FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1949
1949 - 1822.PDF
580 The cockpit of the Airco D.H.SA. " a sea of wires, landing wires, flying wires and incidence wires." The view from a D.H.9A. THE QUEEN'S SQUADRON . . Instruction in the use of a Hucks starter, which was basically a ModelT Ford with an extra drive taken from the gear box. P/O. (now G/C.) Peter Stewart who joined 600 in 1927 and was the CO. from 1934 to 1938. During the war he com- manded the Air Ministry War Room. Squadron Medical Officer, F/O. N. P.Henderson, who had been flying Sop- with Pups and Nieuports with No. 6oSquadron in the war. He, also, still takes an interest in the squadronto-day. In 1925 the Government purchasedthe famous Hendon airfield from Claude Grahame-White and at theend of the 1926 a move was made from Northolt to Hendon, where thesquadron stayed until the outbreak of the Second World War. Manston (anairfield which was destined later to house the unit under very differentcircumstances) was the venue of the first annual camp, and thetotal flying time for the first year was the modest figure of 2o8£hours. W/C. James commanded the squadron for but a short whileand in November, 1926, handed over the reins to S/L. the Rt. Hon. Frederick Guest. It must be remembered that inthose days the auxiliary squadrons did not have honorary air commodores as they do now; but S/L. Guest was to commandNo. 600 from 1926 to 1931 and then become its first honorary air commodore, a post which he held until his death in 1937.Freddie Guest's affection for the squadron was unbounded. Part of a note to his executors reads: "... Would you be sokind as to ask the adjutant of No. 600 (City of London) Bombing Squadron if they will kindly scatter my ashes overthe Welsh Harp, which has been such a wonderful mark, and many times such a relief to squadron machines which have beenhoming in bad weather for Hendon." This request was carried out on April 22nd, 1937. After its initial year the squadron was soon under way.In 1927 it took part in the H.A.F. Display, and the total flying time for that year had increased to 1,007^ hours. TheD.H.9AS were last flown in 1929 and were replaced by West- land Wapitis with 500 h.p. Bristol Jupiter engines. TheWapiti was originally designed to use up an accumulation of spare D.H.9A wings, but these components were found to havedeteriorated in store so badly that new wings were made by the Steel Wing Co.—a subsidiary of Glosters. In 1931, when S/L. Guest gave np active leadership of thesquadron, S/L. S. B. Collett from No. 601 (County of London) Squadron took over command. Annual flying times had bynow exceeded 1,700 hours. The Wapitis, with their faithful Jupiters, served thesquadron well until March, 1933, when Hawker Hart day bombers were issued as the new operational aircraft. TheHarts were in use for some eighteen months and were then exchanged for the Demon variant because the squadron alteredits role from day bomber to fighter. Comparing firepower with that of present-day fighters, it is illuminating to recall that theDemon had one .303 Lewis gun firing rearward and two .303 Vickers machine guns firing forward through the airscrew disc.In 1934, participation in the Hendon Display involved the squadron in severe loss when S/L. Collett's aircraft stalledand spun in from a low altitude: F/L. R. F. G. Lea, who was piloting, escaped with cuts and bruises, but Collett was killed'instantly. In memory of him, his mother, then Lady Mayoress of London, embroidered squadron colours which arenow carried on ceremonial parades by order of the Lord Mayor of London. To fill the vacancy caused by the accident F/L. P. G.Stewart was promoted to squadron leader and given command of the squadron. Peter Stewart was a senior member of 600and had joined in the D.H.9A days. He has recorded for us the following impression of flying a "Nine Ack "; it is onewhich the present generation of Service pilots who spend the whole of their flying time "totally enclosed" will find in-teresting : — '' The edge of the cockpit was upholstered with leather suchas one saw in the old London hansom cabs. As one gazed through a sea of wires, landing wires, flying wires, and in-cidence wires, the view the pilot had was similar to that of a canary. In the centre section was a gravity tank containingsome 20 gallons, which was fed from the main tank of 500 gallons, which all but sat on the pilot's knees. Two feedpumps were intriguing in that they were actuated by two wjnd- driven propellers in the centre section and the flow of petrolfrom the tank to the gravity tank was controlled with a three- way cock by the pilot. '' The pilot had ample knowledge that the gravity tank wasfull, as not only was there an intriguing little rod with a blob of solder which traversed the tube some 3in long projectingfrom the top of the tank, but there was an over-flow pipe which threw a cloud of petrol over his head as soon as it had hadenough. "The ignition system, by modern standards, was elementaryin that it depended on two batteries for the dual ignition system, and it was always advisable when throttled back torun on one battery only,£ts there was always the fear that the batteries would be found to have run down should one be calledon for emergency use of the engine; and for this reason, too, the wise pilot always kept his gravity tank filled. "On the rudder the aircraft responded quite reasonably,and with judicious use of the tail trim the fore-and-aft move- ment was quite sweet. A turn of the wheel allowed the weightof the engine to take charge, or vice-versa, but laterally it needed the strength of a Samson to move the ailerons at any-thing above slow cruising. Excrescences which were stuck on the aircraft made itlook something like a Christmas tree. There was a parachute- WESTLAND WAPITI 19 29 HAWKED HAST t»3S HAW KBIt DEMON 1917 HAWKER HI MO I93B
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
