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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 1913.PDF
Fantastic formation: but despite the adage " never feather both together " (particularly with one in the box) it makes an unusual picture. defender and raider aircraft. From their initial positions at roughly 15-mile separation, the defender and enemy each fly on vectors given them by the ground-controller. When they have been controlled to a separation within the capacity of the A.S.H. set and, therefore, the defending observer should be able to pick up the enemy aircraft on his scope, the ground-controller says " Punch " ; in answer to this, when the observer does, in fact, pick up with enemy, he replies "Judy, Judy." Hearing this, the ground-controller ceases to issue directions although, of course, he will do so if, for any reason, the observer gets into difficulties and requires assistance. Having made A.S.H. contact, the observer then trans- mits a running commentary of instructions to his pilot, and it was quite fascinating, having watched the '' blips '' on the P.P.I, coming slowly nearer to one another, to follow the sequence of the attack. In the gloom of that remote room, where the fluorescent sweep on the P.P.I, screens gave a ghostly luminance and the background hum of electrical equipment was interrupted only by the quiet, brief instructions of the controllers, one felt oddly close to the men flying 20 miles away, 10,oooft above the sea. We heard the controller say " Punch " and then, almost immediately, over the loudspeaker came an excited " Judy, Judy." Thereafter, we heard the instructions "Dead ahead, dead ahead; range 5,000, five above [i.e., five degrees] ; starboard gently ; steady; range 3,000, 10 above ; range 2,500, five above; dead ahead; range 1,500, five above; dead ahead; five to port, five to port; range 1,000, decreasing slowly; dead ahead, five above; dead ahead still, five above; range 800, 10 above; five above; dead ahead still, five above ; range 800 ; throttle right back (pilot repeated instruction); dead ahead still, range 700." "Righto," answered the pilot, "breaking off." Then the controller got to work again giving new vectors. The concept of night fighting as at present envisaged embraces the method of pursuit and attack just described but, in warfare, the pilot would not normally fire his guns until he had visually identified his target. It is, of course, conceivable in all-weather flying, whether by day or night, that conditions might make it impossible for the final visual check to be made, and in such circumstances, although the final responsibility rests, as ever, with the pilot, the ground-controller may well be sure beyond reasonable doubt that the quarry is an enemy and might then give the assurance to the pilot that he could attack blind. The I.F.F. (identification friend /foe) system fitted to our air- craft during the war gave a large measure of security against internecine attack but, as with all man-made devices, there comes a time when one of the bits and pieces fails, and in such circumstances the general rule of visual identification before attack would at least lessen the likeli- hood of subsequent remorse. For strike navigating duty, the aircraft actually forming the striking force would be navigated by one, or perhaps two, Sea Hornet 21s with, of course, the escorting fighters providing top, bottom and boundary cover keeping the main force in view. The strike commander plays a lone role in that it is his job to make an initial assessment of the situation, to keep out of trouble and, if necessary, to make ad hoc alterations to the briefed plan of attack as may appear desirable in the light of the obtaining con- ditions. Strike navigating over considerable distances devolves almost entirely on the skill of the navi- gating observers. A.S.H. will give good returns in much the same manner as A.S.V. and H2S up to quite reasonable ranges, although, as with all marine radar equipment, sea conditions affect the quality of returns. Reconnaissance, as another 809 duty, is straightforward in that it is simply a matter of going and having a look at, or for, something suspected by the Admiral commanding the Fleet. We have already referred briefly to the Sea Hornet 21 and touched upon the provision of the observer's cockpit. For night-fighter duty the aircraft carries the standard four 20 mm cannon under the pilot's cockpit, whilst as a strike aircraft it can carry up to eight rockets, double-banked on the four zero-length rails, and either two 500 1b or 1,000 1b bombs. Alternative to bombs, drop tanks of 100 or 200- gallon capacity can be slung beneath the outer wing panels which, of course, are fitted with hydraulic power-folding gear. A neat design point is the provision of filler holes in the base flanks of the drop tanks as well as in the top, so that the tanks can be filled with the wings folded. Vital statistics for the Mk 21 are as follows: — D.H. SEA HORNET MK 21 DATA All-up weight 19,360 Ib Tare Weight 14,0001b Wing loading fillb/sqft Tankage 360 gallons plus 200 or 400 gallons (drop tanks) Performance at 15,700 Ib Max. speed at sea level 333 let Max. speed at 22,000ft 402 kt Max. speed at 30,000ft 387 kt Climb at sea level 4.650 ft/min Climb at 30,000ft l,900ft/min Operational ceiling 37,500ft Normal range at 30,000ft ... 1,300 nautical miles
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