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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1409.PDF
FLIGHT, 23 October 1953 563 (Left) Beauty "in excelsis." Three Canberras of No. 9 Squadron make con trails as they pass many thousands of feet above a layer of cumulus cloud. (Below) Flying alongside the quickly forming contrails. The Canberras found no difficulty in keeping perfect formation in the rarefied air at AC,OOOft. PHOTOGRAPHY AT FORTY THOUSAND... Both suggest the same quiet, easy mastery of space, a poetry of motion that continually reminds me of my good fortune in experiencing it. My "seat" in the Canberra was the prone visual bomb-aimer's position in the nose, a position where one's head is parboiled by hot air defrosting the optically flat panel, and one's feet refrigerated by the hoar-frost covering the door. Ever mindful of their guest's com fort, the crew produced an inflated Mae West for use as a pillow. By the time 40,000ft had been reached (cockpit height 27,000ft) this cushion had become so hard that it was impossible even to dimple it with a finger. It was passed back to the crew to deflate before it exploded. Photography was divided in two objectives. One was to obtain an ambitious series of pictures by infra-red, but in this I was almost defeated by the formation of high cirrus cloud. The other was to get the first-ever photographs from above of a formation making contrails at 40,000ft. Fortunately, very persistent trails were forming at the prescribed height—so much so that in flying a local circuit—via the Firth of Forth and Chelmsford ! —our own trails were still apparent on the return journey. Next year No. 9 Squadron celebrates its own fortieth birthday and it is appropriate to recall some of the unit's history and exploits. No. 9 Squadron The unit was formed under Major H. Musgrave at St. Omer, in France, on December 8th, 1914, with the H.Q. Wireless Unit as a nucleus. It was for a while known as No. 9 Squadron (Wireless Squadron) but the original idea was changed in order that a wireless flight could be incorporated in each of the existing squadrons. For this purpose No. 9 was dispersed and disbanded as a unit until later in April when it was re-formed with Major H. C. T. Dowding (now Lord Dowding, who was A.O.C-in-C. Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain) as its commanding officer. After a spell of radio experimental work and training, the unit was equipped with B.E.2c aircraft and went to the Western Front. There it was engaged in army co-operation and bombing until the armistice in 1918, after which it formed part of the Army of the Rhine. The B.E.s were exchanged for R.E.8s in June 1917. A second disbandment, in 1919, lasted until 1924, when No. 9 was brought to life again as a bomber squadron, at Upavon, with Vickers Vimy aircraft. These later gave place to Vickers Virginias. The days of peace were spent in the annual round of training, each year culminating in the air exercises, after which the whole squadron went on leave. There was a break in this routine when the unit turned newsboy during the General Strike in 1926. Operating from Biggin Hill, it was the squadron's daily task to deliver copies of Mr. Winston Churchill's British Gazette to Catterick. About 17 tons were carried altogether. By the time the second war broke out in 1939, No. 9 was equipped
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