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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 1543.PDF
138 FLIGHT WAR IN THE AIR Japanese prisoners. It has been im- possible to count the number of Japan- ese dead who have fallen victims to the artillery and aircraft. The latter had a very uncomfortable time. Their airstrips in the padi fields were con- verted by the monsoon into mud strips The strikes have mostly been carried out by Spitfires and Thunder- bolts, and the latter had to fly 200 miles from their base to the battle zone. Sometimes the cloud ceiling has only been 100 feet high : but the attacks have been pressed home, even when rain obscured the windscreens and made it hard to see the targets. On occasions targets not more than 200 yards from our own front line have been effectively attacked. The East- ern Air Command will not be kept from fighting by anything. The term "Desert Air Force" will always be remembered. That force fought all the way through Northern Africa ; but when it was operat- THE SOFTENING-UPPROCESS : The town of Brunei after an attack byR.A.A.F. Beaufighters and Liberators during the land-ings by Australian troops in British North Borneo. ing over the moun- tains of the Apennines it was still known by the proud title of the Desert Air Force. Now we hear of a body called the Jungle Air Force in Burma. It has been operating with the newly formed 12th Army under Lieut. Gen. Sir Montague Stopford, and he has sent a message to the J.A.F. in which he praises their keenness and determination to get through in flying con- ditions which must have been most difficult. Ml[ENTION was made in theApril 12 issue of Flight of thegiant 160-ton super-clipper 204-passenger aircraft ordered by Pan American World Airways from Consolidated-Vultee. In the July 12th issue we further mentioned that a. cargo version of this aircraft was under construction by the same com- pany for the U.S. Army Air Transport Command The latter version is, it is under- stood, primarily intended for use as a troop carrier, although its capacity very well fits it for employment as a heavy cargo transport or hospital air- craft. As a cargo machine it is claimed that it will carry 100,000 lb. of pay- load for a distance of 1,500 miles, although, alternatively loaded with 19,000 gallons of fuel, a range of 8,000 miles is said to be possible with a greatly reduced payload. It is not unreasonable to suppose that the economical cruising CARGO HATCH Super Trooper consumption of the engines is about 100 (U.S.) gall./hr. each, thus making the gallonage required for a 1,500-mile trip at 310 m.p.h. about 3,000. The fuel weight would be approximately 18,000 lb., and, on the same count, 19,000 gall, would weigh 114,000 lb., so that we are thus led to assume that for a range of 8,000 miles at similar conditions the payload would be re- duced from 100,000 lb. to 4,000 lb. Six engines driving pusher propel- lers power the aircraft and, assuming an output of 2,800 h.p./engine, the power loading is a little over 19 lb./h.p. Additionally, for an approxi- mate aspect ratio of 8£, we may adduce that the wing area is roughly 6,220 sq. ft., and, therefore, that the wing loading is something over 51 lb./sq. ft. The fuselage is double-decked and of "double-bubble" cross-section, the waist being at upper-deck level. Similarly to the passenger liner, the transport version is said to have a pressurised fuselage for operation up to 30,000ft. The latter undertaking appears to be distinctly ambitious. As shown in the accompanying illustra- tion, the fuselage is equipped with loading ramps-cum-stairs, and an overhead monorail transporter system ' with electric hoists is incorporated to facili- tate handling the freight. MONORAIL ON BOTH DECKS HOIST ANO CONTROL CABLE FLIGHT DECK CARGO 10ADINC RAMPS AFT LOWER CARGO DECK FOSWARD LOADING RAMPS .STEPS BUILT INTO UNDERSIDE OF RAMPS REVERSE RAMPS JO USE AS STAIRS FORWARD LOWER CARGO DECK NOSE WHEEL COMPARTMENT STAIRWAY General arrangement of the fuselage interior isobviously engineered to provide the maximum degree of utilisation convenience and ease ofhandling the load to be carried. The electric hoist and conveyor system is particularly note-worthy and contrasts radically with the curious "observation cone " in the extreme tail.
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