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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 2394.PDF
FLIGHT. AUGUST 25, 1938. Ingenious : The very neat G.Q. " Harnasuit " (right) is a flying suit which not only incorporates a parachute harness, but also a pneumatic life-saving collar for use in the event of a fall into water. In this drawing the wearer is seen holding the inflation tube in his right hand. The connector-hooks for the gunner-type pack may be seen at the front of the suit. it is impossible for it to catch on anything as it emerges from the pack. Besides producing the normal seat type of parachute, which the civilian is able to obtain for £38, this firm manufactures a special parachute for use in gliders and sailplanes. The parachute takes the form of a back pack which has a special harness, and the total weight has been reduced to the very low figure of 15! lb. Glider pilots realise the value of the parachute; at a recent glid ing camp I noticed that not a single sailplane left the ground without the pilot being so equipped. Very big stresses on sailplane structures can be experienced while cloud flying—as Mr. Philip Wills explained in his article in the issue of July 14. The PAK Parachute Company, whose works are at Mitcham, Surrey, produce the seat, quick-connector and back-type parachutes which form the standard equipment of the Air Forces of Czechoslovakia and Finland. Their latest development is what is called the '' Uni versal" parachute, which can be used either as a seat or back (pilot tvpe) or lap (observer) type. In the past the parachutes to be worn in such positions have required the use of three entirely different parachutes and har nesses, but these three models have been combined into one, so that the parachute can be used to suit all duties— piloting, gunnery, photography, etc. The harness incor porates a safety belt which enables the wearer to lean over the side of the aircraft in perfect safety. It will, I hope, be realised from this brief survey that the various designers have produced practical and efficient parachutes which will provide faithful and efficient service under every conceivable condition of flight. ASTRONOMICAL COMPUTER A SPECIALLY interesting item of equipment carried in Mr. Howard Hughes' record-breaking Electra (and probably being seriously used on this flight for the first time) was the Fairchild-Maxson astronomical line- of-position computer. This device was originally conceived by Mr. W. L. Maxson, and is now being manufactured by the Fairchild Aerial Camera Corporation following test work on a number of prototype computers delivered during the last two years to the U.S. Army Air Corps. The inventor's idea, after studying various methods of solu tion of the astronomical triangle by means of simplified tables and mechanical devices, was to produce an instrument in which the various necessary figures could be set on a series of dials and the result read off in terms of latitude and longi tude. These basic figures are the altitude of a particular heavenly body, the time and date of the observation, and the declination of the body. When, for instance, the sun is used for the observation, a crank is turned so that the drum on its left reads the word "sun," after which Greenwich Solar Time has been incor porated, so to speak, in the mechanism. The declination counter is then turned so that the figures read zero. The corrected sextant altitude of the sun is then applied to the appropriate counter in degrees and minutes. The machine is now ready to produce the co-ordinates in latitude or longi tude so that a line of position may then be laid down on the plotting sheet. The necessary co-ordinates are obtained by setting the latitude on its dial to an even figure somewhere near the navigators' assumed D/R position, and moving the longitude crank until the line-of-position synchroniser pointers are all reading zero. At this point the longitude dial will indicate the figure at which the line of position intersects the approxi mate latitude. The navigator is therefore given the co-ordinate of one point in the line of position. In order to obtain the second point the latitude reading is altered, so upsetting the synchroniser pointers, and the longi tude crank is moved again to re-synchronise. The dial for the lattei then provides the second co-ordinate. Obviously, when sights can be taken of more than one heavenly body the same procedure is used to obtain a second line of position, the intersection of which provides, with the first, an actual position. The principle of the machine seems to be approximately that of the calculating machine found in business offices. Its accuracy depends entirely on care in manufacture, so that the gear system, which involves the use of some 350 units, will run without appreciable backlash. Presumably, it is a fairly expensive item of equipment, but might be a worth while fixture in really large flying-boats or other machines to be used for transoceanic flights. The description of its operation appears to be more com plicated than that involved in the use of tables, but Mr. Connors, who is one of Mr. Hughes' navigators, put the mechanism to good use after ten minutes of explanation and a couple of hours of practice. The Mikron in England IT seems that the Chrislea Aircraft Company, which has the rights for the manufacture of the Czephoslovakian Walter Mikron engine in this country, will' very shortly be ready to start production. The work will be actually done by S. E. Opperman, who are already doing a good deal of aircraft work in their factory on the North Circular Road. The company hopes that deliveries will be possible early next year. Chrislea Aircraft's primary interest at present is in the little Mikron-engined side-by-side two-seater low-wing monoplane which should now be ready for its second series of test flights at Heston. It has already been flown and found to be aero- dynamically satisfactory, but apparently some obscure trouble with the fuel feed system resulted in a forced landing during these original tests and parts in the undercarriage have had to be replaced. The machine is quite conventional (in the modern style) with split flaps, and its layout was briefly described in the issue of April 7 this year. One of its more interesting features is the depth of the windscreen and, consequently, the field of view provided both for pilot and passenger (or instructor), both of whom sit high up and can look directly over the leading edge. The company have other projects of an even more inter esting nature in view as soon as this first machine is on its way. It is probable that the production machines will be built in a factory on the North Circular Road.
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