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Aviation History
1939
1939 - 1501.PDF
A Fairey Battle (left) and a Vickers Wellington show in a striking fashion the effectiveness of their camouflage markings. On the right a Fairey Battle turns after releasing practice bombs on a target at a typical Arma ment Training Station of the R.A.F. (Below) Bomber production : H.P. Hampdens, capable of 265 m.p.h., seen in the final assembly stage at the assembly plant at Radlett. The Hampden has two Bristol Pegasus XVIII engines with two-speed superchargers. Whitley and Handley Page Harrow, and many squadrons are equipped with the Bristol Blenheim, a comparatively small, twin-engined type of ex tremely high perfcrmance. Squadrons equipped with Fairey Battles practise the low-level, high-altitude, and diving varieties of bombing attack. The first form entails low flying at high speed, the bombs being released without the aid of the bomb sight, which is reserved for level attacks from high altitudes. In dive bombing the bomb is released by the pilot, who puts his machine into a dive for the target and releases after having made due allowance for wind and the pull of gravity on the projectile. Fitted with a single Rolls-Royce Merlin II or III engine, the Battle has a top speed of 257 m.p.h. at 16,oooft., carrying a disposable load of 4,125 lb. It can function at heights up to 25,000ft. or more, the crew of two or three being housed under a long cock pit enclosure. Equipment includes wireless (mounted in a flexible crate in the rear of the fuselage with remote control from both cockpits), nieht-flying gear, and oxygen for high-altitude work. The bomb load is stowed in the wings, the ooenings normally being covered with trap-doors. Unlike the 'twin- engined types in service, the Battle has a prone position for the bomb aimer instead of a seat. There is a Browning gun fixed in the wing for the
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