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Aviation History
1939
1939 - 0105.PDF
JANUARY 12, 1939 FLIGHT. DOOR TO ANCHOR ROOM Commercial Aviation NAVIGATORS CABINET t CHARTS-TABLE -DOORS TO ENGINES LONG-RANGE SPACIOUSNESS : Seen in conjunc tion with the plan (above) of the Boeing 314's control cabin, the photographs on the right give a good idea of the amount of room which is available for the operating crew on the type which will be used for America's contribution to this year's Atlantic mail- carrying experiments. Above is a view looking forward towards the pilots' section of the control compartment with, from left to right: Mr. E. T. Allen, the Boeing test pilot, Mr. J. E. Boudwin, of the Civil Aeronautice Authority, Capt. R. O. D. Sullivan, of Pan American Airways' Atlantic division, and Mr. Earl Ferguson, one of the Boeing engineers—the latter at the radio operator's "station." On the left is th.2 seven-foot chart table which will be used by the navigator. In the other photograph is the flight engineers' station, with the various engine instru ments and controls. The New Order W1 riTH a crew of five working under the orders of a captain, the arrangement of the various control items in the Boeing 314 boat is necessarily interesting. With the segrega tion of the engine items elsewhere, the pilots' instrument board is extremely simple, consisting almost solely of a blind-flying group for each pilot and the automatic pilot panel. In this machine, which has now completed its tests, all the engine instruments, except two dual r.p.m. indicators and two dual manifold pressure gauges, are looked after by the flight en gineer. The only other instruments looked after by the pilots are two compasses, an outside air temperature indicator, a flap-position indicator, a clock, two automatic pilot pressure gauges and an instrument vacuum gauge. A master control bank is arranged on the left of the first pilot's seat and on the right of the second pilot's seat. This bank carries the elevator, aileron and rudder-tiimming tab controls, with indicators for each, four throttles, and master controls for the mixture, manifold pressure, and constant-speed airscrew regulators. The finer adjustments of engine syn chronisation are left to the flight engineer, who has the indi vidual controls for each engine and the usual temperature gauges and fuel-supply controls. Australian Air Bases PHE Australian Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr. Thorby, has -1- declared that everything is being done to equip adequately the flying-boat bases in Australia, but his statement is not taken seriously by those pilots using the bases, or by those independent aviation authorities who have inspected them. The federal Government is charged with neglecting this important work, and declare it is doing so because it feels there is a possi bility of landplanes re-ousting flying-boats in the future. Pilots state that the only provision made for flying-boats at Kose Bay (Sydney) is an inadequate and unsheltered pontoon and a few moorings, while a temporary administration building holds only accommodation for a limited number of air travellers. The lack of facilities, both at this base and other bases throughout Australia, is said to have severely handi capped the handling of the Christmas air mail. Great Britain is blamed by some pilots in Australia for the delay in providing facilities. It is suggested that the initial estimate of the cost of the bases was made on too conservative a scale and that only now is Britain finding it a more costly process than she can really afford. The next few months may see a repetition of the " Darwin Bungle." The wet season in North Australia has already begun, with the result that emergency bad-weather moorings have had to be laid down at Darwin. These moorings are situated in the east arm of the harbour, four miles from Darwin proper, and if flying-boats are forced to use them passengers will be faced with the alternative of a long and rough passage across the harbour or a night on board the machine. In neither case is the prospect reassuring, for the moorings are laid near mosquito-infested islands, and the sea is alive with sea-snakes. At the time of the previous bother it was stated that an all- weather base, near the jetty which the flying-boats now use, would be speedily erected. But up to now, and so far as can be gathererl, the authorities have not made any move. Atlantic Appointments T HE name of one of the four Imperial Airways pilots who will take charge of the modified " C " class boats on the experimental Atlantic services this summer has now been announced. He is Capt. J. C. Kelly Rogers, and he will fly Cabot, the boat which will probably inaugurate the service on, or soon after, June 1. Capt. Rogers joined Imperial Airways in 1937 after leaving the Service, in which he was flying-boat instructor at Calshot, and he has since been flying on the South African and Australian services. A few months ago the names of the commanders of the two D.H. Albatross landplanes were given. These are Capts. White and Johnson. An article describing the present position in the matter of the Atlantic experiments appears on pp. 30-33, and some comments dealing with the same subject on pp. 37-38-
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