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Aviation History
1937
1937 - 2061.PDF
JULY 22, 1937. FLIGHT. Another form of man power starting in wide use for sailplanes : Catapulting with the aid of rubber cords. (Flightphotograph.) just carrying its own weight, or barely that. Thus, when the connecting mechanism is released the upper component will climb slightly and the lower com ponent will sink slightly, the two pilots assisting by suitable manoeuvring as soon as the two aircraft are clear of one another. It will readily be appre ciated that very good team work between the two pilots is essential if the separation is to take place witnout in cidents. They will be in telephonic communication with one another, and dur ing the actual take-off and climb the flying controls of the upper component will be locked in a neutral position, the handling of the machine being done entirely by the pilot of the lower component. When the height at which it is desired to separate has been reached, the flying control surfaces of the upper component are released and each of the two pilots releases his part of the connecting mechanism, leaving the upper component free to detach itself automatically as soon as the necessary lift has been reached. The scheme is ex tremely daring in its conception, but the fact that it is being carried out by a firm of the long standing and excel lent reputation of Short Bros, is a guarantee that it is at least worth trying. Improved mobility as compared with catapult launching is one of the advantages claimed for the composite aircraft scheme. Superficially, this claim is incontrovertible, since obviously the two machines can be flown to any con venient site and the long-range upper component placed in position, fuel taken on board and a start made. When, however, one comes to consider the details the matter is not quite so simple. Obviously, a fairly heavy crane is necessary for lifting the upper component on to the back of the lower, and therefore the presence of such a crane must be presupposed. In addition, it is necessary to use a stretch of water in which there is little or no swell, otherwise there is a considerable risk of the lower component rising on a wave at the moment when the upper component is about to be made fast to it. This would almost certainly result in damage to one or both aircraft. The alternative would seem to be to lift the upper com ponent on to the lower while both are ashore. However, that would tend to increase the difficulties of getting the composite machine down a slipway and into the water In either case fuelling would. The lower component of the Short-Mayo composite air craft being erected in the open at Rochester. of course, be done after the upper component was in place. The first Short-Mayo composite aircraft has been criti cised on the score that the cruising speed expected from the upper component is only about 160-170 m.p.h. It has been argued that it seems scarcely worth while to go to all the trouble of a composite aircraft for the sake of such a relatively low cruising speed. In all fairness it should be pointed out that the first machine is purely experimental and that the main idea was to try out the feasibility of the scheme. Also Imperial Airways wished to make the upper component a twin-float seaplane in order that it might be tried out on the southern route via the Azores and Bermuda where no aerodromes are available and where, therefore, the ability to alight on the sea was essential. It goes without saying that a landplane of similar general design and with retractable undercarriage instead of the two floats would be very much faster, and, except for operational considerations, there is no reason why the upper component should not be a landplane. Neither is there, fundamentally, any reason why the lower component should not be a landplane, except the need for a fairly large aerodrome with very clear surroundings so
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