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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 0083.PDF
JANUARY I6TH, 1947 FLIGHT 7» A.E.A.F. OPERATIONS IN NORTH-WEST EUROPE ten sightings were made and seven attacks made. Some attacks resulted in Mils. Air operations against enemy surface forces, including the protective mine- laying by Bomber Command, not only assisted ,in safeguarding the Allied mer- chant fleets from surface attacks but prevented any German attempt to evacuate the beleaguered coastal garri- sons by sea. At September 30th the Allied armies stood on, and in some places over, the THE name of John Montgomery as thefirst man ever to fly—or to be more precise, to glide—will doubtless be new to most of those who see the film '' Gal- lant Journey," which was shown to the Press in London last week, although references to his gliding experiments have appeared in various publications dating from 1909 up to as recently as 1940. But all these accounts of this young Californian's first airborne achievement in August, 1883, and his subsequent ex- periments which ended in his death fol- lowing a glider crash in 1911 have been rather sketchy and not always in agree- ment with each other. The film, how- ever, claims authenticity in having had its information from Johnny's still sur- viving brother, James Montgomery, a practising attorney in Oakland (Calif.), his surviving widow, Regina Cleary borders of the Reich proper. In 117 days since the assault began, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and a large part of Holland had been liberated. These 117 days had also been unprecedented in the scale of air effort employed. The aircraft of A.E.A.F. alone had flown 316,248 sorties, an average of 2,703 per day. The effort of the strategical air forces based in the United Kingdom raised this total to 552,197 sorties, an average of 4,719 per day. Air Chief Marshal Leigh-Mallory goes GALLANT JOURNEY Montgomery, who gave valuable advice during its production, and the sworn affidavits of three other people who saw his first flight. Having unearthed the true story, the Columbia Pictures Corp., Ltd., say that the reason it was nearly lost in the mists of antiquity are, first, Johnny's innate modesty (surely another record in Ameri- can aviation), and, secondly, the fact that his father was running for the assist- ant aftorney-generalship of the TJ.S. and his chances would be small if it leaked out that he had a "queer" son who wanted to "fly like the birds." Actually, young Montgomery's aero- nautical experiments were carried on intermittently (see The First Century of Flight in America, by Jeremiah Milbank, Jr.), and this may account for the some- what vague continuity of the film, par- ticularly in respect of the time factor. POLISH EQUIPMENTS THE Polish Air Force is equipped withRussian PE-2 twin-engine bombers, 1L-2 (Stormovik) ground-attack aircraft, Jak-3 fighters and UT2 trainers. The IL-2S are of the later type with dorsal- gunner's position. SUPER-FIREBALL A THE Ryan Aeronautical Company re-ports that when Rear Admiral H. B. Sallada, Chief of the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics, visited their plant re- cently he saw "the entirely new, larger and faster jet-pushed propeller-pulled Fireball fighter." U.S. TURBINE PROJECT^/ THE American Government has spon-sored the development of a new air- craft gas turbine by the De Laval Air- craft Gas Turbine Division, offshoot of t' 2 De Laval Steam Turbine Company. A novel type of compressor has been _- mentioned. m VOUGHT PIRATE , * " T)IRATE" is the name selected for -L the XF6U-1 fighter, the first jet- propelled aircraft built- by Chance Vought Aircraft. The Pirate, which is built of Vought " Metalite," a sand- wich material of thin aluminium sheets bonded to a balsa wood core, was illus- trated in Flight of December 5th last year. Flight tests at Muroc Dry Lake in the Mojave Desert are now under way. Edward Owen, Vought's chief experi- mental test pilot, made the first flight on October 2, 1946. BOEING " G.A.P.A '"FHE Great Salt Desert, Utah, is the J- locale for firing tests of sixty Boeing "ground-to-air pilotless aircraft." Capable of supersonic speeds, these are the forerunners of anti-aircraft devices. They are ten feet long and are powered by standard Aerojet rocket motors. FOR THE GREAT/ NORTH-WEST -^ A GROUP of B-29 Superfortresses anda squadron of P-51 Mustangs are to , train at Alaskan bases, where they will remain on temporary duty for six months. The bombers will use Elmendorf Field, near Anchorage, and the Mustangs will fly from Ladd Field. REX STOCKEN / "DEMOBBED"^ AFTER eight years in the R.A.F.,Wing Commander R. H. Stocken is baok at 109, Jermyn Street, London, W.I, and has resumed his various civilian interests, which include his firm, Airco, Ltd., sole representation of Interavia, and the business of aviation consultant. s A WEEK-END ANY ex-R.A.F. or ex-W.A.A.F. officerlooking for a pleasant way of spend- ing the week-ends and at the same time collecting a ^100 a year honorarium plus expenses, may be interested to hear that the Royal Air Force Flying Club is in search of an Honorary Secretary. The job leaves its holder free to follow other pursuits (such as earning a living) during the week when full attendance is not required, the main thing being on to discuss "special features," includ- ing administration, airfield construction, Air/Sea Rescue, air transport and evacuation of casualties, employment of balloons, provision of maps, signals communications and radar cover. Students of modern warfare will do well to digest his remarks, which in some cases are of a fairly technical nature. The despatch concludes with some reflections on the campaign, like- wise of very great value to the student. Janet Blair plays the girl, Regina Cleary. and though it's very pleasant to have her around, I felt that the latter part of the film was too apt to switch its focus from gliding to glamour. It runs for over an hour and could be cut to about 45 minutes with considerable advantage. Glenn Ford plays the hero, and that grand old veteran, Charles Ruggles, por- trays brother James in 1946. The actual gliding shots are well staged—some of them are rather ob- viously staged—and there are the (appar- ently) inevitable anachronisms, notably the very mo8ern "spectacles" on the control column of Johnny's last glider, and the patently modern flat-twin two- stroke with alloy heads which he was about to fit had he not crashed on the final gliding tests and died the same evening. At best this is a "second feature" film. N. D. R. week-end duty at Panshanger airfield, Herts, or an airfield in the South London area. Anyone interested should apply to the present "Hon. Sec." at Panshanger. SPORTING OFFER f^APT. TED SPENCER, a charter v^ pilot from Victoria Falls, Rhodesia, is offering free flights to 16 married ex- Servicemen who want to go to Africa. Their wives will not be able to fly with them, but could follow their husbands later. This fairy godfather to would-be emi- grants is now in London, and anyone wishing to take him up on his generous offer is invited to communicate with Mitchell Cotts & Co., Winchester House, Old Broad Street, London, E.C. If all one hears is only half true, there ought to be quite a long queue in Old Broad Street, to say nothing of record mail deliveries and endless phone calls! GLASS—WITHOUT CARE \it/S BULLET-PROOF glass for aircraftwas among the exhibits at the Conversazione of the Midland Institute at Birmingham last week. This included a 2^in thick windscreen from a Bristol Brigand. Built of seven layers of white plate glass, this windscreen is capable of withstanding the impact of a .5m cannon shell. Another bullet-proof windscreen, from a Typhoon, had been tested by a .303m rifle bullet. Members of the public—among them a 16-stone man—were invited to stand on a Triplex " toughened " windscreen. Triplex also demonstrated a glass-twist- ing machine.
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