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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 1867.PDF
\ - \ and ;r" - AIRCRAFT ENGINEER First Aeronautical Weekly in the World * •- •'•-• Founded 1909 No. 2134. Vol. LVI. THURSDAY, 17 NOVEMBER, 1949. EDITORIAL DIRECTOR G. GEOFFREY SMITH, M.B.E. EDITOR MAURICE A. SMITH, D.F.C. ASSISTANT EDITOR '- H. F. KING, M.B.E. ART EDITOR JOHN YOXALL Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices : DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.I. Telegrams : Flightpres, Sedist, London. Telephone : Waterloo 3333 (60 lines). Branch Offices : COVENTRY B-10, Corporation Street. Telegrams: Autocar, Coventry. Telephone: Coventry 5210. BIRMINGHAM, 2. King Edward House, New Street. Telegrams : Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone : Midland 7191 (7 lines). MANCHESTER, 3 260, Deansgate. Telegrams : Iliffe, Manchester. Telephone : Blackfriars 4412 (3 line*). Deansgate 3595 (2 lines). GLASGOW, C.2 26b, Renfield Street. Telegrams : Wffc, Glasgow. Telephone : Central 4857. WHSOUPTION RATES Home : Twelve montl«s. £3 1s. OS Six month*, £1 1Os. 6d. Overseas : Twelve months. D (8s. 64, 8Y AIR : To *oy country <a Europe (except Poland). Twelve months, £5 Is. Od. Six months, £2 10s. 6d. Canada and U.5.A. Six months, £16. In this issue: In Search of Proof ."" - 634 Forging the Air Weapon 640 American Notebook - 642 "Sevens" in Service - 646 Defence at the Cross- roads- - - - 648 The Herald - B i - 656 The Weakest LinkE VERY now and then, when leisure offers the opportunity, we are given to the habit of attempting a philosophical evaluation of "progress." We always succeed in making ourselves unhappy. Nevertheless, provided one can take a sufficiently detached attitude, some light relief is to be obtained from the reasoning that, so far as aviation is concerned, the punishment man imposes on himself in his pursuit of "performance" is but a little on account for the whole sum he will have to pay when that performance is put to its true raison d'etre. This, of course, applies only if the premise is accepted that the continual demand for extreme performance in aircraft, i.e., in speed, in height, in carrying capacity and in range, are primarily and essentially military requirements. However cynical the " detached " view may be, the punishing aspect is very real, and there seems to be little doubt that the limitations of man himself will eventually set the limits of his progress. In point of fact, the beginnings of this trend are now becoming apparent. The chief manifestations are linked with speed and altitude, not in the attainment of these quantities (though that is difficult enough), but in protecting man from their effects. At ultra-high speeds, skin friction can make it necessary for refrigerating equipment to be carried, whilst, equally, at high speeds or in conditions of high acceleration, escape from an aircraft necessitates ejector seats. Similarly, and because the human frame—or, at any rate, its contents—was not stressed to withstand these colossal accelerations, such fantastic articles of clothing as G-suits have had to be designed. For flight at great altitudes, not only is oxygen necessary to sustain life, but pressurization is required to mitigate the tendency of the human body to "explode." Then, again, the almost total absence of water in the upper atmosphere can make it necessary for humidifying equipment to be embodied in the cabin air-conditioning. Taking these several factors together, we have already reached the point where it is envisaged that fighter aircraft will embody "capsule cockpits" which, in an emergency, can be detached from the airframe proper and allowed to drop with the pilot still secure and in comparative comfort until he can take to his parachute at the lower levels. The new barometric-release parachute described elsewhere in this issue is another approach to the same basic problem. Departing for a moment from our main theme, it may also be remarked that this ever-increasing complexity, particularly when it affects the airman's apparel, un- doubtedly has its effect on the mind of the non-flying public. When the man (or woman) in the street sees a Service pilot, or a newspaper picture of a Service pilot, arrayed in the Martian-like garb of his calling—by comparison with which, to-day, a deep-sea diver looks as naked as Cupid—the natural reaction is that flying must be, if not actually dangerous, an extremely uncomfortable mode of progression. Though the civilian is perfectly well aware that he will not be called upon to wear a Mae West and an oxygen mask when B.E.A. takes him to Paris and brings him back, the psychological germ of doubt has nevertheless been subtly infused into his blood-stream. Time was when great achievements in the aeronautical world were dependent largely upon the physique and courage of the men (and women) individually con- cerned. Whilst, to a certain extent, these qualities are still extremely important, the attainment of outstanding achievements in flying to-day is primarily a matter of research. Navigational aids, automatic pilots, powered controls, and a host of automatic devices, all are designed with one end in view: to make the pilot's job easier, for by so doing, a harder job can be accepted. Necessarily, the furtherance of efficiency in all these ancillary fields is dependent on research, and in this connection one can reflect that it seems rather a pity that of the billions spent in research to increase the working capacity of the aircraft, practically none is devoted to similar research, on man.
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