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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 2442.PDF
174 AUGUST 29, 1940 HERE and THERE New European Air RoutesI T is reported that Germany and Spain have signed an agreement providing for the commencement of new air ser- vices. Without Interest 'T'HE Institution of Production Engin- -*- eers has loaned to the Treasury without interest the sum of 1,000 guineas. This sum represents the excess of income over expenditure of the Insti- tution for the financial year ended June 30, 1940. - . • ', .'- . - . British Order for EnginesI T is reported by American Aviation that the Warner Aircraft Corporation, of Detroit, will come into active produc- tion again following the receipt of an order for the manufacture of 250 of its Super-Scarab engines. These radial air- cooled engines of 165 h.p. are intended to power the small trainers being built by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corpora- tion in Australia. Including the spare parts, the order is said to amount to $700,000. Light Aircraft Manufacture G MOTORS CORPORATION ^•J has announced that it is interested in the private owner type of aircraft cruising between 100 and 130 m.p.h. and has mapped out a developmental pro- gramme for the time when the market will, be bigger and large-scale production more justified. They are not alone in their interest in this field of aviation, for William Stout, of the Stout Engineer- ing Laboratories of Detroit, is starting to build a small two-seater of stainless steel with design adapted to quantity production. The Ford interests are also spending large sums of money on aviation de- velopment not necessarily on the light- plane class, though Edsel Ford is re- ported to be interested in this type. It is believed that Henry Ford does not en- tirely share his enthusiasm. Solar Navigator A SOLAR navigator, of particular useto the photographic survey pilot, has been released for sale by the Fair- child Aviation Corporation. A combina- tion of sun compass and drift sight, the solar navigator mechanically guides the pilot along parallel flight lines and so ensures a regular overlap to the photo- graphs. The instrument is independent of changes of wind and magnetic varia- tions. It must be mounted in the top Lord and LadyTrenchard chatting to AirC omdre. H. Peake, Direc-tor of Public Relations, att h e R.A.F. Exhibition ofWar Photo- graphs. of the fuselage so that the sun can fall on it. A gyroscope is part of its mechanism. It has already been used in mapping operations in America for some years. Clare's Second Trip AGAIN carrying among her passengersfour American pilots, the trans- atlantic flying boat Clare completed her second return trip on August 20, arriving at Foynes at 11.35 a.m. The elapsed time between Botwood and Foynes was I3hr. 52mm. Destruction of France HP HE French Air Ministry has issued J- a statement on the losses incurred by I'Armee de VAir during the invasion of Holland, Belgium and France be- tween May 10 and June 10. The state- ment says that 635 aircraft were de- stroyed, 306 of them being shot down and 229 being destroyed on the ground. The fate of the other 100 is not stated. Factory and Men Available VI7E understand from Gregory's, of » V Liverpool, that they have avail- able for war work a factory of 65,000 sq. ft. of floor area, and a staff of 350 to work it. The factory is well lighted and heated, and there is an ample supply of power, steam, gas and water. It is not desired to let the factory, but to produce in it supplies needed for the carrying on of the war effort. Morse Equipment Wanted TTHERE is an urgent need for trained -*- wireless operators in the R.A.F., and the Air Defence Cadet Corps can place cadets who, at the age of 17J, can send at the rate of 20 words a minute. But training equipment is somewhat difficult to obtain, and readers of Plight who wish to help are asked to send Morse keys, buzzers and headphones to the Secretary of the A.D.C.C. at the Air League of the British Empire, Kinnaird House, ia, Pall Mall, London, S.W.i. Women in Aircraft Production AMONG the firms which have found itnecessary to train women for air- craft production is Saunders-Roe, Ltd., Isle of Wight, who have found their school for male trainees, instituted some time ago, so successful that they have opened a branch for women. The course provides for a short period of intensive instruction to fit non-skilled female labour to perform work in con- nection with the construction of the Ler- wick flying boats for the R.A.F. No previous experience is required of the women trainees. They are simply re- quired to do their utmost to adapt them- selves to ruling conditions and become capable of assisting in the drive for increased production. The course completed, the women pass from the school into the main factories where they are engaged on suitable work. US. Air Base at Bermuda BRITAIN has agreed to let VJ" the United States have an air base at Bermuda, and the Great Sound, an area of water of about five square miles and surrounded by reefs, will be used for this purpose. The Changing C.A.A. WITH its transfer to the Departmentof Commerce, the C.A.A. has now become the C.A.B., Civil Aero- nautics Board. Robert H. Hinckley is now Assistant Secretary of Commerce, and his place as chairman of the C.A.B. .is now taken by Harlee Branch, with Dr. Edward P. Warner as vice-chair- man. To fill the vacancy on the board, Dr. George Pierce Baker, formerly associate professor of transportation at Harvard University, has been appointed. C. B. Allen, formerly under Hardin- on the Air Safety Board, has returned to the edi- torial staff of the New York Herald Tribune. Numerous other resignations have occurred. R. S. Bojitelle, director of the bureau of safety regulation, and Dr. E. S. Adams, who was chief of the medical section, have both gone. And Thomas Hardin, who was very well thought of in his position as chairman of the Air Safety Board, has now left after the abolition of the board, to be- come vice-president in charge of safety for Transcontinental and Western Air. Another man with an excellent record of work done for safety succeeds him in the corresponding position in the C.A.B. This is Jerome Lederer. W& wish him every success in his important job. Flight Computers FOLLOWING the Librascope balancecomputor, which has so effectively facilitated centre of gravity calculationsduring the loading up of big aircraft that it is now only a matter of turning knobson a dial and reading off. e.g. position against a pointer, comes the "flightcomputor," also developed by the Librascope Company. This instrument gives instant compu-tation of every factor in a flight plan, reducing the time required for this cal-culation to less than one minute. All that is necessary is to set pointerknobs to correspond to weather condi- tions and other known factors. Theseinclude wind velocity, wind direction, true course of flight, gross weight, timeelapsed, pressure altitude, free air tem- perature, horse-power and engine r.p.m.As these knobs are set, they automatic-
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