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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 0048.PDF
22 FLIGHT. JANUARY 6, 1938. Service Aviation SO FAR, SO GOOD The five London flying boats of No. 204 (G.R.) Squadron on the River Hughli below Calcutta. They are on a cruise to Australia. nient of Assistant Commandant of the R.A.F. College, Cranwell, from1929 to 1931. He was promoted to Group Captain in 1932, and through- out 193s attended a course at the Imperial Defence College. FromJanuary, 1934, to September, 1936, he served as a Deputy Director in the Air Ministry. He was promoted to Air Commodore in January,1936. The Production Wellington PHOTOGRAPHS are published in this issue of the productionmodel Vickers Wellington Mark I. Machines of this type, togetherwith Bristol Blenheims (already in service) and Handley Page Hampdens (now well into production) will go to build up a strongstriking force of fast twin-engined medium bombers—a feature greatly to be desired in any truly moderij air arm. The prototype Wellington was present at the R.A.F. Display in1936. Second of the Vickers series to be built on the geodetic principle, it stimulated great technical interest not only on thataccount, but flue likewise to its fine lines and ingenious tail and nose gun turrets which, however., as exhibited, were only temporarystructures. The production machine, while retaining the same deep oval-section fuselage of the original model exhibits a number ofimprovements. Both nose and tail are comparatively square-cut and appear tc be planned for the installation of Nash and Thompsonmulti-gun turrets. There is still a disappearing mounting on top of the fuselage. I he rear section of the fuselage is of deeper crosssection; the retractable undercarriage has been re-designed; the tail wheel now retracts; special Vickers " dishpan " cowlings with cool-ing louvres reminiscent of those on American radials of a few years back and Canadian installations of to-day are incorporated; and thevertical tail furfaces have been revised. Bristol Pegasus XVII radials with two-speed superchargers are specified to power the Wellington I. This type of engine gives 900h.p. (max.) at 17,750ft. and 980 h.n. for take-off. Dimensions of the Wellington 1 are S(>tt. im.( length 61ft., andheight 18ft. oin. . . ;.._ ; : Deflection A MOST disturbing bugbear which confronted armament tech?nicians as the speed of military aircraft rose above 200 m.p.h.—the problem of training free guns—has been routed by the intro- duction of some ingenious power-driven gun turrets as typified bythe Nash and Thompson models specified for some of the latest British machines But life is far from easy for the ballisticians, whoare now confronted with what threatens to become an even more formidable obstacle—the deflection of bullets fired at an angle tothe line of flight. On the Continent the problem came iato prominence during firingtrials from the French multiplace de combat machines at Cazaux, the proving ground of French aircraft. It was discovered that,although some most impressive arcs of fire were obtainable on paper, the deflection of bullets fired broadside detracted very seriously from;,their fighting value. The logical step to take against this phenomenon is to increasethe muzzle velocity of the bullets. This could be achieved by lengthening the gun barrel or increasing the propulsive charge, bothof which measures have obvious limitations. The large orders which have been placed for power-driven turretsin this country might indicate that Veffet de Cazaux might not be so serious where small-bore, high-velocity guns are concerned, as isextensively believed, but, whatever the true facts, it seems that deflection of bullets and shells may be a prominent factor in deter-mining the value of multi-seater fighters with free armament. Royal Air Force Royal Air Force Qazette General Duties BranchThe following Flying Officers are promoted to the rank of Flight Lieutenant (December 6): —F. C. Richardson, N. de W. Boult,W. A. Theed. Lt. Cdr. L G. Richardson, R.N., Sqn. Ldr., R.A.F., ceases to beattached to the R.A.F. on return to Naval duty (December 13); Capt. B. W. de Courcy-Ireland, R.M., Fit. Lt., R.A.F., ceases to beattached to the R.A.F. on return to duty with the Royal Marines (October 1). Chaplains BranchThe Rev. G. W. N. Groves, A.L.C.D., is granted a permanent commission (November 1); the Rev. T. D. Barr is granted a shortservice commission with the relative rank of Squadron Leader, with; effect from December 14. *V MORE SQUADRON BADGES : Some further designs approved by His Majesty the King. Others appear on the next page. Chester Herald's descriptions are as follows : No. 11 (Bomber) Squadron : Two eagles volant in pale. No. 13 (Army Co-operation) Squadron : In front of a dagger a lynx's head affrontee. No. 14 (Bomber) Squadron : A winged plate charged with a cross throughout and surmounted by the head and shoulder pieces of a suit of armour. No. 20 (Army Co-operation) Squadron : In front of a rising sun an eagle, wings elevated, perched on a sword.
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