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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 0157.PDF
11 LI By H. • F. KING, M.B.E. 'EN YEARS AGO the writer undertook a sur- vey of the world's mili- tary aircraft, and a glance at the issue of Flight containing vthat study (March 14th, 1940) immediately discloses the extent of progress in the decade between. In the distant days of early '40 the Hurricane, Spitfire and contemporary American fighters were being sedulously compared with the Me 109, and the Ju 87 dive bomber had just confirmed in Poland the tactical effectiveness it had earlier promised in Spain. Powered turrets, though lacking in Heinkels, Dorniers and Fortresses alike, were—to Britain's credit— standard equipment on Wellingtons and Whitleys, but R.A.F. fighters were armed with nothing heavier than rifle-bore machine guns A large proportion of carrier- lx>rne aircraft were biplanes. In those days the word radar did not exist, and the Lancaster and the Halifax were as yet secret. The rocket projectile was almost unknown in the air armouries, and a standard "R.A.F. medium bomber was far inferior in striking power to a modern single-seat jet fighter. The astonishing transformation now observed was brought about by the accelerating effect of the war and the advent of jet propulsion, and it is hardly an exaggeration to say that the picture just recalled differed from that of to-day as Trafalgar contrasted with Jutland. Standard fighters are regularly flying at 600-650 m.p.h. Prototypes have achieved supersonic speed and a height of 40,000ft has been reached in slightly more than four minutes, without recourse to the modern aids of afterburning ox rocket boost. The radar-equipped all-weather jet fighter, . for the perfection of which the Germans were striving at the war's end, is now seen to be coming into its own and is likely to predominate numerically in lie years ahead in the British and American fighter arms. In the matter of range the newest jet fighters, especially those for naval use, are little inferior to the best of their piston-engined predecessors. Carrier-borne fighters of the immediate future will concede little to their shore-based counterparts on any score and may be the first to benefit from the elimination of the undercarriage and the adoption of flexible landing areas. Armament development, as ever, lags oehind, the lack of improved guns and air-to-air rocket projectiles for special purposes being especially disturbing. Existing jet bombers combine 550-650 m.p.h. speed with moderate bomb capacity and steadily improving radii of action; but for very-long-range operation the piston engine still prevails. A certain confusion, arising from swift and radical technical development in recent years, is evident in the training field; nevertheless, pure-jet trainers are firmly established in service. The greatest interest attaches to new aircraft for anti- submarine work, especially to those with turboprop power. Military transports now match the speed of 1940 fighters and accommodate some of the bulkiest stores. New types of '' assault'' transports are commanding attention, and specialized military helicopters are under development. To allow examination of these and other classes of Service aircraft, every effort has been made to amass the most complete and most recent information and to arrange it in assimilable form. In such assessments as he ventures, the writer has aimed at strict impartiality, seeking neither to gild nor blacken. Much to his regret he is restrained from including data for the newest British fighters and bombers, and frequently it has been necessary to instance American practice or achievement where British examples would have been preferred. It has been considered expedient to deal with carrier- borne aircraft (other than specialized strike and anti- submarine machines) under the same head as their shore- based equivalents, but requirements peculiar to naval operation are duly considered. Though guided missiles, other than those for air-to-air use, have no place in the present review, it is recognized that these must ultimately bring about the total disestab- lishment of piloted fighting aircraft. •„,.........
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