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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 1502.PDF
76 FLIGHT JULY I6TH, 1942 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 in all cases accompany letters. "THE RIGHT TO THINK" Wrong Statement Issued to the Press I N your issue of June 25th, under the heading "The Right to Think," you attribute to me a statement which I never made. What 1 said in the film talk to which you refer is recorded on the film. The fault, however, is not yours. On urgent representations from the U.S. Press, a midnight search was conducted for a copy of the statement which I made. Owing to an error on the part of a night duty clerk, an original first draft, with which 1 disagreed and subsequently largely altered, was mis takenly forwarded and issued to the Press without my know ledge. A. T. HARRIS, Air Marshal. AD ASTRA Which is the Right Wright ? M R. REG. JUDSON is in error when he says, in your issue of July 2nd, that the Wright Brothers' first machine at the Science Museum is not the original machine, but is merely a replica built by them. Although, as everyone knows, it was badly damaged by being blown over by a gust when standing on the ground at Kitty Hawk after its flight on December 17th, 1903, 1 can say irom my personal knowledge in America during the past 30 years that, apart from necessary repairs, it is the original machine and is by no means a replica. Both Lord Brabazon and I know this for a fact, and I feel Mr. Judson's statement requires a definite contradiction. GRIFFITH BREWER. ECONOMY IN DESIGN Hawker Hurricane Rudder Post I HAD occasion to go into the question of the manufacture of this rudder at the Hawker works, for a firm, and have often wondered why the rudder post is not made from one length of steel tube instead of two. The rudder post has an extension tube fitted at the bottom end after it has been squared in a rolling machine, and is fitted inside the main tube. It is held in place with tubular distance pieces and rivets, the additional length gained being roughly about 6in. I made enquiries to find out if it could be made in one length, thereby saving time, labour and materials, but was informed that it would affect interchangeability. It dues not appear to me that this is the case. It seems that increased area had been found necessary on the rudder at some time, and the cheapest way to carry this out without alterations to press tools for ribs would be to increase the overall length; but is the two-piece tube still essential in these days of restricted supply? D. P. MUIRHEAD. ALTITUDE RESEARCH Freezing of Hydraulic Fluids I WISH to comment on the statement which was made in the verv interesting article entitled "Altitude Research" appearing in your issue of June 25th, namely, that aircraft hydraulic fluid freezes at —40 deg. F. ( — 40 deg. C.). Lest this statement should discourage any designers con cerned with the development of aircraft hydraulic svstems which may have to operate at the very low temperatures ex perienced at high altitude, I would like to point out that whereas fluids of the castor oil/alcohol type usually start to crystallise between —35 deg. and —40 deg. C. (—31 deg. and — 40 deg. F.), the mineral base fluids which are now more commonly used have appreciably lower freezing points. In fact, Ii. is now possible to produce a mineral base hydraulic fluid which will still flow at temperatures lower than would ever be experienced in flight. Incidentally, it would be interesting to have any information from readers, where they are permitted to divulge it, con cerning particularly low temperatures which have been authentically recorded at high altitude. By the way, I notice that Fahrenheit degrees are used in the article in question. I feel sure that much confusion would be avoided if the use of the Centigrade scale only were stipulated in all aeronautical and other scientific discussions of this kind. "AERO." ODDITIES A.T.A. Pilot Supports "W. G. H." J OHN DARLINGTON'S letter regarding the improbability of well-known test pilots landing at R.A.F. airfields in light civil aircraft without arousing suspicion, and your cor respondent " W. G. H.'s" reply quoting as an instance Mr. H. J. Penrose, chief test pilot of Westlands, taxi-ing past "Spits" in the Widgeon G-AAGH, interested me. Before joining A.T.A. I was with Westland Aircraft, and occasionally had the privilege of flying the Widgeon to air fields to enable Mr. Penrose to return quickly to the factory, and I have never encountered any incredulous officers whilst doing this and, I am sure, neither has Mr. Penrose. Incidentally, for its age I think the Widgeon is an excellent machine, for it is now, I believe, 12 or 13 years old, and I should not imagine that there are many aircraft operating now which are much older, with one exception—the A'-sgi, 504K, which I saw some time ago. Will anyone correct me? L. T. WAR CRITICS Expert Comment to Improve Discussion THE Man-in-the-Street cannot be a war expert, yet he connot to-day remain uninterested in war. So the Man- in-the-Street (or the train, the club or the pub) discusses war both in general and in particular. Here are some of the basic ideas which I have heard dis cussed and have written down in some sort of order. I sug gest that one of your war experts could comment on each of them. Even a mere "true" or "false" against some of them might give a sounder basis for discussions. 1. The purpose of war is to impose one's will upon the enemy, and to achieve this purpose it is necessary to destroy his armed forces. 2. Strategy is the art of disposing one's forces over the face of the earth for this purpose, and tactics is the art of employing those forces effectively when those of the enemy are encountered. 3. Success in strategy and tactics consists in bringing superior forces to bear at the vital points at the right times and so employing them as to destroy those of the enemy. 4. The armed forces of the enemy, which must be destroved, , are based on and must live by the land. Ships (includm'g'w'* aircraft carriers) must have ports and aircraft must have airdromes. Neither can iemain at sea or in the air indefi nitely. The present positions of the enemy's main armed forces are well known. 5. The strategical movement of large, heavily armed and heavily armoured forces can at present only be by land or by sea, and their ultimate objective is'always on the land. 6. Successful operations by land need command of the land, of the air above it (aircraft, A.A. fire, searchlights, etc.), and of the earth beneath it (saps and mines). Successful opera tions by sea need command of the sea, of the air above it (aircraft, A.A. fire, searchlights, etc.), and of the water beneath it (submarines, mines, torpedoes and depth charges). 7. For land operations and for sea operations, the success of the operation will depend upon unity of purpose, unity of planning and unity of execution. This needs unity of com mand, as distinct from co-operation, which is a euphemistic phrase meaning dual (or triple) control. I feel that if, the ordinary man could be given expert com ments on such fundamentals, or perhaps a revised set of better basic principles, he would be more fitted to appreciate the relative dispositions of our own and of the enemy's forces, and particularly of the air weapon, when he discusses such events as Flanders, Norway, Greece, Crete, Singapore, the English ^ Channel, the Indian Ocean, Cologne and Tobruk. C. A. S. DAMANT.
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