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Aviation History
1937
1937 - 2345.PDF
AUGUST 26, 1937. FLIGHT. 203 The Outlooks A M C it iopics Tail Winds A N examination of the flying times of some of the A\ competitors in the Marseilles-Damascus-Paris race discloses the fact that a very strong following wind must have helped them along very nicely. For instance, the winning machine did the flight of 1,815 miles in a lapsed time of 5 hr. 51 min., which corresponds to a speed of 310 m.p.h.! To get an idea of the extent to which a tail wind must have helped it is only necessary to point out that F/O. Clouston on the Comet did the flight in 7 hr. 36 min., or at an average speed of 239 m.p.h. As it seems probable that Clouston cruised at about 210 m.p.h., the tail wind would be about 30 m.p.h. If that is a reasonable assumption, the still-air speed of the winning Savoia would be in the neighbourhood of 280 m.p.h., which is possible but slightly unlikely. The race lost much of its interest owing to the retirement in Italy of the two Fiat monoplanes. The fastest Fiat, piloted by Rolandi and Bonini, did the trip to Damascus in 6 hr. 13 min., at an average speed of 292 m.p.h., while that flown by Gaeta and Questa took 6 hr. 39 min., its speed being 273 m.p.h. Much had been expected of the Marcel Bloch 160 piloted by Francois and Laurent. It took 7 hr. 55 min., so that its route speed was 229 m.p.h. Being among the early starters it is possible that this machine had less tail wind to help it than did the late-starting Italians, and perhaps a still-air speed of 205 m.p.h. for the Bloch 160 may be a reasonable guess. The Fulgur did better at 240 m.p.h. As the Caudron Typhon is Caudron's version of the Comet it is interesting to note that Maurice Rossi took 11 hr. 5 min. for the trip, averaging the disappointing speed of 165 m.p.h. It seems that either his engines were not working too well or that he must have kept a bad course. He was flying solo, it might be recalled. Queer Tactics / T will have been observed that a period of about four hours was deemed necessary to get the thirteen machines away from the Istres aerodrome at Mar seilles. But for the fact that one of the last starters was the first man home, it would thus have been impossible to know, until after most of the competitors had returned, who was the actual winner of the race. It seems that originally the French Air Ministry entrusted the French Aero Club with the organisation of the start, but that when the club discovered that Italian service personnel was flying the machines it declined to "control " military pilots. The French Air Ministry then had to take over, and apparently gave the competitors a free hand, leav ing it to them to fight it out among themselves how they should arrange the start so long as they were all happy about it. . By mutual consent, the story goes, it was decided that the French would go first and the Italians last so as to get as much "lift" as possible for the take-off from Istres. That may or may not be true, but the free and easy way of handling the start has surely never had its counterpart in any international race. It probably did not affect the ultimate result in the least, but it is certainly an amusing sidelight on modern France. Australia's Air Defence / T is understood that the Australian Defence Department intends to recommend increasing the Royal Australian Air Force to a strength of seventeen squadrons, which on a basis of twelve machines to a squadron means 204 first- line aircraft. In the event of a hostile attack Australian defence plans must primarily be based on the theory that help will be received from Singapore; but if that help were to be delayed the problem would seem to be how best to strike hard blows at an enemy force which attempted a landing at some point on the enormously long coast line. Obviously the resources of such a small population could not provide a navy large enough for protection of the whole coast, but it is within the power of the Common wealth to maintain an Air Force which could at least harass an approaching fleet, and could make the landing of an army a very expensive task. For such an operation the R.A.A.F. would require recon naissance squadrons to find the approaching enemy, some fighter squadrons to engage the fighters of the enemy's carriers, and a striking force to attack the ships and after wards to bomb the landing parties and the camps. The Seagull amphibians on the Australian seaplane earner would be useful for the reconnaissance, but some long- range aircraft (say two squadrons) would also be desirable, for early location of the enemy would be very important. From a distance it is hard to estimate the number of fighter squadrons that would be desirable; perhaps three would be thought enough for a start. That would leave a striking force of ten squadrons, bombers and torpedo-bombers, which would need to have a good reserve behind it. The Remounts F ROM 200 m.p.h., or even slower, biplanes with ground-rated engines to 300 m.p.h. cantilever mono" planes with highly supercharged power plants, flaps and retractable undercarriages is a long stride, but it is, ap parently, a step which Germany is being forced to take ;n her programme of re-equipment. Admittedy the situa tion in this country is similar, for it seems that a large number of Fury and Gauntlet pilots will be put straight on to Spitfires and Hurricanes, although the flapped Gladiator, with its higher performance, is a useful inter mediate type. From what .little knowledge we have to go on, however, it appears that these apparently dangerous transitions will not be so serious as is generally expected ; the reason is the tractability, despite their advanced characteristics, of most of the ne.v monoplane fighters. Until very recently the only fighters known to be available to German pilots were quite archaic in concep tion, whereas the projectiles by Messerschmitt and Heinkel, which caused something of a sensation at Zurich the other week, are quite as up to date as anything of their kind in the world. In fact, their inverted-vee Junkers and Mercedes engines give them a little extra something the others (barring the light Mureaux and Caudron of questionable practicability) are lacking. Although Germany, like Great Britain, realises the value of advanced-fighter-trainer types, it seems that such machines will not be in service until after the initial batches of high-performance fighters have been delivered. DIARY OF FORTHCOMING EVENTS—PAGE 208
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