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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 1227.PDF
APRIL 28, 1938. FLIGHT. 431 CORRESPONDENCE The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the views expressed by correspondents. The names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters. CHEAPER FLYING Enthusiasm at RearsbyI HAVE read with interest the letters from Mr. Whitney Straight and Mr. J. D. Parker in your issue of April 14. Perhaps it is not generally known that in Leicestershire we have a flying club where unrestricted "A" licences are being obtained in something less than ten hours at a cost to the members of less than ^10. I refer to the County Flying Club, which operates from a privately owned aerodrome of seventy- eight acres. The Committee, following the experience of the past few months, have acquired such faith in the natural flying ability of the average young Englishman that they are now considering guaranteeing the "A " licence to selected members for /10, and this without any financial assistance by way of Government subsidy ! The machines used are Taylor Cubs— two-seater tandem cabin machines', with four-cylinder engines and dual control. The enthusiasm in this club has to be experienced to be believed. Twenty-four new flying members have been enrolled in the last four weeks, and in one week-end alone there were four first solos. Surely this is an indication of the valuable work which can be done, in spite of Governmental neglect, in the provision of inexpensive training for pilots readily avail- able in a case of national emergency, and of what might be done with even small financial assistance from the Government. Perhaps Mr. Parker might like to visit Eearsby Aerodrome, where I can assure him he will be made to feel very welcome, and he will not find his flying anything like so costly as it has been in the past. C. H. GOUDE. Leicester. T ET me also lift up my voice and swell the cry for cheaper J-' flying! In the letter of the law I have been a licensed pilot for seven and a half years, yet I have barely a 100 hours solo. JEAN BIRD. Beech, Hants. SPEEDING-UP PRODUCTION A First-hand War-time Recollection I WAS much interested in an article on production whichappeared in Flight of April 14, and which took a really practical and workmanlike point of view. During the last year of the Great War, I was in charge of production for the U.K. of a very important aeroplane com- ponent, namely, the propeller. This, you can appreciate, necessitated highly specialised methods of manufacture and production owing to the high degree of accuracy which was required. The production figures attained were certainly very satisfactory, and far superior to those reached in the U.S.A., that country of large-scale production; which only goes to prove that the English manufacturer, when assured of the absorption of his highest possible output, is second to none in the modern industrial world. The system adopted by myself and my staff was based primarily on the principle of a friendly co-operation with the manufacturer rather than on peremptory and; dictatorial methods. I insisted on my resident district'production officers visiting each factory at least once weekly, and preferably oftener, so as to ensure the closest possible acquaintance not only with the progress of the work, but also with the shop foremen and managers, and also with the limitations imposed by the physical characteristics of each factory. I myself at London headquarters made a point of being personally acquainted with every factory and the manufacturers' depart- mental heads, so that my co-ordination of my district officers' work was not only based on their written reports, but also on my own knowledge of the local difficulties and conditions. The clashes which are inevitable between the production department and the inspection department I was able to temper owing to the fact that I had previously served as an Admiralty inspector, and with the A.I.D., and, therefore, had first-hand knowledge of the requirements and difficulties of the inspection department. Generally speaking, we directed our energies towards easing manufacturers' difficulties arising from outside sources, rather than dictating their own factory methods of production. It will be remembered that in the earlier days of the war the Admiralty methods were considerably simpler in the factories devoted to their work than afterwards obtained under the unification of the two air services—that is to say, the Admiralty employed considerably fewer staff who individually had more authority, although this, of course, necessitated a staff with a higher degree of technical knowledge and experience. London, S.W.11. B. V. ROCHE. SUBSIDISED HANGARAGE And a Private Aerodrome for Private Owners I HAVE noticed some very interesting correspondence inFlight during the last few weeks, and am particularly in- terested in Mr. Shaw's letter iii the issue of April 21. I appear to be the biggest fool of the whole flying com- munity because I run a private aerodrome for private owners only, which private owners are not anxious to support, and often they do not pay their bills for a year or so. I under- stand there is some subsidy which I ought to be drawing from the Government for allowing aeroplanes to be kept in my hangar. Can anybody tell me how I could obtain this subsidy ? The alternative to continuing to use my aerodrome is 500 houses, which would recoup me nicely! Hawksridge Aerodrome, J. MILES BICKERTON, F.R.C.S. Denham, Bucks. (Sqn. Ldr., R.A.F. V.R.) TRANSPORTS TO-DAY and TO-MORROW (Continued from page 411) words, efficiency on the water is not compatible with ex- treme aerodynamic refinement. On the other hand, the flying boats and floatplane are not handicapped so severely as the landplane by take-off and landing limitations. A practical form of assisted take-off, in conjunction with' super-high-lift devices, may weigh the balance in favour of the land machine. Some indication of what can be done with diesel-engines installed in an efficient flying boat or seaplane is given by the success achieved by Lufthansa with the Dornier Do. 18s and Hamburger Ha. 139s. For the time being our Empire flying boats are without a peer, comparable foreign types launched considerably later being in many ways inferior. Glenn Martin has de- veloped his 130 design into the 156 and 157, but these models represent no great original though as compared with the original Clipper. The impending test flights of the Boeing Atlantic Clipper, which is roughly twice as big as an Empire boat, ^ may cause us to modulate our Imperial acclamation of the " C " class boats, though we may rest assured that Mr. Gouge will not disappoint us in the 80,000-lb. boat under con- struction for Imperial Airways It is, to say the least, deplorable that data relating to this machine have not been released as a counterblast to the reams of publicity matter issued for the new Boeing. As we write, news comes from PaiRjkmetic'arr Airways that five manufacturers have tendered designs for the Yankee Clipper—a machine carrying a payload of at least 25,000 lb. for 5,000 statute miles at speeds ranging up to 299 (!) m.p.h. at height. Lockheed turned down an invi- tation to bid on the grounds that a machine of this sort was rather outside their territory, but Seversky came for- ward with his gigantic floatplane, a description of which appeared in Flight of March 31. In his preliminary specification Major de Seversky men- tions 16,000 h.p., disposable load of 43,000 lb., and a cruis- ing speed of 250 m.p.h. Other awesome figures are given in the accompanying table for French projects, notably the Latecoere. There are those who believe that Pan American and the courageous designers concerned have bitten off more than they can chew, though past successes augur well. What- ever the outcome, such foresight has enabled us to gauge within limits some characteristics of the long-range trans- port of to-morrow.
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