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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 1560.PDF
104 FLIGHT JULY 23RD, 1942 Correspondence The Editor does not hold himselj responsible /or the views expressed by correspondents. The names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication, must in ail cases accompany letters. FROM A.T.C. TO R.A.F. Ways of Encouraging Cadets I KNOW from personal experience how instruction in the A.T.C. is preparing us for flying duties in the R.A.F. It does not, however, shorten our period of training when we are called up foi service, and I think something should be done, therefore, to shorten our period of deferment, and to give us preference over other defeired personnel who are not actively engaged in preparing themselves for service during their period of deferment.. A proclamation lhat entry for flying duties in the R.A.F. must be through the A.T.C.—in this country at any rate— would not only make the cadets feel that they were getting somewhere, but would also mean appreciable swelling of the ranks and would ensure every applicant for aircrew being of a sufficient standard of training. Many of the cadets in my flight are forfeiting part of their overtime wages to attend classes. DEFERRED FLIGHT-SERGEANT, A.T.C. MOBILITY Bomb versus Pay Load NOBODY will quarrel with the theme of Dr. Gruberg's article in your issue of July gth, especially with his statement that "what is needed is a much wider employment of air transport methods" in the Allied war effort. But when he says it will be unfair to suggest that this essential method of transportation has been entirely neglected by this country, and quotes Ensign, Whitley and Bombay aircraft in support of his statement, some comment is needed. Of the Ensigns, which, incidentally, are not in service with the R.A.F., but are operated by the British Overseas Airways Corporation, there are in existence only nine, and only about half of these are in service, the remainder either awaiting new engines or in process of re-engining. Dr. Gruberg describes the Whitley as having "a military load" of about 6,000 lb. Here, just as in the case of the Ensign, he seems to fall into the all-too-common error of con fusing military and transport requirements and possibilities. If it is a question of transport of war stores from the United Kingdom to the Middle East, one of the theatres of war Dr. Gruberg mentions, there is good reason to suppose that he would find that the actual payload of a Whitley would not be 6,000 lb., but under 1,000 lb. It is so much a question ol range. Look at the journey from the United Kingdom to West Africa, which is the first stage of the journey to the Middle East. The first British territory on which the aircraft can make a landing after leaving the U.K. is Gibraltar, and the distance to be flown on this journey is .something like 1,300 miles. After Gibraltar the next stage may be another hop of at letet equal length. This is an altogether different business from taking a load of bombs a few hundred miles and coming back light. And, quite apart from the many other considerations involved, the Whitley has an extremely constricted fuselage, which, like all bomber fuselages, to a greater or less extent, is ill-adapted for the carriage of goods, and, above all, of passengers, who are far bulkier than bombs. The modification of this aircraft for transport is a difficult and unsatisfactory business. 1 have no data of the Bombay, but the same considerations apply generally to the modification of any bomber for transport purposes. Its military load of bombs has no relation whatever to its possible carrying capacity as a cargo aircraft, particu larly for long distances. Again, the utilisation in tropical Africa of aircraft designed for use in Northern Europe is, in some cases, quite impossible, and in all cases liable to encounter great difficulties both as regards operation and maintenance. In short, the position is that there are hardly any long-range heavy transport aircraft available in this country, nor are any under construction anvwhere in the Empire. One other point is noticeable in perusing Dr. Gruberg's article , in his account of American transports he omits two of the three largest and most important—the Curtiss-Wright % 46 and the Lockheed Constellation. The former is well in pro duction, the latter may well be. The third—the only one he mentions—is the D.C.54. '.'PAPERWEIGHT." WE APOLOGISE For Our Ornithological Error I WAS suitably astounded on reading a "recent" issue of Flight—February 12th—to find that my aircraft insignia had achieved fame by publication in your worthy paper, but I must confess that my elation was rather subdued by the description of the bird given in your caption. Your mistake is readily pardonable, for, so far as I kn*'w, this is the first occasion upon which the bird has been ^pro duced for the public gaze. Far from being a pelican of traditional greed anir endless pedigree, however, this model has been developed/within the past few years, and his first appearance was onrfa Spitfire in 1940- ?"\ jr.'. i Born of /my bromier's imagination, ^he bipn is a hybrid of little beauty and considerable personality, and, for reasons connected solely wi^h the family name, palled the " Douth " bird—proAotmced mtfch the same as "aflws" would be (were its initial letter "d") by one who lisped. The umbrella I found particularly in keeping with the Cypriot family, for while in that island we were compelled to purchase such articles to ward off the sun's ray's during our hours of tockpit sitting, with a temperature of 125 deg. (I might add that the umbrellas we "bought, unlike that of the Douth bird, were made in Germany). Now the poor creature is going to receive a rude shock, for his next aircraft will be a Tiger Moth, and I feel that his call of "Tally Ho, Tally Ho" will incline towards "Silly Fool, Silly Fool," (or R.A.F. words to that effect) as ham-fisted pupils scare him out of his feathers. Rhodesia. B. DOUTHWAITE, F/O.
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