FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1945
1945 - 0386.PDF
204 FLIGHT FEBRUARY 22ND, 1945 MOSQUITOES OF THE 8th U.S.A.A.F. changed over to the long-range fuel tank in the bomb bay. Alto- gether some 750 gallons of fuel were carried. We were in no hurry and ciimbed leisurely at 1,000ft. per min. with the Rolls-Royce Merlins doing 2,600 r.p.m. and 210 m.p.h. show- ing on the "clock." Strangely .enough, as we flew over the sea and under an even layer of stratus cloud, we ran into small areas of turbulent air. In such conditions one would expect absolutely bump free air. Above was a formation of For- tresses getting height before cross ing the Continental coast. Below was a blue-grey carpet of sea and haze which made a perfect camou- flage background to the Mosquito. From quite a short distance away it would have been difficult to dis- cern the outline of the aircraft, and the only discernible indication would have been the red outlined star and bar of the American mark- ings. As we approached Holland, Maj. Ellis-Brown pointed away to the left, where a formation of American heavies was getting quite an amount of flak. The journey at this point was not without interest for both of us when J compared the height at which I was flying with the 2,5<ioft. at which I flew over the same route in a Stirling to Arnhem. Maj. Ellis-Brown was also flying a Stirling when he was in the R.A.F. He went on some of the very early daylight raids, including the attack on this Potez aircraft factory at Meaulte. For him the particular interest in this trip WHS that he was very close to the part of the Dutch coasl when', in 1941, he made three verv- determined attacks on an oil tanker and succeeded in sinking The unfamiliar jockey Note the double doors cap sported by American ground crews appears at the entrance, of the pressure cabin. The outer door opens downward and the inner door opens upward. it. For this he was awarded the D.F.C. He was most generous in his memories of the Stirling. How sturdy it was and how throwable-about! The outward journey over, we turned for base ; the pilot asking for a bearing over the V.H.F. . How gently the Mosquito seems to fly. It never throbs or drums or seems "busy." As we returned through the 11.oooft. level, our true .ground speed was not far short of 400 m.p.h., yet a bus doing 20 m.p.h. would make more fuss about it. Over the coast and down to 1,000ft. Fuel pump off, oxygen off, wheels down, flaps down and a perfect landing. An interesting trip. FLYING BOATS FREED FROM ICES UNDliKLANl.) and (.atalina flying boats oi R.A.F. Coastal Command whi'.h, a lew days ago, were frozen in their base in Northern Inland air again hunting, for U-boats in the • Atlantic. When the sea iroze over for the first time in fifty years there was ice lour or five inches thick, and the temperature fell to 24 degrees below freezing point. Working day and night for five days in bitter cold and blind- ing snowstorms, the airmen oi the Marint. Ciait Section hauled as many flying boats as possible on to (he shore and broke I he ice round the mooring areas of the remaining aircraft. "Five tloatmg refuellers pal rolled for twenty-four hours breaking the ice," said Sqa, Ldr. A. T. B. Cooper, of Kllerby Lodge, Hinderwell, Salt burn. Yorks., who is in charge of the Marine Craft Section—the biggest ever assembled in a lough. " They used bomb scows to clear a space round the aircraft and dragged the ice blocks to the land. They did a grand job." M. OF S. EXHIBITION THE Ministry of Supply (Directorate of Public Relations) J- gave a private exhibition in Manchester recently, extolling the part played by technicians in the current air offensive. The exhibits were well displayed and "rich in detail. The foremost exhibits were a section of a Rolls-Royce " 22 " Merlin engine and a hydraulically operated gun turret. Ot exceptional interest was the device for viewing stereoscopic. air photographs. Throe films were shown : a news item, a documentary called the "Sky Giant" depicting the production and use of the Lancaster bomber, and a film showing the production of air- craft engines at a Rolls-Royce factor ', emphasising the scrupulous care paid to detail, and the accuracy and quality. Hardly anything connected with the equipment of a modern bomber was left out of the exhibition, which, among other things, included an inflated rescue dinghy, complete with fishing tackle and instruction booklet (how to land a turtle!).
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
