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Aviation History
1939
1939 - 0908.PDF
3i4 FLIGHT. MARCH 30, 1939 sight, is still practised assiduously by R.A.F. squadrons armed with single-engined bombers. Dive bombing can also be undertaken by certain twin- engined types, notably the Fokker G.i (Faucheur), which, like the Junkers already mentioned, has diving brakes under the wings. The G.i, when powered with a pair of fully supercharged Bristol Perseus sleeve-v^lve engines, attains a maximum speed of about 500 m.p.h., and carries a useful load of 3,580 lb. as a bomber for a range of 935 miles. Peerless among the standard machines in this class is the Bristol Blenheim, which in its latest form is capable of carrying a useful bomb load for 1,900 miles. The top speed is 295 m.p.h. A crew of three is carried and two machine guns—one fixed and one free, are speci fied. A corresponding type in the German Air Force is the Dornier D017, which is com monly fitted, these days, with liquid-cooled Daim ler Benz DB 600 in- verted-vee engines of about 1,000 h.p. each. Bombers built to this formula have proved Adopted as a standard type by the French Air Force, the Amiot 340 is one of the best look ing of modern twin- engined bombers. It has two Gnome Rhone N 14 engines. (Lower picture) Well defended and able to carry a heavy load at high speed, the Handley Page Hampden, in production for the R.A.A.F., is a brilliant example of the modern twin-engined bomber One of the best Continental bombers in production to-day is the Polish P.Z.L. Los with two Bristol Pegasus engines. The low aspect ratio of the wing is a notable feature. The lower picture is a nose view of the German Dornier Do.17 showing the installation of its Daimler Benz DB 600 engines, which confer a very good performance. their worth on active service in Spain, and go far toward meeting the require ments of the protagonists of the ex tremely fast bomber suited to take axial (as opposed to freely movable) arma ment, though the Blenheim has a power- driven gun-turret which is anathema to this school of thought. Heavier military load, more elaborate defensive armament, and longer range characterise the next size in bombers as represented by the geodetic-built Vickers Wellington, which incidentally can be powered with Bristol Pegasus, Rolls- Royce Merlin, or Bristol Hercules engines ; the Handley Page Hampden (character ised by its lean, efficient-looking profile designed to provide wide fields of fire); and the German Heinkel He 111K, a shapely development of a civil type. While some nations favour power- driven armament for such machines, others, like Germany, rely on guns with restricted arcs of movement for defensive purposes. Shell guns are being mounted in some of the more modern machines. under discussion, notably the sleek French Amiot 340, which will, incidentally, be fitted before long with two-speed supercharged Rolls-Royce Merlins, and the LeO 45, destined shortly to receive a pair of sleeve- valve Hercules. An ultra-modern and outstandingly interesting high- powered twin-engined bomber, about which very little in formation is obtainable, is the high-wing Douglas B-19 as ordered by France. The prototype of this machine met with a tragic accident while carrying an officer of the French Air Force, who was visiting the U.S.A. in con nection with the purchase of a batch of B-igs. Features of this aircraft are a tricycle undercarriage, two of the very latest two-row American radials, and a power-driven gun- turret
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