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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 0643.PDF
APRIL 5TH, 1945 F LI G HT HERE AND THERE in 1917 and received his commission the same year. He was awarded the D.F.C. in 1924 for services in Iraq. A.V-M. Lydford is 46 and has been A.O.C. a group in Technical Training Command after being employed on ad- ministrative organisation duties with the R.A.F. delegation at Washington since 1942. He joined the R.F.C. in 1916. " They're Open!" THE less obvious interpretation of theabove phrase refers to bomb bay doors, with special reference to the fact that the quicker they can be opened and shut the shorter the time interval during which the enemy knows the aircraft is on its actual bombing run and cannot take evasive action. In response to Army "requests Boeings have engineered a new pneumatic actuat- ing device for the bomb doors of the B-29, which flings them open in 7/10 sec. and shuts them in three seconds. The original electrically controlled system took 15 sec. to open the doors fully, and even longer to close them. Other bomber types may also be fitted with the new mechanism. * Glider Ambulances /T.IDERS, after bringing in medical vJ supplies from Britain to a small landing field on the east bank of the Rhine in the Remagen bridgehead, have been laden with twelve 1st Army litter- patients each and " picked-up " by U.S. transport aircraft for clearance back to the field hospital on the west bank. The casualties suffered no harm from the smooth pick-up, and it is expected eventually to evacuate more than 400 cases daily by this method. The cross-river flight lasts less than five minutes, and has the added advan- tage of eliminating ambulance traffic from the vital bridgehead supply roads. Ambulances are reported to have taken as much as four hours to reach the same field hospital from the front. B-24 Into C-109 T IBERATOR bombers are now being -L' converted into "flying tankers" at ' "rlenn Martin's Baltimore plant by re- moval of all interior equipment and in- stalling large collapsible fuel cells made of synthetic rubber or other petrol- resistant material as used in self-sealing tanks. Developed by- Martin Engineering, these cells are called" marengs " (the origin of the name will be ob-vious), and the flying tankers so fitted aredesignated C-109. The first C-iogs, usedto supply fuel to B-29 squadrons based inChina, were modified by the U.S.A.A.F., but thelatest mareng equipment is said to incorporateseveral improvements. Light U.S. Losses U.S.A.A.F. casualtyfigures issued by the War Department atWashington recently showed that their air-craft losses for the Strategic Air Force inthe European and Mediter-ranean theatres from enemy action in 1944averaged less than two per cent. The actualfigure given for the Britain - based EighthU.S. Air Force and the 15th Air Force in Italywas 1.7 per cent. But February last wasan even better period for the heavy bombers, theloss rate among the 20,682 aircraft sentagainst German targets being only 0.9 per cent. In the Mediterranean theatre, not asingle heavy bomber was lost by enemy action from February 13th to 25th inclu-sive. Sale of R.A.A.F. Planes THE Commonwealth Disposals Com-mission'has put up for sale 87 air- craft released by the R.A.A.F. They range from 90 h.p. Moth Minors to a twin-engined Douglas Dolphin flying boat. The Moth Minors, of which there were 20 available, are 1939 models and prob- ably represented the most appealing line for the private owner, since they use only 4 gals. x an hour and cruise at 95 m.p.h. Other useful "owner-pilot" types included 23 Ryans (PT-20 type with external wire bracing), and some older Gipsy Moths with '' upright''engines. A number of Fairchilds and a Beechc.raft are without engines, which is rather a problem, as the machines were submitted to public tender "as is, where is," to sse what sort of prices they would attract. Incident- ally, private flyers in Australia are at present allowed enough petrol to fly two hours a month. PENETRATION IN DEPTH: This now-familiar phrase might aptly be applied to the crater made by a 22,ooolb. bomb dropped on a British range during experimental tests. Note the small figure on the far brink. Two S.L.A.E. Lectures POINTS arising from the ChicagoConference as they affect the Licensed Aircraft Engineer'' is the title of a lecture to be given to the Society of Licensed Aircraft Engineers by Mr. T. R. Thomas, B.Sc, F.R.Ae.S., on Saturday next, April 7th. The meeting will be held at Brettenham House (south entrance), Lancaster Place, Lon- don, W.C.2, starting at 2 p.m. The society has also arranged a meeting at Prestwick Airfield for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 18th, when Mr. Robert .P. Urry, B.Sc.(Hon.), will give a talk on " Some General Considerations on the Problems Involved in Super- charging and High-altitude Flying." Trade Appointments SIR PATRICK HENNESSY, who-hasbeen general manager of the Ford Motor Co., Ltd., Dagenham, for the past six years, has been elected to the board of directors as from March 21st. He joined the company at Cork after the 1914-18 war, and was subsequently appointed purchase manager of the English company. Then in 1940 he joined M.A.P. under Lord Beaverbrook and received a knighthood for his services. • * # Mr. E. Player, technical director of Birmid Industries, Ltd., has been appointed joint managing director of that company and also of the Birming- ham Aluminium Casting Co., Ltd.—a subsidiary. He will act with Mr. Cyril C. Maudsley, who continues as chairman and joint managing director of both concerns.
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