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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 0134.PDF
74 " Indicator " Discusses Topics of the Day FLIGHT JANUARY I8TH, 19, \Pre-planning Perfection Civil Aircraft Development by Stages : Rationalising Layout i Essential Simplification : Comfort and Convenience for the Crew : Unnecessary "Automaticity WHILE looking around, flying as passenger in, andhandling the present-day aircraft, it is difficultnot to feel, rather uncomfortably, that the whole thing is getting slightly out of hand. During a major war,when the immediate production of effective fighting and bombing machines is the only consideration, almost any-thing can be forgiven, but in the more leisurely days of peace there will be no excuse for some of the jury-riggedlayouts which are inevitable when no long-range planning or redesigning is possible. Before the detailed- planning of a transport aircraft caneven be started, final and irrevocable decision ^_ reached, first of all, about what is actuaUy'wanted in tlway of general equipment. If, for i»ftance, we axe'Ao avoid the necessity of carrying half-^cjozen different aipdsof radio sets, the world's airlinp/cjperators ^d&j on a standard series of radio-njtvjgational sy^tonisl ,phichcan be used everywhere: a loHg-jange communicarSipi and direction-finding system, pe/naps, and a univeMJi typeof beam-approach equipmetrt tar a start. Let usjype that the international signals ^xpj&nfe, who will piaHr^up theypersonnel at the preliminary cflmferenef\ arft**a/little les bad-tempered and a little rl,Qj2 MeraptShaiitle averageamateur or professional pc liticiarW fefn£e tVe majority of them will be scientists there is hoa^rWt tribal egrotionswill not unduly colour the nndings^et the meetjj Having arranged a broad oasis of necessities for inter-national air navigation, it will Retime tocaff a conference, of a slightly more localised nature7*3t~wTiich the operators,their technical.people, the designers, and representatives of the pilots will decide on the layout of the major items,on the need or otherwise for additional radio guides of the contour-chasing '' gen-box'' kind, and on the type ofautomatic pilot to be fitted. Then the technicians, the radio operators and flight engineers will arrange the broadlayout of the whole driving compartment without entering into too much detail. Finally, the works designers, theworks test pilots and the airline company's senior pilot will .develop, day by day, the detailed arrangements frommock-up to prototype stage. Democracy and Decisions These are only suggestions. The important point is thateach of the conferences must involve the smallest number of people consistent with the obtainment of worthwhileopinion—otherwise decisions will never be reached, and the meeting will end in democratic free fights. Each con-ference will be a, kind of practical and intellectual oligarchy in itself, and the decisions will be final. Until the penul-timate stage is reached, it will hardly be possible to design the fuselage—since roominess in certain directions will beessential to good planning—but at least the final results should be satisfactory to all. More important still, a pre-planned aircraft will notsuffer from the usual untidy mass of etceteras which have for so long been a homely feature of the average Britishmachine. Yet, if the pilots are allowed a fair say in the matter, the "homeliness" will still be there in practicalform. It is almost as important to avoid the technically tidy complication of the aircraft designed, as a whole, bydesigners as it is to avoid the untidy complication of an aircraft which has been planned piecemeal—first by de-signers, and then altered, as an afterthought, by the people who actually have to fly the things. The beautifullyingenious layout of the perfectly planned control-cabin .ft may be a pilot's nightmare if the technician, with an eyeonly to maintenance and production simplicity, is given his head. At almost any cost, the criminal business of adding bits,during development or even during later operation, must not happen in the future. Let us remember what has hap-pened to so many military aircraft which, once a joy to handle, have become a horrid mass of devices impeding5th movement and vision in the cockpit. By way of lesson, let us'take two examples of well-known and'excellent machines which military expediency and the steady development of combat devices have now filled tooverflowing. Military Necessities The first is a single-seater fighter. Once upon a tintf^the trimmers and the throttle, the mixture, c.s., under- carriage and flap controls were nicely placed, and th«-fview, despite the inevitable reflector sight behind the small bullet-proof screen, was good enough. Now, the view isalmost completely obscured-by a most useful and ingenious gyro gun-sight, the cable controls for which envelop theleft side of the cockpit and prevent one from reaching the flap control, while its massive mounting partially blanksout most of the instrument panel. An unmentionable box of radio tricks may prevent 6ne from pushing directly atthe throttle; more radio oddments catch one's glove whil« grabbing for the undercarriage lever; and one's right kneebrushes uncomfortably against overload-tank jettison levers and cocks. Every square inch of space has beenutilised—but there will still be room for anything else for which a need is dictated by military necessity. The second example is a redoubtable multi-purpose,twin-engined affair. Even in its earlier unequipped phases the pilot felt rather as if he was " sitting at the mightyWurlitzer," but everything was nicely to hand or e'lbow, and the view was magnificent, even if the controls wererather spaced evenly all round the pilot, as many behind—«* him as in front. Gradually, however, its magnificent .J^" multipurposility " has filled up even the remaining spaces with patent sights and their controls, explosive-droppingreleases, radio devices, and all the paraphernalia of offen- sive armament into which the pilot squeezes with difficultyif he is not too well-built. Of course, the pilot learns to feel at home in it all; man will learn to feel at home any-where—such is the flexibility of the nature of the beast. But the transport pilot of the future will not be at war ;he will not be flying merely "for the duration" and to help out the regular Service, and he will be flying fot_~,quite a few hours every day of his life—not twice a week. He will expect, and rightly demand, comfort and con-venience. On long flights he will need to leave his seat quite often to talk to the passengers or to the other mem-bers of the crew;. he or his second pilot may, on the other hand, be left in charge, with an unserviceable gyro pilot,for quite long periods; there must never be any possibility of a mistaken switch or control; and, above all, his viewmust be perfect in all conditions of rain, ice, internal mist- ing and aircraft attitude. It will be uncomfortable butchastening to note that an American aircraft, designed"*' many years ago, is still almost the only one to satisfythose last conditions, and that one of our latest transports can be almost dead blind for the pilot in some kinds ofbad weather. Probably the most difficult decisions for our BrainsTrusts to make will be those concerning general layout and
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