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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 1262.PDF
/too MAY 2, 1940 Topics of the Day SUPERMEN for SUPERCRAFT Popular Delusions Dispelled : A Comparison in Technique IT is not, perhaps, such a very queer thing that eachentirely new type—as opposed to each individualmachine type—should be considered as one requiring the attention of a super-pilot for its successful direction through the air. Such a superstition tends to be kept alive by successive generations of pilots and, in the case of military machines, by those pilots who are in the first squadron to be equipped with some new and harrowing device. In the old days it was a sort of imposed superstition that flying of any kind demanded extreme skill, extreme courage and a special " birdman" attribute. Pilots themselves kept the superstition alive and it was nut until the club movement appeared that Mr. Jones and Mr. Smith found that it was not the heart-rending and nerve-shattering affair that it was supposed to be. More recently, therefore, the superman business has had to be reduced in its' application to the pilots of cer- tain types. When the Hart and Fury first appeared, tor instance, we grovelled before the pilots who succeeded in flying them, though the test pilots insisted that they were too easy for words. Then came the Hurricane and Spitfire, with the unspoken understanding that only men of indomitable courage and outstanding physical fitness could be allowed to deal with them. Luckily, in this case, Capt. Balfour, the Under Secretary of State ior Air, proceeded forthwith to burst the balloon by flying them both and describing them as "old gentlemen's aeroplanes." So they are. And in a general way the present-day devices are a good deal easier to handle than were the superior box-kites. The former can be brought in at almost any reasonable speed between 80 and 120 m.p.h. and still be put inside an aerodrome, while the latter would float all the way across if the odd ten miles an hour were accidentally added during a final sideslip. Not that anyone is advised to bring a Hurricane in at 120 m.p.h. ; its bad for the flaps, the hold-off is less easy, and the aerodrome may not be big enough. But try bringing a Hind or a Gauntlet in at a velocity similarly higher than its landing speed—say, 100 m.p.h.^and you will pump-handle your way right across and into the boundary fence while the fire engine and ambulance chase you with clanging of bell and blowing of hooter. Tackling the New Fighters I was reminded of this old superman business by a sentence in a newspaper which told its readers that better and better fighters were coming along and remarked that pilots were already in training to enable them to cope with these projectiles, for the* handling of which great endurance and strength were required. In a couple of years these aeroplanes will probably be used as inter- mediate trainers. Not that I am denying the need for physical fitness and, more important, lots of practice in flinging these modern things about the sky for long periods. As a straight-and-level pilot I admit to greying myself out in a Spitfire, but I have done it much more successfully in a Gladiator—and even a Tiger Moth. I used the ex- pression " greying " because, since I was not involved in mortal combat, there was no need to let the tightness of the turn be increased to the true blacking-out point. • You can, in fact, hold a Spitfire in an all-but-vertical turn, with the bank needle in the centre, without experi- encing any particular discomfort, though it hurts your neck when raising your head to examine that part of the sky into which the machine is turning. The point is that machines are so strong and controls so powerful that such a balanced turn is by no means the limit. Start pulling, very gently, and the horizon goes grey, the speed begins to drop, and you ease out to feel a strange relief in tension. During that short few seconds you feel as if someone has clamped you in a tight-fitting suit of heavy armour with its only-just-transparent visor down. Advantage of Flaps Returning to the question of '' difficulty " and taking the approach and landing as requiring the greatest degree of judgment, I must say that the modern type with flaps and a high wing-loading is very much easier, say, than a Swallow or a fully loaded Courier. The latter, in its day, was a very advanced type, but it has no flaps and is quite reasonably clean. Ah approach without engine required the greatest concentration as the speed must be held within 5 m.p.h. limits and the height within 50 feet limits. With a Blenheim, at the other extreme, you turn in a quarter of a mile from the boundary at 500ft., apply full flap and dive on to the ground. A variation of 200ft. or 20 m.p.h. makes very little difference since the flaps stop the float. The machine is almost dead as it is heldx off. Needless to say, it is normal to use a trickle of. engine all the way down in order to flatten the approach and to reduce the tremendous change of attitude during the landing process. With so much artificial drag on modern machines you can't afford to flop around near the stall when away from the ground. A certain hazard might be introduced by a variation in A.S.I, indications near the stall. Pitot-head position errors with thick wing sections are considerable at low speeds unless the head in question is pushed out on a long rod. As it happens, a flat figure of 85 m.p.h. (indicated) serves as a safe approach guide on 90 per cent, of the machines. Curiously enough, the same figure in knots works for two other types in which the A.S.I, is so calibrated. Nobody is going to tell me that the stalling speed of these last two machines is so much higher than that of the others; either these readings are high or the others are low—probably the latter. At least two very recent types must be brought in at an indicated 100 m.p.h., so perhaps airspeed indicators are becoming more accurate and a new standard figure must be decided upon for the benefit of ferry pilots. None of the readings mean much; the actual landing speed is very much the same for all of them—about 65 m.p.h.— but it is more than exciting if you find that a machine practically lands out of your hands at the speed at which, without worrying about it, you have been making approach turns. I recommend the application of a red mark on tne A.S.I, dial to indicate a good, average, safe approaai speed for each machine. The test pilot can put it on after each acceptance flight. A little slip of red sticxy paper is all that he needs to prevent any possibility ot a serious sinking feeling. INDICATOR.
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