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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 2079.PDF
432 FLIGHT OCTOBER I8TH, 1945 CORRESPONDENCE The Editor does not hold himselj responsible (or the views expressed by correspondents. The names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters. A GLOSTER METEOR IN ACTION A Slight Trail Sometimes Seen WITHOUT wishing to start a controversy on the .above-mentioned subject, I would like to state that for the last eighteen months I have been in a position to observe the take-ofi and flight of this aircraft, using different units, and I have yet to see '' a pall of what appears to be black smoke left around the starting point " as disclosed by H. M. Absolon. Granted, a slight trail of smoke is sometimes seen on accelera- tion climb or perhaps boost, but is not, so far as I can judge, constant. I am a non-technician, so perhaps "someone in the know" will enlighten us. " VILLAGER." OVER MOUNT EVEREST Automatic Relief Valve IN the caption which accompanied the photograph of anR.A.F. Mosquito flying over Mount Everest, appearing on p. 354, of Flight, September 27th, it is recalled that such a flight was first achieved by two Westland aircraft in April, 1933- In this connection it is interesting to note that Westland's also contributed to this latest conquest; the '' heart'' of the Mosquito pressure cabin being an intricate control valve, designed by Westland's, which has been the outcome of en- gineering research awakened bv such early pioneering flights. R. M. SELLENS. WHAT'S IN A NAME? Spitefulness is Not a Virtue /^ROUP CAPT. S. L. Quine objects to the name " Vampire " VJT (Flight, Sept. 27th), but I suggest that "Spiteful" is even less desirable. Patently the object in this instance was to use a name not too dissimilar from Spitfire, but I feel that this purely super- ficial link has been maintained at too great a price. Spiteful- ness is not a virtue; in fact, it is a particularly nasty trait in any character, and while I have no doubt whatever that the aircraft so named will prove itself to be such an excellent one that it will easily live down its unfortunate "handle," I feel it might have been given a flying start in life by gracing it with a far less obnoxious title. Its Naval equivalent, the Seafane has been much more fortunate in this respect. NORMAN DOWNES. CIVIL R/T RESTORED Boon to Internal Airlines ON September 5th Mr. E. L. Gandar Dower, M.P., managingdirector of Allied Airways (Gandar Dower), Ltd., tableda question for the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The question read as fojlows : — "To ask the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation whether he will now permit internal airlines to operate radio telephony for wireless guidance under the same conditions as existed prior to war." This question was tabled while the House was in fecess, but permission has already been given to use radio telephony on the Aberdeen and Inverness, Orkney and Shetland air services. This decision, which again permits civil pilots to use voice transmission instead of radio telegraphy, will prove a great boon to the airlines concerned. /As it eliminates the necessity of carrying a separate wireless operator, one advantage will be to provide more accommodation on aircraft for passengers. JOHN A. CAMERON (Press Officer), Allied Airways. "THE TUNE HAS CHANGED" What a Senior R.A.F. Officer SaidI HEARTILY agree with views expressed by " One of th: Many " following your bold leading article 6/9/45. The success of the A.T.C. was entirely due to the keenness of the officers, who did their job after putting in long hours at their own work or businesses. Very little practical help came from the V.I.P.s, but the officers slogged along cheerfully and often met considerable out-of-pocket expenses. Surely the Defence Medal should be granted to A.T.C. officers along with the Home Guard, wardens, N.F.S., fire watchers, etc. The writer was a warden in 19^8 and did a lot of work in organising the practical side of A.R.P. in his own district (7,000 population), including recruiting and training the voluntary street fire parties. He went over to the A.T.C. as the training of lads for the R.A.F., etc., was far more important than passive defence. The Air Ministry's appeal for officers is now tragic when one recalls that nine-months ago a senior R.A.F. officer of standing told many of us at a conference that, in view of altered con- ditions, " resignations would not be frowned on." This was followed up by calling for resignations in a nearby large city on amalgamation of squadrons—now I hear they are wanting officers there. Gong or no gong," we-can look back on a wartime volun- tary job well done, knowing that we contributed much more to the war effort than the many who watched and waited necessary as it was. " ANOTHER OF THE MANY." REFUELLING IN FLIGHT Assisted Take-off Will Make It ObsoleteI HAVE read in several recent issues articles on '' Ref uell in Flight," but I have never noticed the name of Nicolson coupled with refuelling in the air. It is now a very long rime ago that I had the privilege of reading his master patent, which covered not only refuelling, but transferring articles in the air. From memory I believe that Capt. Nicolson, in conjunction with the late John Lord (two of the directors of Saunders-Roe), were working on this scheme not long after the 1914-19 war. I met Capt. Nicolson some time ago, and I remember we discussed flight refuelling, and he mentioned to me that he had since taken out patents covering "Assisted Take-offs," which he thought would ulti- mately make flight refuelling (as known to-day) a thing of the past. In my opinion, flight refuelling was an asset up to the out- break of war, but with subsequent developments in aircraft design the principle of flight refuelling is obsolete. If a sound principle for assisted take-off is introduced (and it is that field where future developments should lie), there can be no use for refuelling in the air unless it be for endurance records F. HUNTLEY. Comparison of Systems A GREAT deal of publicity has recently been given to Sir ^ Alan Cobham's system of refuelling in the air. It would be interesting if any of your contributors could let me know how Sir Alan's system compares with Capt. Nicolson's system. About 20 years ago I investigated Nicolson's patent, and came to the conclusion that if anyone tried "refuelling in the air" they were bound to encroach on his patent, as he appeared to cover every aspect of the problem. At the time Capt. Nicolson took out his patent he was director of Saunders-Roe, and employed Mr. Marcus Langley" as one of his leading designers, and later I found that Mr. Langley had joined Sir Alan Cobham's company. It is there- fore obvious that if Nicolson and Langley would give their combined views, we would then be in a position to judge what contribution refuelling in the air could make to post-war air transport. As Capt. Nicolson and Mr. Langley are both naval archi- tects by profession their advice should be of particular interest to flying boat designers. I feel sure that many of your readers will appreciate the importance of this interesting subject. CHAS. A. HORNSBY, A.R.Ae.S. [Sir Alan Cobham's system is based on Capt. Nicolson's patents. Sir Alan purchased the patent rights.—ED.] EARTHBOUND NEUROSIS A New Disease Suffered by Ex-aircrew "Releases" ? ONE way or another a lot of new diseases, mainly of nervjjf;origin, have been discovered or invented during the last decade. Very shortly, it seems to me, we shall be able to add yet another if the boys at the top can't very soon make up their minds about the future of civil aviation—and, in par- ticular, the sort of civil aviation which concerns the private individual. I refer to neurosis of the earthbound—a savage and con- tagious complaint. Some thousands of people who have lived in and for the air will soon be loosed on an aircraftless and innocent world. For the first few weeks, perhaps, they will be glad of the rest and the change. Then, gradually at first,
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