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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 2313.PDF
OCTOBER 2NP, FLIGHT 221 WHY HURRY? 'The figure that I have taken as the basis of operational cost is derived from "The Economics of Air Transport," by Noel-Brown, plus an increase for post-war conditions. Trie fares compare not unfavourably with those charged by the Coastal Express Motor Coach Service from Margate to Bournemouth, and are, on the whole, cheaper than the third-class railway fares over either route. Traffic During the summer season, from Whitsun to mid-Sep- tember, tens of thousands of holiday-makers would spend from a few shillings to a few pounds on the pleasures of travel inside the area under review. Motor coach mystery tours were run from all'the principal towns; excursions to every well-known beauty spot south of the Thames were a daily feature of both rail and road companies ; numerous pleasure steamers made voyages along that stretch of coast, round the IsJe of Wight, and across to the Continent. All were well patronised. All made a profit. There must have been hundreds of motor coaches alone, carrying thousands of people, seven days a week, to and fro, up and down, across and across, Kent, Surrey,. Sussex and Hampshire. These people were NOT in a tearing hurry, but were out to admire the views, enjoy the air, and see new places. Also, they were quite prepared to pay for it. Conclusions I contend that there will be, after the war, a vast reser- voir of people ready to be catered for by all forms of trans- port companies. Over the twin air routes mentioned in this article (both internal ones), I fail to see why two dozen air- craft could not operate daily in the season, maintaining an hourly service from 8 am. until dusk. A service every two hours would probably pay quite well in the spring and autumn. The airports mentioned, with not more than two excep- tions, always provided good food at moderate charges. Some, such as Shoreham, were outstanding from this point of view. Others, like Brooklands, offered an objective that was unique. Let the people fly—cheaply and slowly. Once started it will become a habit, and the habit will spread until it becomes a custom. But if nothing better than 250 m.p.h. blind dashes to devastated corners of Europe can be had, and then only for ^20 or ^30 a time, I cannot see any future for commercial aviation at all. It will degenerate into the highly subsidised prerogative of ambassadors. "THE EYE IN THE SKY" An Unorthodox German Reconnaissance MonoplaneT HESE photographs show an enemy machine with which people in this country are not yet familiar. It is the German Focke-Wulf FW 189, a reconnais- sance type, referred to by them as "das fliegende Auge " (the flying eye), which we might translate better as " the eye in the sky." Designed for reconnaissance or ground . attack, the FW 189 has wonderful views forward, upward and downward. The sideways view is somewhat spoilt by the engines, these having been reported as two Mercedes-Benz DB 601 or Junkers Jumo 211 twelve-cylinder inverted vee types. But in these photographs they look rather smaller and are air-cooled, and the fact that the airscrew is only two-bladed lends support to the assumption that the .engines are of small power. These particular ones may be Argus As 410 twelve-cylinder air-cooled of 450 h.p. take-off rating. If so, the resulting low speed would' seem to indicate that the machine is entirely for reconnaissance. The pur- ; pose of the vanes on the airscrew spinner has not yet been ascertained definitely, but they may be concerned with pitch-changing. The normal crew is three, there being two rear gun positions. For ground attack the FW 189 is probably fitted with two fixed guns in the wing firing forward alongside the crew nacelle. The undercarriage is of unusual design, the main members being of H-section instead of the orthodox tubing. They are probably aluminium alloy castings, though it is just pos- sible they are magnesium alloy, but this is not likely. /Top) This rent view of the FW 189makf.% it very evident why it is des- cribed as a " Doppelrumpfflugzeug."(Le.'i) " fhe eye in the sky " provides the pilot with excellent view for hisreconnaissance duties. Undercarriage design is unorthodox, having H-sectionmembers instead of tubes. The FW 189 is a design of Diploma- Ingenieur Kurt Tank, the technical head of the Focke-Wulf aircraft works. It should not be confused with the FW 198, which is a single-seater fighter monoplane also with twin tail booms. This machine has a single engine with pusher airscrew located behind the pilot. On page 223 another view of the FW 189 is shown. This clearly shows the two gun positions.
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