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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 0170.PDF
no FLIGHT, 26 January 1950 F iJh h 11# f # . The Swedish Saab J-29 is powered by a de Havilland Ghost. Top: Saab J-2IR (Goblin) ; below: Marcel Dassault Ouragan (Nene), The benefits promised by elimination of the wheel under- carriage, which becomes possible with the flexible flight decks already developed in Great Britain, are of greater moment than is, perhaps, generally appreciated. Weight, amounting to 5 per cent of the total, should be readily saved, allowing commensurate augmentation of perform- ance, range or armament. Not only may the design of aircraft carriers be revolutionized, for long flight decks will be rendered unnecessary, but naval craft of several classes may serve as mother ships, thereby extending the defensive and offensive power of the Fleet. The ultimate influence of the flexible-deck-cum-wheelless-fighter tech- nique, however, seems unlikely to remain a naval preroga- tive and may conceivably be adopted on a restricted scale for land-based intercepter operations, the fighters, as on a ship, being accelerated at take-off. The first " flexible deck" experiments in Great Britain were, indeed, con- ducted ashore—at the Royal Aircraft Establishment— utilizing specially reinforced Vampires. Provision has been made for retracting flaps and dive brakes at the instant of touch-down to avoid structural damage. Many success- ful landings have been effected on the flexible flight deck of H.M.S. Warrior. For operation from water Saunders-Roe, Ltd., have developed their S.R. /Ai, to which reference has already been made, and in America Convair are said to be building a machine—the Skate—of somewhat similar type. Hull- drag notwithstanding, the "Ai " attains over 500 m.p.h. and is highly manoeuvrable, but now that speeds of.650 m.p.h. and higher promise to become general within a few years, the conventional flying boat will be placed at an increasing disadvantage. Having now examined the fighter's airframe, its power plant, tankage, and means of taking off and landing, the moment has arrived to take stock of its armament, for the effective employment of which the aircraft is, after all, designed. Though ramming was practised by the Soviet and Japanese Air Forces and was considered by the Ger- mans (and—in the specially armoured, but now aban- doned, Northrop XP-79—by the Americans also), the weapons of the modern fighter are automatic guns, multiple rocket projectiles, large proximity-fused missiles and special homing or guided missiles (likewise having proximity fuses). The standard armament of British fighters remains as Soviet Me 263 development, with liquid-fuel rocket. four 20 mm Hispano guns for which the Meteor carries 770, the Vampire 600, and the Attacker 624 rounds. Some of the newer American fighters have similar armament, and at least one type mounts six 20 mm guns, but the 0.5m improved M-3 Browning-type gun, firing at about 1,200 r.p.m., still predominates in the U.S.A., supplemented by a few installations of o.6in guns (muzzle velocity 3.300 ft/ sec) on naval aircraft. For its six o.5in guns the Shooting Star carries 1,800 rounds. The Soviet Air Force uses a 12.7 mm gun in addition to 20-23 mm, and larger-bore weapons, while the French and other Western Union nations standardize on 20 mm armament, in conformity with British practice. Except in the case of the Attacker, all British jet fighters have fuselage-mounted guns, but, though the Vampire 113 night fighter retains the fuselage installation, it might be necessary with other radar- equipped adaptations to transfer the guns from the nose to the wing. The armament problem as affecting fighters is primarily one of inflicting the maximum damage in the shortest pos- sible time. In countering the atomic-bomb carrier the fighter must be able to deliver a knock-down blow the instant it has closed with a raider, and the armament to accomplish this may exert an important effect on the design of the aircraft. Weapons (other than fixed guns as in service to-day) may be listed as follows: (1) Large-bore automatic guns of 30-75 mm calibre, exemplified by the German low-velocity MK108 and high-velocity MG 213/30. (2) Small-calibre rocket projectiles (typified by the German 55 mm R4M), in multiple installations or with an automatic launcher. (At least 36 of these could be carried by a present-day fighter and would be especially valuable in head-on attacks for disrupting formations of heavily armed bombers.) (3) Large, proximity-fused missiles, possibly launched from a recoilless gun, in which gas momentum would balance that of the missile. (4) Guided missiies, of which the German X-4 was an elementary form. (5) Homing missile (e.g., Ryan Firebird). Careful fairing or internal stowage for projectiles will, of course, be necessary if the Mach number of the fighter which carries them is not to be drastically reduced, and if (in the case of unguided projectiles) undue ballistic spread is to be avoided. The recoilless gun will bring its own . problems, of which the rearward-discharged gases and feed- ing of the abnormally bulky ammunition are but two. Mig-9, with two axial-flow turbofets.
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