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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 1281.PDF
JUNE 5TH, 1941. HICH-ALTITUDE FLIGHT ,^L.iLu..\if^n.'Aa^.tumiu.L1.iuiiinN.;l:UH,,t|||nf/ffC_ \. Courtesy of "Journal of Aeronautical Sciences " they have to be resisted by fuselage surfaces of large area,and the metal skin tends to bulge in between the stringers and frames. This is known as "quilting." Leaks canbe prevented by using a strip of fabric in each riveted joint. Doors are more difficult to make airtight, and itmust not be forgotten that where controls pass through the fuselage side they must be provided with a gland to stopair leakage. The difficulties of using guns in a stratosphere bomberare evident. It might be possible to mount each one going through the side of the fuselage with an airtight ball joint.There is smoke disposal to be thought of and also the air leak outwards when the breach is opened, but these twofactors may be mutually helpful. The only other way is to mount the guns outside and have them remotelycontrolled. Fortunately, ice formation would probably not be a trouble because the stratosphere air is dry, but itwould be necessary to see that the guns could operate at the very low temperature. It may be that high-altitudemilitary craft cannot be of the pressure cabin type, but must be flown by crews each member of which is clad ina pressure suit. Such a design obviates the trouble of a cabin holed by bullets or shells, which might well releaseso much pressure that the crew would become uncon- scious. But there is proof that the purely structural prob-lems can be solved, for the Lockheed XC-35 fuselage has been tested up to a pressure difference of 151b./sq. in.,which makes it more than able to deal with the 6.31b. / sq. in. needed for flight at 40,000ft. On this pressure test in the factory there were manycurious observers, and when pressure was applied some of the small leaks gave out whistling sounds. The lesscurious started to walk slowly towards the door. But as the pressure increased the whistles turned to screeches,and only the very curious were left with those who were conducting the test. The others had bolted. Records Knowledge of the stratosphere is as yet very limited, butMan's insatiable thirst for knowing the unknown has made him search for its secrets. The aviation engineers, usingthe term in its widest sense, have sounded the stratosphere for its use as an aerial highway and as an aerial tiltyard,but the scientists, who do not concern themselves with utility, have other objectives. One of their main concernsis to determine the nature of certain mysterious emanations which have been given the name of " cosmic rays." Wherethey originate is not known, but they are of extremely short wavelength and have quite remarkable penetrating The " soap test." To find leaks in the Stratoliner the seamswere painted with soap solution while the body was blown up. pressure-resisting shape of the Boeing Strato-ier's fuselage is very evident in this photograph. In this layout of a typical turbo-supercharger the exhaustgases drive a turbine which drives-two Centrifugal pumps; one blows the mixture into the cylinders and the other suppliescompressed air to the cabin. powers. The rays emanating from radium, which are ofgreater wavelength than the cosmic type, are made to look exceedingly weak by comparison. Whereas they only needa thickness of a few inches of lead to stop them, the cosmic rays require very many feet. Ascents by balloon offer the best opportunity of studyingsuch phenomena, and the Russian attempts and those of Professor Piccard will be remembered. But the balloonrecord is held by the Americans, Capts. Anderson and Stevens ; they rose to a height of 72,395ft. in Explorer IIat South Dakota in 1935. But though they cannot go to the towering altitudes ofballoons, aeroplanes have also been frequent visitors to the stratosphere. Even the seaplane gets there, and thepresent altitude record for seaplanes stands at 38,559ft. It is held by Lt. Apollo Soucek, of the U.S. Navy, and wasmade in a Wright Apache biplane with a 425 h.p. Pratt and Whitney engine at Washington in 1929. At the behest of those who wish to put the stratosphereto use, the landplane has gone considerably higher and Britain has been in the forefront of these attempts, althoughwe do not at present hold the record. Going back to 1936, Sqn. Ldr. Swain's flight in the Bristol 138 gained him therecord. He reached a height of 49,944ft. Very shortly after this, in 1937, Lt. Col. Mario Pezzi recaptured therecord for Italy by reaching 51,362ft., but Britain regained it in June of the same year, when Fit. Lt. Adam took thesame Bristol 138, slightly improved, to an altitude of 53,937ft. The present record is again held by Mario Pezzi;it was made in October, 1938, in a Caproni biplane with a Piaggio XI-RC engine, and stands at 56,032ft. There is much information available on how to conquerthe problems of high-altitude flight and there is no doubt that every ounce of military value will be extracted fromit for use in this war, particularly by the Germans, who have shown an astonishing capacity in this direction. "Butif bombers go to the stratosphere, so will fighters and so will anti-aircraft fire, for this is merely a question of increas-ing the calibre.
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