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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 1572.PDF
FLIGHT JUNE IJTH, 1943 Behind the Lines Service and Industrial News from the Inside of Axis and Enemy-occupied Countries A.R.P. MOBILE air-raid sirens have beenintroduced in some German cities since the usual permanent fixtures have been put out of action by R.A^.F. bombers. Altitude Glider ACCORDING to an Axis report, ex-•^i periments are being made in Ger- many oiv the construction of a gliderequipped with a special high-altitude cabin. Prof. Georgii, who is in charge ofthe research work, expects that an alti- tude of about 30,000ft. will be possiblewith the new glider. Aircraft Workers A LTHOUGH German propaganda does •£*• not tire of describing the happiness of foreign slave workers dumped in Germany, reports leaking through show a different picture. Iu an aircraft factory near Brunswick 800 foreign workers refused to go on ( working and demanded to be sent home. Many of these workers are reported to have lied .from their camp under cover of darkness. In the district of Bergheim the commandant of a camp for foreign workers, notorious for his brutality, was assassinated and workers fled and crossed the German border. Jap ChatterboxB OTH in the Pacific and in China theJapanese now use a light 0.5 mm. machine gun designated "96," indicat-ing the year of construction, igjG. This gas-operated machine gun features a bellmuzzle to hid* the gun flashes, an easily changeable air-cooled barrel, and a clip-on magazine for thirty rounds. It is sometimes fitted with a telescope, andfor the purpose of changing the barrel and to facilitate carrying, a handle isprovided 011 the barrel. The total weight (without magazine and telescope) is17.4 lb., weight of barrel 5.2 lb., and that of the loaded magazine 2.4 lb. Theoverall length of the weapon is 41.2m., and length of barrel 2i.6in. The rate offire is 550 rounds per minute, and the maximum range approximately two milesIn the heavy class the calibre of the standard weapon, the MG "92" (1932)has been increased from 6.5 mm. to 7.7 mm. This is a belt-fed, gas-operated gun with a locking device modelled after the Hotchkiss system,and a barrel equipped with cooling fins. The MG "92" is employed as defenceagainst strafing aircraft and is then mounted on a special tripod. The weightof the machine gun is 61 lb., or 122 lb. with the tripod. The rate of fire is 500rounds per minute. Maximum range, 3.106 miles, with an effective operativerange not exceeding 2.174 miles. Transport Aircraft IN a review of the activities of theLuftwaffe 'transport units it is stated that they rendered particularly valuableservice on the Russian front, where between June 22nd and October 31st,1942, 42,000 tons of material were transported by air. It will be recollectedthat previous German reports stated that 44,000 wounded were evacuated by airfrom the Stalingrad sector. In the North African fighting—the re-port says—the part of transport aviation was relatively insignificant, becausetransport aircraft could not be used on advanced airfields, unless other aircraftcommanded the air above. " Mastery of the air, if only local andtemporary, is necessary to air transport. This was not present in Tunisia andGerman air transport could not be em- ployed," concludes the commentator inhis frank admission of the Luftwaffe's disappearance from the skies of Africa. Of the transport aircraft employed bythe Luftwaffe special mention is made of the Me 323 6-engined mongrel glider.In justification of this type it is said that the Me 323, originally designed as aglider to carry 150 men or 26 tons of supplies, was fitted with engines usedonly for assisting the take-off and some- times foi landing. If attacked in theair the soldiers on board had to use their firearms, which it is said was " a verysimple arrangement, Lut not particularly effective." A Luftwaffe Base IT would appear from the latest avail-able information that the Germans are attempting to build up a supply basefor the Luftwaffe in Finland, in prefer- ence to Norway, which is perhaps re-garded as too exposed to an Allied in- vasion. The prime object of theseattempts appears to be to keep up sup- plies for the Luftwaffe units engaged onoperations against Allied convoys to Russia. Russian reports from Oslo state thatseveral fuel depots of the Luftwaffe sup-' plying units operating on the NorthernSea communications have . been trans- ferred from Norway to Finland, andseveral enterprises for the production of synthetic aviation fuel and lubricantshave been recently built in that country. It is also reported that a trainingcentre has been recently established in Finland for the purpose of training pilotsof crews of German seaplanes operating from Norwegian bases. The majority ofthe trainees are Germans, but it is said that there are many Finns, and it is ex-pected that their number will be con- siderably increased in the near future. More Ersatz A GERMAN chemical laboratory is saidto have succeeded in producing a rubber-like material from pine needles. Henceforth, it is'said, pine needles, of which hundreds of thousands of tons are available, will not be wasted for bath salts, but will constitute an important raw material. Continental Air A NEW air line is said to have beeninaugurated at the beginning of June between Bucharest and Milan via Zagreb, stopping at Zemun and Venice. The service is operated jointly by Italian and Rumanian air transport companies. Air traffic between Zagreb and Vienna is reported to have been resumed on May 17th, twice a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays, and the Deutsche Luft- hansa is said to have restarted a service between Zagreb and Sarayevo. TAP M.Gs : (Left) th=
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