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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 1875.PDF
JUNE 30, 1938. FLIGHT. 645 Hams had an accelerometer installed so that he could make a thorough study of high-speed aerobatics. One snag imposed by the retractable undercarriage is that initial climb, which always goes down well with a crowd, is somewhat hampered, but the American had his manually operated gear tucked into the sides of the Gulfhawk and within a few seconds was in the proper trim and at a suitable height for his performance. His favourite tricks were flying and climbing with the Grumman on its side, and "shadow boxing," which seemed to entail stirring the joystick and taking the machine half-way round in rolls, when Williams would change his mind and start something else. It was all very enjoyable, but might have been matched by one of the Hawker-Gloster team in a Gladiator. Radio communication was to have been established between Al Williams and Dick Merrill while the latter was flying over New York. Merrill came through quite well, but something went wrong at this end. Old Timers When the Gulfhawk had landed, a trio of pioneer aircraft, comprising the Bleriot XI (Mr. R. G. J. Nash), a Sop- with Pup (Sqn. Ldr. A. H. Wheeler) and the 1910 Deperdussin (Mr. R. O. Shuttle- worth) essayed flight with varying de- grees of success. Then the Furies of No. 43 (F.) Squad- ron showed that it takes more than a gusty day to spoil their show of air drill. The pilots must have been working very hard ; the line abreast at first threatened to be ragged, but everyone picked up just before the squadron passed the en- closures. No. 3 (F.) Squadron had sent half a dozen Hurricanes to demonstrate a quick get-away. Their high-speed taxying was something to marvel at and their sub- sequent formation fly-past at high speed and low altitude had a visible effect on our visitors from abroad. Three of 43 Squadron's Furies, flown by Fit. Lt. Carver, P./O. Hull and Fit. Sgt. Carey, then went up in true Fury style to do their bit, which took the form of flight aerobatics. Their first manoeuvre was terrifying in its novelty; the leader flew over -the aerodrome flat out and his companions came screaming across the sky from each side to pick up their tight formation Precisely what went wrong is conjectural but one ma- chine just failed to make it and the first formation loop was incomplete. The weather militated against super-accurate flying but the exhibition was, neverthe- less, astonishingly good, particularly the The sound detectors detect not a sound as Marcel Doret's gull-winged sailplane soars overhead. . half and complete rolls in vie and line. The fly-past of new Service types in- cluded the Hurricane, Lysander, Battle, Wellesley, Blenheim and Whitley. The Wellesley not only had its bomb con- tainers, but complete de-icing equipment and a new type of spinner. Marcel Doret had brought his faithful Dewoitine parasol (Hispano Suiza) from France and gave one of the most meri- torious and popular shows of the day. His low-flying was timed literally to the split second and his flick rolls seemed to stop the Dewoitine in its tracks while it cartwheeled over with incredible rapidity. The show was the finest of its kind the writer has seen. With his radio functioning this time, Al Williams took up the Gulfhawk for some dive-bombing against a self- contained blockhouse. He came down truly vertically, reaching, so he told us over those ingenious little mikes he wears round his neck (they transmit his voice before the words leave his mouth), 380 m.p.h. Whether or not Al was actually dropping bombs was -a matter which "INTAVA" is BORN OAPPILY contrived of straight-line letters, thereby facilitating its penetration into black and woolly noddles behind the back of beyond, the name " INTAVA " enters the aviation fuel and oil market to-morrow, July 1. Though the name may be new the organisations behind it are not. In brief, the Anglo-American Oil Co., Ltd., and the Vacuum Oil Co., Ltd., which nave for some time given reciprocal facilities in handling one another's avia- tion products, are now joining forces in this particular field under the name of Intava, Ltd. Among the advantages which, it is stated, will accrue from this amalgama- "°n are improved research facilities in fuel and oil production; the marketing of a range of products to suit every aviation requirement; and the intensive development of world-wide service facili- ties for aircraft. A carnet system and a duty-drawback scheme are already in existence and will be extended. The sales organisation will be centred at 50, Queen Anne's Gate, London, S.W.i, and Fit. Lt. Christopher Clark- son and his colleagues will, we know, be ready and willing to tell any air tourist, airline pilot or other adventurer every- thing he wants to know. A Vega Gull and B.A. Eagle will display the Intava red and silver at home, and a Percival "Q ship" will do likewise on the Continent. caused some dispute; the coup de grace seemed much too good to be true. Mr. Rene Vincent then used each of four parachutes successively, the fourth, bearing the tricolour, setting him down beautifully in the middle of the aero- drome. With typical national courtesy he broadcast during the descent his apologies for not speaking English. Doret by this time had transferred from his Dewoitine to a gull-winged glider, which was towed off by a singu- larly unattractive and obviously elderly Dewoitine side-by-side two-seater. His acrobatic descent was sheer delight, par- ticularly his loops. The glider's under- carriage was released just after take-off. The proceedings culminated, of course, in a set piece. Fairey Battles of No. 12 (B.) Squadron were engaged by Hurri- canes of No. 3 Squadron and by anti- aircraft units of the 53rd City of London A.A. Brigade R.A. (T) and the 30th Anti-Aircraft Battalion (Croydon). Two Battles went down in a welter of red smoke, the set-piece duly went for six and everyone went home happy. The F.A.I. Conference ''THE thirty-eighth conference of the J- Federation Aeronautique Inter- nationale opened in Berlin on Wednes- day of last week and was due to conclude last Tuesday. Delegates from 35 nations were present, and Great Britain was represented by Lord Londonderry, Mr. W. Lindsay Everard, M.P., Capt. K. Bartlett, Dr. A- P. Thurston, Cdr. Harold E. Perrin and Capt. E. Percival. The delegates were welcomed by Heir von Gronau, president of the German Aero Club, and General Milch, Secretary for .Air. Lord Londonderry received on behalf of Miss Jean Batten a gold medal of the F.A.I., and the Russian pilots who broke the distance record were also honoured.
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