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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 0428.PDF
146 FEBRUARY 2OTH, 1941. made a worthy contribution to • the total of enemy machines destroyed. We must also admit that the present rate of destruction is not sufficiently high to break the spirit of the German pilots. We acknowledge that they are determined men, but at least the German crews cannot set out on a night raid over Britain with the comforting assurance that there will be no danger and that all of them will in a few hours be back at their bases, enjoying breakfasts of French good things, or at the worst German ersatz sausages. In the published reports it is noticeable that many of the night bombers which our A.A. gunners have brought down have fallen on. or near the coasts. This suggests that some of them, perhaps most of them, have been wingd by the fire round the cities which they have raided, and that they had lost speed and height as they wended their way homeward. It is also to be noted that the number shot down by night-fighters is slowly on the increase. That is at least significant. Aid from the United StatesI N this issue we publish an article surveying the precise amount of help in the shape of military air- craft which America has been sending to us. It is written by an engineer, and the training of such people is designed to make them think in exact figures and not approximations ; " near enough " is not their motto. The article is an exhortation to all Americans engaged in any aspect of aircraft manufacture to give us as much of their efforts as possible, and the title echoes the con- cluding phrase of Mr. Churchill's recent dramatic broad- cast speech. Though addressed to Americans, the figures contained in this article will be read with interest by many in this country, for the British public has been very much in the dark about just how many aircraft are coming across "* the Atlantic. Ironically enough, they are the only ones who have been in the dark, for the article points out that both the Germans and the Americans have always been fully informed by the release of official figures. Also, such approximate figures as have been stated here are now seen to have been far too high. We wonder if the recent statement of Col. John Jouett, of the Aero- nautical Chamber of Commerce of U.S.A., that "400 aircraft have been flown across the Atlantic" is in the same category, for this figure looks high when compared with the monthly export figures contained in the article. (The average from July to November is 190 per month.) But whatever the exact number flown over, it is indeC<i an illuminating commentary on the progress of flight • that these multiple crossings of the world's greatest ocean are now accepted as almost commonplace. Bombers are coming in a small but steady stream, but fighters must be brought by ship owing to their short range and strictly limited crew accommodation. A most important characteristic of delivery by air across the Atlantic is that it is out of reach of interference by sub- marine, and releases shipping for other purposes. The quality of American aircraft is above complaint— no cheap and nasty aeroplanes these, and though, except for the proved and trusty Hudson, they have not yet been tried out extensively in battle, and although they are not of the very latest types, our description in last week's issue of a mock combat between a Hurri- cane and a Curtiss Tomahawk left no doubt that Flight's opinion of them is high. What we want is more and more of them. • ' J**». >* * ONE OF NEW YORK'S TWO AIRPORTS. La Guardia Field has only been in use for about a year, but the ^rivals anddepartures already tax its capacity. The Douglas DC-3 seen in flight over the airport is. one of the American VUrli^es fleet.
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