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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 1342.PDF
474 FLIGHT. MAY 12, 1938. SERVICE AVIATION Royal Air Force and Official Announcements : Fleet Air Arm News : Military Aviation Abroad The King inspects machines of the Bomber Group. Above him towers the nose of a Harrow, and behind can be distinguished a Whitley, Wellesley and Blenheim. THE KING'S TOUR LAST Monday, May 9, making one of a series of tours of in-spection of the work of the Royal Air Force, His MajestyU the King visited four stations—^ortholt, Harwell,Upavon, and Thorney Island. Each station is representa- tive of one of the Home Commands, namely. Fighter, Bomber, Coastal and Training. Northolt.—His Majesty arrived at Northolt from Windsor in hisAirspeed Envoy at 10 o'clock and was received by the Chief of Air Staft, Air Chief Marshal Sir Cyril L. N. Newall. The followingofficers were then presented to the King: A.O.C. in 'C, Fighter Command, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh C. T. Dowding;, A>O.C, No.ii (Fighter) Group, Air Vice-Marshal E. L. Gossage; and the Station Commander, Northolt, Group Capt. A. H. Orlebaf. His Majesty inspected the aircraft and crews of No. 111 and No. 23(Fighter Squadrons), which are equipped with the Hurricane and the Demon 1 and are commanded by Sqn. Ldr. J. W, Gillan andSqn. Ldr. K. Y. Ecdes respectively. Following this,, the sector operations room and the cirie-camera gun section were inspected;Before His Majesty left for Harwell, accompanied by the Chief of Air Staff and piloted by Wing. Cdr. E. H. Fielden, Capt. of theKing's Flight, A and B flights of No. 111 Squadron, each composed of six Hurricanes, took off for a fly-past.Northolt Aerodrome first opened in 1915 and several war-time Squadrons were formed there. In recent history, it was the firststation to receive Hurricanes. . . . Harwell.—On his arrival at Harwell, Berkshire, a station of No. 1(Bomber) Group, His Majesty had presented to him the A.O.C. in C, Bomber Command, Air Chief Marshal Sir Edgar R. Ludlow Hewitt;the A.O.C., No. 1 (Bomber) Group, A. V.-M. P. H. L. Playfair; and the Station Commander, Wing Cdr. L. G. Maxton.The King inspected one flight each from Nos. 105 and 226 (Bomber) Squadrons equipped with Battles and No. 107 (Bomber) Squadronequipped with Hinds. At the same time representative bomber types, including Harrow, Blenheim, Wellesley and Whitley aircraftarrived for inspection from other stations. A short tour of the station was made before His Majesty left forUpavon. March, 1937, saw the opening of Harwell Aerodrome, which is abomber station planned in the expansion programme. Upavon.—The Central Flying School at Upavori, Wiltshire, is partof No. 23 (Training) Group and is for the training of flying instruc- tors. Four officers were here presented to the King on his arrivalfrom Harwell: The A.O.C. in C. Training Command, Air Marshal C. S. Burnett; the A.O.C., No. 23 (Training) Group, A. V.-M. L. A.Pattinson; the Commanding Officer, C.F.S., Group Capt. J. M. Robb; and the Chief Instructor, Sqn. Ldr. IX D.'A. A. Greig.His Majesty, after the presentation, made a tour of the school, and took lunch in the Mess. He also inspected the Link Trainerand the training machines in use at the station—Tutors, Hart Trainers, Furies, Ansons and Oxfords. All personnel paraded onthe tarmac lor the King's departure, and an impromptu high-speed aerobatic display was given by two Furies.Upavon was one of the earliest stations of the R.F.C. and was authorised as a joint military and naval training centre in 1912under the title of the Central Flying School. The C.F.S. was moved from Upavon in 1926 and did not return until 1935. In the mean-time, several squadrons, including Fleet Air Arm units, were stationed there.Thorney Island.—The King's fourth and last visit was to Thorney Island, Hants, a coastal reconnaissance station in No. r6 (Recon-naissance) Group. The A.O.C. in C, Coastal Command, Air Marshal Sir FrederickBowhill; the A.O.C., No. 16 (Reconnaissance) Group, A. V.-M. H. M. Cave-Brown-Cave; and the Commanding Officer, Group Capt. J. C.Russell, were presented. ' A tour of the station, including the torpedo section, the schoolsof navigation and reconnaissance and general quarters, was made, and representative aircraft types were viewed. These were theVildebeest, Anson, Walrus, Swordfish, Shark, Osprey, and Nimrod. The King took tea in the Officers' Mess, and left by air at about 4.30 p.m. The aerodrome at Thorney island is one of our most modern andwas opened last February for two Torpedo and four Fleet Air Arm Squadrons. Nos. 42 and 22 (Torpedo Bomber) Squadrons movedthere from Ponibristle in March and the School of General Recon- naissance was formed last April. As part of the expansion, thewhole of Thorney Island was taken over by the Government. During his tour the King inspected almost every aircraft typeat present in service. No. 72 Fighter Squadron Badge THE Squadron Badge will be presented by the Commander-in-ChiefFighter Command on Tuesday, June 14, to No. 72 (F.) Squadron. The Squadron will be very happy to see any personnel of the old72 Squadron who can find time to attend the ceremony; they will be guests of the Squadron at Church Fenton. Any member of the Squadron who is able to attend should notifyCapt. A. G. Lamplugh, at Lloyd's Building, 3.4, Lime Street, London, E.C.3, at the earliest opportunity. New-type Pegasus in Wellesley HTHE Vickers Wellesley which was to have appeared at the RoyalJL Aeronautical Society's Garden Party last week-end was listed as being fitted with a Bristol Pegasus XXII engine. Wellesleys in service have either the Pegasus X or XX, the former beingmoderately and the latter fully supercharged. The XXII engine may be regarded as a development of the X and is the first produc-tion-type Pegasus to give over 1,000 h.p. for take-off. The maxim11™ for all-out levol flight is QT5 h.p. at 6,250ft. Incidentally, the specialfairing behind the Long-Kange Wellesley's engines might improve performance for the standard model. Air Force List 'T'llE May issue of the Air Force List has now been pub- J. lished. It can be purchased (price 4s.) from H.M. Stationery Office at the following addresses: Adastral House, Kingsway. London, W.C.2; 120, George Street, Edinburgh; 2, York Street, Man- chester; 1. St. Andrew's Crescent, Cardiff; 15, Donegall bqi»re' Belfast; or through any bookseller.
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