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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 1335.PDF
38 FLIGHT " Indicator" Discusses Topics of the Day \V JULY 12TH, 1945 What Does the Private Owner Want ? Let the Amateur State His Requirements Now : The Importance of Overseas Markets : A Possible Specification : Some Personal Whims I F only because it may be some time before individuals,clubs and aircraft hire organisations are permitted topurchase and make use of small aircraft, now, it would seem, is the time for the amateur to state his wants. Whether or not official permission for the purchase and tree use of aircraft is likely to be given later or sooner, the aircraft industry, in its major part, is going to be much too busy on the development of Far Eastern mili- tary types and in satisfying the needs of the airline oper- ators during the next year or two for the fragile and indefinite light aircraft market to be seriously considered. In due course, however, as the other more important needs are satisfied, manufacturers will begin to look to this market as a possible means, at least, of filling in the gaps in the production programme, and even of helping along overseas sales by keeping their name continually in th^ foreground. And I do not think that the prospective pur- chaser should leave it entirely to the manufacturer to decide what he ought to want. In fact, however well the manufacturer may be represented in different parts of the world, he will not be able to decide successfully where overseas sales are concerned—and these ar^iikely to be by far the most important of any. A variety of types will suffice for th^/j^utoose, as they are not too expensive to nfaZ-jnid \ulfil c _ simple requirements. Shortness of WKe-off ot eas^J of starting, for instance, cannot greatly /matter wher^ there is an ample number of airfields and gd prepared to swing on the end of an airscrew where the annual maintenance bill is\con not -even matter whether the outfit is reasonably for adjustment and inspection. Endurance can be short or long. Individual Requirements I imagine that the sort of friendly little group of small aircraft firms, which we knew so well before the war, will be able to cope quite adequately with the internal market. These will be much better able to build to personal speci- fication in the way that suits the average aircraft owner in this country and for special purposes in any compara- tively well-organised community. I may be quite wrong, but I cannot see the "pleasure owner" being happy to own an aircraft which is standardised and to be seen by the hundred everywhere he flies. For some more years, light aircraft will be considered rather as cars were con- sidered a quarter of a century ago—and as sailing craft are still considered. But it is a very different matter when we come to the all-too-seldom-considered overseas and Dominicn market—• and that is probably the only one worth serious attention by the bigger firms. In general, the purchasers in this market, widely spaced as they are, will no more mind flying a standardised aircraft than they have ever minded driving a practical and standardised car with a useful ground-clearance, a big woolly engine, and soft springs. Just as this type of car is bought for continuous practical work in all kinds of conditions, so the aircraft with a solid performance and sturdy background is likely to be the one to be bought. Certain obvious requirements can be mentioned, but the details of the specification must obviously come fiom the people who are going to make use of the machines. o are Except it wij, egsrol feason, A big engine, cruising at a low relative output, perhaps ; roominess in a special way and arranged so that the c. of g. cannot be widely shifted by careless loading ; ability to stand up to all-the-year-round '' dispersal" ; a short take- off run, with the help of "override" power and high-lift flaps; a steep and easy approach and a short landing run (with the help ef the same flaps) ; a vice-proof stall, and an undercarriage that will take anything within reason. K Of course, therthing will be heavier than the average pre- war light aiyraft, so we shall have to thipR: in terms of greater mgine-power with, maybe, ay^eparate high octane fuel Jupply for take-off and an interconnected fuel cock arranged on '' no-high-octane-no-through-the-gate- throttkr"~yFKiciples. For the rest, the engine should take ..^•ost " gftsAine. 7 # \ Flaps Essential ling on Jiveight and cost considerations, a two- fecrew might suffice. But the main help in shorten-r take-off/run should be from the high-lift flaps, evices, dbove all, are worthy of continuous and is research for use with all types of aircraft. It is ice d^igners (other than one or two) did anything mor/f than raise the wing-loading by a few more ids wnen a better performance was required—and that will npt do, either for our proposed "utility" private aircaffit (using the word in its old-fashioned sense), or for tlyrkind of feeder-line transport which will be bougrjfc>Jor iteration in similar conditions. Not that I am suggesting that there will be nothing to buy in the meantime. Whether or not the "little firms" blossom again, there will be a plentiful supply of the prac- tical light aircraft which have been doing .such good work with the Army and elsewhere, and which were becoming popular enough in the States during the peace years. But that, I feel, is only one answer to the requirements: Something larger and more roomy, but with a comparable " airfield " performance, will be needed. We do not want to find ourselves trying to sell, as an alternative, smooth, well-equipped, over-efficient and rather temperamental cruisers into which the larger series of light aircraft were tending to be developed before the war, both here and, in a rather different form, in America. They may still be toys, and are merely more expensive to buy and to run.; furthermore, their take-off characteristics were, in general, hardly good enough for casual day-to-day use in all con- ditions. It is difficult for those who have been designing, making and flying military types for the last five years or so to judge the requirements of the .civil pilots of five years hence. Most of us have developed biases of one kind or another, and for what they are worth as a guide I will confess to my own. For some time, the great majority of prospective purchasers and hirers of light aircraft will be ex-R.A.F., R.N.V.R. and A.T.A. pilots, and those who have been concerned in the production and flying of mili- tary aircraft generally, so my confessions may bg-A'aluable, if only to encourage others to state their whiirfs. At a moderately ripe flying age 1 admit that, if I am to fly for pleasure, the bothers of adjusting an approach should be reduced as far as possible. I disapprove of motoring approaches with single-engined aircraft, and think that as little motor as is expedient should be used
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