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Aviation History
1939
1939 - 1975.PDF
646 The Outlook fflSf&R JUNE 29, 1939 loaded, we may remark that any member of the Com mittee might well spend a month on this airport before seeing a single case in which the pilot did not taxi into such a position where he had the longest possible run ahead of him. The real annoyance to local residents at Croydon is caused by the rumbling approaches which must necessarily be made at very low altitude if the machines are to get into the aerodrome at all. The only possible solutions to this problem would be either to raze all the property in the vicinity or to remove Croydon bodily to some outlying area. The idea of introducing a Student Pilots' Licence is a good one in theory, but in actual practice at present no club will permit a member to carry passengers unless he has already been passed out by the chief instructor or, in many cases, until the member has put in at least 50 hours' solo flying. There may or may not have been, at one time or another, half a dozen private owners with less than 20 hours' solo flying experience, and the Student Pilots' Licence can only be intended to prevent such inexperienced owners in the future from risking the lives of their less intelligent friends. More Fighter Squadrons 1 AST.week we referred to the need of increasing the • strength of No. 12 (Fighter) Group, which is responsible for the air defence of the Midlands and north. Since those words were printed Sir Kingsley Wood has granted an interview to the Daily Telegraph in which he admitted that a number of new fighter squadrons would have to be raised which would be dispersed throughout the country in suitable strategic positions. He did not add, as he might have done, that the Air Ministry has undertaken to earmark a number of fighter squadrons for service with the Army, and that those squadrons will have to be additional to the number allocated for the air defence of the country. With these two necessities lying before the Air Council it seems that the time has come for raising more fighter squadrons. The bulletin of the Air Defence League, entitled The Nature of the Threat, to which we also alluded last week, agrees with the view held by Flight that Germany is organised for a Blitzkreig, or lightning war, which implies a heavy attack on the "nerve centre" of Lon don. In that case attacks on munition factories would not be of prime importance, for a lightning war must be over successfully before the output of the factories could make any difference to the result. All authorities seem agreed that Germany would not be able to face a long war of three or four years, and would be foolish to make the attempt. There is, however, a third possi bility which might be considered by German strategists, namely a moderate war of about a year. In that case, bombing attacks might be distributed over the munition centres in the Midlands and North, leaving the defence uncertain where the next blow would fall. An Unattractive Plan M OST of the industrial towns to the north of Lon don are some distance inland, and it is axio matic that the further the raiders have to fly inland, the better are the chances of the defence. That is to say, they are better if the defence is thoroughly well organised, if the Observer Corps covers the whole area and if there are enough guns, searchlights and fighters. The raiding pilots, after crossing the North Sea, would not find their job very attractive, especially by night with the country darkened as it would be. It would not be so easy for them to find any of the northern cities as it would be to find London, and the chances of being intercepted before they reached their targets ought to be greater. But if the defence is to make those inter ceptions, the fighter patrols will need to be in position in good time. That means that there must be plenty of fighters available in No. 12 (Fighter) Group, and we hope that we shall soon hear of more squadrons being formed and allotted to that Group. Likewise, the needs of the Army must not be forgotten. DIARY OF FORTHCOMING EVENTS—Page 656e R.A.F. Officialpho.ograph, Crown Copyright. SOMETHING NEW FROM COWES : The Saunders-Roe Lerwick general-purpose flying boat (two Bristol Hercules fourteen- cylinder sleeve-valve radials of 1,400 h.p. or more) which is in production for the R.A.F. Following normal British practice, gun turrets are installed in the bow and stern and amidships. The Lerwick should be one of the world's fastest flying boats and should have a tremendous range.
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