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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 1292.PDF
- 392 JUNE 5TH, 1941 Correspondence The Editor does not hold himselj responsible for the views expressed by correspondents. The names and addresses of he writers, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters. PHILATELIC PHILANTHROPY Old Stamped Envelopes Wanted for Red Cross IN offices, factories, large stores, laboratories, inns, hotels,breweries, distilleries, in the home itself hidden away in desks, drawers, boxes or in lumber rooms are letters of years ago. Many repose in the stamped envelopes in which they were sent, and.which are not essential for continued preserva- tion of the correspondence itself. May I appeal to your readers to make a search for such old envelopes bearing stamps of early issues and to send them as soon as possible as a gift to be auctioned for the Duke of Gloucester's Red Cross and St. John Fund? W. K. SKIPWITH, Secretary, Philatelic Section, \y Red Cross and St. John Fund, 24, Carlton House Terrace, S.W.r. HUMAN TERMINAL VELOCITY Two Statements Made by John TranumT HOSE who have, like Mr. Ralph Barnaby, queried the accuracy of the values submitted for the terminal velocity of the human body (Flight, May 15) may find interest in the statements of the late John Tranum in his book, " Nine Lives." O11 this subject he remarks: '' After he has dropped about 900 feet he reaches his maximum speed of 119.6 m.p.h. and continues at this speed, and no faster, until his delayed drop is over. The maximum speed was first figured out by the U.S. Army Air Corps. . . . That is why 1 say there can be no limit to the delayed drop record." Later, referring to his ambition to break the record of 15,000 feet established by Bud Manning, of the United States, he continues: "Experts told me that the human heart could not possibly stand the rapid change of pressure necessitated by falling at the rate of 144 miles per hour, or nearly 13,000 feet per minute." The previously mentioned discrepancy is again apparent, and I leave it to others to comment where necessary. G. A. CHAMBERLAIN. THE AMERICAN FIGHTER Good, But Not Quite " Hot" Enough—YetT O win this war we must keep "on top" in the air. The Battle of Britain was won by the superior quality of our men and our aeroplanes, directed by brilliant staff work. At that time inferiority of numbers was a worry, but we won through. Since then we have made big strides in the direction of numerical superiority, and, therefore, the policy of quality before quantity has even greater justification than it had last summer. I do not agree with the statement (in Mr. J. I. Wadding- ton's article on "The American Fighter") that the Curtiss Tomahawk has '' reached a final form which is comparable with our own front-line fighters." In a mock fight this latest American fighter to go into service with the R.A.F. was put up against a Hurricane which was fighting in France last summer!* According to published information the armament and top speed are inferior to those of the Hurricane, but in climb (at low levels) it is superior. It has been announced that our later type Spitfires have a top speed of 387 m.p.h.; from which it would seem that the Rolls-Ttoyce Merlin in its latest form must be developing about 1,300 or 1,400 h.p. These aeroplanes (armed sometimes with cannon) and Hurri- canes with the same engine are the contemporaries of the Tomahawk. It is essential that the lessons learned in air warfare are put into practical effect by the aeroplane constructors at once. For instance, 8-gun fighters were considered the right thing by the R.A.F. in (I believe) 1935; by the summer of last year they were proved to be right. This summer American aeroplanes originally designed for two guns are being de- livered with four or six guns; whilst we are thinking in terms of cannons or twelve guns. We and the Americans must get together and see to it that the R.A.F. gets what it really wants. America is supposed to be the country of "hustle" and now is the greatest need_ to demonstrate that quality. ^ft We need all the help we can get from America, but qy must come first, if we are to keep faith with those who broke the Luftwaffe last summer. E. N. B. BENTLEY, A.F.R.Ae.S. DOUGLAS B-19 INSURANCE It Would Be Cheaper in England—Perhaps ! T SUPPOSE it is inevitable that in the stress of war Flight *- has an occasional lapse. Your note on page 348 of your issue of May 15th dealing with flight test insurance, while making my mouth water, is quite, beyond the realms of truth. Actually, the rate quoted would probably cover the whole range of initial trials, which I am glad to note will take place shortly. (The sooner the better at the rates you have published !) A. G. LAMPLUGH, The British Aviation Insurance Company, Limited. [We are interested to hear from no less an insurance authority than Capt. Lamplugh that the rates reported from Los Angeles for the insurance of the giant Douglas B-19 are "quite beyond the realms of truth." ^20,500 for the first minute of flight of a £250,000 aeroplane is a premium of 8 per cent, which, no doubt, is very high. We cannot agree, however, that the in- sertion of the paragraph had anything to do with '' the stress of war'' or was a '' lapse''; the figures were Contained in a report from Los Angeles and seemed to us. reasonable for an American company. Of course, our own insurance companies are practically philanthropists and would have been much more generous—or would they?—ED.] R.A.F. BENEVOLENT FUND Conditional Offer of £1,000 in War BondsI HAVE received a letter from a patriotically minded citizen who is willing to give to the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund ^1,000 (one thousand pounds) in i\ per cent. National War Bonds if 19 others will do the same. He makes two conditions: (a) that one or more of the leading newspapers will assist by publishing a letter from the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund saying that such an offer has been made; (b) that his name shall not be made public. As chairman of the Appeals Committee of the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund I shall be glad if you will insert this letter in your paper, in the hope that this generous offer will be emulated by other public-spirited persons and so enable the Fund to take advantage of the splendid opportunity mentioned above. RIVERDALE, Chairman of Appeals Committee. TWIN ENGINE INSTALLATION Suggestion for Eliminating Side ThrustI N a letter published in Flight on'March 6 Mr. A. B. Galuszka suggested that in the case of twin-engined aircraft the side thrust encountered when one engine slops could be overcome by keeping the nacelles as close to the fuselage as possible, or, better still, by bringing both engines within the fuselage, although this involved the complication of two side airscrew propulsion. This experiment of bringing the engines into the fuselage has already been carried out and the aircraft flown. I refer to the Lockheed aeroplane (the "Altair," I think it was called) which was produced about 1934. On this machine two in-line engines were placed side by side in the ncse of the aircraft and small-diameter airscrews used, so that there was about a G-inch clearance between the tips on the centre line of the aircraft. This installation lent itself to the clean fairing of both engines in the fuselage and must have reduced drag considerably. The above method does away with the complicated two-side airscrews propulsion intricacies, and, if progress warrants it, should be developed to a higher degree for much larger aircraft. This is a very interesting subject, and perhaps will result in further discussion. K. S. BELCHER.
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