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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 0857.PDF
53* FLIGHT, 4 May 1951 CORRESPONDENCE The Editor of "Flight" does not hold himself responsible for the views expressed by correspondents in these columns. The names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters. Once a Pilot . . .I WAS very interested in the photograph on page 471 of your April 20th issue, showing the Sopwith Camel and the lighter from which Lt. S. D. Culley took off on August nth, 1918, before shooting down the Zeppelin L53. You may be interested to know that on April 27th, 1943, G/C. S. D. Culley had occasion to visit Woodley Airfield, Reading. His next appointment was at Aston Down in Gloucestershire, and I offered to give him a lift there in a Miles M.18. He mentioned that he had not flown arf aircraft for 25 years, so I offered to let him fly the M.I8, which had dual control. He took off, flew to Aston Down and landed there without my having to touch the controls once. I think you will agree that this was a truly remarkable achieve- ment, and I only hope that he will repeat the performance in 1968. I shall be quite happy to accompany him. Farnborough, Hants. D. L. BROWN. Principal, the School of Gas Turbine Technology. Airspeed History—A Postscript 'T'HE recent correspondence concerning Airspeed Ferries and JL Couriers has interested me. What was the ultimate fate of G-ABSI and the Couriers owned by P.S.I.O.W.A. I don't know, but the following may be of interest to readers. P.S.I.O.W.A.'s fleet consisted of seven Couriers, three Mono- spars, a Fox Moth, and the Ferry, G-ABSI. On the outbreak of war, the firm moved to Cardiff and operated under the organization known as National Air Communications, until all aircraft were taken over by the R.A.F. in March or April, 1940. About January, I took G-ABSI to Castle Bromwich with the intention of ferrying the Fairey test pilots from Castle Bromwich to Longbridge, where Battles were being produced. The Battles were only flown out of Longbridge and never landed there, hence the ferrying required. However, no trips were done as the top engine became unservice- able and we removed the airscrew and flew it back to Cardiff on two. Whether G-ABSI ever flew again I don't know. The last I saw of the Couriers was at White Waltham, a year or two later. The A.T.A. used them for a while, but I do not know what happened to them. Tarrant Rushton, Dorset. P. R. HORNIDGE. [Though we have declared this correspondence closed, the above letter from the chief pilot of Flight Refuelling, Ltd., adds something new and merits inclusion—ED.] A Boomerang Returns ON page 431 of Flight for April 13th, in the article dealing withthe Woomera rocket range, I notice the word "woomera" explained as the aboriginal term for a "boomerang-launching device." In fact, the woomera is a spear-launching device designed to increase the power exerted by the aboriginal hunter by enabling him to impart propulsive effort to the spear for a greater time than if the woomera were not used. In essentials, it comprises a stick with a projecting spike at one end which fits into an indentation at the blunt end of the spear in the same manner in which a small boy uses his finger when playing with backyard spears. Apart from such considerations as the reputation of Flight for technical accuracy regarding such things as airborne missiles and the means of launching them, the world-wide circulation of your journal may well include Australian aboriginal readers, who might develop complexes of some sort on learning that the device they have been using with success for perhaps thousands of years in launching spears should really have been used in launching boomerangs, an entirely dissimilar weapon both in shape and in function! London, S.W.I. S. C. WEETMAN, Aircraft Production Representative, Australian Department of Supply. The First British Seaplane FlightT HE article by H. F. King, "British Naval Flying" (April 20th), contains a reference to the first ascent made by a British sea- plane. Aviation history attributes this to a Cdr. Schwann, but I would challenge this and say that it was made by Col. Stanley- Adams some two weeks later than the date mentioned for Cdr. Schwann's flight. Whilst it is perfectly true that a flight was attempted on this day it should be recorded as unsuccessful, since it ended with the aircraft being overturned by a strong gust of wind and suffering damage. As a matter of interest, Col. Stanley-Adams was instru- mental in their making the attempt in the first place. The Green engine in Cdr. Schwann's aircraft had given considerable trouble and was made to function only after the colonel had re-assembled the rocker gear correctly; it had been put together in such a way that it literally fell apart in his hands. The first successful sustained flight by a British seaplane, therefore, was made in November, 1911, from Lake Windermere, by Col. Stanley-Adams in a modified Avro aircraft built by himself and Mr. Wakefield, and I feel that the credit should go to these two pioneers of far-off days. I am happy to say that Col. Stanley-Adams is still with us and, whilst no longer connected with the world of aviation, is still very active in his work at Scotland Yard, where he has remained for the past thirty years. London, S.W.13. D. R. STANLEY-ADAMS, R.N. (ret.) Fiskerton's FidoI WAS very pleased to see the reference to Fiskerton's Fido in your editorial of April 13th, but I think that the whole of the story is worth the telling, i.e., that the first evening] that Fido was in operation, Lincoln was under the impression that Fiskerton had been "plastered," and immediately despatched an N.F.S. (or was it A.F.S. at that date?) tender to the airfield. The firemen's comments when they got to the boundary fence and saw their "fire" were quite an education. For the most part there was little emergency use of Fido during 49 Squadron's stay at Fiskerton. One very foggy afternoon a U.S.A.A.F. Dakota that had gone astray was brought in; the pilot claimed that the fog was so bad that at 500 ft. there was simply a red glow and he could not discern the direction of the runway. Fido was, however, a very good landing guide on sunny days with a ground haze, when the wind direction necessitated landing into the sun. The practice then was to burn about a hundred-yard strip on the right hand side at the beginning of the runway and this was very clearly visible from the air. There were some interesting consequences of Fido, such as (1) the flocks of rooks flying round at midnight when it was operating; (2) the flocks of aircraft it attracted to see the immense clouds of black smoke that always arose during the trial runs to clear the burners in the daylight; and (3) the flocks of articulated petrol- tankers that used to queue up on the Lincoln road to refill the installation when it was on for any long period. Tolworth, Surrey. T. N. SIMPSON, (Ex-Sgt. Fitter 2A) The Mother of Invention I AM just an ordinary student interested in aeronautical design.Whilst reading the book called Modern Aircraft Design I noticed that the author, Mr. J. L. Nayler, said that the under- carriage of an aircraft is essential, but aircraft have landed success- fully without the use of an undercarriage. I think that the aircraft which landed safely without an under- carriage, that is, on its fuselage, is not going to repeat this opera- tion several times as it would do with an undercarriage. The fuse- i lage will not withstand this strain. On the other hand, I agree with Mr. Nayler that the undercarriage takes up much useful i space and is heavy. I think an aircraft should have an under- carriage, but a much lighter one. j May I now make my suggestion? I suggest that on the take-off ! the aircraft should be catapulted into the air, similarly to the opera- \ tion done with the Royal Navy aircraft when leaving cruisers. The i main difficulty lies in how the aircraft is going to land. I propose \ that the present undercarriage should be completely removed, j The aircraft should land on two sledges, of which the front edge j should be turned up, and only at this point should the sledge be \ connected to the fuselage. The sledges should be made of steel) (or any other metal provided it can withstand the stress and is a light metal). In place of the shock-absorbers I suggest having two separate balloons which are attached to the fuselage on each side. Their shape is similar to the two tubes used on the undercarriage of a Westland S-55 helicopter. The sledge should be fastened to the bottom of the balloon. The balloons should be made of strong canvas (or any other strong material), for they will be pumped up with air to a pressure which should withstand the whole weight of the aircraft. The balloons could be blown down when iwt needed and they can at the same time be used as shock-absorbers The above suggestion may not be successful in its performance, but we should always try, for necessity is the mother of invention Valetta, Malta. E. BORG.
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