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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 1331.PDF
FLIGHT, 13 July 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. Ultra-lights and Civil DefenceP ERHAPS it will help to clear up the issue raised by yourEditorial (June 15th) on the use of ultra-light aircraft for Civil Defence and the comments thereon by Mr. Weyl (June 29th) if itis pointed out that the Air League, scheme envisages the use of both ultra-light and light aircraft. We envisage that in some cases the aircraft used in dealing withpost-raid conditions would need radio, and/or to carry a passenger or passengers, and for this the light category would be employed.The ultra-light would be used for reconnaisance and in other cases where ability to land and take off in an extremely limited spacewould be a primary consideration. F. N. HIIXIER. London, W.i. Secretary-General, Air League of the British Empire. Flight Simulators "D ECENT letters on the subject of flight simulators have prompted-*•*• me to dig back into my own correspondence files. I find reference to at least three simulators or synthetic-training deviceswhich had for their purpose engine-handling instruction in flight without using precious fuel. During the period 1944-5, the Silloth trainer was fairly wellknown, and simulated engine and aircraft handling under opera- tional conditions with a fair measure of success. My recollectionis that it was an example of organ builders' ingenuity, and proved difficult to maintain in condition. A device called the "engine controlling instructor," produced atCardiogton, was more in the nature of a tell-tak by the operation of stylographs tracing legends on rotating drums. I do not knowwhat happened to this, but consider it hardly had a wide application and rather "missed the boat." The job which was the real answer to the practical training ofpilots and flight engineers was the "St. Athan trainer," designed and fabricated by three N.C.O.s, under the officer i/c synthetictraining devices at that station. I regret I cannot find the names of these men, but I believe one was awarded a B.E.M. in recogni-tion. It consisted of a Lancaster cockpit with full instrumentation, and was capable of carrying out a fully simulated night flight toGermany and back. It reproduced with extraordinary precision all normal conditions of flight operation of the engines and of theaircraft. Every type of running snag could be fed into the machine from an operator's panel without warning to the crew. Only thecorrect remedial procedure by the pilot or flight engineer would produce the right results. The St. Athan trainer was in use during 1944-5, anc^ at the timeof my visit other versions were in hand to cover twin-engined and single-engined aircraft. For example, a second model was beingprepared for the Mosquito, engined by the later marks of two-stage Merlin. My own flight to Berlin was accompanied by such a flock of gremlins that I was extremely relieved and very surprised to find myself still at St. Athan. As you are aware, a considerable amount of effort was put into training of pilots and flight engineers in engine handling at the Rolls-Royce Aero Engine School from 1940 onwards. I think it is very unlikely that a successful synthetic-training device covering these problems was in existence during that early period. I feel that full credit should be given to the St. Athan Lancaster trainer. C. L. HININGS. Derby. Principal, Aero Engine School, Rolls-Royce, Ltd. Thirty Years' Progress ? 1OOKING through the 1950 Christmas number of Flight I•* noticed and read with great interest the article "The Precipi- tous Pilkington," while the associated photographs entitled "Don't Look Now" brought back many memories, as I was for a time at the old R.F.C. aerodrome at Hounslow, Middlesex, in 1917-18; the Sopwith Pup is still a vivid memory. So, too, are the Camel and the S.E.5A. We had R.E.8s also, with a sprinkling of Caudrons, Longhorn and Shorthorn Farmans, Sopwith Dolphins, and the usual 504K Avro complete with skid (these skids made great toboggan runners after the war). Much of my work here is instruction of the apprentices of Qantas Empire Airways and few of these lads realize just how little aircraft have altered in the last thirty years. That, I know sounds a sweeping $tatement, but I stand by it. Metal construction, jet propulsion and so on do not alter the fact that in its basic form the aircraft of today has changed little; what is more, the aircraftman and rigger of those days was a more skilled man than he is today. The "all-metal" aircrafthand of 1951 would be hopeless if he had to rig, say, a Vickers "Gun Bus" or Handley-Page bomber of 1918 vintage. Incidentally, I agree with the article "Unfair to Veterans." If those people who laugh at the show put up by rebuilt versions of old-type aircraft could have seen the "Mad Major" skimming round hangars, touching the roofs with his undercarriage wheels, and other little incidents that I witnessed many times, they would soon alter their opinion of the skill and performance of both pilots and aircraft of the days of Ball, McCudden, Mannock and so on. The engines had a little to do with this, too. We had a Beardmore and a Hispano-Suiza here until a short time ago, but they are now in our museum in Sydney. I should like to see a S.E.5A built from scratch, complete with Hisso engine—new, not just a rebuild—put into the hands of a first-class aerobatic pilot. I think the public would be very surprised, to say the least of it. A. E. HODGES. Brisbane, Australia. Technical Instructor, Qantas Empire Airways, Ltd. MAGNETIC RELAYS AN announcement by Smiths Aircraft Instruments, Ltd., gives •**• details of the complete range of magnetic relays designed and manufactured by their recently acquired subsidiary, Waymouth Gauges and Instruments, Ltd. Three types are available, all of which may be used in conjunction with 6-, 12- and 24-volt D.C. aircraft circuits. The standard relay is widely used in aircraft electrical installa- tions in connection with (for example) gun-firing solenoid opera- tion, clothing-heating, flare launching, lower-rated booster-pump control, inverter starter circuits and "press-to-speak" switching circuits. Sturdy in construction and with "tropical" finish, the standard-type relay contacts will carry 10 amp at 24 volts. The heavy-duty type is designed for remote switching in aircraft circuits where heavy current is involved and will carry a maximum overloed current of 50 amp at 24 volts. Mounted on a Bakelite base and tropically finished, it weighs 4 oz. Miniature relays occupying 1 cu in and weighing x\ oz offer obvious advantages when incorporated in equipment where com- pactness is important. Maximum contact current is 1 amp at 24 volts. Each type is available in a number of sub-types, details of which are obtainable from Smiths Aircraft Instruments, Ltd., CrickJe- wood Works, London, N.W.2. FORJ CYLINDER LONGEVITY A PROCESS developed before the war by Dr. Hendrik van derHorst, for treating engine cylinders with a deposition of porous chromium, is now being widely undertaken by Avio- Diepen N.V., Ypenburg Airport, The Hague, Holland. Chrome deposition has long been known as a means of delaying the wear of cylinder bores, but the secret of the van der Horst success—and it is possibly the most successful method of extending cylinder life yet discovered—is in the use of an etched surface on the chromium plating whereby oil retention is ensured. The Porus-Krome process has been widely used in the U.S.A. and is stated to have been given unlimited approval by the C.A.A. for application to the cylinders of aircraft engines. ULTRASONIC SOLDERINGj|BATH TO complement their well-known ultrasonic soldering iron,Mullard, Ltd., have now introduced an ultrasonic soldering bath for the rapid tinning of small aluminium and aluminium alloy parts, particularly those with complex shapes. The molten solder in the bath is agitated ultrasonically by a magnetostriction transducer, the effect of which is to break up the highly refractory oxide films which normally form very easily and rapidly on such metals as aluminium.
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