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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 0981.PDF
614 FLIGHT, 25 May 1951 THE BOMBER'S FUTURE Pathfinders Hear Some Authoritative Opinions REFERENCE was made last week to the recent annualPathfinder dinner at which a number of senior RoyalAir Force officers were present. Because of the keen interest in, and concern for, Bomber Command which is still felt by many wartime Pathfinders, speeches indicative of present Air Force policy in connection with Bomber Com- mand were of particular interest. The first guest speaker on the occasion was, appropriately enough, General Johnson, U.S.A.F., who began by pointing out that whatever might be one's feelings on the subject of war and defence, the weak did not survive in a storm. He then went on to talk of the growing co-operation and strength of Anglo-American air power. The General said that he had to be careful not to ask too much of the Royal Air Force on behalf of the American Forces in this country, because everything possible was given. (It may be mentioned here that the American Third Air Division is now known as the Third Air Force, and General Johnson is its commanding general.) Air Marshal Sir Arthur Sanders, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, who was the next speaker, talked first of Bomber Command in wartime, paying a well-deserved—though, in the past, seldom- voiced—tribute to the administrators of the Command. (He himself, it may be remembered, was Sir Arthur Harris's "head housekeeper" between 1943 and 1945.) Then, making what may be regarded as an official statement on the subject, the D.C.A.S. said that although a superficial impression might have been given that fighters were the Air Staff's only responsibility, this was not so. Bomber Command was not being neglected, and the offensive- defensive policy was still as strong as ever. With its present aircraft Bomber Command was not fully capable of strategic bombing in the true sense. With the expectation of a long period of peace, and with U.N.O. to help insure it, the decision had been taken after the war to build no more piston-engined bombers for immediate replacement of existing types, and when possibilities of war loomed up again it was too late to change that policy. With American' bomber and atom power in mind, a short-term policy was adopted for increased production of fighters. Now there had again been a change; more money was available; and jet bombers— four-jet prototypes—were being built and would soon fly. They would be outstanding in performance but very cosdy, and thou- sand-bomber raids were probably a thing of the past. Not too far ahead, said Sir Arthur Sanders, we should be back in strategic bombing again "in a big way," and this would be a great deterrent to any aggressor. In the meantime, the Canberra could do much, whatever task it might be set. Air Marshal Sir Robert Saundby gave a masterly survey in most concise form of the use of air power in wartime. First he mentioned the importance of getting through the almost inevitable defensive phase so that democratic countries could get geared up to win a war. Bomber Command did a remarkable thing after the Battle of Britain : it did not lick its wounds, but went over to the offensive and carried the war into Germany. Two years of uphill offensive by Bomber Command made Hitler decide to turn a great part of his resources to fighter defences. The year 1943 brought strategic night and day bombing through which the might of Germany was largely destroyed; then came the preparation for invasion, and the Air Force spearhead had been the Pathfinder Force. He recalled that there had been a fear of over-weakening the main bomber force by "creaming-off" the best of its crews, for the Pathfinder Force was at first composed of these unusually capable and proven crews; but, the risk having been taken, the remainder of the main-force crews had proved to be good enough also. The whole of the main force of the Command came to depend upon the P.F.F. Though 50,000 were killed and missing in Bomber Com- mand, morale never wavered. Air Marshal Sir Hugh P. Lloyd (since promoted to Air Chief Marshal), replying to the toast of "Bomber Command," said that it owed much to Sir Robert Saundby. To-day it was aware of its tremendous tradition and had faith in itself. The Maginot mentality was as dangerous in the air as on the ground, and the bomber was a weapon of defence as much as the fighter or the anti-aircraft gun. Bombing to-day was as good as ever, but there were too many built-in errors in the present equipment. For visual bombing at 450 knots from 45,000ft it was necessary to see the target 35 miles ahead. Sir Hugh then used a phrase that may well become a slogan of the Command—"The modern bomber is a rapier, not a bludgeon." If one halved the bombing error, he went on, one achieved four times the effect, or conversely, 75 per cent of the force could be scrubbed while achieving the same result. The business of "put- ting a bomb on a pin" was a soluble problem to-day, provided three things were available : money, scientists, and a priority. The answer was radar bombing with a different launching technique, and the ideal bomber would be one which at any time could find its own target without outside aid. There were, of course, tremen- dous technical problems. For example, the Lancaster carried 160 (radio and radar) valves and a modern four-jet bomber would have between 600 and 700. It was a pretty devastating thought that, if one of these failed, a sortie could be abortive after a 2,000-mile flight to the target. The final speaker was Dr. J. C. MacGown, Pathfinder president, whose speech on a variety of subjects delighted everyone. He said that a definition of insanity was the inability to face the reality, and of pacifists he said, "We are all pacifists, but not insane." He spoke of the spirit of adventure which never leaves aviators, and recalled that quite recendy Marshal of the R. A.F. Lord Trenchard flew in a Meteor 7. On a more sombre note, he made reference to serious and obscure genetic diseases which resulted from the effects of atomic bombs. Saro Design DeputyF ROM Saunders-Roe, Ltd., comes news that M. J. Brennan, B.Sc, A.M.I.Mech.E., A.F.R.Ae.S., has been appointed their deputy chief designer. Born at Muswell Hill, London, in April, 1913, Mr. Brennan was educated at St. Mungo's Academy and Glasgow University, from which he graduated in April, 1934. In the same year he joined the technical office of Hawker Air- craft, Ltd., where he remained until 1936, when he went to Saunders-Roe. He was engaged in the stress office, the aerody- namics office and the project office. Since 1947, he has been technical assistant to the chief executive, Sir Arthur Gouge. Last January, when Saunders- Roe took over the development contract on the Skeeter and Air Horse helicopters, Mr. Brennan took charge of that section. He has practical flying knowledge, having qualified for an "A" licence in 1931. Mr. M. J. Bfennan 11-10 Flying in U.S.A. A RUSSIAN-BUILT Il-io ground-attack aircraft captured atKimpo airfield near Seoul, Korea, several months ago, has been flown at a U.S.A.F. base. A two-seater, it is said to have a top speed of 280 m.p.h. and a cruising speed of 210 m.p.h. Arma- .^nent consists of two cannon and two machine guns in the wings, -^and a cannon in the dorsal position. Hoover Appointments FOLLOWING the recent announcement that Mr. W. Puckey,director and general works manager of Hoover, Ltd., had been seconded to the Government to fill the new advisory post of Deputy Controller of Supplies (Air), certain changes have been made among the firm's executives. They include the appointment, until Mr. Puckey's return, of Mr. B. H. Dyson as deputy works manager ' supervise the production side of Hoover factories in Britain. ~",arly in his engineering career, Mr. Dyson was with the Fairey ation Co.: he was actually their first jig and tool designer, and was responsible for one of the first automatic riveting machines to be used on seaplane floats. He also worked with German engin- eers on an early dynamic-balancing machine for airscrews. Mr. W. J. Dimmock, who has been appointed works manager of the Perivale factory, was responsible for the headquarters organization of production plant in the 18 Hoover war factories many of which were engaged on aircraft work.
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