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Aviation History
1939
1939 - 0139.PDF
FLIGHT. a JANUARY 19, 1939 gAf, Units Visited No. 90 (B) SQUADRON By MAJOR F. A. de V. ROBERTSON, V.D. (Illustrated with "Flight" Photographs) EARLY in 1918 Shotwick (now named Sealand) was in course of construction as a station of the R.F.C. German prisoners were busily engaged in erecting hangars, some of which were roofless; yet the air mechanics had somehow or other to rig machines and fit engines in the cold January days, whether their fingers froze or not. But inside those hangars which were finished stood some hush-hush aeroplanes waiting for their engines. One scarcely dared to mutter the word '' Dolphin '' much above a whisper, and visiting officers used to peer cautiously into those sheds and come out muttering " Back stagger! " in tones of awe. The plain facts of the case were that three fighter squadrons (they called them '' scouts'' in those days) were being formed at Shotwick to go to France with Sopwith Dolphin aeroplanes, and one of them was to be numbered 90. In due course No. 90 Squadron was actually formed, but before it started for the front the authorities changed their minds. The squadron was disbanded, and the pilots and Dolphins were sent to other squadrons. The other two Shotwick squadrons were never formed. Perhaps the troubles experienced with the 200 Hispano had something to do with this decision. There seems no reason for connecting the present No. 90 (Bomber) Squadron with this abortive episode in 1918. It is really preferable to regard No. 90 B.S. as a new forma tion in March, 1937. What does it matter that it has no war records? That does not in the least affect the spirit of the present officers and airmen of the squadron. Their frame of mind is that if any foreign nation is so misguided as to attack Britain, No. 90 B.S. will set about creating war records for itself without any delay, and the creating of them may prove a very unpleasant process for the said enemy. The story of the squadron's birth is as follows : In March, : 937. No. 101 (Bomber) Squadron was stationed at Bicester ' In the air the Blenheim looks quite different. It slim and lean and purposeful." "One scarcely dared to mutter the word 'Dolphin' much above a whisper, and visiting officers used to peer cautiously into those sheds, and come out muttering 'Back stagger/' in tones of awe." Aerodrome. That squadron is an old friend of Flight's. Our first visit was paid to it in April, 1931, when it was stationed at Andover and was flying Sidestrands. An account of that visit is included in the Flight book. Squadrons of the Royal Air Force, and the photographs of the Sidestrands in formation have travelled about the world as widely, probably, as any air photographs have ever done. In 1937 No. 101 B.S. had exchanged its Sidestrands for Overstrands when it was ordered to detach a flight to form a nucleus of No. 90 B.S., and it did so, the flight being under the command of Fit. Lt. P. G. Heffernan, of the Royal Australian Air Force. A month later Sqn. Ldr. E. Burton took over the command, and the squadron was gradually brought up to strength. The new formation did not deprive its parent of any Overstrands. It formed with Hinds, but only for a few months did it keep them. In May of the same year it began to receive Blenheims, and presently they came along in a steady stream until the A life on the roll ing sward—pilots of No. 90 demonstrate the "launching" of the automatically in flated dinghy carried in each Blenheim. A static line starts in flation by C02 as the dinghy is thrown overboard. Blen heims have sealed fuselages and wings, so can remain afloat for a considerable time in the event of a "ditching."
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