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Aviation History
1944
1944 - 2454.PDF
573 FLIGHT NOVEMBER 30TH, 1944 has to be discarded. Flying Fortresses, which originally were just long-range aircraft and nothing more, came into service with no self-sealing tanks, no armour plate and practically nothing in the way of defensive arma ment. Now, with all these'things fitted, there is only about half the bomb load available as compared with that carried by oui tour-engined bombers -of about the same horse-power. The mind that laid out the sleek lines of the Lock heed Lightning could never have taken into considera tion what might happen to any unfortunate pilot who had to bale out in a dog-fight. Our designers and manufacturers chafe under what appears to be never-ending Air Ministry interference. Endless mock-up conferences are held to decide where all the equipment shall be placed, and how the crew shall have sufficient comfort to enable them to do their job efficiently. This may hold up a prototype for a while; it may even detract a little from ultimate per formance, but the result is always a good, robust fight^ irrg aircraft. The Civil Air War M ESSRS. SYMINGTON and LaGuardia may or may not be students of Freud. But at Chicago they stopped the conference from shelving the more unpleasant problems and from resting content with what had already been achieved in the way of agreement. There had been a tendency to lay a little too much stress on that which had been agreed, although it was quite a good deal, and too little on the very thorny problems still awaiting solution. "The world expects more from us than that," was how Mr. Symington put it, and this slightly Nelsonian phrase may well become historic. Canada's suggestion of an " escalator " figure of 60 per cent, of capacity was sound in itself, until it was pointed out that this might, under the '' fifth' freedom'' clause championed by the United States, lead to unfair com petition with countries traversed by great trunk lines, which obviously have a right to a full share in their own internal traffic. To us it seems, however, that the two things, Canada's " escalator" scheme and the right to pick up and set down traffic at intermediate points, are not irreconcilable. If traffic figures and profit accounts are disclosed to the international authority, as ( they would presumably have to be in any case, it should be possible, after the three years' " breathing spell " pro posed b ' Lord Swinton, to see whether a trunk line operated by one of the large nations was taking an unduly large proportion of a traversed country's internal traffic. If that were proved to be so, the additional air craft capacity granted the large nation under the 60 per cent, clause could be withdrawn. The Chicago conference must not be allowed to fail on any major point. The eyes of the world are upon it, and it is regarded as a sort of test case of the degree CONTENTS The Outlook - War in the Air Here and There R.A.F. in Burma Horace Says ... Arctic Patrol - Behind the Lines Controlling as a Career Air Route Facilities - Chicago - Aircraft in Flying Attitudes Correspondence Service Aviation - - - - - • - - - - - _ -. - 571 573 576 578 580 582 588 589 59o 59i 592 593 594 to which, after the war, nations of the world will show good sense in coming to a workable compromise in their mutual relations. In the meantime, there are straws which show the way the wind of competition is likely to blow. British Latin- American Air Lines, formed by five shipping companies, forecast a daily service to South America when air traffic had developed. British Overseas Airways Corporation retaliated by announcing its readiness to start a South Atlantic air service as soon as Government permission was given. B.L.A.A.L. retorted that it regarded the South Atlantic as the time-honoured field of the shipping companies, to which General Critchley is reported to have said, "Well, perhaps'they have had it too long," or words to that effect. Then there is the question of which shall represent operators after the war, the pre-war but temporarily dormant International Air Traffic Association resur rected, or the newly formed Conference of International Air Traffic Operators. The former Jias been asked to send representatives to the United*6ra.tes. Altogether, "tl^ere are seyje**u minor civil air wars brewing. IN AT THE KILL : A Mustang bears in on a jet-propelled Messerschmitt 262 fighter before des troying it. The action was recorded while bombers of the U.S. 8th A.A.F. were attacking oil targets in Germany. ;;-,
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