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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 0481.PDF
FEBRUARY 2OTH, 1941. 165 CORRESPONDENCE (Continued) increase the size and decrease manoeuvrability. Hence the use of rotating armament is urged. Also a fighter which aims its guns with itself must often turn away from its target to avoid collision and consequently present its side or belly to the enemy's gunners. The turreted machine can fly alongside, above, below, or even in front of the enemy without turning away, and pour in its cannon-shells or rounds of 0.303 with- out aerobatics. It can also fly into a Hun formation, and its different turrets can engage two or even three machines at once. I feel sure that a certain amount of armour plating and our undoubted superiority in turret design and armament would result in colossal losses to the Nazi bombers, which at best mount only two guns per man, and those usually (one might say invariably) on hand-operated mountings. It ;^ only necessary to add that certain types of bomber appear to be capable of converting into these types of machines jjgstically on the spot, and that at least two types of fighter coming along should have the range (but rely on fixed arma- ment) to prove that I am not advocating something theoretical or possibly only capable of production in five years' time. Other people besides myself have advocated the long-range turret fighter, but no one seems interested in influential circles. I should like to know why not ? I hope that this letter may bring the subject out in the open once again. I feel sometimes that there is a terrible inertia in some influ- ential circles which may one day cause us to drag out Harts and to fit Tiger Moths with 1918 Lewis guns in order to stem the tide of Nazi thoroughness and numbers. Let us hope that this day will never arise. If we prepare and it does not, well and good; if we are unprepared or not sufficiently tortuous to meet the cunning German, we all know what to expect. ERNEST P. BRODIE. OLD-TIMER DOES HIS BIT Now an Instructor in Canada AS a regular reader of Flight I was very much interested inthe article " Eyes for the Army " of the January 30th, 1941, issue, which quoted a citation of the Great War, '14-18, regard- ing Lieutenant A. W. Hammond in a " Big Ack " machine. Mr. Hammond has been a personal friend of mine for many years in Winnipeg, Canada, and despite the loss of a leg in this action, "A. W." was such that he became a very ardent golfer, swimmer, and automobile driver, but modest withal regarding his service and exploits. I thought that Flight, and perhaps some of its readers, would be interested to hear that Mr. Hammond has once more volunteered his services to the R.A.F., or I should say the R.C.A.F., in the capacity of in- structor somewhere in Eastern Canada. I could supply his address if any person wishes to communicate. E. E. ESAU. SPIN TECHNIQUE Use of the Stick in Recovery TN your issue of December 20th, 1940, you published an •*• article on Royal Air Force Instruction, and one paragraph *as headed "New Spin Technique." This paragraph is very misleading and advises a wrong technique which may lead to accidents, if taken seriously. It is, therefore, to be hoped that you will contradict it in bold type as early as possible. This School is directly concerned with any new flying train-m g technique and its Instructional Staff is- surprised to hear that the new technique-is to "put 011 opposite rudder and stick forward simultaneously—and with no apologies." THERE IS NOT A NEW TECHNIQUE. The correct method of recovery is according to the drill described below •"id quoted from the Royal Air Force Flying Training Manual. There should be a slight pause between the actions: — "SPINNING. Recovery. FULL OPPOSITE RUDDER is the first and permanentr «!uirement for recovery. Auto-rotation must be stopped and fiang oS the opposite rudder at any time will never help recovery, but invariably prolong the spin. This should always * done on all types, as, even if some aeroplanes will stopVi .'th less than full rudder, it never does any harm, and it is vitally important to form this habit. The pilot learns to use judder intelligently, the moment the spin stops, to eliminate tether yaw. " The drill is as follows :—' (i) FULL OPPOSITE RUDDER. This may be applied sharply and must be maintained until the spin stops, whatever other actions are necessary. (ii) Ease the stick steadily forward until the spin stops. If the spin stops before the stick is right forward, hold it in position to keep diving straight. (iii) As the spin stops, centralise the rudder, using it to eliminate yaw; and gather ample speed to ensure that easing the aeroplane out of the dive will not stall it again. (iv) Ease gently out of the dive with the elevator. " Prolonging the dive (not necessary with light aeroplanes) is most essential with modern aircraft of high wing-loading. It is not enough to sec that the airspeed is just above "stalling speed"—remember that stalling depends directly on angle of attack and not directly on speed. " The stick must not be put unnecessarily far forward, as if this is done a very steep dive will result. It must not, oh any account, be moved forward before the rudder is applied as this almost always results in a higher rate of rotation and, sometimes owing to centrifugal force, subsequent flattening. This is probably due to stalling of the tailplane with the increased virtual angle of attack caused by depressing the elevator. The full explanation of it involves higher mathe- matics and need not bother the pilot." It is unfortunate that the Harvard Trainer should have been mentioned in your article, as this aeroplane is one in which the correct method as advised above is essential to recovery. E. C. KIDD, Sqn. Ldr., Deputy Chief Flying Instructor, Central Flying School. [The statement in question occurred in an article on the work of an Elementary Flying Training School, and was written by a member of our editorial staff (who holds a pilot's A-licence) after a visit to the school. The "new technique" was described to him on the aerodrome by a flying instructor who had just stepped out of a Tiger Moth and sent his pupil off solo. It was not given officially, as part of the visit, but it appears unlikely that our representative misunderstood what he was told, as it was the very unusualness of the statement which made him especially interested.—ED.] DESIGNING FOR PRODUCTION Apprentice Problem a Vital Aspect T^HE recent correspondence under the above heading touches -L on a very broad and contentious subject, the roots of which lie deep in the history of the previous generation, and the matter of apprenticeship amongst the members of the drawing office staffs in the aircraft industry is but one fibre. The problem is part of a legacy from the Great War, which drained the financial resources of commerce and industry and at the same time gave less-favoured nations an opportunity to compete and establish lower standards than we had previously main- tained. The get-rich-quick spirit amongst young people has caused them to shy at tying themselves down to low wages over a period of five to six years. Their motives are not always so selfish as might appear on the surface; their parents, having been hard hit by taxation during their non-productive years, naturally encourage their offspring to go after something more remunerative. In addition to the foregoing, the trend of post-Great War years was towards specialisation to a degree that a fully fledged apprentice very often found himself in the unenviable position of knowing a bit too much, compared with the general run of specialised workmen, whose experience is often founded on correspondence courses only. During the Great Depression skilled workers in many trades were found to be "too old " at forty. Naturally, these "old men" could not conscientiously advise any junior to pursue an apprenticeship which brought them to this condition at such an early age. We are now reaping the benefit of this short-sighted policy and consequently have to appeal to our American cousins to help us out of the ditch. In a recent edition of a local paper the subject of apprentice- ship had been discussed among some local officials, and the subject of premiums was the main plank of the discussion. In other words, they were still thinking along the lines of 1840 and not 1940. If British commerce and industry is to regain its prestige in the markets of the world it will be well worth while to pay apprentices a bounty in order to encourage them to take up a skilled trade, rather than to make the process of learning an expensive one for them and their parents. P. B. D.
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