FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1939
1939 - 0701.PDF
MARCH 9, 1939 FLIGHT. 247 (Left) Pilots waiting in the palisades. In the foreground are the first two rating pilots to land solo on an aircraft carrier. (Below) Wing Cdr. Jack Noakes, who controls flying operations, seen in the upper works of the Courageous. Wing Cdr. Noakes will be remembered for his inimitable crazy-flying on a 504 Avro at the early Hendon Displays. that there is a hitch (as likely as not a failure in raising the arrester wires) and that he must not land his machine on until instructed, All these signals are under the control of the Wing Commander, who usually fires a Verey light simultaneously with the showing of the red or green flag. Projecting from the port side of the ship toward the stern are booms which show the Squadron pennant, denote by means of a flag what type of aircraft is operating from the deck and exhibit the "dummy run " flag in the preliminary stages of training. Incidentally, the Lieutenant Commander pointed out that the coloured band round the fuselage of a naval machine indicates to which carrier the aircraft belongs; blue, for example, represents the Courageous, and red the Furious. Every landing and take-off is watched by Lt. Cdr. Price, who sets down his comments in a notebook while his recorder keeps check on other operational data. The record at the end of even a winter's day frequently shows between 120 and 140 landings. Style One can stand hour after hour watching the flying and never become bored, particularly when an expert is at hand to point out, for instance, that a short pilot usually tends to look over the side of his cockpit while landing-on and, in consequence, will drop a wing on the side in question. Even more striking than these little personal idiosyncrasies is the startling improvement which is always apparent after a few landings. There are, of course, difficulties which are not always eradicated so easily, notably the tendency to bounce the machine on the rounded-down end of the deck when landing-on—frequently at the cost of a fractured tail wheel. One thing is certain. When these pilots under instruc tion go back to " Doni-Bee " after a few days in Courageous ihey are well on the way to becoming first-class deck- landing specialists. Of the Courageous, we have already published deal of descriptive matter. There are, however, features which impress particularly Prominent these is the effectiveness of the deck arrester gear takes the form of stout steel wires running athwartships a good certain among This near the stern and raised above the deck on collapsible supports. Before landing-on the pilot of the aircraft lowers a hook beneath the fuselage of his machine, and this catches a wire. The shock is taken and the arresting action pro vided by an hydraulic system below decks, complete details of which are withheld. Even should a pilot give his engine "full gun " after having caught the wire he is still held back tenaciously. While at sea in Courageous we were able (due to fog and suspension of flying) to cross over to H.M.S. Scimitar, the attendant '' safety '' destroyer which sticks doggedly astern on the port side. Her commander told us something of how his ship co-operates with the Courageous. When the carrier hoists the "aeroplane flag" at the dip, hands are piped to their "flying stations." Before flying starts the crash party mans the rescue boat which hangs ready at its davits, equipped with fire extinguishers, grapnel, axe, cutters and lifebuoys and first-aid equipment. A second party is detailed to man the rescue derrick installed on the forecastle. This party is provided with a boat-hook and grapnel, heaving lines and a lifebuoy attached to a heaving line. In the event of a crash the First Lieutenant would pass word to the rescue boat by megaphone. Sitting in a boat for hours on end in the North Sea on a winter's day can be distinctly unpleasant, despite oil skins, but the crew of the Scimitar's crash boat seemed not only cheery but interested in the operations of the great grey carrier off their starboard bow. We left Courageous with one regret: that we had seen none of the new Blackburn Skua fleet fighter dive bomber monoplanes. Actually a flight of Skuas had landed on the day before our arrival but had left again for Doni- bristle. One heard some highly enthusiastic reports, auguring well for the success of these and other advanced types, which will see service with our Naval Air Branch.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
