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Aviation History
1946
1946 - 1964.PDF
354 FLIGHT OCTOBER 3RD, 1940 technicians feel that aircraft engines are being over- stressed in take-off conditions, then the accepted load maxima must be reduced. The loss of prestige in a service cancellation is infinitely less than that occasioned by any serious accident, and a slight loss of payload is a small price to pay for increased take-off safety. If air transport is to retain, and even increase, its present popularity, the overall safety standards, in comparison with other means of transport, must be high. The Price of ProgressO NCE again we have to mourn the passing of a gallant man who gave his life' in the cause of aviation. The progress of flying has only been achieved by such sacrifices. In the earliest days, the pioneers had little or no factual information to guide them, and it was by trial and error that they gradually had to find their way. Aviation has come a long way since that time, and instead of the designer being his own test pilot as well as constructor, the flight trials of a new type are now the responsibility of highly specialized test pilots. Many have given "their lives in the course of their duties, and it is fitting that on the sad occasiofi of the death of Geoffrey de Havilland a tribute should be paid also to those other test pilots who have sacrificed themselves in order that we might have better and better aircraft. The value of a good test pilot, although fully appreciated by the designers and technicians, is not understood by the general public, who are apt to think of him, if they consider him at all, as a dare-devil young man who takes his life in his hands every time he takes an aircraft up. • Nothing could, of course, be farther from the truth. That a test pilot must have courage goes without saying. But physical courage is no rare thing, as our young men proved so abundantly during the war. Skill is required, too, but mere piloting skill is not in itself sufficient. The CONTENTS The Outlook- - - - Miles on Supersonic Flight - - - National Air Races - Here and There - - - American Newsletter - TheD.H.103 - - - ' - Danish Week-end ... Spinning Intake - The Status of Civil Aviation in 1946- Civil Aviation Newi - - - - Correspondence Service Aviation - - 353 - 355 - 353 - 360 - 362 - 364 - 36S - 367 - 370 - 3/3 - 37o - 377 test pilot must be something of a technician, and when an unpleasant characteristic develops in a new type, he must be able to make a pretty shrewd estimate as to its probable cause. His task is rendered more difficult in modern times by the number of instruments he has to watch, and the many readings he has to take. The high speeds attained shortens the time available for making notes. Fortunately the camera has been intro- duced to relieve the pilot of some of these worries, and^ in the case of the D.H.108 the films may help to solvef the mystery of the breaking-up of the machine. ;% We are now in much the same position as were the* pioneers. Where they lacked reliable knowledge of the aerodynamics of flying problems, we now are groping our way into the unknown .regions of sonic flight. Theory can predict something, but the final proof must be pro->, vided by the test pilots, at least until such time as it' becomes possible to try-out new types by controlling them from the ground. Thus our test pilots are pioneers just as truly as were the early experimenters, although, in a different and much more dangerous way. Do not, - therefore, let us forget how much we ovve them. 'fr STRAIGHT-THROUGH JOB : The Republic (P-84) Thunderjet fighter with which the Americans are trying to beat the world'sair speed record of 616 m.p.h. set up by the Gloster Meteor. It is powered by an axial-flow General Electric gas turbine. Th3 maximum thrust of this unit has not yet been stated. Another picture will be found on p. 363.
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