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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0395.PDF
FLIGHT, 27 March 1953 393 FROM ALL QUARTERS . . . He said that on training missions, when not engaged in gunnery practice, our aircraft had hitherto carried no ammunition. The Lincoln's belt-feed mechanism had, in fact, been removed from both Hispano 20 mm guns in the upper turret, as was the usual practice when it was not intended to fire these weapons. The 0.5111 machine-guns in the rear turret were complete, but were not provided with ammunition. The Russians' assertion that the Lincoln opened fire on them is utterly untrue. The flight was part of the usual exercising of Allied air defences. Such exercises had been carried out regularly by Flying Training Command over the past 18 months. The course prescribed for the Lincoln ran parallel to the zonal boundary and 40 miles on our side of it. The pilot and navigator were both fully trained and experienced officers. A study of the information now available indicated that the aircraft might, through a navigational error, have accidentally crossed into the Eastern Zone of Germany at some point. But the evidence of ground observers, and the spent cannon-shell links from the Russian fighters picked up in our Western Zone, proved that the Russians repeatedly fired on the Lincoln and mercilessly destroyed it when it was actually west of, and within, the Allied zonal frontier. The wreck of the aircraft followed in its descent a track which caused it to fall just within the Russian Zone. Thus it was actually over our zone when first and mortally fired on, and the lives of seven British airmen were callously taken for a navigational mistake in process of correction, which could have been dealt with by the usual method of protest and inquiry. British aircraft in the Western Allied Zone of Germany would continue to carry out their normal exercises, taking all possible precautions. Should Soviet aircraft stray into our zone every effort would be made to warn them, and, by following the procedure normally used by nations at peace, to avoid loss of life. Mr. Arthur Henderson (Lab., Rowley Regis and Tipton) asked if the Russian case was based on the report of their pilots that the Lincoln fired first, and that the British case was that the Lincoln could not have fired, either because some guns were out of action or there was no ammunition for the others. As this evidence was vital as a complete refutation of the Russian allegations, why was it not included in either of the Notes handed to the Russian authorities by the High Commissioner at the week-end, especially because of the delay that was taking place in allowing our representatives to inspect the damage? Mr. Churchill said that the full facts were not known when the first reply was made, but they had since been ascertained and were proven. Mr. Henderson asked if every action would be taken to minimize the possibility of these long-range training aircraft from "drifting, possibly because of navigational error," near or over the East German border. Mr. Churchill replied that all precautions would be observed. On Thursday of last week, Gen. Chuikov, head of the Soviet Control Commission in Germany, proposed to Sir Ivone Kirk- patrick, British High Commissioner, that a conference be held in Berlin to discuss the question of air passage through the zones. In the Note in which the suggestion was made he rejected as "incorrect" the British protest about the shooting-down of the Lincoln; it is significant, however, that his statement contained the phrase, "I regret that the members of the crew of a British bomber lost their lives." On the day on which the Prime Minister made his statement, reports were published in Washington of a new incident, this time off the east coast of the Russian peninsula of Kamchatka, where the Bering Sea joins the Pacific Ocean. A U.S.A.F. B-50, stated to be on a routine meteorological reconnaissance flight, was intercepted by two Mig-iss about 100 miles east of Petropavlovsk, on the southern tip of the peninsula. The fighters opened fire, and the B-50 returned it, but the engagement was then broken off; none of the three aircraft, apparently, suffered any damage. Towards Profitable Aircraft Operation "]M[AKING Commercial Aircraft Pay" was the title of the Royal J-~-l Aeronautical Society's sixth Louis Bleriot lecture, given by General Guy du Merle, F.R.Ae.S., on Thursday, March 19th. The lecturer was introduced by Mr. G. H. Dowty, F.R.Ae.S., president of the Society, who referred to his impressive experience as an engineer and pilot, and in senior posts of responsibility in the French Air Ministry, and mentioned also that he was the founder of his country's national civil aviation school. The lecturer began by asserting that, now, aviation had truly come into its economic age. Louis Bleriot had been a man of vision, and such men had laid excellent foundations for aviation; this year, fifty years after the Wright brothers' flight, was a good time to survey the past and eye the future. War-time developments in aircraft having been harnessed to peaceful pursuits, the pros pects ahead were good, but the important factors of revenue and expenditure had always to be compared. The reaction to price variations was sensitive—if fares were high, traffic was low, and vice versa—and a reduction of the still-too-high fares in Europe was the first aim. Total .expenses, General du Merle went on, could be split up into five categories, but a straightforward analysis of aircraft types was difficult. He would consider only the direct operating costs which amounted to 60-65 Per cent 0I" total costs. The cost problem was intricate, but from first principles the inter-relation between the technical branches and design (aerodynamics, propulsion, structural design and equipment and installation), the aircraft, and various types of costs could be shown by means of diagrams. The relationship of aircraft weight and performance to payload was basic, continued the speaker, who went on to state formula: expressing take-off weight in terms of payload, aerodynamic factors and constructional efficiency. Based on these formulae, graphs showing variation of gross weight with constructional efficiency were shown, and the effects of drag/lift ratios and headwinds were discussed. Payload/range graphs for various aircraft were then displayed, and the relationship between revenue and direct oper ating costs was studied. This technical approach, said the lecturer, could provide the hourly profit-earning capacity. The effect of technical refuelling stops on the variation of revenue with distance was then illustrated. The important ques tion of utilization was considered at length, relevant factors being basic design, maintenance, speed, versatility, flexibility, and flight refuelling. A comprehensive discussion of the questions of amortization, aircraft attractiveness, safety (which had to override other factors in profit-making capacity) and freight requirements was followed by the lecturer's main conclusions. These were that, although the profit-making capacity problem was intricate and gave an excuse for lack of criteria, that based on ton-miles flown was the best approach; and constant co-operation between operator and manufacturer was essential. In spite of the many difficulties, the final goal was extremely rewarding. A vote of thanks to the lecturer was then proposed by Mr. Beverley Shenstone, M.A.Sc, F.R.Ae.S., A.F.I.Ae.S., chief engineer, B.E.A., who complimented General du Merle on his inspiring talk, and paid a tribute to the memory of Louis Bleriot. WHAT NEXT? Even modern schoolboys would be hard put to it to con ceive aircraft wore futur istic than some now build ing. The subject of this "Los Angeles Times" drawing is the Convair XB-58, known as the "Hustler," which is being developed against U.S.A.F. contract. It will be a supersonic bomber, with eight 10,000 lb- thrust turbojets; the en gine disposition shown 'ooks rather inefficient.
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