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Aviation History
1948
1948 - 0951.PDF
June 14th, 1948 691 warned. The field of" view from the cockpit, both on the ground and in the air, is quite satisfactory, although the frame of the enclosure, with its numerous small panels, naturally produces a greater degree of obstruction than does the bubble type. Take-off It is important to line-up the 21R carefully, with nose wheel running straight, before opening up the Goblin against the brakes. Pro- A recent photograph of the cockpit and main instrument panel. Controls are grouped on the port side. (Left) This now-familiar view of the 21R illustrates well the wing form with its generous span and area. vided this is done, it moves off smoothly with good direc- tional control, and will fly itself off the ground, or may be pulled off, as soon as fly- ing speed is reached. Sitting * in the machine, taxying take-off, and even the feel on the initial climb reminded me strongly of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning. As instructed, I made the usual engine checks, set the elevator trimmer a fraction aft of neutral, lowered flaps to take-off position, then opened up slowly against the brakes. On release, the aircraft surged forward over «ie dust, and when enough runway had been covered, and ti|e pine forest ahead was approaching rapidly, I eased back on the control column and found that the machine was quite ready fo unstick! I am told that the speed must have been about 95 m.p.h., but it was at this point that I realized how J0 difficult it is to find one's way around the instruments in a ^ strange foreign cockpit. Although I thought I had carefully memorized their positions, it was several Seconds after leaving the ground before I could find any instrument that meant anything to me. For this reason I w4s rather late retracting the undercarriage and flaps, although their par- ticular levers were easy to find. I did at least succeed in keeping the jet-pipe temperature comfortably within limits, and remembered that before take-off the brakes held approximately 9,700 r.p.m. from the Goblin and that on the climb it was giving its full 10,200 r.p.m. When wheels and flaps were tucked up and I was climbing steadily at the correct speed of 235 m.p.h., I called up base to tell them that all was well. I had been told to use my own name as a call sign and found, as elsewhere in Sweden, that English seemed quite acceptable to the controller on the ground. Controls in the Air At 10,000ft I levelled off and tried the controls indi- vidually and also on a series of S-turns. The ailerons, which have geared tabs, are very smooth and responsive over a wide range of speeds, and the high rate of roll seemed better than might be expected in view of the wing span and area. The stick loads were just right and little increase in pressure was required to obtain the maximum rate of roll at the speed at which I was cruising, namely, 350 m.p.h. indicated. There is a slight softness or springi- ness about the elevators which, however, in no way detracts from their effectiveness. It occurred to me that an inexperienced pilot would be less likely to make harsh or damaging backward movements on the stick than might be the case with certain other high-speed aircraft. The three controls seemed well harmonized, although at cruising speeds the rudder was, perhaps, a little over-sensitive in view of the amount of use which is made of it. This is no doubt a result of the usual compromise, as it was noted later that the rudder becomes a little woolly at very low speeds. As a comment rather than a criticism, it may be added that the ailerons become slightly sluggish on the approach. The view of lakes and forest on that crystal-clear morning was breath-taking, and I decided to climb higher before returning to the airfield. At about 15,000ft I tried some aerobatics, starting with a slow roll at about 320 m.p.h. This proved smooth and simple to execute, and like other jet aircraft, the 21R seemed quite happy in any attitude. Before diving-off some of the height, I also tried a loop and a roll off the top at speeds of between 350 and 400 m.p.h. At this point the warning light for the port wing tank (which was part empty at take-off) showed it was time to switch over to the main tank. At a very safe estimate this allowed ten minutes' flying at full throttle before it was necessary to return to the airfield. It i§ not permitted to mention details of performance of the 21R at the high-speed end of the scale, but it is fair to say that this is very nearly as good as that of the Vampire with the same engine. On the descent, I dived up to a speed at which the first signs of compressibility could be detected in the form of rumbling and vibration, which appeared to come from behind the cockpit, and was in all probability, I am told, from the air intakes. Compres- sibility can be reached in level flight. As the speed increased, the stick force for the elevators increased slightly at first, then finally rather rapidly, and the aircraft tended to become nose-heavy at near limiting Mach number. Both for high altitude interception and ground
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