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Aviation History
1944
1944 - 1652.PDF
*50 FLIGHT AUGUST IOTH, 1944 YUGOSLAVIA AND AVIATION the aeronautical industry in Yugoslavia, and in which field of activity our great Allies could find commercial expan sions in manifold different industries which are dependent on raw materials such as aluminium, copper, lead, quick silver, etc., etc., and useful for the aeronautical in dustry, etc. Taking into consideration the different unfavourable fac tors which, for a long post-war period, will be liable to handicap any rise of civil air transport services in Yugo slavia, we believe -that the following suggestion for a civil transport policy and industry in Yugoslavia would be the solution most likely to be acceptable, and to satisfy the available financial and economical structures and condi tions, all co-ordinated for the suitable running of the civil air services. For the aeronautical industry the economic principles must be in harmony with the national economy as the basis for its future development in the service of civil aviation and air transport, and in a spirit of air-minded- ness for the realisation of these services. A Short Survey of Civil Aviation in Yugoslavia On January 14th, 1930, a civil aviation section was formed at the Air Force Command. That meant that civil aviation was under the control of the military authorities. Civil aviation had two pioneers in its development and progress: The Royal Aero Club of Yugoslavia, Nasa Krila (Our Wings) and Aeroput (Air Ways), the association for air travel. Both of these were aided by State grants. Nasa Krila was founded in 1922. Its aims were to make flying popular in the country, as well as to train young men of 17 to 21 in preparation for service with the Air Force. It had 198 committees in all parts of the country, with 33,426 members and 23,871 junior members—in all, 57.297 members in 1939. The club was affiliated to the Federation Aeronautique Internationale. The instructors of the club worked in three directions: training of pilots; training in gliding; and training in the making of model aircraft. There were six schools for the training of pilots, at Belgrade, Palanka near Smederevo, Jagodina, Ljubljana, Zagreb and Borovo. From 1932 to *939' 34° members passed out as trained pilots. At the same time 7,059 qualified in gliding. There were 24 branches in towns for the construction of model aircraft, through which 9,800 members passed. The club had 93 aircraft, mostly sports models or mili tary training and communication aircraft which had become obsolete for military purposes. Aeroput was founded and began its work in 1928, when THE past week has brought news of two new developments in German operational aircraft, namely, the rocket-assisted Me 163 fighter, and the Mei09/Ju88 combination, said to be intended chiefly for use against shipping. Very little exact information has become available on either of these develop ments up to the time of going to press; enquiries from official sources in this country have not added to the limited amount of "gen" originally released. There is, of course, nothing very new in the idea of augment ing the power of the normal engine for brief periods by means of rockets. The Germans were reported, long ago, to have employed this method of assisting the take-off of bombers with a substantial overload, but the Me 163 is the first example to be encountered of the principle being applied to an enemy fighter. From the reports of Lightning and Mustang pilots of the U.S.A.A.F., who first saw the new type last week whilst escorting heavy bombers, it seems clear that the rocket attach ment was used to give an extra burst of speed over a brief interval in order to avoid combat. Capt. A. F. Jeffrey, a Lightning pilot, described how the Me 163 he was pursuing pulled up into a climb and '' used his rocket power inter mittently." Unfortunately, the news story as released did not even dis close whether the Me 163 is a single- or twin-engined fighter; whether it is a modification of some familiar type or a com- the first aircraft of the association instituted the service between Belgrade and Zagreb. While in 1928 this asso ciation completed 148,840 kilometres of travel, in 1939 it completed 622,556 kilometres. The number of passengers and the weight of goods transported by aircraft of Aeroput in 1939 were: Passengers 12,687 Mail 10,590 kg. Luggage 77.123 „ Goods 181,021 „ 2,815 flying hours had been completed by then. The lines served by aircraft of this association in 1938 were : —Zagreb-Belgrade and return. Daily except Sundays from 2/5 to 22/10; Belgrade-Skoplje-Salonika and return. Once a week from 1/5 to 30/9; Belgrade-Sofia and return. Three times a week from 9/5 to 30/9; Belgrade-Sarajevo and return. Daily from 1/5 to 15/9; Sarajevo-Dubrovnik and return. Daily from 15/6 to 15/9; Ljubljana-Sushak- Zagreb, from 15/6 to 21/7; Ljubljana-Zagreb, from KS/jf to 31/8; Dubrovnik-Sarajevo-Zagreb-Vienna-Brno-Prague, daily from 15/6 to 31/8; Belgrade-Dubrovnik and return. Daily except Sundays, from 1/7 to 31/8; Bucarest-Bel- grade-Zagreb-Venice-Milan. Daily from 1/9 to 30/9; Bel grade-Podgorica-Tirana and return. Three times weekly, from 23/8 to 22/9. Aeroput had in 1938 the following types of commercial aircraft: — Lockheed-Electra 7 (the main type) Spartan 2 (at Sushak) Caudron-Goeland 2 (at Skoplje) De Havilland Dragon-Rapide .. 1 (at Skoplje) Mitrovitch MMS-3 1 Fox Moth 1 Gipsy Moth Total .... 15 Flying Personnel: —6 pilots, 5 co-pilots and 6 wireless- operators. Airports:—Ljubljana, Zagreb, Sarajevo, Belgrade, Skoplje, Borovo, Sushak, Dubrovnik (Gruda), Podgorica., Nish and Split. Seaplane Stations:—Belgrade, Divulje, Dubrovnik, Kumbor (Kotor), Split, Sushak and Vodice (at Shibenik). P. P. V. pletely new design. Enquiries were made in appropriate quarters, but the "official" reply was such that one can only assume it indicated a refusal, rather than an inability, to give any further data; how else, indeed, does the type number of this enemy aircraft come to be known ? The Meiog/Ju88 composite aircraft is, from the report issued, a Ju 88 converted into a flying bomb with an Me 109 attached to control it during the take-off and to direct it to wards its ultimate target. Capt. R. C. Lewis, an A.A. officer at a coastal gunsite in Normandy, who is stated to have sub mitted a report on this composite aircraft, told a Reuter corre spondent that all the forward armament of the Ju 88 was removed and the forward section of the fuselage filled with explosive. The engine and flying controls of both components are operated by the pilot of the Me 109—the upper component —who can set the Ju88 component on a predetermined course before separation. It is reasonable to assume (though, once again, there is as yet no official information available) that after separation the Ju 88, now virtually a flying bomb, remains under the radio control of the Me tog pilot, who '' flies '' it into its target froKi (he hopes) a safe distance. Without remote control by radio this latest German air weapon would, of course, be nothing better than a sort of super-doodlebug incapable of being aimed at any target smaller than a large city. TWO GERMAN AIIU'IIAFT INNOVATIONS
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