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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 1485.PDF
MAY 26, 1938. FLIGHT, e Machines and personnel of No. 3 (F.) Squadron, the second unit to receive Hurricanes. The white objects in the foreground are used as signals to denote that QBI conditions are in force at Croydon. pack parachute which, unlike the observer's type, or chest pack, issued to the crews of large machines, is per- manently attached to its harness, and forms a cushion for the pilot in conjunction with a bucket-type seat. The real work of a fighter unit lies in practising the various forms of attack. Approaches to the target must be varied according to the num- ber and disposition of the machines to be engaged and adapted to suit weather conditions. At the moment fighting tactics are undergoing a com- plete revision to suit the new Hurri- canes and Spitfires. The writer recently flew in a Fairey Battle bomber (representative of modern single-engine practice) of No. 142 (B.) Squadron when a flight of these machines was, theoretically, attacked by two flights of three Hurricanes each. Each flight came up directly astern and, having theoretically blazed away with their twenty- four Brownings, made a diving turn to starboard. There was no suggestion of aerobatics. It all seemed very grim and purposeful. One wished for a camera gun, and was sorry not to have seen the films from the two guns oper- ating in the other Battles. But with forty-eight guns against three it was difficult not to regard it all as rather a waste of time. Glimpsing the tri-coiour targets standing out from the '' sand-and-spinach'' camouflage as the Hurricanes turned away, one experienced a feeling of the kind to which so many people seem afraid to confess—a thrill of patriotic pride. Every year each regular fighter squadron goes to one of the Armament Training Stations for practice with live ammunition, shooting both against drogue and ground targets, as described later in this article. The standard of accuracy attained by recently entered pilots is quite remarkably high. THE BOMBERS HP HE bomber has been likened to a long-range gun. On 1 the whole, this is a very apt parallel. Not only can the pilot, like the gunlayer, select his target within narrow limits, but his weapon appears in various calibres, which, in turn, have different velocities. Until recently, Service A Gloster Gladiator four-gun fighter breaks formation with the photographic machine. The Gladiator is the most advanced fighter biplane in service and is capable of 255 m.p.h.
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