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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 0412.PDF
-xOo FLIGHT FEBRUARY IQTH, 1942 BEHIND THE LINES n Service and Industrial News from the Inside of Axis and Enemy-occupied Countries From Finland and Rumania IN Flight of January 15th brief dc tails were jjiven of the equipment of Hungarian and Slovakian squad rons operating with the Luftwaffe on the Russian front. Apparently the Nazis consider Ger man equipment too precious to be entrusted into the hands of their non Teutonic allies. The small Air Forces which Finland and Rumania have thrown into the battle against Russia employ equipment purchased before the war or procured afterwards from "special" sources. Finland's fighter squadrons use the Fokker D-21, a single-seater low-wing cantilever monoplane. The fuselage of this type is of welded chrome-molyb denum ateel tubes. From the nose back to the trailing edge of the wing the forward part of the fuselage as well as its upper sur face is covered with quickly detach able dural and aluminium sheets. The remainder is fabric covered. Wings are in the usual Fokker manner, built with two box spars and plywood ribs and with a bakelite plywood covering. It is powered with various types of air- or liquid-cooled engines of 600 to 1,000 h.p. The armament of the fighter comprises either four machine guns (two in the fuselage and two hi the wings) or two machine guns and two cannons, according to the type of engine installed. Polish tos THE Rumanian squadrons employ a •*• Polish bomber, the P.Z.L. 37 '' tos.'' This is an all-metal mono plane powered with two Bristol Pegasus XX or Gnome-Rhone engines of 900 to 1,050 h.p. and is armed with three mobile machine guns and carries a bomb load of approximately 5,000 lb. The range with a bomb load of 3,500 lb. is 1,100 miles. The sources from which Goering's ."•• .'.'.•• ". • • : '..•"..'•" '.".".: POLAND'S LAST : The "Los" bomber in service with the Axis. It is one of the few aircraft delivered by the Polish Air Force to their one-time Rumanian allies. Rumanian accomplices have procured this bomber appear to be different. After the collapse of Polish resistance most of the remaining aircraft were flown to Rumania, which was then an ally of Poland. If the "i,os" is among these machines, which have since been appropriated by the Ru manians, their number must be insig nificant, for the Polish Air Force never had more than 40 or 50 machines of this type in service. It is, however, possible that the Polish factory, which was not destroyed, has been again put on production of this type. That would be the obvious thing to do to avoid delay. A New Mauser ]\TESSERSCHM-ITT fighters are -'-'-^ known to have been gradually re- equipped with a type of cannon con structed by the well-known makers of Mauser automatics. The new cannon is of 20 mm. calibre and is said to have a fire power of 900 rounds per minute. ANOTHER SWASTIKA A Fokker D-21 fighter flown by Finnish squadrons on the Russian front. From the Russian Front 'THE Russian Press reports the -*- following German types of aircraft encountered recently by the Soviet Air Force: — A Dormer twin-engine fighter, the Do-29, with a speed of approximately 330 m.p.h. The Me-115 single-seater fighter, a slightly smaller version of the Me-109, powered with the Mercedes-Benz of 1,600 h.p. Approximate speed 397 m.p.h. The Me-209, powered with a D.B. 603 12-cylinder engine of 1,470 h.p., whose maximum speed at 19,000 ft. is said to be 390 m.p.h. The arma ment comprises four guns (15 mm.) in wings and two synchronised machine guns. A Heinkel He-177 4-engine bomber, with a tandem arrangement of eng^ according to a Heinkel patent ob tained some time ago. The estimated maximum speed is slightly over 270 m.p.h. with a bomb load of 6,600 lbs., and a range of about 1,600 miles. Italian Training A NEW decree empowers the Air ** Ministry to conduct training courses for young men between the ages of 18 and 26. The students enlisted in these courses will be selected from officer cadets of the Army reserve, and will undergo instruction for a period of 18 months. Selected candidates have to undertake to remain with this service after qualifying for the flying licence and to participate in exercises totalling at least six months. The Italian equi valent to matriculation, physical fit ness and political integrity are the necessary qualifications for accept ance.
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