FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1952
1952 - 1879.PDF
II July 1952 31 It is noted that only the teams from Great Britain, Ger many and France are flying exclusively aircraft designed and built in the home country. The eight Slingsby Skys make a colourful display (five are being flown by Great Britain, two by Argentina and one by Holland). The Spanish team, and the many teams flying gliders on loan from Spain, are flying Weihes and Kranichs of pre-war German design, but built in Spain. The German team, however, have very- recently-designed gliders. The Argentinians, in addition to their two Skys, have brought two Horten XV tailless gliders. They have already been slightly damaged on landing at the airfield, and their long undercarriage legs would not appear to be very suitable for the rough country in which they may have to land. One German Condor IV two-seater is being flown solo by Kamil of Egypt. His payload is completed by an astonishing collection of instruments. They include not only oxygen and radio apparatus, but many gyro instruments for blind flying and a distant-reading compass. At the other extreme of size and weight is the little Swiss Moswey IV. The ease of rigging and moving this glider is already the envy of other ground crews who find the daily round a great strain in these high temperatures. The trailers and towing vehicles are a remarkable collec tion. In Britain our frequent rains have led to the com pletely covered trailer-caravan in which the sailplane is sealed off from the rain and sun. Our five silver trailers, towed by the five Vanguards, are undoubtedly the smartest, although great admiration has been expressed for the British ground crew of the Canadian team who bought a decrepit London taxi for £75, labelled it CANADA and drove it to Madrid. Most other trailers have merely a platform with a frame to hold wings and fuselage and a canvas cover to protect the glider from the rain. The Swiss trailer opens out to form a tent under which the crew can relax in deck chairs when resting. Other towing vehicles range from sleek American saloons to the Spanish UNIMOG—a relation of the Jeep but rather larger, and having a ground clearance of at least two feet. Outside Madrid the roads will be fairly clear of traffic and cruising speeds can be high. The lack of traffic has, however, developed suicidal tendencies among pedestrians, who agree not to walk in front of a car only if it hoots loudly. In Madrid, where the traffic is more congested (although nothing like that in Paris or London) the pedestrian- driver war is refereed by white-coated police with the aid of bells and whistles. A large proportion of Madrid streets are one-way, so that an incautious trailer driver may find himself going round and round for hours. So far, there is no meteorological service at the airfield, but pilots have already noticed remarkable wind variations. A steady wind blowing toward a range of hills may change to one in the opposite direction once the hills are crossed. On the day of the attempted flight to Huesca the pilots chose what they thought to be a downwind goal but found that they were flying upwind. For the last few days the wind at Madrid has been light and southerly. The cloud amounts vary considerably. By breakfast time Below, Philip Wills' crew are towing his Sky to the take-off line. On the right, the redoubtable Philip, with Frank Foster, is seen discussing undercarriage design. The Swiss trailer, which opens like a parasol. The Spanish Royal Aero Club building at Cuatro Vientos airfield. clouds begin to form and have developed on some days to as much as 6/8 cover by early afternoon, only to die away later in the afternoon. Often large cumulo-nimbus clouds form around 5 p.m. and it was in one of these that Frank Foster reached 19,500 ft. The icing in this cloud was severe, and he found that a coating of ice on the ailerons made them difficult to move. A stirring motion on the stick kept them free until he broke cloud. (It is a tribute to the sealing of his cockpit that he did not feel cold although flying in shirt sleeves.) The Madrid hoteliers, some of whom have roof restau rants, need a "weather eye". On the night when the Stephensons were retrieving in pouring rain not far from Madrid our hotel cancelled its roof service in view of the cu-nim. clouds about—but no rain fell in Madrid. A more typical day is one with small amounts of cloud with
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
