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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 0856.PDF
276 APRIL IOTH, 1941. HERE POTENTIAL PILOT. Although the Air Training Corps was launched only inFebruary, the youth of this country has responded so magnificently that already some 1,200 squadrons have been formed. Here we see Adjutant H. Baker running the ruleover a promising recruit a: Manchester. On the right is Cade'. F/O. H. Blake, Officer commanding No. 430 Squadron, Manchester and Salford A.T.C. Sir Cecil Weir's New Post A SHORT time ago it was announcedthat the Government had decided to set up a central control of factory andstorage premises through which the re- quirements ol all Government depart-ments would be co-ordinated. The President of the Board of Tradehas now appointed Sir Cecil Weir, K.B.E., M.C., to be Controller-Generalof Factory and Storage Premises. Sir Cecil, who is a member of the Industrialand Export Council, will take up his duties shortly. Desirable Residence HUTS are now being made, at certainR.A.F. stations, from the hugepacking-cases in which the smaller American aircraft are shipped to thiscountry. This holds out possibilities for some delightful house names over thedoorways ol these desirable residences. What about Martlett Mansions, Cari-bou Cottage, Grunnnau Grange, and Vqltee Villa ?—or even, at a pinch, Bell-a-vista ? Causes of Structural Failure SEVERAL illuminating facts emergefroni the summary of reports onstructural lailures and defects in air- frames prepared by the Civil AeronauticsAdministration and published in the February 1 issue of the U.S. Departmentol Commerce's Civil Aeronautics Journal. These reports cover the period fromJanuary i, 1935, to October 25, 1940, and have been compiled by the AircraftAirworthiness Section. Particularly significant is the statementthat of the number of structural failures traceable to "well-defined contributingcauses," no fewer than 65.24 per cent. were due to inadequate maintenance,22,30 per cent, to faulty factory work- manship, 8.44 per rent, to faulty repairs.T.50 per cent (o Mutter, and 2.46 per cent, to aerobatics. The total number of cases investigatedwas 1/155. ut which as many as 791 occurred to landing-gear. 284 to wings.2oC> to the fuselage, and 191 to the con- trol svstems. By far the greatest number of fatal accidents were caused by failures in wingsand control systems ascribable to inade- quate maintenance, which points an all-too-obvious moral. Black Light ELECTRONIC LABORATORIES,INC., of Indianapolis, are making electric lamps which give off no visiblelight but emanate a near ultra-violet radiation which causes fluorescent paintto glow. This development is being applied to improve the lighting of instru-ment boards, all the markings of the in- struments being made with the fluor-escent paint. " Black light " has become the popular name of the lamp's emana-tion, and the system should eliminate, dazzle and eye-strain. ' .. Keen Youngsters ACCORDING to the April issue of•<-* A.T.C. Gazette; (the bright little monthly journal of the Air TrainingCr.rps) there are so many boys of under 16 who arc clamouring to join the A.T.C.that the Boy Scouts Association has come to the rescue by starting a newbranch to cater for these keen youngsters who are too impatient to wait until theyare old enough to join the A.T.C. | So now we have Air Scouts i t whomfour new badges have been introduced— Air Apprentice, Air Navigatwr, . AirMechanic and Air Spotter, Tie next thing you know the toddlers will he up inarms at being left out, so dpn't be surprised if it's Air Cubs, t;oo, befcre verylong! I Trans-Canada Mail nates A REDUCTION to 40 centsfper aero-plane-mile for mail carriedfby Trans- Canada Airlines w.as announced recently.The contract for the current ye|r between the Post Office Department and the air-line had not tjeen concluded ore March 1. Under the existing arrangement betweenpostal auttorities and Trans-Canada Air- lines mpl is>arried at a rate of Go centsper af-roplskne-mile, which rate covers any nias'il loadap to 1,200 lfo. This amount isreduced to 1,000 lb. in crossing the Roiky Mountains. Determination of the AND THERE rate to be paid by the Post Office De-partment to the air mail carriers is reached by determining the differencebetween operating cost and operating revenue of the airline. It was hoped thatby the end of 1940 it would be possible to get finality as to rate arrangements,the year just closed having been regarded as the experimental period, but now thatit has been decided to considerably in- crease the mileage of air mail carriagethe postal authorities are not yet in position to decide finally on all the con-ditions of the new contract. Australian Instrument Manufacture ONE more step towards national self-sufficiency in regard to aircraft has bet:i taken in Australia with the manu-facture of instruments by Amalgamated Wireless. This company has undertakenthe production of altimeters, air speed indicators, compasses and pressure gaugesas well as gyroscopic instruments. Other instruments may also be produced latex. Spotting by Ear A SOUND detector for use by roof-spotters is reported in the March 14th issue of The Engineer to be in useat an electrical engineering works. This device consists of a parabolic reflectorwith a sensitive microphone at the focal point. A four-valve amplifier is con-nected to the " mike " with one or more pairs of earphones as required. Byswivelling the reflector until the sound of a far-off plane is at its maximumvolume the spotter can get its direction even when poor visibility prevents hisseeing it at a distance, and by careful listening lie can tell if it is approachinghis post or not. A number of unnecessary " takecover" signals have been eliminatedJ the use of this simple instrument, itclaimed, and much valuable time savea in consequence. Whose Move ?R ECENT reports of more "invasionmanoeuvres" by German troops and a reminder from Gen. Sir Alan Brookethat Hitler is known to have been taking a lively interest in gliders have servedto revive public speculation on the chances, nature and probable date of thelong-anticipated Nazi attempt to set foot upon these shores—as other thanprisoners! And now, in the 1940 edition of Jane'sAll the World's Aircraft, one of its co- editors, Mr. C. G. Grey, says that theoutlook for next year is excellent an.I that '' we shall have new fighters andbombers in quantities which will, in due course, give us such command of eneray-coasts as will give our Navy and Arm? power to land and carry the war intoenemy country." So the question seems to be, " who willmove first?
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