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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 2033.PDF
NOVEMBER 2OTH, 1947 FLIGHT Internal Air Lines one-time Schneider Trophy and Supermanne test pilot, is running the meteorological section here. The B.E. A. winter schedules omit direct services between London and Guernsey. Although this at first appears to be a disadvantage, the aircraft are based at Jersey and, weather and airfield permitting, call at Guernsey under that arrangement. Passengers may be taken by water to Jersey for the flight to the mainland if Guernsey is unfit. Southampton In addition to its function as an airport, Eastleigh is the home of one of the Vickers maintenance bases, Cunliffe- Owen's factory, Saunders Roe, Universal Flying Services, Rollasons, and the Hampshire Aeroplane Club. In 1916 the American Navy opened Eastleigh as an air station, and the hangars are still in use. After the war the air station Igpnained unused until the early 1920s, when the trans- atlantic shipping companies bought and opened it as Atlantic Park to be used as a clearing station for emigrants to Canada and the U.S. The Southampton Corporation bought the site in 1930, and opened it as an airport in 1934. Jersey Airways operated the first scheduled service to Southampton at the end of that year. Night-flying equip- ment was installed in 1935, and it has since been developed for all types of flying. The Admiralty requisitioned East- leigh as H.M.S. Raven and used the airfield throughout the war. In 1946 it was released, and now the M.C.A. are negotiating for ownership and control. From that short acrount of the development at South- ampton may be judged the resultant chaotic condition of accommodation. Each new owner has erected new and made additions to existing buildings. The Corporation are operating in totally inadequate space, and the impression given to passengers of the tarmac conditions and passenger-handling facilities is poor. To suggest airily that new buildings are necessary is not intended, but it does appear that Whereas large buildingprogrammes are going ahead at the London and some other airports, others of no less importance, are being neglected.Southampton is in a happy geographical position and traffic will undoubtedly expand, provided facilities progressto meet the demand. The ownership situation is still sub judice. and conse-quently little can be done at present; but the M.C.A. will be responsible for providing the means for dealing withnext year's tourist traffic. During the six months from April to September 30th thisyear, in 5,009 airciaft movements 18,770 passengers travelled in and out, of which incidentally 1,446 were enroute to Weston. In addition to passengers, the freight traffic is heavy. To the Channel Islands 303,079 lb of freightand 143,106 lb of G.P.O. mail was carried, and 75,014 lb of freight was flown in from the Islands. Flowers were flownin weighing 58,000 1b, and thousands of day-old chicks have passed through. During the summer there were 17 servicesa day each way. There are now 15 in and out, including p Dakota service which started on November 1st. Chartermovements over the four peak months were: June, 1,195 ; July, 888; August, 1,291; September, 961. With such a traffic volume not only is there inadequateaccommodation but the airfield will require eventual exten- sion. About 400 yards can be added to the North-Westrun, which might also allow the construction of another runway, at the Northern end, in the East/West direction.A type G electric flare path is going in, with sunken con- crete lights and a sodium approach funnel on the 030 QDMlanding run. MF/DF and VHF/RT are installed, VHF/ DF is expected, and the airport is listed to have S.B.A.in place of Loran 2 which is now being removed. The Channel Islands routes are probably the most profit-able in the whole B.E.A. system. The carrying capacity of the aircraft is small, however, and a type is needed tocarry an economic load at a moderate cruising speed and low landing speed. On such routes, where the advantageof air over sea is established, high speed is unnecessary. ROTATING-WING KITE OR GLIDER /J FEW weeks ago a friend of ours, Mr. Bruce Williams, the" well-known parachutist, called to discuss an idea which he had been nursing for some time. After an interesting andamusing chat he agreed to let us have some suggestions on paper. They duly arrived, and although it was probably notthe author's intention, it was felt that they merited publica- tion as they stood. They are presented below without furtherintroduction. LONG ago, when a '' drone'' was a powered glider and spivs. were professional parachutists—too lazy to work and toofoolish to know what they were doing—I saw the need for a rotating-wing glider to replace in part the parachute. Notso much for the individual, but for dropping medical aid and doctors or fire equipment into inaccessible spots with a reason-able degree of accuracy. I think it was in the middle 'thirties when some R.A.F. boxers crashed in the jungle, and thought py were discovered from the air, it took some days for theound party to fight their way to them. I knew the difficulties of getting spot landings by parachute,as I had toured the country with the Air Displays, often finish- ing up in hedges and trees, and sometimes in hospitals. Came the war, and I found myself in the next bed to M. A.P. sParachute Officer, S/L. Ross Shore, D.F.C., who was recovering from landing on a roof and then walking off. I had left Dun-kirk in a hurry but couldn't make the swim, and after swop- ping lines I found myself posted from my squadron to Ringwayas the first Chief Parachute Instructor. However, too many people are writing the " How 1 Won the. War" series with thisbackground, so I will get back to my rotating-wing story. Very early on I had put up to M.I.5 some possibilities of arotating-wing glider. I had thought up a few super-spy schemes to which they had very decently listened without anyoutward show that they thought me a little round the bend. So when I realized that we were very short of silk for para-chutes, I put my story to my CO., S/L. L. A. Strange, D.S.O., D.P.C., and he, together with the late W/C. Sir Nigel Norman,believed me. Sir Nigel soon got things moving and managed to persuadeM.A.P. to place the two leading rotating-wing experts, Raoul Hafner and Dr. J. A. J. Bennett together at Ringway airfield.Then started some of the most amusing experiments. Every- body was firmly convinced that madness reigned in the Develop-ment Unit, as it was called, and pictures appeared of grown men running around with toy windmills. But after manymonths of slide-rule labour, the Rotor Chute, as it was to be called, appeared and proved quite tractable in the hands ofF/L. Little, M.B.E. I must confess now that I had nothing to do with its actual production, though I always claim it asa child of mine, and I certainly followed its career like a "mother." We later found out that the Germans too hadthought of it. This brings me to the main point of my story. If a light,one-man rotating-wing kite can be successful, why not build a larger version and use it for one of the numerous ways thatspring to mind?' It could be used as a cheap and easy means for giving familiarization of controls, towed just airborneon a truck. This should appeal to the A.T.C., who have so much hard work merely for a ground slide in a primary glider.Or it could be towed behind a launch at sea, or behind a jeep on the beach, for increasing the fun of that trip in the " Sky-lark " or speedboat. And, of course, it could form a test bed for rotating-wing experiments. I am usually asked: What are us advantages over a glider?Well, it is just as safe or safer; it does not drop like a helicopter with engine failure before picking up autorotation, cs that is itsnormal form of lift; it lands slowly in the shortest space; it has a short take-off, especially if rotation is started previously. I have thought of a dozen ways of using the kite, and I haveconvinced quite a few people of its possibilities. But, alas, I am a complete sprog in the whole matter. Perhaps some ofFlight's more serious-minded readers could relax for long enough to pin down the snags. I am anxious to start somethingon these lines and would be delighted to have an opinion before I spend my ill-gotten gains, and would be glad of any co-opera-tion large or small. As it seems to be some time before our manu- facturers will have large-scale results from their helicopterplans, I can see a couple of years' remunerative amusement before we return to sanity. " BRUCE WILLIAMS.
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