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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 2042.PDF
35^ FLIGHT OCTOBER IST, 1942 HERE AND THERE Northern Ireland War Fund SI NCI" its inauguration in October. ., the Northern Ireland Governor's Fund has raised £59,920 for the support of various war organisations; of that sum £37,250 has been given to the British Red Cross and St. John War Organisation in London, and other amount* have been sent to the. Welfare Funds of the Navy, Army, and Air Force. Improved Parachute Harness A FLEXIBLY adjustable, comfortable parachute harness provided with straps that pass to the back of the wearer's thighs and take up most of the shock when the chute opens is the sub ject of a United States patent issued recently to f<. J. Manson and J. J. Maskey, of Dayton, Ohio. Presumably the designers are Air Force employees at Wright Field, as right to the manufacture and use of such chutes without payment of royalty has been granted by them to the Government. "Motor Trade" Squadron's Badge AIR VICE-MARSHAL R. E. SAUL, C.B., D.F.C., Air Officer Command ing a group in Fighter Command recently presented a specially designed badge to the "Motor Trade" fighter squadron, whose aircraft were purchased for the nation with money raised by the Motor Industries Fighter Fund. The' badge bears the inscriptions: " By this means to victory." The symbol, appropriate to the donors, is a road-sign, the circle and diagonal line denoting " No speed limit." Air Vice-Marshal Saul said. that the equipping of the squadron was a gener ous gesture by the motor trade. The Squadron was formed just over a year and already had a fine record of service. Mr. H. G. Starley, hon. secretary and organiser of the Motor Industry Fighter Fund, and other members of his com mittee, were present at the ceremony, which took place at a fighter station. Mr. Starley said that the contributions received, which totalled more than £100,000, had come from everyone and everywhere, some from workpeople, some from big firms. The squadron aircraft paraded for the ceremony included those bearing the names of "Lord Austin," "Lord Nuffield," and "William Rootes." Bombed His Own Home IN a copy of Empire Airways, the monthly magazine published by Qantas Empire Airways, of Sydney, Australia, there is the story of an R.A.A.F. pilot who bombed his own home at Lae, New Guinea. He was Sqn. Ldr. C. R. Gurney, a former Qantas captain and subsequently killed in a raid against the Japs. Before joining Qantas, Gurney had been with Guinea Airways, and his house at Lae was being used as part of the Jap headquarters by the invaders. According to the story, Gurney in sisted on taking part in a raid on Lae, urging that he not only knew the place better than anyone else on the station, but could claim a prior right in smash ing up his own home. He went, and from the aircraft he flew was launched the bomb that blew his own house to smithereens. IN "LITTLE NORWAY" : Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Bowhill, chief of the R.A.F. Ferry Command in Canada, inspects men of the Royal Norwegian Air Training Centre in the Dominion. Sir Frederick, who was accompanied by Lady Bowhill, expressed satisfaction with the training facilities at "Lit^e Norway" and complimented the pilots on their work, Xmas Cards for British Prisoners T HE Postmaster-General announces that the general censorship regula tions concerning the despatch of Christ mas and New Year greetings cards to places abroad will again be relaxed this year. Greetings cards may be posted by members Of the public to British prisoners of war and internees in enemy and enemy-occupied countries (other than Japan or Japanese-occupied terri tories) and in neutral countries. The cards should bear no writing other than the name and address of the sender and addressee. They must not be en closed with letters, but must be sent in separate unsealed covers, which should be addressed in the usual • way for prisoners of war and internees and clearly marked "Greetings card only." No postage is payable unless they are sent by air mail. Cards bearing divi sional or other formation signs or unit names may not be sent-; cards bearing regimental crests are, however, allowed. Special Feature O N page 359 of this issue of Flight will be found a special drawing of the Bristol Hercules III power unit. This is a part-section drawing containing a wealth of detail and shows the complete unit mounted on its bulkhead. All the most important parts are lettered, and an accompanying key makes a detailed study of the unit a simple matter. The Bristol Hercules is Britain's repre sentative type of air-cooled radial engine and is a 14-cylinder, two-row, sleeve-valve design, developing more than 1,600 h.p. for take-off. With low- speed supercharging its climbing power is 1,170 h.p. at 2,500ft., and with the supercharger in high gear 1,090 h.p. at 14,500ft. Its maximum power for level flight with low- and high-gear super charging is 1,425 h.p. at 14,500ft. and 1,270 h.p. at 15,000ft. respectively. The Mustang's Ancestry T HERE is an impression abroad that the Mustang, designed by the North American Aviation staff, has a distinct streak of the Meiog because the designer (it was stated) spent some years in the Messerschmitt drawing office. Such a suggestion appeared in our description of the machine and has. been reiterated by other journals. Although the information came from a good source, we are assured by North American Aviation that, to the best of their knowledge and belief, there are no former Messerschmitt employees among their personnel. Furthermore, they are certain that no Messerschmitt employees were members of the group in their Engineering Department which actually worked on -the original design of the P. 51 Mustang. The Chief Design Engineer responsible for the designing of the Mustang is Mr. Edgar Schmued. Mr. Schmued is a naturalised U.S. citizen, of Bavarian birth who served on the technical staff of the Austrian Air Service in the last war, He Ifit Europe in 1925 and never had any association with the Messerschmitt 1 of these facts will he report which has circulation.
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