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Aviation History
1946
1946 - 0981.PDF
V I 6TH, 1948 FLIGHT 503 CORRESPONDENCE poses, ingenious load charts. Such charts, of an admirablelay-out, were included in R.A.F. handbooks lor types used in airborne operations, where the e.g. problem and changes inflight are most critical. Transport Command's endeavour to promote e.g. "consciousness" through humorous posters wasalso considerable. Load charts are not the only solution. Aircraft of Americanmanufacture were delivered to the K.A.F. together with their airborne " load adjuster." This was a beautifully made multi-coloured slide rule giving the e.g. limits and position for all conceivable service loads. There is no reason why this devicecannot be improved and adapted for civil freight routine. .Another device, now obsolete, but yet convenient, was theloading calculator"—a rather expensive ground item with a knife-edge suspended scale section of the aircraft and a set ofsmall, weights representing loads. No matter which device is used, the time for the creation of " air stevedores " is not faroff. Transport Command is already entrusting the stowage of aircraft in its main airfields to personnel particularly conversantwith the problems of the e.g. Judging from the changes of e.g. position of the Wellington,when the tail gunner goes forward, or the behaviour of the old Bombay when a passenger walked aft. one is inclined to believethe story about the two fat ladies quoted by Mr. Howard. Vet this is not the only " dynamic " aspect of the question. Con-sumption of fuel, particularly that placed in post-design over- load tanks, jamming of the undercarriage, etc.. can cause thedeterioration of a borderline e.g. position, when taking off. to an out-of-the-limits position in flight and thus constitute con-tributory, if not dominant, factors of some unexplained acci- dents. Finally, whilst admitting that prevention is better than cureand that an experienced pilot should be able to "smell " in- correct loading as soon as he gets in level flight, it is thought.that a universal practice to flight-test new and ex-overhaul air- craft in loaded condition and extreme e.g. positions, thuseliminating any aerodynamic trim defects, will assist user- pilots in deciding on the extent of incorrectness of the loadingand if it is necessary to land again. Durban. P. J. YANGOS, Wing Cdr. (Rlrd.). I OH THE BOOKSHELF " i'wnt Line Radar," by Sqn. Ldr. C. A. Martin, t'orster Groom and Co., is 6d. 'T'HE story of the travels and adventures of eight smallJ-, mobile signals units from the time they landed in Nor- mandy until V.E. day makes instructive and exciting reading.In his personal narrative, Sqn. Ldr. C A. Martin, Officer Commanding these units, tells us of the work his R.A.F.(Eureka radar) "Beacon Boys" did in aiding the 2nd T.A.F. aircraft to navigate to their targets..First printed in Brussels as a souvenir record for members of the units, this little booklet includes an appreciation byAir Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham. "Radar," by Maj. R.- W. Hallows, T.D., M.A. Cimtab., A.I.M.E.E. Chapman and Hull, Ltd., ys (id. ONE of the most fascinating scientific developments of thewar, radar was used by thousands of men and women in uniform but understood by very few. Security regulationsnaturally-placed radar equipment in the most secret category and now when such secrets may be told, few have the know-ledge to do so and little has been written about it. Maj. R. W. Hallows, wartime Chief Instructor in anti-aircraft (radar) firecontrol, is the author of Radar, a most interesting book which explains the theory and applications of radar in termswhich can be understood by everyone. With the aid of many simple diagrams the author describes ether waves and wirelesswaves and makes clear the principles of the cathode ray tube. In subsequent chapters'he explains the operation of radioloca-tion1 equipment, H2S, etc. General Sir F. A. Pile writes in his foreword, "This bookwould have been of great value to us all in the past five years, and today it will be welcomed by hosts of people who are in-terested in this new scientific development." " Merchant Airmen." H.M. Stationery Office, 2s net. AS war ended in one theatre after another, so. little by little,stories of campaigns and of untold gallantry began to be unfolded. Some of them have appeared as official accounts,some as personal reminiscences, but each has produced its share of surprises. Perhaps, however, one of the biggest surprisesto many people will be found in the history of some of the men ^»'ho flew abroad unarmed and nearly always unescorted. Nor better name for them could possibly be found than the title of the book which attempts to tell their wartime history—. Merchant Airmen. I say " attempts to tell " advisedly. The real story wouldfill many volumes of the size of this book. To cover such a story within the compass of 208 pages is patently impossible,and yet Merchant Airmen succeeds in what it has set out to do—namely, to give the public, for the first time, some ideaof its debt to the ground staffs who maintained and handled transport aircraft, and to the pilots who flew them overthousands of miles of land and sea, frequently over uncharted air routes, where not only were there perils from the enemy,but equally vicious perils from Nature herself. There was no form of transport operation which was notundertaken by these men, and the part played by a fleet of imperial Airways Empire flying boats, augmented by an assort-ment of aircraft such as was available to B.O.A.C. during the roost difficult early war years, makes engrossing reading. Merchant Airmen describes itself as an " Air Ministryaccount of British Civil Aviation, iQ. 9-r9M. prepared by the Ministry of Information "—a prosaic description which baldlydoes justice to the contents. It is capably produced, excel- lently illustrated and. although inclined to be factual, itunbends from time to time in orde: to describe to us in picturesque language some remote, part of Africa or Arabia,or to quote some anecdote which makes one feel that the writer is drawing on his own experiences. Incidentally, many of thedescriptions of places are really first class—even to one who knows these places well.Perhaps the one criticism which can be made is that, although a very serious effort has been made to make the readerunderstand the appalling difficulties which were involved in pioneering new routes across Africa and round the SouthArabian coast in wartime, the effort has not entirely succe«ded. Perhaps it was hardly to be expected. To convey on paper,for the uninitiated, a real idea of the incredible problems which had to be solved, or of the appalling conditions of heat, highhumidity and the like which had to be endured, would have been well-nigh impossible. Nevertheless, when all is said.Merchant Airmen is a worthy, although all-too-s;hort tribute to a very gallant body of men and women. C. S. W. " The A.B.C. of Practical Astro-Navigation." by R. K. Van-derwotd. Pitman and Sons, Ltd., 65. OF the large number of trained air navigators existing to-day,the majority will have gained their knowledge and experi- ence in the R.A.F., and in view of the conditions of opera-tion and the special aids to navigation available, they will have made little use of astrcrstiots. Unless it is in regular use, know-ledge of astro-navigation very quickly becomes rusty. In his foreword to The A.B.C. of Practical Aslro-Naviga-lion, Capt. H. F. Chase says, " When in flight, and maybe under trying conditions, there is no time to pause and con-sider the next step in the calculation—the work must become a habit born of experience. The object of this book is to pro-vide just this experience." The book is recommended for those who wish to brush uptheir practical astro-nav., or who wish to study it for the first time with the minimum of mathematical effort. '• The Story of the Mr Training Corps " Edited by LeonardTaylor; Rolls House Publishing Co., Ltd., 3s. PUBLISHED for the Air League of the British Empire, thiswell-produced book contains between its strong board covers a record of the A.T.C. which is at the same time atribute to its work, and it is an admirable substitute for the official book on the Corps which ought to have been compiledbut has not yet appeared. Perhaps " substitute " is not a sufficiently appreciative word, for no official record wouldbe likely to appear in more attractive, well-illustrated guise. The Editor of The A.T.C. Gazette, Mr. Leonard Taylor, ha»gathered into this publication a series of contributions by a number of Service and civilian personalities whose energy andenthusiasm for the Corps has long been known and appreciated by its members; between them they cover every phase of thisnational organization which made such a vital contribution to victory. Altogether more than 500,000 people have playedtheir part in the work of the Corps, including some 40,000 officers, instructors, commrttee members and other helpers, towhom Marshal of the R.A.F. Lord Tedder pays tribute in his foreword. " It is peace with leeth,'1 says Lord Tedder, " andthe R.A.F., and the A.T.C., still has a job to do."—N. D. K.
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