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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 1109.PDF
APRIL IS, 1940 347 AIR YOUR KNOWLEDGE What German aircraft is nicknamed the "Flying Pencil " ? Who made the first non-stop flight from New York to Berlin ? If you saw an aircraft bearing registration letters starting SX, to what country would it belong ? What aircraft of the R.A.F. was nick- named " Harry Tate " ? What is " aspect ratio " I What is an ornithopter I The answers to these questions will be found on page 367. 7 What type of airscrew is fitted to the latest Hawker Hurricanes ? g What is skin friction ? 9 Who won the £10,000 "Daily Mail "prize for a flight from London to Hanchester in 1910? J Q Has geodetic construction been used for any aircraft other than the Wellesley and Wellington ? ] | At what figure does the world's absolute speed record stand ? |2 Which British fighter accounted for the1 greatest number of enemy aircraft in the war 1914-1918? What is the object illustrated below ? THE LUFTWAFFE (CONTINUED) machine-gun fire while using its shell-guns, or closing in with machine-guns, as the captain thinks fit. It is believed to have been used in Poland as an escort for bombers, and it might be able to escort them from Ger- many to certain parts of the coast of England, but if it had to open its throttles to fight it would have a dubious margin of petrol for the return flight. As a home-defence fighter it must be considered a very good design. Some specimens have been adapted to carry bombs, and the machine should make a useful bomber for certain work. • ;v Load and Speed •-'"• - . - The Junkers 88 follows the main specification of its predecessor, the He 111. That is to say, the designer has concentrated on load and speed. Most parts of the British Isles are within its range, and it can muster a top speed of 300 m.p.h., cruising at about 260. It is capable of dive-bombing. It has not yet been provided with protective armour, and its armament consists of one machine-gun firing forward and two to the rear. If intercepted by our fighters it should be no harder to destroy than was the He 111. As all the German factories have been equipped to turn out machines which have a slim fuselage, it seems almost impossible that our enemy should be able to turn over to power-operated gun turrets in their bombers. So it seems that that tremendous asset of our bombers will probably remain an advantage of the R.A.F., at least for some time to come. The operational stations of the Luftwaffe are mostly in Western Germany. There are great numbers of aero- dromes, and at least 500 of them are permanently manned and ready for use. Its mobility is one of the great points about the Luftwaffe. It is organised in wschwader, corresponding roughly to our R.A.F. woups; Gruppen, which have about the same strength as R.A.F. stations, and Staffeln, or squadrons of about a dozen machines each. The Geschwader move freely and rapidly about the country, accompanied by freight- carrying aircraft, and so the German bomber forces may °e massed one day near the Swiss frontier and then in a short time be transferred to the frontiers of Holland or to the shores of the North Sea. The bomber crews have been well trained in night work, but there has been comparatively little night flying by fighters. As for the personnel of the Luftwaffe, the force is a mushroom growth, and there must be a shortage of trained staff officers and also of instructors. The casual- ties in the training schools have been very much heavier than with us. There has been no lack of volunteers for the flying side, though a certain number of the mechanics have been brought in under the conscription system. The air crews are mostly composed of young men who have been carefully nursed in the Nazi doc- trine. They have probably been taught that they, as a Force, are invincible, that Germany is impregnable, and that the Royal Air Force is contemptible. Their own casualty lists are given very little prominence, while German successes, or alleged successes (e.g., sinking the Ark Royal) are loudly broadcast. Those units which have been much engaged over the North Sea must have learnt something of the truth, as they have lost over 50 aircraft for one Spitfire destroyed and two British fighter pilots wounded. But the number of aircraft employed over the sea has not been large, and so the truth may not have spread widely among the air crews of the Luftwaffe. Perhaps more of them will learn the truth in Norway. Still Good " Jane's All the World's Aircraft, 1939." Compiled and Edited by C. G. Grey and Leonard Bridgman; 425. Sampson Low, Marston and Co., Ltd., 100, Southwark Street, S.E.i. " TANE'S " has again been produced under difficulties, but J contrives to make a good showing, although slightly- reduced in bulk. It was to be expected that the British, French and German sections would be somewhat abbreviated, but there are several omissions which are unjustified as the necessary data were certainly available at the time of production. However, in spite of these gaps and a number of errors, " Jane's " still ranks as the leading annual work of reference on aeronautics.
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