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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 0790.PDF
240 MARCH 14, 1940 TRAINERS (CONTINUED) The Ryan PT-16 (left) is a primary trainer adopted by theU.S. Army. Below it are the fast Italian Nardi F.N.305 and, finally, the latest machine in the North American advancedtrainer series. This is more recent than the R.A.F Havard. 192 m.p.h. Side-by-side dual controls are fitted and there is provision in the fuselage for standard wireless naviga- tional, photographic and oxygen equipment. For training purposes the crew does not normally exceed three, though accommodation is provided for pilot, navigator or second pilot, bomb-aimer, wireless operator, rear gunner and camera-operator. For armament training a single gun is used for a manually operated turret and sixteen i8£-lb. practice smoke bombs are carried in standard electro- magnetic racks. In the R.A.F., the Avro Anson is used for similar duties. Reid and Sigsist, Ltd., have developed a twin-engined trainer which is considerably different in character, being a smaller machine with two 205 h.p. Gipsy Six engines and having three tandem seats. The pilot's cockpit corres- ponds with the leading edge of the wing ; the observer or instructor is behind him ; and the rear gunner or radio operator is at the rear. Below the middle seat is a prone bombing position. The R. and S. trainer has a top speed of 205 m.p.h. and is extremely manoeuvrable. As a stepping stone between more orthodox trainers and twin-engined high-speed fighters and bombers, it bas many points of merit. MILITARY TRANSPORTS TN the R.A.F. there exists a class ol •*• aircraft, best exemplified by the Bristol Bombay, known as "bomber transports." This type is capable of carrying a considerable number of fully armed and equipped troops, or alternatively, of transporting spare en- gines, stores, ammunition, etc. G-ermany uses large numbers of the old Junkers Ju 52 bomt>ers as trans- ports and has adapted many of them for the dropping of parachutes follow- ing the Russian technique. America does not normally arm her military transports, which are, in fact, modified commercial machines, but equips them expressly for the transport of personnel, equip- ment and stores. In the design of a large military transport the doors in the fuselage must be sufficiently large to permit the loading of large articles, and the cabin floor and roof may have to be specially strengthened. Complete airscrews present a particularly difficult problem, and may have to be stowed externally, just as on certain types of flying boat there The Bristol Bombay, although powerfully armed and capable of working as abomber, was designed primarily to accommodate troops and to transport bulky loads. is provision for carrying a torpedo on top of the hull. The high-wing monoplane layout is probably the most suitable ; not only does this facilitate loading but it is an advantage in hot countries where transports are used ex- tensively for carrying troops. For the transport of selected personnel and staff officers there is demand for fast, safe machines, a demand which is easily met by standard types of commercial aircraft. The De Havilland Flamingo is, perhaps, the most suit- able of the larger machines, and has, in fact, been adopted by the R.A.F. Another useful type is the smaller twin- engined machine on the lines of the Lockheed Electra 01 Airspeed Envoy. For economical liaison work the small two-, three- or four-seater '' private-owner '' aircraft are admirable. A particularly useful type is the Percival Vega Gull. Slots and flaps might profitably be employed as the machines would be required to operate from confined spaces. There seems to be no reason why the light liaison machine should not be identical, except for equipment, with the small type of army co-operation aircraft. Showing how a spare airscrew can be carried beneath thefuselage of a Douglas transport belonging to the U.S. Army Air Corps.
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