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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 1103.PDF
APRIL 29TH, 1943 FLIGHT 445 Behind the Lines Service and Industrial News from the Inside of Axis and Enemy-occupied Countries High-speed Camera GERMAN engineers claim to have builta camera capable of talcing 3,000,000 pictures in 0110 second. To make thispossible a very intense source of light was needed, and an electric spark is usedfor this purpose. The new invention is cf special importance for photographingHying bullets. As the latter cover about 1,000 metres per second, three picturescan be made of each millimetre they travel. Such pictures should reveal in-teresting details about the air waves they set in motion. Wanted : Exaltation ON the occasion of the twentieth anni-versary of the Rcgin the national centre for aviation propaganda openedthree competitions for poets, painters and musicians. For a musical symphonicwork inspired by the Air Force, and for a painting exalting the Air Force, a prize(if 20,000 lire is offered. The same amount will be given to the best poemexalting the work of the Rtgia. It is to be regretted that wartimeregulations prohibit correspondence with Italy, otherwise some of our readerscould have perhaps expressed poetically their views on Italy's air arm. Appointment TN FORMATION in the German Press -L reveals that General der Flieger Fischer is now C.-in-C. of a Luitgau (Air Command District) on the Eastern Front. From Japan WITH the growing need for machinetools, a complete reorganisation of this branch of production is nowreported from Japan. The Mitsubishi concern is planning the establishment ol a central machine-tool factory exclusively devoted to the needs of the army. Considerable ex-penditure is announced for this purpose, and a new company will be formed bythe amalgamation of four other com- panies of the Mitsubishi group. It is significant that the new measuresdo not imply the creation of new pro- duction facilities, but rather a centralisa-tion and better exploitation of the existing resources. Another report from Tokyo says thatJapanese engineers have just made an important discovery in the aluminiumfield. The Showa Company, which at present produces the largest quantity ofaluminium in Japan, is credited with the development of a new method of pro-duction. Hitherto about three tons of coal and 500 kilowatts of electricity wereneeded to work 2| tons of bauxite. The new Showa system is said to introducea saving of 40 per cent, of coal and 50 per cent, of electric power. Discovery A REPORT from Bucharest states thatmolybdenum has been discovered in Rumania. It is said that the results of the analysis have been so successful that measures are immediately to be taken for the exploitation of this new source. Aircraft and U-boat TySCUSSING the influence of the air-L-' weapon on the development of sub- marine warfare, a German commentatorexpresses the view that aircraft recon- naissance cannot produce the expectedresults because of the immense expanse of the oceans, leaving necessarily hugeareas unpatrolled. Nevertheless, it is recognised that '' the aircraft within thelimits of its range is a serious danger to submarines, mainly based on the speed of the aircraft, the possibility to appearsuddenly and the speed of attack— factors all ranged against the divingspeed of the vulnerable submarine." The tying down of substantial numbersof Allied aircraft engaged in anti-sub- marine operations is, according to theGerman writer, another of the paralysing functions of the U-boat which is fre-quently overlooked. In offensive operations the aircraft canrender valuable service to the submarine. " Land-based aircraft," it is said, " havea superiority over ships in the approaches to the coast and in narrow waters, afact which has become one of the main principles of the conduct of present-daynaval warfare." An interesting sidelight on the opera-tional capacity of the Luftwaffe is pro- vided by the author's statement thatdespite excellent results with flying boats and long-range bombers obtained" during 1940 and in the beginning of 104 1. their co-operation with U-boats had tobe largely discontinued because of the urgent calls on such aircraft on theRussian front and in the North Sea sector. In the words of the German writer," because of these other calls the L.ujt- icaffe has for the moment more or le^sretired from this particular spheie of action, and is devoting its attentionmainly to protecting U-boats as they enter and leave the Bay of Biscay. Assoon, however, as the lighting on the Eastern front has to some extent dieddown, the co-operation with submarines will be resumed on a very much largerscale and on the lines tried out in 19(0 and 1041." With the ever-growing strain on Luft-waffe resources it is thus significant that a German source should acknowledge theLuftwaffe's impotence to keep up .simul- taneous operations in the different fi: Msof action. I DEFENSIVE OUTFIT : With tne growing R.A.F. offensive the Germans have adopted the "Flak train." Small-calibre guns are carried to protect goods trains and 88mm. A.A. guns are mounted on railway trucks to give them more mobility. Similar trains have been used by the Russians for some long while.
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