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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 1864.PDF
266 FLIGHT SEPTEMBER 3RD, 1943 Correspondence The Editor does not hold himself responsible Jor the views expressed by correspondents. The names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters. INTERNATIONAL AIR CONTROL Carriers versus Floating Islands T HE articles "Torpedo Aircraft" and "International Air Control" in Flight of July 30th seem to me to be closely linked by two widespread misconceptions. First, as the air craft becomes less and less of a lone wolf freak in war, so its r61e must devolve to that of a really practical, very long range or high altitude gun. Secondly, accepting the principle that the authority controlling such aircraft should be chosen accord ing to the operational base, all the disadvantages of carrier- borne aircraft would disappear with the use of the floating islands advocated from many quarters for many years. Further consequences of such adjustments would, of course, be the end of the capital ship controversy, and the splitting- up of the short-lived Third Service, which has done so much to energise our war machine by its unfettered youth. The Inter national Police argument, in favour of a separate air force, seems to me about as practical as a police station bristling with howitzers to keep order in a city, without the use of patrolling constables. I recognise, however, that this view is dependant on the classification of aircraft as very practical guns, and therefore I have made only two points. "GROUNDED FAIRY." FLEET FIGHTER PERFORMANCE Speed versus Manoeuvrability IT is more than a little puzzling to read the following para graph, taken from the booklet Ark Royal, which was pub lished by the Admiralty recently: " The Italian torpedo aircraft would attack most gallantly, particularly in the beginning of the operations, flying in tight formation and coming in among the ships only a few feet lrom the surface of the sea. Their losses were consequently very heavy; during one attack they lost eighteen out of thirty-six aircraft by action of the Fulmars and by gunfire of the Fleet. Italian fighters. Fiat C.R.42's, accompanied the bombing formations, and although they usually kept beyond range of the warships' guns, their superior speed accounted for several of the Ark's Fulmars. There must be something wrong when a second-rate fighter Jiike the C.R.42 is apparently superior to our best naval fighter, »*even considering that the Italian machine has the advantage of being land-based. Also, according to various reports, the top speed of the Fulmar is, if anything, better than that of the Fiat and there is no question as to which has the better armament. The explanation is more likely to be that the Fiat C.R.42's exceptional manoeuvrability gave it a decisive advantage. It is therefore evident that in fighter aircraft good manoeuvra bility, even at a slight sacrifice in speed, is worth half a dozen or so machine guns. This point accounts for the Italians' love of highly manoeuvrable fighters with, to us, absurdly inadequate arma ment. J. H. CADET UNIFORMS • A.T.C. and U.A.S. Anomaly I WOULD like to make a contribution to the correspondence which has appeared from time to time in your columns about University Air Squadrons and the A.T.C. Under the present circumstances University Air Squadron cadets wear a regular R.A.F. uniform hut with A.T.C. buttons and shoulder badges, • while the A.T.C. cadets have to wear a uniform with a closed neck. This system is fair to neither. On the one hand, Air Squadron cadets, practically all of whom are already attested to the R.A.F. Volunteer Reserve, whose squadrons are run entirely at Air Ministry expense, and whose training exempts them from the R.A.F. Initial Training Wing, are confused with the A.T.C., which is a junior institution, supplying pre- entry training for the R.A.F., paid for partly, it is true, by A.M., but mostly by local youth funds. On the other hand, the A.T.C. cadet sees the University Air Squadron cadet wearing A.T.C. insignia, and yet wearing collar and tie, and he is consequently liable to a feeling of inferiority or resentment at what he considers an unjust distinction. Both parties are in consequence resentful and dissatisfied. What are we going to do about it? It is no good giving the University cadet a plain A.T.C. uniform, as was once suggested in your columns. That would merely make matters worse from his point of view. The only thing to do is to break completely the half-hearted liaison between the two bodies and, if the Air Ministry is adamant in its refusal to grant the use of R.A.F. insignia to cadets who are, after all, already in the Air Force and doing R.A.F. training, some new individual form of buttons and badges for the University Air Squadrons must be developed. It should, for example, be fairly easy to produce brass buttons with the R.A.F. '<*&£-, but without the crown. It does, however, seem foolish fiat such a contingency should arise at all. The University Senior Training Corps, for example, most of whose members are not even attested, allows its cadets to wear full Army uniform with no restriction. It is time that the anomalous position of University Air Squadrons be clarified, for at present nobody is satisfied. U.A.S. GRADUATE. THE PERSISTENCE OF ERROR Peril of Under-estimating Wind Speed IT is disturbing to read that the Duke of Kent when flying to Iceland should meet his death by the aircraft crashing into a mountain only 1,000ft. high. The pilot would, of course, know of the existence of the mountain only 60 miles from his starting point, and the fact of flying low enough to contact at i.oooft. suggests either that he thought he was flying high enough to be well above i.ooaft., or that he was flying on a course which would allow ample margin for error. There have been so many accidents due to insufficient allow ance for the strength and direction of wind taking an aircraft off its course that one wonders that, after a lapse of more than 30 years since Cecil Grace was lost in the North Sea by not allowing sufficient margin for error in his estimate of the strength of the S.W. wind, this fruitful cause of disaster should continue. Pilots with old flying experience have paid time after time for this under-estimate of the wind speed. New machines in the last war were delivered straight into the German lines because of their under-estimate of the effect of the tail vvind^. when flying to France, and machines on the Atlantic Fes?|y have been surprised into the realisation, in some cases too Jaw, of the effect of wind 111 changing the land-fall after the last observation. In commercial flying these errors are eliminated by flying on the beam, but in war, for obvious reasons, this facility is denied to Service machines which in spite of their high speed are still influenced by strong, unexpected winds introducing errors which in poor visibility may have fatal consequences. The solitary survivor in the tail of the machine reminds one of a similar instance of the tail position saving one occupant during the last war when the great H.P. machine went into a spin on its initial flight. Colonel Ogilvie was in the tail and was the only survivor. The late Secretary of the Royal Aero nautical Society, B. G. Cooper, was amongst the remainder who were all killed. GRIFFITH BREWER. FROM OTHER LETTERS IN reply to the letter from A. T. N. Blacker published in Flight of August 20th, urjder the heading of "The Modern Amazon," in which the writer suggested that women should be allowed to train as fighter-pilots, John Darlington, of Sedgley, Worcs., expresses the opinion that aerial fighting is a man's job and questions if a woman could stand up to the physical and mental strains involved. Russian women, he adds, are noted for exceptional toughness engended by their way of Hie, but 90 per cent, of British women would find it beyond their powers.
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