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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 2718.PDF
7i8 FLIGHT DECEMBER 31ST, ig4* THIRD AND FASTEST OF THE TRIO The Avro Lancaster is in the same class as the Stirling and Halifax, and, like the latter, has four Merlin engines. SOME HIGH SPOTS OF 1942 Stirling and Halifax, but its speed and range, together with its huge bomb load, are other characteristics which make this latest addition so effective. In November Flight referred to an improved Vickers- Supermarine Spitfire now in operational use, equipped with the Rolls-Royce Merlin 61 engine instead of the Merlin 45 or 46, the two airframes being almost identical, but the nose of the improved version being slightly longer to take the bigger engine. Another difference is to be seen in the wings, both of which in the improved type have underslung radiators, the port side radiator being associated with the engine intercooler for the two-stage supercharged Merlin 61. A four-bladed airscrew provides the greater blade area neces sary to absorb the power output at the greater altitude. The recent considerable astonishment caused in aero nautical circles (more especially in Germany) when three of the new German Junkers 86P high-altitude aircraft were brought down by British pilots over the Egyptian area is _*5» due, it is logical to assume, to our men flying in the new""^8 improved Spitfire with the Merlin 61 engine. Deck-landing Fighters The Seafire, the latest naval fighter, is a conversion of the Spitfire, and in August the Germans reported Spitfires being used to protect our convoys to Russia. It is probable that these deck-landing Spitfires were of this type. Quite recently mention has been made of the Bristol Bisley, a close-support Army Co-operation machine equipped with two Bristol Mercury engines, and as such is the latest development of the Bristol Blenheim. The Typhoon fighter with Napier Sabre engine of about 2,000 h.p. still remains on the secret list. The York trans port type was mentioned in Parliament as being in exist- . ence, and from what has been written it is obvious how our latest aircraft have been developed from those sound and efficient designs laid down some years previously, when obviously the Air Ministry and the air craft industry planned with meticultfus care and foresight provisions for the future requirements in the Service, without having completely to redesign and reorganise production to keep ahead of the enemy in design and per formance. * • Very few data have been published during the year in connection with British aircraft engine development. A full description of the Merlin XX appeared in Flight dated February BRITISH AND GERMAN "HIGH SPOTS" OF 1942 : Above, the Merlin 61, with two- stage two-speed supercharger. On the right the BMW 801 14-cylinder twin-row radial. The rated power of the German engine is obtained at 16,000ft. The Merlin takes a Spitfire above 40,000ft. •
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