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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 1344.PDF
JULY I2TH, 1945 FLIGHT SPEED-RANGE INDICATOR the indicated maximum speed becomes less, until, on reach- ing the absolute ceiling of the aircraft, the indicated flying speed and stalling speed of the machine are approximately the same, i.e., the available speed range has become nil. Therefore, although the actual stalling speed at altitude is increased and the actual flying speed is reduced until they are approximately equal at the absolute ceiling, the reduc- tion in speed range on the indicator will be correctly shown by the movement of the flying-speed pointer towards the ' stalling-speed pointer. ;. • In this way, the instrument will show the approach to :';'• the aircraft's ceiling and the reduction in speed range avail- [ able for manoeuvring at an increased value of G ; the stall- i ing-speed pointer turning towards the flying-speed needle j' with increase in G. and the flying-speed pointer turning [ towards the stalling-speed pointer as the ceiling is fe approached. The instrument will therefore give a better L indication of the practical service ceiling as shown by the Ht spacing between the two needles than will the usual 100 I ft./min. indication on the rate of climb indicator. " The instrument may also be used as a " G " metre ; the indicated stall speed „ . value of G being —r—= r~n 3-" "• This may be of basic stall speed interest, for instance, in showing the pilot the G at which he " blacks out." On the instrument illustrated the " g " scale is marked on the dial with segments between 5 and 6 g coloured red to represent the black-out region, and between 8 and 9 CARGO SUPERCLIPPER A TRANSPORT version of the Consolidated 204-seater"super clipper" on order for Pan-American Airways for post-war transatlantic service is being produced for the U.S.A.A.F. Air Transport Command. This giant aircraft, briefly described in Flight, April 12th, -has a span of 230ft. and a length of 182ft., and is powered by six engines mounted on the trailing edge of the wings and driv- ing pusher propellers. It has a total pay-load of 50,000 lb., a cruising speed of about 340 m.p.h., and a range of well over 4,000 miles with full load. The fuselage is pressurised to permit operation at 30,000ft. "THE FEW" NUMBERED 414 ONLY 414 pilots and 300 fighters, totalling 18 squadrons,faced the Luftwaffe when the Rattle of Britain opened five years ago, the British information Service in New York disclosed last week. That was the strength of No. 11 Group which was directed from a secret underground command post at Uxbridge, Middle- sex, and which, as the famous "Few," bore the brunt of the battle. Only three of these squadrons were equipped with Spitfires. Ten Others flew Hurricanes, and the rest fought in obsolete aircraft. Many of the squadrons were below the prescribed strength of eighteen aircraft each, although all were-able to put at least twelve into the air when the call came to " scramble." ART AIDS "SSAFA" IT has ever been a matter for debate whether a critic of artor entertainment should allow himself to be influenced by the fact that the subject of his review is in aid of charity. The purists hold that it is the moral duty of the critic to give his opinion on the presentation unbiased by any possible effects on a good cause, but the humanists believe he should put the cause first and say it's a good show whether he really thinks it is or not. When Flight is invited to attend an exhibition of pictures because it has an R.A.F. angle, the above problem only arises 111 respect of those exhibits dealing directly with aircraft and life in the Service; we prefer not to air opinions on those depicting things outside this journal's normal terms of refer- ence. Thus, in reviewing the one-man exhibition of drawings and paintings by A. C. David Smith opened by Group Capt. Douglas Bader in the Cooling Galleries, New Bond Street, London, W.i, recently, the proceeds of which are in aid of the Soldiers', Sailors', and Airmen's Families Association, we to represent the region where the wings are likely to come off. The mechanism required to operate the stall-speed pointer (additional-to the usual A.S.I, mechanism) consists of a small counter-weight on the end of an arm, mounted within the instrument body, which is free to move in a vertical direction and which is restrained against downward move- ment by a small coi! spring. The weight moves down with increase in G and actuates a mechanism which causes the stall-speed pointer to turn to an extent proportional to the square root of the movement of the weight. The stalling- speed pointer is concentric with the A.S.I, pointer and makes use of the same speed scale on the dial as the A.S.I, pointer. If required, an adjusting screw may be incorporated which will vary the setting of the stalling-speed pointer to suit the change in basic stalling speed caused by change in the loaded weight of the aircraft, but it would be neces- sary in this case to employ a logarithmic speed scale. This would permit adjustment of the stalling-speed pointer to various basic stalling speeds for conditions of aircraft load- ing and would also give wider spacings at the low-speed end of the scale. The new instrument is intended to replace the conven- tional A.S.I., as it gives normally unavailable information to the pilot without the addition of a further instrument and without any additional installation complications. The diameter and mounting flange are as for the standard A.S.I., so that the instrument may be interchanged without modifi- cation to the orthodox panel. The only difference in dimensions compared with the standard A.S.I, is in the depth behind the mounting flange, which is -fein. greater. are in the happy position of being able to say that this youngR.A.F. artist's Halifaxes, Stirlings, etc., are immediately recog- nisable as such and that in the broader scenes of life in theService the right atmosphere is admirably caught. David Smith, a number of whose pictures have been pur-chased by the National Collection of War Records by the War Artists' Advisory Committee, told us that he is still experi-menting, having entered the R.A.F. five years ago when still a student-teacher. Nearly 100 ol his pictures (only 79 of whichare ncU^/ty catalogued) are gathered together in this exhibi- tion^md they show a number of very different styles. "Onejjifperiments for quite a long time before settling down to one particular style," he said. * N. D. R. JET PROPULSION )NFERENCEJ ET propulsion and gas turbingpGevelopments, which alreadyare blazing a meteoric trad^nto a new era of military and civil air operations, were" a^ently anatysed at Swampscott,Mass. The occasion was a^mational three-day conference spon- sored by the Air Techni^rService Command of the U.S.A.A.F.d h Gl El^ an the General outstanding practic en t and engine CQ tiq ipany, asravvas attended by 275 earch/?Mgineers\>f the major air- %ted States, and a delega- heypurposeyBt the Air^J^e^iical Service Command is tostfaulate R^^radvjtncJk in^et propulsion and gas turbines th outh tha^)ooling\o/ nrcts and ideas on the harnessing ofth n\otiy<r force^or aircraft power plants. of ^ire official British delegation attending tl\e con-ed Air Vice Marshal L. M. lies. Controller of Services of the British Air Commission; GroupWatt, Deputy Director.of Turbine Engines of the Ministry of Aircraft Production; W. G. Carter, chief designerof the Gloster Aircraft Company, and Major F. B. Halford, technical director of the de Havilland Engine Company. NEW R.R. PUBLICITY CHIEF MR. M. PROCTER-GREGG, who has been appointed pub-licity manager for Rolls-Royce aircraft engines at Derby, had previously held a similar post with the Bristol Aeroplane Co. since the beginning of the war. He was responsible for (among other successful innovations) the first technical in- struction advertisements on the Hercules engine and the Beau- fighter which appeared in colour in Flight, :md thousands of which were serit out to the R.A.F. at home and Abroad, and to the A.T.C. Mr. Procter-Gregg served in the R.F.C. in the 1914-18 war, and in recent months has been engaged on a study of the economics of Empire air transport as market research engineer.
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