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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 1895.PDF
33° FLIGHT SEPTEMBER 27TH, 1945 ATLANTIC ACHIEVEMENT dig them out of the snow, heated hangars have been in- stalled. The hazards and adventures of the early days of taming the Atlantic are now things of the past. Eleven British services are now operated each week across the Atlantic. From east to west the length of the Return Ferry flight, United Kingdom-Montreal (3,139 miles), is generally about 17 hours, and 13 hours in the reverse direction. Week in, week out the aircraft run with clockwork effi- ciency. Flight had the privilege last week of getting a glimpse of this smooth efficiency and quiet confidence when, at the invitation of the B.O.A.C., a party gathered at Prestwick to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the Return Ferry. These services are truly a combined opera- tion ; to Scottish aviation goes the credit of looking after the maintenance side at the Prestwick end of the opera- tions, and it speaks well for their efforts that all six of the original Liberators are still in service. Altogether, the twelve Liberators used on the Return Ferry Service are in themselves an achievement in the art of conversion based on tests and accumulated They carry 16 passengers and a crew of five, 99 been greatly modified to increase safety and comfort. Practically every member of the 15 aircrews has flown., at least 100 times across the Atlantic. The latest figures ' of Atlantic crossings completed by the top-scoring pilots and other aircrew are: Capt. L. V. Messenger 136, Capt. S. .W. A. Scott 132, Capt. W. L. Stewart 135, Capt. J. Pentland in, First Officer R. C. Bullock 76, Navigating Officer H. L. Staples 126, Radio Officer D. N. Rennie 134° and Flight Engineer E. D. Gilbertson 114. With the team work of such crews, the results of four years during which the B.O.A.C. operated this senior Atlantic service for the Air Ministry are impressive: a total of 1,750 transatlantic crossings has been made, and 20,000 priority passengers, 1,352,7911b. of freight and 2,300,0001b. of mail have been carried across the Atlantic. But figures alone do not adequately express the achieve- ment of this service. Inter-continental air transport now passes over from haphazard, seasonal '' flights when pos- sible " to scheduled and planned operations. The practical value of telescoping time and distance by air transport de- pends on such uninterrupted time-table operations. The Return Ferry service has the unique distinction of being the only two-way service to have regularly operated through four winters and summers across the North Atlantic and of thus opening up the world's most important •affic lane to all-year-round safe commercial air transport. Lily," The ^Rating Airstrip Invention Based on Increased Surface Tension of WaterB RITISH scientists have found a way to build a mid-Atlanticairstrip or a floating cross-channel bridge. This latest dis- covery in engineering-on-water began when an inventor'sbrainwave sent him motor cycling along a tarpaulin stretched over a river ford, and the principle has been sponsored anddeveloped by the Royal Navy. Ordinary surface-tension will support a needle on the water'ssurface. By putting a flexible synthetic surface on the and by increasing the tension about 400,000 times, it hasfound possible to support heavy lorries and aircraft ir ocean. One practical result oi the discovery is the proof man-made "islands" composed of hundreds of he, buoyancy cans—"islands" which can be built to,or length required, and which can be M ported and reassembled. Known as iytern resembles a carpet of lily leavas'on a pond, tfc application is that of the floatii^ftirstrip. ctiongonal shapetraas- pat-iate I "LILY " : The Navy's experimental floating airstrip measuring 520ft. x 60ft. ishere seen undulating in the wash of a passing launch. A 9,ooolb. aircraft has successfully used it. Another, which has already stood up to the severe practicaltests of war, is the '' Swiss roll,'' a floating pier that can be rolled up, carried on board ship and later rolled out again fromship to shore. This pier is nearly twenty times as light as a Bailey bridge of equal length, yet it will carry a 9-tonlorry. Inventor of these new devices is Mr. R. M. Hamilton, ofVictoria Street, London, S.W., who- served at the beginning of war as a Petty Officer in the Royal Naval Patrol Service.He is an inventor by profession. Co-operating on the involved mathematical calculations required was Mr. J. S. Herbert,housemaster at Eton College. Further developments from the original discovery are beingmade," Mr. Hamilton said, "but for the time being their nature must remain secret."The Navy's latest experiments, only recently concluded have been with a further development of the same fundamental prin-ciple, the "Lily" floating airstrip. ~ "Lily" is a very different propositionfrom " Swiss roll." It consists of numbers of buoyancy cans with hexagonal sur-faces, so linked together that they "give" in a controlled manner to themotion of the sea from any direction, yet remain sufficiently rigid to take theweight of a heavy aircraft. Whereas in "Swiss roll" tension is applied extern-ally, "Lily's" hexagonal surfaces, when linked together, create their own tension.The Navy's experimental airstrip shown in the picture is the smallest (fl^which practical tests could be under- taken, 520ft. long and 60ft. across. Onthis an aircraft, laden to 9,ooolb., has been landed and has taken off again. Astrip of this size can be assembled by 40 men in one hour. At present the cansare only 6ft. across and 30m. deep, but their size could be scaled-up. The whole surface of "Lily" isflexible, so that it will not break up, but this flexibility is controlled by the useof underwater dampers. The inventor claims that, with-the latest type dampers,more than 3 tons pressure is required to move the surface at all and that "Lily "will remain flat in waves up to 36ft. from crest to crest. The dream of Atlantic seadromes hashitherto been unattainable because it has not been possible to build large enoughstorm-proof flat-surface structures.
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