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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 0405.PDF
FEBRUARY 22ND, 1945 FLIGHT CORRESPONDENCE The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the views expressed by correspondents. The names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication must ,n all cases accompany letters. WITH THE HIGHER-UPS, A Clue in the Picture I WAS interested in the two cloud photos given in the editionof January 28th under the heading '' With the Higher- Ups." With reference to the second photo showing a hole in theclouds, for which the text states that no explanation of its formation is known, I think the answer is actually given inthe first picture. If you examine the cloud formation round the hole you willsee that the clouds take the form a a spiral, and it is fairly obvious that the hole has been caused by an up-current or . a down-current of air which has tended to suck the cloud layer with it and thus form a vortex.The first picture suggests that it was probably caused in the same manner as the cumulus cloud in that photo, but inthis case the temperature and humidity^ conditions were not right for the formation of a vigorous cumulus cloud. C. H. LATIMER-NEEDHAM. HORACE SAYS .... .... Things Which Do Not Amuse Everyone MY attention has been drawn to your issue of Feb. 8th, inwhich you publish a letter under the signature of W. S. Shackleton. If Mr. Shackleton will take the trouble to read Hansard,which reports the recent debate on civil aviation, he will notice I never once mentioned airships in my speech. •There was no need to do so, as we no longer build airshipsin this country, and they are not in the picture for carrying freight by air. Mr. Shackleton's letter may be regarded by some as humor-ous, but in the opinion of one of the oldest pioneers of British aviation it was in exceedingly bad taste. No doubt, Mr. Editor, you will be good enough to see thatMr. Shackleton apologises for misquoting my speech in Par- liament and you will be kind enough to give the apology. Iexpect equal publicity in your valuable publication. MURRAY F. SUETER,(Rear-Admiral, Ret., M.P. for the Hertford Division of Hertfordshire ) [As we want to publish Sir Murray's letter at the first pos-sible opportunity, and as it was received just as we are about to go to press, there has not been time to show it to Mr.Shackleton, but we are sure he would join us in apologising for. the unintentional misquotation. Mr. Shackleton was quoting theDaily Telegraph report, in which the word "airships" was used. What Sir Murray actually said was "air trips," viz.,that it would need 1,200 air trips to carry the 5,000 tons which L one small cargo ship carries on one voyage.—ED.] IMPOSSIBILITY OF FUTURE WARS Missiles the Size of Cargo VesselsW ITH reference to Mr. Hamilton-Adams' letter in Flight ofFebruary 8th, I must confess that my interest in his article gave place to astonishment and finally amusement, but,having great respect for original statements, I feel a little constructive criticism might prove helpful. I have no quarrel with the statement that two shells of thesize Mr. Hamilton-Adams contemplates would blow down every skyscraper in New York, but trust that the sight ofmissiles the size of a large cargo vessel, shooting out of the depths of the ocean, will not become an everyday occurrence—at least in my lifetime ! The method of firing appears rather obscure, but presum-ably an umbrella is held over the projectile while it is resting on the sea bed while the launching crew '' put their trust inGod and keep their powder dry." Once under way, this unusual device appears to travel inthe stratosphere in a straight line, supported by wings and per- forming a series of barrel rolls—a strange sight. I would suggest that the propulsion method is rather doubt-% ful as are the equations concerning the horse-power required t for flight. I do not profess to be expert in these matters,but I think that ft./lbs. is meant in place of h.p. in one equation. There is also a complete contradiction in one para- graph; the author states that his weapon makes war impos-sible (would it were so) as it would resolve itself into the destruction and counter-destruction of civilians; unfortunatelythis policy seems to be the essence of modern war. With regard to the last rather-shattering paragraph, Ishudder to think of myself roasting at 3,100 deg. C. if I am unfortunate enough to be on the wrong side in the wrongplace; nevertheless, I express the hope that Mr. HatniHou- Adams at least will escape the terror of Jiis own inventions. ______ A. R. BLAKE. PLUGGING Still Further Bach Room Boyst MY society, inspired by the spate of revelations which hasfollowed Messrs. K.L.G.'s acknowledgment'of the gracious tribute to British sparking plugs paid by the President of theUnited States, has asked me to write and state, with all due modesty, the contribution of their members. It should never be forgotten that had not Harry Hedgecockhad' both engines of his mystery plane disintegrate due to detonation as he was taking off over the sewage-farm back in'38 British sparking-plug manufacturers would never have been inspired by that flow of invective, roared into the tele-phone even before the mud had set on Harry's moustache, which drove them to design their modern masterpieces. Thismovement was probably aided by Max Boostem who, on pre- igniting his forty-seventh production engine to a standstill,said: "If these Goddam plug-makers don't give me some plugs that work, / shall start to do the plugging " ; and as hespoke he brought his fist down on the M.A.P. austerity-type table with such a wallop that all four legs failed in compressionBERT ("BEANS-FOR-BOOST") BLENK1NCLOT, Hon. Sec, Society of Antiquated Aviators and Dilapidated Test Pilots. ORGANISING FOR EFFICIENCY Pre-war Success with Slow Aircraft I SHOULD like to support Mr. K. Bartletfs view (Flight,February 1st) that a cruising speed of 130 m.p.h. ior an air freighter is not useless. Anyone who has studied the growth and development olBritish civil aviation cannot fail to have been impressed by our extraordinary success in operating airlines with regularityto the Hebrides, Oikney and Shetland Islands. On those runs by far the most useful aircraft has been the de HavillandRapide, with its cruising speed of 130 m.p.h., and it has operated in those seas, rightly famed for their strong winds, tothe entire satisfaction of the airline, companies. You have been good enough on several occasions to givespace in Flight to accounts of some of the work of men like David Barclay, Capt. Fresson, and, most picturesque of allfigures in pre-war civil aviation, Mr. Eric Gandar Dower. But the whole story has not yet been written, of Fresson's pioneer-ing flights across the Pentland Firth in a Mono-Avro, of the first air-mail service to Shetland flown by Henry Valance inone of Gandar Dower's Dragons in the depth of winter, or of the incredible 2x4 field at the bottom of a valley on to whichBarclay landed by means of the "Glen Brittle swerve" on the Isle of Skye. How these air services • became part of thelives of the islanders before the war was evidenced hy the scene oi farmers, with their dogs, flying across to market onthe mainland once a week Those airlines were built up with slow aircrait, starting withthe 100 m.p.h. Monospars and Dragons, which have now given way to the Rapide. A speed of 130 m.p.h. has provedadequate under the variable weather conditions of the islands, and to use faster aircraft would be uneconomical. These are.of course, relatively short hauls, and if they were extended a higher speed might be needed to maintain passengerschedules. But the Bristol Freighter, as the name implies, is not going to be asked to cope with passengers, and air freightis not likely to need split-second timing. On the other hand, unlike the Rapide. the Freighter has 40 m.p.h. "up itssleeves," as Mr. Bartlett has shown, so that it can defeat stiff head winds should punctuality be more important thaumaximum economy. ' JOHN GRIERSON.
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