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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 0790.PDF
27 April 1951 positions. The sorties were of 45 min duration, and the aircrafthad 90 miles radius of action. The lecturer quoted a statement by Air Marshal Sir ThomasWilliams, C.-in-C, B.A.F.O., that he was looking forward to the Venom with which he could "double the range." The AirMarshal did not consider it necessary for Vampires to carry bombs as it was "an uneconomical proposition". To G/C. Whitley's mind the turn-round, serviceability andgeneral all-purpose qualities of the Vampire far outweighed the lack, or so-called lack, of endurance. So far as the Army was con-cerned, jets should be based not more than 50 miles behind the front line. In this connection the task of the Vampires was notseriously impaired as long as the administrative arrangements were fixed—as indeed theyVouM be. ' The administrative problem of lifting fuel to the forward areaswas likely to impose a heavy strain on lines of communication, which were, in comparison with 1945 requirements, alreadyencumbered with the complex engineering stores such as spare tanks, heavier cranes, mobile radar stations, etc. A Spitfire couldbe refuelled from four-gallon tins; a Vampire needed a bowser, backed by heavy tankers or a pipe-line. Technical advances infighting methods had often produced situations in which the administrative "tail" might, if not kept up to the mark, wagoperations; but the pace forced the solution, and a Bailey bridge or a Pluto would be invented to restore the status quo. The P.S.P. (pierced steel-planking) airfield surfacing developedduring the war was used to-day by Vampire 5 s, but since one forward airfield of this type gave the Army a 13,000-ton liftingproblem, a lighter material was much to be desired. Tarred canvas, weighing only 1,800 tons for one airfield, and quickly laid,was popular with the army, but was difficult to repair and was, of course, vulnerable to jet blast. Better surfaces would compensatefor the slower initial acceleration characteristics of all jet aircraft. G/C. Whitley summarized the virtues of the jet fighter, typifiedby the Vampire, as against its piston-engined counterpart, as follows : (1) equal fire-power; (2) more manoeuvrability in the air; (3) greater manoeuvrability on the ground (due to the nosewheel); (4) quicker turn-round; (5) at least equal, if not more, resistanceto flak and ground fire; (6) greater flexibility; (7) greater simplicity; (8) better gun platform; (9) far better pilot's view (the powerplant being behind the pilot), both on the ground and in the air. Another Sabre Victory 1ATE last Sunday, April 22nd, over the Sinuiju area of North-J west Korea, 36 Mig-15 fighters engaged about one-third their number of F-86 Sabre jet fighters of the U.S.A.F. Four of theMigs, it is claimed, were shot down and four damaged without damage or loss to the Americans. Plymouth Air Display X> OBOROUGH civil airfield, near Plymouth, will be the scene-"• of an air display in aid of Service and local charities on Saturday, May 5th. It will be opened at 2.30 p.m. by the UnderSecretary of State for Air, Mr. Aidan Crawley. Full-scale R.A.F. participation includes a demonstration of crazy-flying by a TigerMoth of No. 10 R.F.S., a fly-past by four Pembroke Dock Sunderlands and a formation display by four Vampires of No. 501(County of Gloucester) squadron. Individual aerobatics will be demonstrated by a Spitfire^-anda Meteor and the ever-popular instructor-and-pupil-act vyill " performed by staff pilots from the Central Flying School. 493 :t will be A rare photograph of the Sopwith Type "C" torpedo-carrying seaplane, referred to in the item ("The First Torpedo Drop1') below. The First Torpedo Drop TNTEREST aroused by the account of the first torpedo dropA from a British aircraft, given in the outline history of British Naval flying in last week's Naval Aviation issue of Flight, istypified by the following communication from Mr. John W. R. Taylor, who himself has undertaken a great deal of research intothe early naval experiments. Mr. Taylor writes : "I was particularly impressed by theobvious care you have taken to establish who first launched a tor- pedo from the air, and from what type of aircraft. While com-piling a history of the old Sopwith company some years ago I went into this matter quite deeply, and was assured by the late "Gerry"Aldwell that the first air launching was actually made by Lt. Longmore, flying a special Sopwith Type "C" torpedo seaplanein 1913. Obviously we must accept Sir Arthur Longmore's own account as the correct one, in which case the honour goes to theShort seaplane. But I feel that your readers would like to see the enclosed photograph of the Sopwith Type "C." This picture wastaken in 1913 and shows clearly the way in which the airscrew was carried forward on an extension shaft to provide clearance forthe torpedo. Possibly this aircraft was later reduced to a "centre- section-only taxiplane," as mentioned in your article. But it wascertainly designed and built as a proper torpedo-plane a year before a torpedo was successfully air-launched from the Short." The photograph enclosed by Mr. Taylor is reproduced hereand will hold great interest for students of naval aircraft design. Test-Pilot Appointment FROM Armstrong Siddeley Motors, as we go to press, comesnews of the appointment of S/L. J. B. Starky, D.S.O., D.F.C., as their chief test pilot. A New Zealander, 34 years of age, JimStarky had a distinguished war career in Nos. 149 and 148 Squad- rons, and later as a Service test pilot, in No. 41 Group, Mainten-ance Command, and subsequently at Boscombe Down. He joined Armstrong Siddeleys in 1948 and has been responsible formost of the development flying with the Sapphire turbojet. S/L. Starky succeeds S/L. Waldo Price-Owen, who has takena post outside the aviation industry. Survey Appointment FROM Hunting Aerosurveys, Ltd., comes the announcementthat Mr. Trenham Desmond Weatherhead, who has been general manager since his release from the R.A.F. late in 1945,has been appointed to the board of directors; he will continue in his post as general manager. Mr. Weatherhead obtained his M.A. at Selwyn College andcame down from Cambridge in 1935 to take a scholastic appoint- ment. In 1938 he was appointed surveyor and photographerto the first British archa:ological expedition to Swat (North- West Frontier) and Afghanistan. In 1941 the R.A.F. requested his services in a specialist capacity, and he was posted to the Allied Central Interpretation Unit with headquarters at Medmenham, Bucks, where he became the Senior Interpretation Officer. For his valuable work in this sphere he was made an O.B.E. ROUGH RIDER : Designed, according to its inventor, Count G. Bon- martini, to render an aircraft independent of prepared landing fields, the Bonmartini track landing gear shown fated to a Piper Cub is approved for any type of machine weighing up to 2,430 Ib. Application to large aircraft is foreseen and enquiries are invited by the Etablissement Sciences Techniques, Aeronautical Division, 2, Via San Teodoro, Rome.
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