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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 2274.PDF
32O FLIGHT SEPTEMBER I6TH, 1943 CORRESPONDENCE The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the views expressed by correspondents. The names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters. WHISPERING DEATH Within Firing Range as Soon as Heard "DEFERRING to "Hercules'" letter on the Beaufighter-*-»• being named '' Whispering Death '' by the Japs, I think I can enlighten him a little. Speaking from experience gained by living near an airfieldwhere I see many " Beaus " I think " Hercules " will find that by the time he hears the roar of the Hercules engines he willfind the Beau nearer to him than he expects. In the event of a "Beau" attacking an objective, it wouldbe well within firing range before it was heard. A. TALBOT. An Impressive DemonstrationT HE only way really to appreciate the Japs' name forBristol's death-dealer—the truly terrifying Beaufighter— is to hear it first hand when diving to attack. The other day I was present at an actual demonstrationand stood on an airfield runway and had the really impressive experience of hearing as well as seeing a Beaufighter divingat me—straight at me—from over a thousand feet down to only some ten feet over my head. I need hardly add that bythat time I was on my back and can testify to the peculiar whistling " whisper " which is unmistakable and can be asso-ciated with no other aircraft. This curious sound seems to follow after the roar of theengines has been carried away by the terrific speed of the machine . W. G. CAIN. . " Wissshhh HI" YOUR correspondent "Hercules" has raised a most inter-esting point in your issue of August 19th, as to why the Japs should call the Bristol Beaufighter "Whispering Death." As all R.O.C. and spotters know, many aircraft have theirown characteristic noise, which is often recognisable even when the aircraft cannot be seen.A low-diving Beaufighter comes on you and is away again so quickly that the roar of the engines is over comparativelyquickly also. The Hercules' exhaust roar dies away almost as soon as the aircraft has passed overhead, and there remainsa long-drawn-out " wissshhh," which a Jap might mistake for a whisper if he suivived the deathly stream of devastation fromthe cannon and guns. They will probably have stopped firing anyhow by the time the aircraft is overhead, so that onlythe characteristic sound will remain. "JUPITER." A " Whispering " Approach " TTERCULES " has evidently not been approached from -tl behind by a twin-engined aircraft flying at maximumspeed at zero feet 1 believe it is under these conditions that the Beaufighter has been so aptly named " WhisperingDeath". If " Hercules " is ever subjected to this experience, he willhnd that the first thing one bears is a sound not unlike a whispering noise, in fact whispering is a very apt descriptionof the sound, which instantly swells to a terrific threshing noise as the aircraft passes overhead. It is not until the air-craft is overhead and has passed on that the exhaust noise can be plainly heard. In the case of the Japanese and the Beaufighters,»if thepilot spots his target while still some distance from it, and tie opens fixe, in all probability the projectiles will arrive attheir destination at the same time, if not before, the aircraft is heard, and the psychological effect on the Japs must bepretty devastating. The fact that very little noise is heard until the aircraft isalmost overhead would be even more pronounced when Hying over densely wooded country, as the trees, etc., would tendto blanket the noise. Also, flying up-wind would be even more advantageous. Isn't it a fact that the noise made by the "airscrews andstripstream is greater than that made by the engines at low level? G. P. JONES. Gas Turbines and Jet Propulsion for Aircraft By G. GEOFFREY SMITH, M.B.E. A second edition of the above booklet is now available from ™ " Flight" publishing offices. The new work consists of ten chapters and includes many illustrations Price 3/6 plus 3d. post THEORY OF FLIGHT. Queries on Prolonging the FlightM ANY pilots would like to know the answer to thisconundrum. When an aircraft has had its engine, or engines, put out ofaction, is it any use jettisoning as much weight as possible in order to prolong the glide?It would seem the immediate reaction would be to say "Yes. The lighter the aircraft at such a time, the fartherit would glide." But considering a simple statement of facts it would appear that this is not the case. Suppose 6 to be the angle of glide, 0 is purely dependenton the L/D ratio, i.e., tan 0 = D/L. The better the L/D ratio the smaller S becomes. Perhaps the argument is that with less weight to be carried,less lift would be required. This is correct, but makes difference because, assuming that the aircraft is gliding atangle of attack which produces the best L/D, then any lessen- ing of the angle of attack will decrease the value of L/D—i.e.,increase D/L and so 8. Can anyone state, for the benefit of thousands of pilots,whether jettisoning a load really will increase the distance our aircraft can glide? And here is a further sideline on the same problem: Wouldlowering the flaps,-say, 10 degrees, prolong the glide? Appar- ently, the answer to that one is "Yes." But I wonder! PILOT, R.A.F. AIRCRAFT PRODUCTION, 1943 Replacement of Worn PartsY OUR Editorial in the August 26th issue of Flight interestedme in the matter of aircraft production. Having studied the mass production and individual production systems for themanufacture of machinery, here are my views. First, the word "bottleneck" always seems to me to be amisleading term for use by technicians, as its ambiguity transfers the readers' thoughts from aeronautical affairs to thewine and spirit merchant's store. In Flight the word "shortage" would appear to be more appropriate. Secondly, the question of an adequate supply of spare partsfor a given machine, whether it be in mass production or in individual production, should present no difficulty to an engi-neer in charge of the work, because the designer of an aircraft should have a very fair idea of which component parts ajtliable to excessive wear and tear or fracture, and therefore' need periodical replacement. In mass production thestandardisation of such parts liable to excessive depreciation is a sine qua non for the approved design. In individual pro-duction the comparatively slow rate of production gives time for suitable spares to be provided in accordance with the speci-fication of the approvedMesign. It should not be necessary to operate aircraft for lengthyperiods before deciding which parts depreciate at a rate which requires periodical renewal. The data at the disposal of thedesigner should give a very good idea as to which parts require replacements, and enable a list to be included in the specifica-tion when it is submitted for approval prior to issue to the contractors and sub-contractors. The Committee Report stated : " firms tended to concentrateon design; ease of production and efficiency in methods were regarded as of secondary importance." The designer is theone to concentrate on design, and when a design is' submitted for approval, such approval should depend upon the designbeing practical and capable of being efficiently and easily pro- duced by the means availabFe to the contracting manufacturers. It is realised that the aeronautical industry in Great Britaincould not be organised on such a scale as to compete with the largest mass producers in America, because of the difficulty 'of obtaining raw materials economically and in sufficient quantities even if the experienced technical operators wereavailable in sufficient numbers. This fact, however, should not prevent the British aero-nautical industry from manufacturing specialised types of aircraft on a lesser scale numerically, but of the quality whichhas always in the past been associated with machinery "Made in England"—i.e., a quality second to none. W. REGINALD DAINTY(Hon. Capt., R.A.F. (R.N.), Ret.).
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