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Aviation History
1952
1952 - 1891.PDF
FLIGHT, n July 1952 39 FOR THE BOOKSHELF Revised Intelligence "The Soviet Air Force," by Asher Lee, O.B.E. Gerald Duck worth and Co., Ltd., 3 Henrietta Street, London W.C.2. Illustrated. 105. 6d. S INCE the original edition of this book was published two years ago, appearance of Soviet jet aircraft in Korea and Eastern Europe, plus odd scraps of information gleaned from behind the Iron Curtain, have thrown new and forbidding light on Russian progress in military aviation. W/C. Asher Lee has now endeavoured to bring The Soviet Air Force up to date by completely rewriting the last chapter, which is some 20 pages longer than before, and by making minor corrections in earlier pages. We are now introduced to SMERSH, a "secret police" additional to the MVD, whose duties include keeping an eye on the internal security, discipline and political behaviour of the S.A.F., as well as counter-intelligence. Capable, kindly-looking Air Marshal Vershenin has been replaced in the frontispiece picture (and in command of the S.A.F.) by the inscrutable countenance of Col. Gen. Zhigarov. The author has revised his estimate of Russian heavy bomber production (in the right direction!), and corrected the designation of the Soviet-built B-29. But he still refers to the veteran IL-10 as a radial-engined aircraft and his designations of the latest rumoured S.A.F. equipment, such as "TU-8," "TU-10," "YAK-25," "TU-72" and "IL-26 six- engined bomber" are decidedly suspect. In addition, he has not corrected the index properly to take in the new amendments. Nevertheless, provided one bears in mind the warning Asher Lee is honest enough to quote—that "There are no experts on Russia... only varying degrees of ignorance"—this book provides useful background details of one of the world's two most powerful air forces. Building A Foundation "Pioneer Pilot," by William Armstrong with a foreword by Sir Miles Thomas. Illustrated. Price 15s (185 overseas). Blandford Press, 16, West Central Street, London, W.C.i. T HIS book, by Capt. William Armstrong, A.F.C., who is B.O.A.C. Aerodromes Superintendent (Operations Dept.), is the story of the birth and development of British commercial aviation seen through the eyes of one of the little band of pilots who helped to bring the infant into the world and then to nurse it through its childish ailments. First, however, he tells us of the hard school in which his own early flying experience was obtained, as a pilot with No. no Squadron, flying Martinsydes, D.H.6s and, eventually, the D.H.9 and its derivatives. Just how hard was the school, and how short its staff, is indicated by the fact that when Armstrong had achieved just 20 hours in the air he was appointed an instructor. . . . He sets down his experiences modestly and without literary adorn ment, but the sum of them gives us the picture of a sensitive man who, though often appalled by what he saw, nevertheless was able to conquer his personal feelings by reason of the fact that flying as such was a passion with him, while the sky and its changing moods held him always in thrall. Eventually, as a member of "Boom" Trenchard's Independent Air Force, charged with the duty of bombing Germany, he found himself making a comparatively natural transition, when the war ended, to flying Forces mail to the Rhine Army of Occupation. This in turn led to a civil job with Air Transport and Travel, flying the pioneer London-Paris service with converted military aircraft, and eventually to the post of an Imperial Airways' pilot. In 1930 he became manager of the company's Near East Division, and in the years that followed he helped, either as an executive or as a pilot, and sometimes as both, to stretch the Empire Routes ever farther into the Southern Hemisphere. He surveyed the Persian Gulf section of the route, had a spell of flying the famous H.P.42S in Europe and then, with a D.H.86, surveyed the Malaya-Hong Kong route. In World War II he became one of the band of B.O.A.C. pilots who did yeoman service—so seldom publicized—in flying an endless variety of cargoes and passengers in Liberators and other aircraft between Britain, the Middle East and even Russia; and always these trips had to be made the long way round, often with a "V.V.I.P." on board and sometimes over areas where enemy aircraft were out to hunt and kill such valuable game. But to the reader old enough to remember the pioneering days of Imperial Airways, it is Capt. Armstrong's memories of the early 'thirties that make the best reading. He writes, for instance, of "the two uglv sisters," Sylla and Syrinx, which were landplane variants of the Short Scipio flying-boat; of taxying vast, ungainly Syrinx in a gale at Croydon, when he suddenly found himself having to open full up on the tarmac, with tail up in flying position, in order to prevent the aircraft being blown over on to its back; of flying a D.H.86 through a tropical rainstorm, while he and his first officer watched the nose fabric being torn away by the almost solid water; and of having "the biggest bird I ever saw" carrying away half his tail unit.... It was a hundred, a thousand, incidents of this kind, calmly met and resourcefully surmounted, that went to make the basis of experience on which British civil aviation now so safely and reliably operates. The Sunshine State "Wings in the Sun—The Annals of Florida Aviation," by William C. Lazarus. Tyn Cobb's Florida Press, Orlando, Florida, U.S.A. Illustrated. Price unquoted. T HE traditional rivalry of California and Florida extends over everything from Sunkist oranges to sun-tanned beauty queens. So, with a large chunk of the American aircraft industry firmly ensconced in California, it is hardly surprising that Florida has gone to the length of producing a book to publicize her own con tributions to U.S. aviation progress. « Author of Wings in the Sun is Bill Lazarus, one of the State's most active aviation leaders since 1933, and he has spared no effort to dig out every possible link with aviation in the last half-century. Even one-day flying visits by characters like Henry King, "who had just completed Aiming The Country Doctor, starring the Dionne quintuplets" are recorded. But there is a lot of serious history too, which might well have been lost for ever in another 20 years. Florida has never had a thriving aircraft industry, but the State's air-minded politics and geographical position have made it the jumping-off ground for many historical ventures, from Pan Ameri can's first services to the Caribbean in 1927 to current flights by secret U.S. guided missiles to nowhere in particular, over the 3,000-mile range which extends S.E. from the Florida coast. Indeed, the State's lack of aircraft industry is balanced by its possession of such famous military installations as Pensacola Naval Air Station and the U.S.A.F.'s Eglin Field Proving Ground, as well as the vast airframe and engine maintenance units established in Florida by leading U.S. airline operators, including P.A.A. Mr. Lazarus is a bit shaky on aviation history beyond the borders of Florida. For example, the pilotless aircraft tested at Carlston Field in 1919 were not the world's first, nor was the Florida-built ARUP the first "flying saucer." There is also an excessive number of wrong spellings; but these shortcomings are offset by the vast collection of facts, figures and exclusive photographs which the author has assembled to show that although Florida may not have provided many major ingredients of world aviation history, at least her citizens have contributed spice to it. Books Recommended by "FLIGHT" Fellowship of the Air (Jubilee Book of the Royal Aero Club). By B. J. Hurren. Price 30s; by post 31s id. Military Aircraft of the World (Review reprinted from a Flight special number; 180 illustrations, 10,000 words of text). Price 2s 6d; by post, 2s 8d. British Aircraft to Scale Flight plan-view drawings of 85 military, civil and research aircraft). Price is 6d; by post is 8d. Mechanics for the Home Student. By Eric N. Simons, in association with W. D. Burnet, B.Eng., lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at Sheffield University. Price 7s 6d; by post, 7s iod. A Racing Motorist: His Adventures at the Wheel in Peace and War. By S. C. H. Davis of The Autocar. Price 10s 6d; by post, ns. Rallies and Trials. By S. C. H. Davis of The Autocar. Price 15s; by post, 15s 7d. Roads of France—A Guide to Tourist Routes. By A. G. Douglas Clease. Price 5s; by post, 5s 2d. Yachting World Annual, 1951-52 (Incorporating Yachtsman's Annual). Price 30s; by post, 31s id. Metals and AUoys (Specifications of over 4,500 non-ferrous alloys, compiled by Metal Industry); fifth edition. Price 15s; by post, 15s 5a. Plastics Progress (Papers and Discussions at the British Plastics Convention, 1951). Price 50s; by post, 51s 3d. Wireless Direction Finding. By R. Keen, B.Eng. (Hons.), A.M.I.E.E. Price 45s; by post, 46s id. Obtainable at all booksellers or direct from the Publishing Dept., Dorset House, Stamford St., London, S.E.i. D
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