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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 0997.PDF
MAY 7TH, 1942 FLIGHT 401 Correspondence The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the views expressed by correspondents. The names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication, must m all cases accompany letters. HOME GUARD AIR ARM Air Force Blue Battledress ? I READ with interest the letter by " 1926 A Licence " in your issue of April 16th, and am in favour of his suggestions regarding the proposed Home Guard Air Arm. In my opinion, the idea should be carried a stage farther, so as to include men with experience of ground duties, particu larly those with R.A.F. Service who have been discharged. It may even be possible for such men, in their spare time, to serve as ground staff on R.A.F. Stations and also to supple ment existing personnel engaged on airdrome defence, trans port, etc. **-As to uniform, I would suggest an Air Force Blue battle- dress with distinguishing badge and usual indications of lank. . ALFRED K. HALL. Many Pilots and G.E.s Eager to Help I QUITE agree with your correspondent in Flight who sug gests an Air Section of the Home Guard. I myself am in a reserved occupation on an airfield and I have been disgusted lately at the sight of idle Tiger Moths on the airfield and packed away in hangars, as well as other civil and ex-club air craft. I think it is high time we pre-war "A" licence pilots and ex-civil Air Guard "sweats," who, it seems, will be forced to join the Home Guard very soon, got together on the idea of an- Air Section of the Home Guard. As your correspondent mentions, there are many ground engineers and "A" licence pilots like myself who are now employed in aircraft manufacture and repair who would be only too glad to do their extra "bit" in their spare time in maintaining and flying the light aircraft they know so well. Also, I am sure, we should hav'e no grudge against similar discipline to that of the Home Guard, and I sincerely hope this scheme will be adopted by the proper authorities and action taken is the verv near future. "EX-CLUB PILOT AND G.E." Particular Scope for M.U. Men I WOULD like to make further suggestions on the subject of forming a Home Guard Air Arm. I am a member of the Home Guard and I am employed as a fitter on a maintenance unit of the R.A.F. There are a number of civilian M.U.s in different parts of the country and most of them have their own H.G. units. We could be trained as airborne units so that we could be rushed by air to places where we may be needed niosl if this country were invaded. ^ZAs for the types of aircraft to be used, we could use the planes that are waiting for issue on the station, and as each M.U. has its own test pilots they could fly the planes and return to the station with them after dropping the H.G. per sonnel at the desired place. As for maintenance of aircraft that have been idle since the l'eginning of the war, they could be turned over to H.G. units employed on M.U.s and could be kept in flying condition by Hie H.G.s-in their spare time. As most of us employed on M.U.s are used to flying, the training would not be difficult. "AN AIR-MfNDED H.G." VAPOUR TRAILS Faded Like " Wake " of Boat AS a reader of your paper for some years I was very struck by a phenomenon observed recently which I do not re member reading about in any newspaper or other publication, though many have been the articles on vapour trails. The>skv was cloudless, rather glaring, slight horizon haze, v."indfV-ast, barometer 30m. approximately, calm and warm for the time of year. At 13.40 hours, attracted by the hum of an aircraft going north-south, I looked up and observed directly overhead a vapour trail resembling the wake of a fast boat in a dead calm deep blue sea. The trail, unlike all others I have seen by da ' or by night or pictorially, did not lengthen as the aircraft moved across the sky, nor did it broaden and change shape in the wind; it just behaved exactly as the stern wash of any boat, fading out gradually and keeping an even length from the tail of the aircraft to the end of the frail, just as though it was a streamer or drogue being towed. Through binoculars, the aircraft was still invisible, but the vapour trail then showed as four close together, with the two. centre ones fading out before the outer ones. At a very rough guess I should say the trail was some 400 yards long. As the aircraft was invisible it is impossible to say with any degree of accuracy the type or size, but from the sound it was probably a twin-engine type, with a Merlin murmur rather than a radial roar. In this case the vapour trails may have started from the tips of the main wings arid the tailplane, otherwise it would seem as though the machine must have been a four- engined type, with a trail left behind from the slipstream from each airscrew. I should be very interested to receive any explanations you or any of your readers can give, and to hear whether this is a common sight to others under a busier sky than myself. R. N. DIXON. ARMY SQUARE PEGS Duly Enlisted, but Still a " Civvy " I CAN understand very well the feelings of your correspondents who have been disappointed over the cancellations of their transfers from the Army to the R.A.F. 1 am still in civil life, but I think my case is similar to theirs in some respects. Early in June, 1941, I was provisionally accepted as a Flight Mechanic, and in September I was duly enlisted in that capa city and placed on deferred service. On enlistment I was told that I would probably be recalled in three to six weeks, but twenty-nine weeks have now passed and I am still waiting. I have made various enquiries, and the authorities have now suggested that if I am not satisfied with the present position perhaps I would prefer to join one of the other Services. It seems extraordinary that such a state of affairs is allowed to exist at a time when we are supposed to be fighting for our very existence, and it would be interesting.to know the opinions of others who are awaiting recall. " 151C246." AIR POLICY Fighters More Vital Than Bombers M AY I again take up some of your valuable space in criticis ing our bombing policy? Since I wrote my last letter we have suffered some more defeats, mostly because of our lack of air support for our troops and ships. For instance, on March 31st, in Burma, we were unable to send out reconnaissance 'planes because we had no fighter pro tection to give them; this also applies to the two cruisers Dorsetshire and Cornwall, which have been sunk recently. These ships must have been within striking distance of long- range fighters, as our T.S.R. aircraft went out to attack the enemy ships. In the week March 22nd to 28th we lost forty-three bombers; this means about 250 trained personnel were also lost. With these bombers we lost approximately 122 aero engines, taking one-third as four-engined bombers and the other two-thirds as twin-engined. If instead we had used these motors for fighters, 112 single-motor fighters could have been built. There is no doubt that the bombers do great damage to German indus tries, but against this is the high loss of bombers, which cost from ^20,000 to ^50,000 each and take many more man-hours to build than fighters or light attack aircraft. I should think if the twelve-gun "Hurricane" were fitted with a radial motor of r,6oo h.p. the speed could be kept in the neighbourhood of 400 m.p.h. If we built nothing else but fighters for the next two years, then, after we had cleared the air of enemy fighter opposition, we could again start building bombers which would have such unlimited fighter support that there would be no opposition from the enemy's air defences. Every day I read in the papers and in aviation journals of our lack of fighter support for troops and ships, and, as far as I can see, there seems to be verv little done about it. R. J. BROOKES.
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