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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 0795.PDF
APRIL 26TH, 1945 FLIGHT 443 HERE AND THERE *- several minutes and " gained altitude atwill," after a launch by motor car tow, was described in the American journal,Gliding, recently, which said the gull wings moved through a 32m. arc andwere operated by the pilot. The move- ment was conveyed to the wings by theirsupporting struts, which were linked to a lever in the cockpit. As the craft was evidently built onsailplane lines, the possible presence of thermals cannot entirely be disregarded. Jet Fuel Research SHELL UNION has built and is nowoperating a laboratory for the study of fuels and lubricants suitable for use in jet-propulsion power-units, it is announced by the Wall Street Journal. This laboratory is at Wood River, Illinois. New British Bomber \WQIR ROY DOBSON, managing director v5 of A. V. Roe and Co., recently dis- closed that a new Avro bomber, bigger than the Lancaster, is being built pri- marily for attacks on Japan. Like the Lancaster and the York, the new super-bomber will be named after a city in the north of England, but it is not permitted to publish even so much as its name at the time of writing. In the Family Tradition SQN. LDR. JOHN A. SOWREY, whohas just been awarded the D.F.C., belongs to a family which has been '' in the Service " since the old R.F.C. days of the last war. He is the eldest son of Air Comdre. J. Sowrey; his younger brother, P/O. J. A. F. Sowrey, was killed in action in North Africa in 1941, and his sister is serving in the W.A.A.F. Furthermore, his uncles are Group Capt. F. Sowrey, who shot down the L.32 at Billericay in 1916, and Air Comdre. W. Sowrey, who commanded the Imperial Air Forces during the Abyssinian cam- paign, and his cousin (son of Group Capt. F. Sowrey) is Fit. Lt. F. B. Sowrey, now serving as an R.A.F. pilot. Spain Slams the Door LAST week Spain told the Germanembassy in Madrid that in future noGerman aircraft of any kind could land ^ on Spanish territory, and her Govern-ment advised the British Govern- ment of this new order. The decision was, of course,the result of Allied representa- tions, because there can be littledoubt that more than one Nazi thug had the idea of escapingwith as much loot as possible via \ Spain, using the Lufthansa civilair service to Madrid, which had been maintained throughout thewar till Spain suddenly slammed , the door.. It may be pure chance that >•Spain's decision coincided with the release, by the Portuguese . «^..censors, of news of the arrival at Lisbon airport of three German* civilians, in a stolen bomber a fortnight previously, though itappears that the identity of these fugitives shows them to be onlysmall fry. Evidently Sweden is also getting overcrowded with "Ibad German navigators. Signals Expert IR COMMODORE W. E. G.("PEDRO") MANN, C.B.E., D.F.C., who was Chief Signals Officerunder Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder during the campaigns in theWestern Desert, and who for thepast year has been Senior Air StaffOfficer to a home- based R.A.F. sig-nals group, is leaving the R.A.F.to take charge of civil aviation sig-nals in the Middle East. His head-quarters- will be at Cairo, and hewill also be the personalsentative AirComdre.W.E.G.Mann,C.B.E.,D.F.C repre-of Lord Swinton.'' Pedro '' Mann joined the R.N.A.S. in 1917 and has con-tinued in the R.A.F. since it was formed in 1918. He has held several importantposts and received the U.S. Legion of Merit for his services with the AlliedForces during the North African and Sicilian landings, but he will perhaps bebest remembered for his leadership of the first upside-down formation flight by theR.A.F. at Hendon Air Pageant, a spec- tacular display which he perfected w-hilean instructor at the Central Flying School, then at Uphaven. "Pedro"Mann's flight, using Sopwith Snipes, gave flying displays all over the country in theearly 1920s. Apathy to Civil Aviation AT the annual meeting of the Ae.E.A.recently held in Belfast, Mr. John G. Kennedy, in his presidential address,commented on the '' apathy to civil avia- tion pervading in Northern Ireland inGovernment and other circles" which was necessitating the removal of theheadquarters of the Association to England. He pointed out that the Ae.E.A. wasthe first trade union in history to operate all over the United Kingdom from Bel-fast, but in view of the obvious advan- tages of the headquaters being where thebulk of the members lived, he felt sure no disadvantage would accrue from thechange. He hoped that in the years of progress which lay ahead, the Association wouldcontinue in its present policy of trying to contribute something from theworkers' side to the progress of com-" mercial aviation. Donner und Blister 'THUNDERBOLTS of the 12th U.S.-*• Air Force, it was officially disclosed last week, have for some time been usingan aerial version of the flame-thrower in operations against the Germans. This fearsome weapon is fitted in the" belly tank " position and scorches the earth over a path j50ft. wide and 250ft.long when the inflammable contents of the tank is released. According to German prisoners' re-ports based on experience from the re- ceiving end, it" is a very effective morale-buster. For Washington wonder if you punch! AIR COMDRE. LESLIE MILLING-TON ILES, A.F.C., has been ap- pointed to the British Air Commission atWashington as controller of technical services, with the acting rank of Air Vice-Marshal. He has been A.O.C. a group in India for the past three years, but hefirst joined the R.F.C. in 1917 and, since 1933, has been mainly engaged in engin-eering duties with the R.A.F., spending some two years at the School of Aero-nautical Engineering. U.S. Decorations for R.A.F.S EVEN U.S. Distinguished FlyingCrosses and ten U.S. Air Medals were awarded last week to R.A.F. aircrewswho flew and supplied the Allied troops at Arnhem last September. The decora-tions were presented by Lt. Gen. Lewis Brereton, Commander of the 1st AlliedAirborne Army. Among the recipients of the D.F.C.was Fit. Lt. Lord Decies, who returned from the U.S.A. to join the R.A.F. andwho was wounded during one of the nine sorties he made as an air gunner duringthe Arnhem operation. King's Pilot Honoured AIR COMDRE. E. H. FIELDEN, Cap-tain of the King's Flight and His Majesty's pilot for the past 15 years, hasbeen decorated with the Croix de Guerre by Gen. Joseph Pierre Koenig, MilitaryGovernor of Paris, in recognition of his services in flying secret missions to theFrench resistance movement during the German occupation of France. With Air Comdre. Field en, nother R.A.F. officers were simi- larly decorated. These were:Group Capt. K. S. Batchelow, Wing Cdrs. D. Speare, W. J.Burnett, J. C. Corby, R. W. J. Hooper and E. F. Ratcliff,Fit.' Lts. F. Ashly and T. L. Buchanan, F/O. H. C. Brown,and P/Os. R. Rae and N. F. Ratcliff. When presenting the awardsGen. Koenig said: "France will never forget this ceremony be-cause you Englishmen played such brave parts in preparing ourcountry for its liberation." Trade AnnouncementT HE headquarters of Mr. A.Healey, Dunlop director of production, have been transferred •from Fort Dunlop to St. James's House, St. James's Street, Lon-don, S.W.i.
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