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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 0998.PDF
312 MAY IST, 1941. HERE AND INNOCUOUS INVADER. A Messerschmitt Me no has "invaded " U.S.A. but in aninnocuous state of helplessness as shown here, where its fuselage is being swung ashore from a ship's deck. Brought down in England, it has been sent for theAmerican aircraft experts to examine. R.A.F. Want PianosH AVE, you a piano in playable condi-tion you aren't using much? If so, the nearest R.A.F. station would prob-ably be only too glad to have it, because an appeal has been issued by the R.A.F.Comforts Committee for such instru- ments. But you are not asked to borrowa handcart and trundle it round to the camp y.ourself. Just tell the committeeat 20, Berkeley Square, W.i, and they will arrange to collect it and hand itover for you. Photographic Air MadT O reduce the weight of air mail to betransported to our troops in the Balkans and Middle East, a photographicmethod will soon be introduced. The sender will write his message on a formmeasuring nin. by Sin. which will then be photographed on a miniature film fordespatch by aeroplane. At the destina- tion a 5m. by 4m. enlargement will bemade and placed in an envelope with the address showing through a transparentpanel. The possibility of weight reduc- tion will be realised when it is knownthat half-width standard 35 mm. cine film is xised. Don't TouchI F an enemy aircraft comes down inyour district don't go near it. Such is the advice which the Air Min-istry offers. It has offered similar advice before, on the air and in the Press, butthe response leaves much to be desired. Going near an enemy aircraft is arisky business. First, you run the risk of being blown up, for these aircraftfrequently contain unexploded bombs and other explosive material which, inthe past, .have often injured nearby per- sons and sometimes caused their deaths.Secondly, if the temptation to get hold of a souvenir from a German aeroplaneproves irresistible, you run the risk of being prosecuted under defence regula-tions and fined, or even put in prison. Thirdly, if you remove anything at all,even though it be something which ap- pears of no consequence whatever, yourun the risk of depriving your country not only of salvage but of valuable in-formation too. Dominion Liaison AIR COMDRE G. O. JOHNSON,Deputy Chief of the Canadian Air Staff, and Air Comdre. N. R. Anderson,Air Officer Commanding, Eastern Air Command, have come to England for aperiod of attachment to the Royal Air Force. Air Comdre. Johnson will beattached to the staff of the Chief of Air Staff, and Air Comdre. Anderson to thestaff of Air Officer Commanding, Coastal Command. These officers are being sentto Britain with a view to gaining as much knowledge as possible of those.re- -:cent developments in operationfiJfcj, methods used by the Royal Air Force,which might be adapted later to the Royal Canadian Air Force in Canada.": British and Dutch Co-operation '"THE spirit of friendly co-operation•*- which has aways existed between the British and Dutch airlines is shown moststrikingly in the interchange agreement which has been reached between BritishOverseas Airways, Qantas Empire Air- ways, K.N.I.L.M. and K.L.M. Under thisagreement passengers booked by any one company may return by any other onjourneys between Lydda (Palestine) and Sydney. Nc additional cost is incurred.This will be welcomed by passengers as it gives them so much more flexibility. Production in New Zealand NEW ZEALAND, with its small popula-tion of ij million, has no aircraft manufacturing industry, but a decision has now been reached to commence the production of aircraft spares as these are becoming increasingly difficult to procure from abroad. Applications are being called for from personnel qualified in such work and the posts include a director of production, production officers, chief draughtsmen and draughts- men. UNSECRET WEAPON THE American news magazine Timehas an interesting paragiaph which relates the principle by which a certaindevice, covered by U.S. patent, works: "Last December, as London layalmost helpless under Nazi air attacks by night, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh(' Stuffy') Dowding predicted with mysterious confidence, ' Night bombingwill be greatly reduced by spring.' Since then repeated reports have comefrom England of Nazi raiders brought down in full darkness. Last week a clueto this amazing prediction and promise of fulfilment was provided by the U.S.Patent Office. " It granted to Joseph Lyman, ofHuntingdon, N.Y., a patent for a machine which uses radio beams tolocate a plane in darkness or fog, plot its course through the skies on an indicatorlike a television screen. Anti-aircraft fire can thus be directed, it is thought,with even more accuracy than in present daylight firing. "Lyman's device uses very shortradio waves (of 600 megacycles—or about 50 centimetres from troughtrough of the radio wave) which can focused by parabolic reflectors intobeams. (The shorter the waves the better they can be focused.) "Directed into space, the beam willbounce back if it hits metal. Lyman's device rapidly combs the skies withdirected beams, picks up reflected sig- nals with a co-ordinated parabolic re-ceiver. Returning signals are shown by a spot of light in a cathode ray tube(heart of television receivers). The moving spot charts the course." Such signals do not distinguish de- fending from attacking planes. So A.A. ;.men must be sure the dark sky is clear of - their own planes before opening up. *"•;Presumably the device is also adaptable • for use by defending planes, which canfeel out the murk with radio beams cot .T ordinated with their machine guns. j "Joseph Lyman's invention was sup*..:.-posed to be a big secret. But details J| were still available to anyone at the U.S. *5Patent Office this week, while Science Seivice discussed it."
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