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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 1096.PDF
390 FLIGHT. APRIL 21, 1938. COREIESPONDENCE The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the views expressed by correspondents. The names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily jor publication, must in all cases accompany letters. BROADSIDE FIRE Mr. North Still Wants Data I AM obliged to your correspondent "Tactician" for thefurther information contained in his letter published in your issue of April 7. In order to make some useful deductions there are still some of my questions to be answered: — (a) What kind of target was employed, e.g., ground target, towed target, or screens, bearing in mind the fact that some- thing was to be presumably observed outside errors of pointage and corrections for relative speed? (b) At what range or ranges was the effect observed? (c) What was the nature of the effect observed? I regret that I am not at the moment able to make any comments on the question with regard to the Cazaux effect on altitudes as up to the moment I do not know what the Cazaux effect is, or even if it exists. JOHN D. NORTH. Bridgnorth. AIRCRAFT EXPORTS —and the Dictatorships IN connection with the conversations now taking placebetween the. Government, the Engineering Employers'Federation and engineering unions on the question of ways and means of accelerating rearmament, it has been suggested that Britain has exported considerable quantities of aircraft to-what are generally referred to as "the dictatorships." The official figures show the destinations of our aircraft ex- ports, which totalled last year 507 complete aeroplanes and 388 aeroplane engines. Of the aeroplanes, 238 went to British Dominions and Colonies; and of the engines, 225, Australia being the largest individual buyer of aeroplanes and the Union of South Africa of engines. Of the remainder, France took 31 planes and 11 engines; Belgium 25 and 27 respectively; the Netherlands 0 and 68; Gieece 14 and 24 ; Iraq 20 and 19; and Persia 27 and 4. Germany purchased from Britain one aero- plane and two engines; Japan one aeroplane and 23 engines; Soviet Russia and Italy no aeroplanes and no engines. It is to be hoped that the publication of these facts will refute once and for all the assertion that the British aircraft industry is supplying large quantities of military planes and engines to the dictatorships. J. BAKER WHITE, London, S.W.i. Director, The Economic League. WOMEN INSTRUCTORS A Considered Opinion from One of Them I HAVE read with interest the letter of '' Pilotess'' in yomissue of April 7, suggesting that women might be employed, in time of war, for ab initio Service flying training. It seems that there are three aspects of her question: (1) Can women teach flying? (2) If so, could they maintain discipline up to Service standards amongst a class, type and age of male the most resentful of constituted authority? (3) Again, if so, would they be available in sufficient numbers to be useful as a body, as opposed to individual exceptions. Let us take No. 1 first. That there was no sex disqualifica- tion to the G.A.P.A.N. Instructors' Certificate seems to postu- late an official theory that women can teach flying. Since, however, this view was adopted in advance of any practical experience of the subject it can only rank as negative evid- ence. In the result, three -women (I believe) obtained the certificate, and two ol them have to my knowledge practised instruction successfully over a period. They do not make much of a summer, these three, but at least they provide some positive evidence. The second question is more difficult. Such evidence as exists was obtained under club conditions, where the pupil is also the customer, with a buyer's point of view, and the conse- quent right to raffled plumage, where the ultimate tribunal was a rather weak committee more concerned about the balance sheet and the quantity rather than the quality of its flying members. Whilst all these factors tended to increase the diffi- culty there was the "advantage that a man who is paying for his flying, and whose average age is probably a little" greater on that account, is more amenable to reason than the young- ster of eighteen to twenty, with his wild oats still unsown. The instructor always starts with the advantage of his pupil's spontaneous respect for a (relative) master of his sub- ject, coupled with a very natural wish to shine. The woman instructor has the added advantage that this respect is enhanced by her supposed greater difficulties in acquiring that (relative) mastery and with the instinctive desire of the male to impress the female. By tactfully and subtly indicating the conduct in the air and on the ground which does win her confidence and does impress her, she can obtain it in nine cases out 01 ten, and in the face of such a proportion she could certainly count on disciplinary measures for the tenth. The third aspect represents the crux of the whole matter. It is arguable that since of good men pilots only a few make good instructors, amongst women (where the number of good pilots is a lower percentage of pupils) the quantity of good instructors would be so small that there could be no justifica- tion for spending public funds in discovering them. Con- versely, it may be held that in the absence of free training facilities, women pilots hitherto have consisted only of those with large enough bank balances, and that the training in numbers of women of similar age level and of the same physical standard as R.A.F. pilots would yield a comparable propor- tion of good pilots. Both views have necessarily remained conjectural in the absence of any such experiment, but the newly formed Women's Air Patrol of this club, which has already some sixty members, is going to provide the first instance of large-scale training of women pilots as such, and it should be possible in about a year's time to form a definite opinion. There is, of course, no question of medical selection, at any rate beyond the A Licence standard, nor is there at present any intention of training them beyond a club-passenger-carrying standard, but at least the average age is right, since all but a very few are in their late teens or early twenties. It may be as well to explain that there is no question of training them free of cost, but by providing them with the facilities for raising funds of their own, by means of social events and organised appeals, the charges for instruction have been brought down to 15s. an hour to the individual member, a level which opens up flying to a very much greater number of girls than the usual rate of £2 per hour. London, N.W.u. (MRS.) G. M. PATTERSON, Instructor, Romford Flying Club: GUSTS " Indicator " Taken to Task " INDICATOR'S " notes in Flight of April 14 (p. 362) are -*- very interesting in the respect that they show complete lack of knowledge of wind currents. If "Indicator" would take the trouble to come and visit Ely Aero Club on a very windy day, he would learn a lot by either observation or trial by watching or flying a Drone. Owing to the inherent stability and feathery lightness of the Drone, it is common for instruction to be given to ab initio pupils when the wind is so strong that other aerodromes have to keep their machines in the hangars. It is a common occurence locally to see a Drone leave the ground before it has travelled its own length after opening the throttle, and climb vertically upwards for a short period and then travel back- wards at a considerable velocity. Experienced pilots, through their complete ignorance, would say that this was highly dan- gerous. It would be dangerous if wind variations of the order of 30 m.p.h., mentioned by "Indicator" existed. Such con- ditions do exist near obstacles such as banks of trees or houses. The fact that the difference in the cruising speed and the climbing speed of the Drone is only 5 m.p.h., proves that the differences in air speed mentioned by "Indicator" do not occur, otherwise it would not be safe to fly the Drone regularly in gales, as is done by this club. Variations up to 10 m.p.h. are rare, and up to 15 m.p.h. are occasionally found, but this is not enough to upset the Drone. What every pilot should understand is that in conditions of high wind the friction of the earth causes the velocity of the air to be progressively reduced near the ground. The varia- tions in velocity are greatest during the first 30ft., but are still noticeable up to as high as 150ft. The condition mentioned
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