect of air disturbances. It must be remembered that if he is too high he cannot correct by putting the nose down, for if he does so he will gain too much speed—a very frequent mistake with beginners. He must throttle down until he has lost the required height, as side-slipping or "S" turns are difficult to execute without getting off the correct line of approach. If a downward bump is experienced a burst of engine must be used to regain height. As soon as the after end of the flight deck is reached the pilot must throttle back and make a normal landing, being particularly careful to keep directly into wind and as near the centre line as possible. Broad double white lines are painted along the middle of the deck to serve as a guide. If for any reason the pilot finds himself off the centre line he must at least keep parallel to it, for to swing off will put the aircraft across the high relative wind. This may be as high as thirty knots, and the inevitable tendency to drop one wing will occur, so further increasing the swing until the aircraft runs into the palisades or over the side. These palisades consist of stanchions spaced some eight feet apart with wires strung between them. They are sloped outwards at an angle of about 30 deg. and fitted to each side of the deck at its forward end. Finishing the Run A pilot cannot relax until he has finished his run and come to rest. It • is often at the end of the run that dangerous swerves develop. Few shore-going pilots can say that they have never ground-looped (i.e., made a flat uncontrolled, complete turn on the ground upon landing). It is thought-provoking to recall that a ground loop on the. deck means a certain crash into the island or the palisades or going over the side and sometimes, in extreme cases, a combination of all three. The various carriers have different characteristics owing to the effect on the airflow of the profile of the deck and whether the ship be a flush deck or an "island" type. The advocates of the former type claim that under normal conditions there is nothing to choose between the two types of carrier, but that when the wind is unsteady in direction, or when the ship is rolling, the flush deck has a great advantage. The " island "' enthusiasts contend that with this type of carrier landing is not interfered with by the emission of hot gases and smoke and, further, that the island gives the pilot a definite guide to height when making an approach to land. In bad weather the ship may pitch considerably, the stern often rising and falling through a height of 30 or 40 feet. Rolling of the ship also makes deck landing more difficult. Their excessive weight (understood to be 3-4 per cent, of the ship's displacement) and the space occupied rules out gyro stabilisers. Though landing operations have to be carried out head-to-wind, excessive rolling may occur due to a cross-wind swell. With a heavily loaded machine some pilots advocate a high approach, but this means flying slowly near the stall in disturbed air, which may be a nerve-racking process. The pilot's view when approaching the deck is of the utmost importance, and everything must be done to make it as good as possible. The seat must be capable of being easily raised when carrying out a landing. A long cowling from the nose of the machine to the windscreen must be avoided, as this will block out all view of the deck as the aircraft flattens out shortly before passing over the stern. A nose sloping steeply away from the pilot is most desir able. Usually, the smaller frontal area of the water-cooled engine provides a better view for the pilot. With an air- cooled engine care must be taken that the exhaust ring does not blank the view. The tail-down attitude which many modern aircraft assume at low speeds affects the view very considerably. Any attempt to improve it by pushing the nose down immediately results in a considerable increase in speed. In those aircraft where the pilot is not seated in front of the wings, or where the front of the fuselage is of necessity long, the designer must aim at giving him as good a view as possible over the sides and reaching as near to the fore- and-aft line of the aircraft as possible. Good control on elevator, rudder and ailerons at slow speed is essential so that the ship-plane may be kept on " The aircraft to be flown-off are brought up on the lifts from the hangars below decks and are ranged up behind each other on the flight deck. Often two or more squadrons are so ranged up at the same time." Sharks and Baffins are seen in this strikng photograph taken on board H.M.S. Courageous.
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