FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1944
1944 - 1803.PDF
AUGUST 31ST, 1944 FLIGHT -33 HOLDING THE RING longer trips than Bomber Command; in addition they have to acquire that elusive quality known as aerial seamanship. All the pilots have nothing but praise for the Sunderland. Obviously at the point of take-off for a very long trip, there is practically no speed range. Designed to be flown at an all-up weight of 44,600 lb. and an overload weight of 50,100 lb., it is quite normal for them to be loaded up to 58,000. At one time, before we had V.L.R. aircraft available, they werS being flown as heavy as 62,000 lb. Believe it or not, but at the evacuation of Greece, one Sunderland got away with 97 men on board! I got this first-hand from a squadron leader who was on board and who now flies a Beaufighter X on torpedo missions over the North Sea. In one night attack on a submarine, when only three hours out, a Sunderland hit the water at 140 knots, break ing off a wing tip float and three feet of the port aileron. The hull hit the water at the same time and was consider ably twisted. Nevertheless, it flew all the way back to base and alighted with its depth charges and petrol on board. It weighed, when touching down, no less than 54,000 lb., which is 6,000 lb. over the heaviest permissibrgTanding weight. Another Sunderland, in appalliasfweather, landed safely in an 8ft. sea which could not be seen from 30ft. Given just reasonable odds, a Sunderland is prepared to mix it with the German fighters. The Germans have not nicknamed it Stachelschwein (Porcupine) for no reason. Its turning circle is so small that a good pilot reckons he can do a rate four turn at no knots, getting round the 800-yard diameter circle in about half a minute. An interesting suggestion which was made to me was that of employing flying boats as advanced striking forces in the Pacific war. In this war of the islands, the idea is that the lagoons are ready-made airfields for flying boats which would operate while bulldozers, levellers, graders and track-layers made airstrips for landplanes. It is not sur prising that this suggestion came from an R.A.A.F. squad ron who came over here at the beginning of the war to fly back some Sunderlands, and who stayed to join Coastal Command and fight our battles over the sea. Just one>final note, and that must be to pay tribute to the grou/W. crews who service the Sunderlands at their No cover of any sort is possible either in summer Servicing a cold, wet flying boat in January be beastly, and it must always be remembered that spaRner dropped is a spanner lost. \ Civil Aviation's Birthday Lord Brabazon Warns the Nation: "You Are Being Manozuvred Off the Iiarth" T (HERE was a great "gathering of the clans" at the luncheon given by British Overseas Airways in Lon-**f •*• don on August 25th to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the inauguration of the first British com mercial air service between London and Paris, the story of which we told last week. Viscount Knollys, chairman of B.O.A.C, was in the chair and read the following message from the King: "Please express to the members of the British Overseas Airways Corporation and their guests my sincere thanks for their kind and loyal message on the twenty-fifth anni versary of the first British regular commercial air service out of this country. I am confident that the valuable work which has been done in the past to develop civil air trans port will continue with undiminished effort in the future.— GEORGE, R.I." Sir Archibald Sinclair, Secretary of State for Air, indulged in some of his rhetoric without, however, getting beyond cliches and generalities. If he left any impression whatever on his audience, which seems doubtful, it was that those who clamour for the removal of civil aviation from the Air Ministry are entirely justified. Lord Brabazon of Tara was at the top of his form. He recalled the small beginning of civil aviation with crude equipment, but those pioneers, in spite of all their handi caps, did do a great service in that they tried to make something useful of flight. Afterwards the vast technical progress seemed to have brought us only the '' Doodle Bug." Turning to the aircraft industry Lord Brabazon pointed out that it is now our greatest, but organised for war only. What, he asked,' would be the position after the war? As he saw it, America might need 1,500 aircraft of large type, and we might need some 600. That was about all. In other words, a fortnight's war output. - Eventually orders would be placed by the dozen only, and they would be to customers' special requirements. In that branch he thought this country could hold her own, but it would be necessary to increase our technical staffs. About the present position Lord Brabazon expressed him self very unhappy. B.O.A.C. was under an obligation to use British equipment, but with the position as it now was that imposed a disability on operators. The Americans had some very fine types coming along fairly soon. Our "Brabazon 1 " would not be available until 1946. Canada had come over to our side on engines, and he was told that Rolls-Royce were the only firm which would take on the entire responsibility for the complete power unit. Manufacturers were itching to go ahead, but the Air Ministry and Ministry of Aircraft Production w"ould not let them. One of the Ministers ought to go to America and see what they were doing there. He then referred to the new large Consolidated, Lockheed and Douglas types. Turn ing to the subject of engines Lord Brabazon mentioned the new 3,000 h.p. engines which the Americans have coming along. Where, he asked, are our 3,000 h.p. engines? Turn ing to Sir Archibald Sinclair he said: "You are being manoeuvred off the earth." When the Americans were building such wonderful new types themselves, how could they argue that for us to build transport aircraft was not a war effort?
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
