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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0707.PDF
"Flight" photographs (Left) The Hurricane and Spitfire prototype, whose descendants were destined to save the day in the summer of 1940. (Right) The Bristol 142, "Britain First": capable of 280 m.p.h., this private-venture aircraft was presented by Lord Rothermere to the Air Ministry and was the forerunner of the famous Blenheim bomber (1935). In the Queen's Lifetime 1936 Italians, F. R. D. battle would almost certainly have been lost; and Robert Watson- Watt gathered together a team to start practical research in the matter. The "jump-start" Autogiro made vertical take-offs. Jean Batten flew from Australia to England in a Moth, and later from England to Brazil in a Percival Gull. British Airways was formed from three smaller companies, providing competition for Imperial on the European routes. SINCE UWINS had captured the altitude record in 1932 it had passed to the French (twice) and to the but 1936 saw it regained for Great Britain by S/L. Swain on the specially built Bristol 138 monoplane with Pegasus engine. He reached 49,943ft. The cabin was again not pressurized, but Swain wore what might today be called a "space- suit" that permitted him to breathe oxygen under pressure: the device worked well on the way up, but on the descent he event ually had to slash it open at 14,000ft to prevent himself suffocating. In September there was an air race from Portsmouth to Johannesburg: the event was not an entire success, and only one machine finished—the Vega Gull flown by C. W. A. Scott and Giles Guthrie. Other fine long-distance flights were made by, among others, F/L. Tommy Rose in a Miles Falcon (to the Cape and back), and by Jean Batten, who made the England-New Zealand journey in just over 11 days in a Percival Gull, thus gaining the Britannia Trophy for the second successive year. There were numerous other important events in the year. The first Spitfire flew, driven by a Merlin of 1,050 h.p. at a top speed of some 360 m.p.h. (By the end of the war, Spitfires were capable of 450 m.p.h. under the urge of 2,040 h.p.) The A.R.B. was formed, and Lord Swinton, the Air Minister, announced the creation of the R.A.F.V.R. and of the shadow factory scheme. The Observer Corps started to function. Finally, the R.A.F. itself was re-organized into four Commands, Bomber, Fighter, Coastal and Training, instead of the two that had previously existed. IQl'T THE ITALIANS captured Swain's altitude record at *-?JI the beginning of the year, but F/L. M. J. Adam quickly regained it for Britain in the Bristol 138 at 53,936ft. F/O. A. E. Clouston, by then already well known to the world, won the Britannia Trophy for a series of flights in a Comet. The Admiralty gained complete control over the Fleet Air Arm. The last of the famous Hendon Air Pageants—by that time known as the R.A.F. Displays—took place (though one more was to be held, at Farnborough, after the war). And Whittle's first jet engine, with single combustion chamber, ran for the first time. A year later, re-designed with multiple combustion chamber, the machine was running up to 17,000 r.p.m. The Air Ministry at last became interested, and George Carter at Glosters was asked to design an aircraft to take a gas turbine. Thus was born the E.28/39, of which more anon. Nine years of endeavour and discouragement had culminated in success for the brilliant and persevering inventor. had a profound, if not decisive, effect on the Battle of Britain. A Hurricane already in service made headline news, when it flew from Turnhouse to Northolt at an average speed of 409 m.p.h. in the hands of S/L. J. W. Gillan. In February the first separation of the Short-Mayo composite aircraft (illustrated on page 702) was successfully effected, with Lankester Parker and Piper at the controls of Maia and Mercury respectively. Later Mercury made some fine nights, notably to Montreal, and also to South Africa, in the hands of Capt. D. C. T. Bennett of Imperial Airways. This particular form of assisted take-off was somewhat overtaken by events, however, and was never developed further. None the less, it did permit the first commercial return flight over the North Atlantic by a heavier- than-air machine, and—in spite of numerous experimental proving flights—only Cabot and Caribou, the two flight-refuelled boats, were able to emulate the feat before war began. In all cases, only mail was carried. Transatlantic passenger flights did not start till 1940, when the boats Clare and Clyde, which had been equipped with extra tankage, were used for transporting key personnel. There were other noteworthy events. Sir Kingsley Wood, that energetic figure, became Air Minister. The Civil Air Guard was formed, and 12,000 men and women were "on the books" by September, 1939. And Imperial Airways took delivery of its first Albatross, one of the most graceful airliners ever built, and far ahead of its time in design. 1939 SAW ALEX HENSHAW g^11 me Britannia Trophy in recognition of a very plucky flight to the Cape and back in a Percival Mew Gull. He was back at Gravesend four days, ten hours after leaving, so exhausted that he had to be lifted from the cockpit. But the shadow of strife was now dark over Europe, and soon the achievements of Britain's aeronautical fraternity were to be directed, first to sheer survival, and ultimately to victory. Inevitably, great advances were made in all fields of aviation; but these events are still comparatively fresh in the public mind, so this survey may be concluded with a relatively short sketch of achieve ments and trends since the outbreak of war in September 1939. IN !939J as all but our youngest readers will remember, hostilities began with the era of the "phoney war." But there was little sense of stalemate for the R.A.F. The relatively new Blenheims and Wellingtons showed their mettle, and the Battles already proved dangerously obsolescent. The Empire Air Training scheme was launched, and A.T.A. was formed, to do a fine job of work for the rest of the war. Atlantic services were continued in a small way, at first with mail only, but in the following year carry ing V.I.P.s and ferry pilots. May 1940 saw Fighter Command assisting in the protection of the hard-pressed troops on the beaches of Dunkirk, and in the autumn came the fighter pilots' "finest hour", about which The War Period 1 Q3R OUTSTANDING FEAT of this year *• •* **" was the regaining of the distance- record, which since 1933 had passed to France and then to Russia. Three Vickers Wellesleys (single Pegasus engines) set out from Ismailia, Egypt, and two of them reached Darwin non stop, a distance of 7,158 miles. The pilots were S/L. R. Kellett and F/L. A. N. Combe. The performance proved the value of B. N. Wallis' geodetic construction, which made possible the later Wellington bomber, famous for its ability to take punishment. Sir Frank Spriggs put in hand the manu facture of 1,000 Hurricanes, although the official order was for only 100, and there is little doubt that this far-sightedness must have (Below) One of the Short "C"-class flying-boats, which enabled Imperial Airways to operate the Empire air-mail scheme. (Right) F/L M. J. Adam wearing ^he pressure suit which he used when regaining the altitude record in the Bristol 138 monoplane (1937). "Flight" photographs \
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