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Aviation History
1939
1939 - 1896.PDF
JUNE 22, 1939 DERBY'S AIRPORT 62^* ^^ ^^ OPENED Sir Kingsley Wood Gives Another Aerodrome Its Send-off : F.A.A. Skua Squadron Seen in Action in Public for the First Time vertical attitude, hanging momentarily on sky-hooks, the official public obtained some idea of the feelings of the dive- bombed, while the more knowledgeable realised just what the Skua's flaps will do. Without them, from that height and with such impressively clean machines the pull-out would have been started almost as soon as the dive had begun; with them the speed is limited to something rather more than 200 m.p.h. Their effect was also seen at least once during the succeeding ten minutes, in which the squadron broke up into flights and, with split-second timing, made con verging front-gun attacks on the assem bled dignitaries. Evidently the flaps were being used to control the speeds and, consequently, the distances both between the individual machines and the flights, which attacked from three points ^ # ^^ ^ " Flight " photographs. Perfection in formation—one of the magnificent figures by the twelve Spitfires which opened the R.A.F. section of the programme. On the right the Air Minister is seen declaring the airport well and truly open. HARDENED, blase or ill-man nered people concerned with the business of aviation might have previously dismissed last Saturday's event as "just another airport opening." Derby is not— during the next few years at any rate —likely to be an important airline centre, its aerodrome is not excep tionally big, the buildings are not yet complete, and there are, so far, neither lighting nor wireless facilities. For some time, in fact, the aerodrome at Burnaston is likely to be of interest largely as an Elementary and Reserve (and Volunteer Reserve) centre. But everybody who visited the town last week-end was made to feel that this new venture was one of the most im portant developments in its history. Both the airport opening ceremony and the official banquet at the Rolls-Royce factory which preceded it were tre mendous affairs—thanks to local en thusiasm and energetic organisation. Mr. William Courtenay, who was respon sible for the latter, must be given full marks for the way in which the whole thing went off and for the amount of first-class display support which was forthcoming. The flying on Saturday afternoon was among the most superb, well-timed and varied which we have ever seen at an event of this description. The key piece was the show put up by a Fleet Air Arm squadron with Blackburn Skuas— it was the first occasion on which the Arm had taken part in a display of this kind. And it started as spectacularly as anyone could wish. Nine Skuas, peel ing off at 2,000 feet or so (the cloud base was on the low side), dive-bombed the official enclosure, completing the pull-out at 200 feet or less. As each machine took up its nearly of the compass in rotation. The effect of flaps became very obvious when a Skua with flaps down was promptly overtaken after the pull-up by the third machine in the flight, which had its flaps up. A most impressive affair. Thereafter, a flight of Skuas landed while the other six showed that the squadron's formation flying was well- nigh perfect. The three remaining machines were due to give an exhibition of deck landing—complete with a car rier's "island" superstructure made up on one of the Corporation's mobile over head-wire repairing towers. With this foundation the '' island '' was usefully mobile, and carried its control staff with out risk of minor disaster. On the sides of this tower were four of the white cross- on-red signal boards, one of which is normally used to indicate all-clear, or otherwise, to the approaching pilot, and at the leeward end of the "deck" was
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