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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 2515.PDF
DECEMBER 3RD, 1942 FLIGHT 6o9 Correspondence The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the views expressed by correspondents. The names and addresses of the vriteit, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters. DE HAVILLAND CO. DENY TROUBLE Statement in the Lords TN the House of Lords on November 17th, Lord Simpill is -*- reported to have mentioned the De Havilland Aircraft Com pany as suffering .from troubles between the financial and the technical sides. It is inevitable that a report like this has caused some con cern in my company, and must give rise to anxiety outside among those interested in our many and great responsibilities. Therefore I shall be grateful if you will allow me to refute the statement as having no vestige of truth in it whatever. A high degree of harmony and enthusiasm pervades our whole organisation. For the De liavilland Aircraft Co., Ltd. F. T. HEARLE, Managing Director. • »•*. COMPOSITE NON-SUCH The Anson Undercarriage I N the copy of Flight, November 5th, you published Com posite Non-such No. 2, in which you state the port under carriage to be that of the " Anson." Although I have never seen an "Anson" on the ground, I have always believed that the undercarriage of the '' Anson '' retracts forward, whereas that in the picture retracts back ward ; in fact, the port undercarriage looks more like that of the "Oxford" than any other machine. Have you made a misprint, or has my recognition suddenly gone haywire? J. KLETZ. [Our drawing was correct, showing the long radius arm behind the main legs of the undercarriage.—ED.] THE TORPEDO BOMBER A Not Too Optimistic Specification I N answer to correspondents' letters which appeared in Flight of October 29th, I would like to make the following com ments. "Aero" suggests that a boosted-up version of the Beaufighter could be used as a torpedo bomber, but Mr. J. W. Wood says that defensive armament is essential. The arma ment of the Beaufighter is purely offensive, as all its cannon and machine-guns are fixed and fire forward. This would be useless against enemy aircraft, which would usually attack from behind and on each side, and if it turned and fought them, its manoeuvrability would be hampered by the weight of the torpedo and extra fuel. Also it would fail in its primary object as a fast torpedo bomber. Some of your correspondents think I am over-optimistic, but if they would refer to the American B-26B (the Marauder), which is now used as a fast torpedo bomber, they will find how little I have exaggerated. In many respects it nearly agrees with my specification. Here are some of its dimen sions and performance figures: Span, 65ft.; length, 58ft.; height, 20ft.; wing area, 525-600 sq. ft.; total of 3,700 horse power (now 4,000 h.p.) ; maximum speed of 346 m.p.h.; 'weight loaded, 26,625 lb. (including the armament) ; and a tricycle undercarriage. Two torpedoes could be carried side by side in the wide fuselage. I knew my specification could not be perfect, with its narrow limits of performance figures described. The matters of control and wing form would have" to be further investi gated. As the arrowplane does not seem to meet with approval, my specification could be modified into the conven tional type of plane, like the Marauder. R. HUDSON. BOMBER ESCORT Support for E. J. Griffiths' Suggestion T HE letter on the potentialities of the Lancaster as an escort fighter, published in the November 19th issue of Flight, is, in my opinion, the most interesting to appear in your Corre spondence pages for some time. While my knowledge of aviation and air warfare is largely of an academic nature, I would like to make a few observations on the possibilities opened up by this rather novel conception of the heavily powered and heavily armed and armoured escort fighter—literally a "Flying Fortress." If, as Mr. Griffiths suggests, the fighter were merely a modi fied version of the bomber it was escorting, then the pilot of an attacking enemy machine would have difficulty in assessing the defensive power of the raiding force, and also the defensive power of the particular aircraft be was about to attack. Such a state of affairs is likely to cause him some anxiety, and he is less likely to press home his attack with any degree of deter mination if there is the chance of being opposed by 37 mm. cannon instead of 0.303 Brownings. Further to confuse the enemy, the relative number of fighters and bombers might be allowed to vary considerably, just as is the case with fighters and fighter-bombers when they go into action together. For shooting up specific objectives, e.g., bar racks, airfields, merchant shipping or enemy supply columns, the four-engined fighter with large-bore c annon would prove a very lethal weapon indeed, since its heavy armament could be employed at will either for defensive or offensive action—an essential qualification for any machine operating in the swiftly changing conditions of modern warfare. STUART W. GREENWOOD. SEVERSKY SPEAKS OUT Support for British Aircraft AFTER reading Mr. Hewes' reply (Flight, November 12th) to my letter in Flight of October 29th, I feel compelled to take up a little of your valuable Correspondence space in order to defend myself. First, I say that the British people have not, so far as I know, displayed any lack of willingness to face facts, however un pleasant. I maintain that few peoples could have taken the bad news which we have (up to now) in these last few years and not gone under. To answer No. 2, I say: What has a direct-injection engine got over a normal unit, other than performance at height ? If Mr. Hewes will be good enough to turn up his back numbers of Flight he will see a highly technical and interesting article on the comparisons between a German D.I. unit and a Rolls- Royce "Merlin" with normal carburation. As the technical data published in Flight are, in my opinion, without equal, I prefer to believe that one is as good as the other, and that, apparently, is the conclusion arrived at. To the almost comic allusion to the dive-bomber, I am surprised to see an obviously intelligent person taking an interest in such a plane after its many failures against well- organised fighter forces. We seem to have done pretty well without them up to now. We can get American machines if they are wanted, so there is no need for us to waste time and money in the development of them. Before I pass from the question I should like to remark that the Russians do not appear to need them very much, and the Germans have almost given them up in Africa and Europe. To the last of the answers to my letter I say this: Does a plane have to be in operational service before it is admitted to be the world's fastest ? Surely not. War paint does not make all that difference. In addition to this, the figure given in Flight of November 12th as the speed of the Spitfire MK V is "over 400 m.p.h." According to the latest data available on the Fw 190, the top speed is 390 m.p.h., and that with the override-boost on the throttle engaged, and as I prefer to believe Flight's figures I cannot quite see where the "world's fastest" comes in. Lastly, in regard to the Hurricanes and Spitfires not being good enough for our pilots, I think it is obvious that the present marks—that is, the IIB, IIC, VB, and VC are as great an improvement on the originals as to be new aircraft; I do not think our pilots grumble, anyhow! Finally, by way of argument, I should like to point out to Mr. Hewes that the enemy is rather far behind in the really important equipment of his air force. I need only mention four examples: The lack of a heavy bomber comparable with the Lancaster, Stirling or Halifax; the lack of a power- operated gun turret (multi-gun) ; the lack of a really fast day bomber like*the D.H. Mosquito; and the lack of a powerful in-line motor of over 2,000 h.p. like the Napier Sabre. G. S. HENDERSON.
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