FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1945
1945 - 1838.PDF
SEPTEMBER 2OTH, 1945 FLIGHT 301 I11 the Air Handling Impressions of R.A.F. Aircraft : The First of a Series of Brief Word Sketches by "Indicator" AFTER a spell as a ferry pilot with A.T.A. in the early stages of the war, "Indicator" then entered the Royal Air Force as a test pilot. He thus has hod a unique opportunity to handle military aircraft as delivered from the factory and also under service conditions. The quiet fun which he poke; at some of the types may be gentle revenge for the occasional tight, corner in which he has found himself whilst flying a diversity of types during the past six years. NOBODY-has yet succeeded in explaining to every-one's satisfaction the peculiar fascination whichflying has for those who have been at all actively concerned with it. One or two writers have come very Vclpse to the elusive truth in their attempts to\explain the probably inexplicable — but they have ithemselves obviouly felt the grip of the thing. Cerfeinly it is nothing to do with being " air-minded,"lor/of being of an " adventurous nature," or even of fehfg inordinately fond of things mechanical. Whatever the reason, it causes flying beople to more shop, in and out/of school, than anjr other ^ ot the community ; jJ'causQs them to shooi whati to be monumental " lines "\amongst themleh probably causes them to be \he l they make the cardinal error of getting on to their pet subject amongst philistines. For their sins, or otherwise, the majority of wartime pilots have, perforce, been concerned with only two or three aircraft types during their careers. They may be .interested in somebodv,-else's ideas about aircraft they haven't flown—andyw^ll opuJbably be infuriated by this same person's y*as abojjTaircraft which they know, or have know Each Jrfe (fern wlconsidered as a stepping-stone' to bety^blngs,\ajid n3«e is perfect, so there should be io jjptrri in\ poking a little quiet fun at some of the ures\andvhabits of aircraft which were once at the 5f fseir class and considered to be as perfect as Caesar's wife. Ubiquity Itself—the Beaufighter TT was rather like standing at the back of t&^Hpper circle at the cinema, that first "see-how" ricte in a Beau- fighter, with my hands on the back of the pilot's seat and his head so thoroughly impeding the view of the "screen." Furthermore, the "cinema" consisted almost entirely of a mighty Wiirlitzer at which sat the pilot- organist, and the impression was even more strong when, after a circuit, I took my place at the desk, while the demonstrator all but broke his neck in a panic effort to get out before I took off with him. yf ^~~""'—" But a well-laid basis of '' drill'' soon /put the -emema- organ effect in its proper perspective, and, after Jxiefly clearing the two Hercules, I turned on to the -runway, prayed, and slewed quietly off in what ptared to be a couple of hundred yards, word '' slewed '' seems to cover the genera pression, since, with nothing in front of .w but an enormous, flat, bullet-proof screen, \ ^"difficult to know whether the aircraft is going straight or whether the tail is whe|e should be. In fact, I should say that nearly everyone makes a tail-down take-off on firsi a tempt-^and a great many people continue to so foi^e rest of their time on Beaus. But tWat screen is a real joy at all other moments. \x As with every other twin, there is an in\ cipient swing to be corrected on the rudder and throttles, but it is only with the Merlin-engined •rsion that any very obvious corrections must iJfc made. Owing to some peculiarity of relative keel-surface, the latter version appears to travel somewhat crabwise until Though the Beaufighter II did very good work, the machine was, after all, designed around a pair of Hercules, and the YLfpm.s presumably a necessary and worthy stop- gap in t)m bad years. Those who "lived" in the II will hear nothing against it—which is always a good sign ; every aircraft, for some reason or other, develops a reputation for some peculiarity in its early days. A solid, rather "hard," affair the Beaufighter is in the air; it feels (and is) immensely strong, and seems to be —able to carry anything, while the two Hercules run like smofey ,tuAines and pull the aircraft upwards as if it were a smootj^and quiet lift. Earlier versions suffered a degree ft instability, particularly on the glide, but it has reached a reason- able speed, and this ''iect may be accentu- ated by the way in which i "< undercarriage legs re- dact one after the other. Bristol Beaufighters have given long and faithful service. This one is of 1941 vin- tage.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
