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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0336.PDF
»» 334 FLIGHT, 13 Af«r<;/> 1953 • v • ^v^i^^ifi Against a background of date palms, station headquarters and Varsity F-Fox: the aircrews and student navigators at Idris airfield. D.I. at Idris. The hinged cowlings of the Br/'jto/ Hercules make the engines easily accessible. WEEK-END IN AFRICA . . . base at 4,000ft and still climbing. At 5,500ft the pilot levelled off and throttled right back for economy's sake to 1,750 r.p.m. with 140 kt indicated. On board was S/L. R. G. Price, one of the senior naviga tion instructors at the school, and from his station immedi ately behind the student navigators he could keep a close check on their work. In this he was helped by the Varsity's intercommunication system, which allows for switching either to "operational" or "training." In the latter position only the students can be heard; each crew station on the aircraft has this provision. The French coast was crossed 35 minutes after leaving Thorney Island and Paris appeared as a cluster of fairy lights in a cloud gap at 0545 hr. As we passed the French capital the first lightening of the eastern horizon showed dawn to be on its way, and soon came that period when the phosphorescent markings on the instruments fight a losing battle with the mounting daylight, neither the loser nor the winner being able to give a bold outline. One of the regulations covering Service flights over France is that all aircraft must report to local control every 30 minutes. This advice is given over the R/T. in English. On asking for a fix at 0640 hr we were given our position as 37 miles from Le Puy, where the central massif of France begins, and we climbed to the safety height of 9,000ft. Here slight icing was experienced, mostly on the leading edges, wind screen, aerials and air intakes. At 0700 hr a golden glow in the east presaged good weather, the snow-covered High Alps appearing almost as if on fire. More mundane checks at the same time showed 750 gallons as the quantity of fuel left, and an expectation of crossing the Cote d'Azur some thirty minutes later. This proved accurate to within five minutes and, as the Mediter ranean was reached, we sighted another of our Varsities, which had started two minutes after us. As this was a navigational exercise, we did not stay in company. Over the Mediterranean the top layer of cloud disappeared —as forecast by the meteorological officer at Thorney—and the staff and student navigators were able to perform with the sextant in the astrodome. The signaller forsook Glou cester and contacted Malta and, as the pilot lost height to 2,000ft, as laid down in the briefing—for we were no longer "Bomber Command" but had changed to "Coastal Com mand"—the icing vanished in the warmer air of the lower levels. After 30 minutes flying over the sea we ran into some fairly hefty cumulus clouds, the attendant disturbed air making "George" work all the harder, but our undeviating progress served only the more to emphasize what a wonder ful piece of mechanism is a modern aircraft. Later, when the cloud bank had been passed and calmer air found, the second pilot took over and amused himself by getting such perfect throttle, airscrew and trim settings that "George" had nothing to do. By the time this had been achieved A glimpse from the door of F-Fox during the halt at Istres, Marseilles. W[C. W. T. Dennis. Station Commander at Idris. the autopilot was giving only a very occasional "kick." By 0930 hr we were over Sardinia and starting on the final 420 miles of the journey. Fuel consumption had fallen from 94 gal/hr, for the first half-hour period, to 70 gal/hr. The warm-air supply for which we had been so grateful earlier on was now switched over to "cool," to keep the cabin from overheating—an effect in the Varsity which is quite pro nounced anywhere aft of the pilots' seats. As the African coast was approached the aircraft was made to climb at 2,000 ft/min in order to clear the danger areas at Bizerta and Tunis, which were on our direct path. The Idris beacon was picked up at 72 miles and finally a thistle down landing was achieved at 1240 hr G.M.T. All five Varsities arrived on time and none reported major
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