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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 0874.PDF
4o2 F LI THE HALIFAX up to the sheet-metal partition which separates the fuse lage from the tail wheel compartment and tail gun turret. ' The latter is a real sting in the tail, mounting four .303 Brownings, which must compensate "tail-end Charlie" quite a lot for his somewhat lonesome post and separation from the rest of the crew. The bomb bay is, of course, located under the fuselage floor. Having seen the general layout, which in the main shows the gangway and clear space on the starboard side, the equipment on the port, it may be of interest to go back and examine in more detail some of the equipment and its location. Lightening the Pilot's Task By carrying a crew of seven it has been possible to relieve the pilot of some of the indicators; in fact, the flight engineer and second pilot attend to all except those which are essential to the actual piloting of the aircraft. , The first pilot sits on the port side, with a control wheel of the " spectacle " type in front of him. Inside the spec tacles are a second, smaller pair. These work the wheel brakes. At a higher level, and running right across to the starboard side of the fuselage, above the entrance to the navigator/bomb-aimer's compartment, is the main instrument panel. Set into it, close to the port side of the compartment, is a smaller panel spring-mounted. This carries the following dials: airspeed indicator; artificial horizon ; rate of climb indicator ; altimeter ; direction indi cator ; and turn indicator. Carried on a separate small panel close to the wall of the fuselage are a C.S. bomb- sight steering indicator and, below it, a blind-landing indicator. Below the main vertical panel is a small sloping panel The prone bomber's station in the nose. Above it on the !eft is the navigator's table. The circular window at the top is just behind the nose gun turret. The crew's rest station has upholstered settees along the sides. The large tubes on the right are the hot-air leads. Branches run to different parts of the fuselage. strip carrying oxygen flow meter; auto-control pressure indicator; air temperature gauge ; repeater compass (the master gyro compass is mounted in the rear fuselage com partment); wing flap indicator; four boost gauges and four double main engine switches ; the undercarriage indicators and the bomb firing switch. These dials are all under the eyes of the first pilot—and quite enough, one would say —but only a fraction of what he would have to survey if a flight engineer were not carried. The starboard half, or so, of the main vertical panel carries dials which can be observed by the second pilot when he is seated in his sliding seat near the starboard wall of the compartment. The instruments mounted"Vpr^ are: four engine rev indicators; vacuum pump cr&.J^ over cock ; bomb door warning lights; the bomb jettison handle; an altimeter; oxygen supply indicator; wheel brake pressure gauge; and fuel jettison valve. Engine Controls Reverting to the equipment for the first pilot, there is a control pedestal approximately in the centre of the com partment which carries at the top the four throttle levers side by side. Below these are, also side by side, the four levers which control the four Rotol airscrews, and below them are the cut-out lever of the automatic boost control, the mixture lever, and the control lever which selects the blower speed. In the "down " position this lever provides medium boost, and in the "up" position full supercharge. Mention has been made above of the electric repeater compass. In addition, there is a normal magnetic compass, mounted under the instrument board and in front of the joy stick. Even this list does not exhaust the equipment in the first pilot's compartment. On the port wall are the swit&hes for "cutting-in" and "cutting-out" the automatic pilot, and the radio tuning controls. Next to the first pilot's seat, on his right, are the levers for operating the hydraulic services such as bomb doors, flaps and undercarriage. Placed in that particular position, they are within reach of, and can, if necessary, be worked by, the second pilot. On the "ground floor," below the pilots, is the radio-
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