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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1443.PDF
FLIGHT, 30 October 1953 597 CORRESPONDENCE S'™T L"S! J0£7^ toW himdf sponsible for the views expressed by correspondents in these columns; the names and addresses of the turners, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters. Supermarine History YOUR article "Sires of the Swift" (October 2nd) contains one ••- or two points in its reference to the A.D. Boat (page 471) about which I would like to comment in the interest of historical accuracy. This flying-boat may have been "sponsored," but was in fact designed by the staff of the Air Department, at the Admiralty, under Harris Booth, in the autumn of 1915. "A.D.," by the way, stood for Air Department. The hull, designed by Linton Hope,' was built by May, Harden and May on the Thames, but some where had to be found to build the rest of it. It was arranged that Pemberton Billing should do so, and three of us from the Air Department—Harold Bolas, Harold Yendall and myself— were detailed to go to Woolston to find the design and make the working drawings. There was no Supermarine staff there to redesign it, and in fact, P.B. had to put up a drawing office—which he did over night—for us to use. The next point is that the motor was a 150 h.p Sunbeam, not a 200 h.p. S uiza as stated in the article, and diis makes me think there may be some confusion with one of Supermarine's own designs. I have checked my memory here by reference to the three-view GA. drawing No. 331 and engine installation drawing No. 296, which I prepared myself and of which, with others, I still have prints. Incidentally, the hull, which was a very fine piece of design and construction, was in the nature of an innovation and, in my opinion, Linton Hope never received due recognition for it. It was indeed the "sire" of subsequent Supermarine boat hulls. The upper tailplane had a reversed camber, because the designers at the Air Department thought it would help to pre vent the tail dropping if the engine failed. With a high centre of thrust (as in a boat) there is a nose-down couple when the engine is running, and the slipstream component, acting on the reversed camber, was supposed to balance part of this couple and so prevent the tendency to stall the aeroplane if the engine stopped suddenly. Bristol. C. W. TINSON. AFTER reading your excellent article "Sires of the Swift" it ** occurred to me diat some of your readers might be interested to know that there is a Sea Eagle fuselage at the now disused Heston airport. This machine, G-BBGS, appears from a quick inspection to be in quite good condition. Until recently it was stored in a hangar but is now standing in the open. It will obviously rot very quickly, being constructed of wood. Surely this veteran amphibian could be found a home before winter's weather makes it just a hulk ? Heston, Middlesex. D. L. STREET. I WAS born and brought up within sight and sound of Super-marine's Woolston works. Your issue of October 2nd brought into sharp relief many of my own memories of the firm, its pro ducts and personalities. The earliest recollection is as a schoolboy, greeting the Prince of Wales on the occasion of his visit; other early memories are of "Scotty's" bright yellow Rolls dashing about; obtaining one of the medals struck by the Italians at Venice in 1927 to com memorate, I believe, their hoped-for victory in the Schneider Trophy Race of that year; meeting Capt. Biard and being taken on a tour of the Woolston works; the catapult planes from the s.s. Bremen and Europa which used to tie up off the slipway in the Itchen whilst refuelling en route to Hamburg; and the irreverent "last offices" performed by the boys on the jetty when one of the floating bridges was rammed by a tug, sinking to cheers from the lads and a shocking clatter of old oil drums and other percussion instruments. The bridge was later salvaged and used by Supermarines as a pontoon (bottom picture, p. 463). Later on, as a member of the County Police Force, I came into contact with some of the products and personalities, all having a particular place in my own "family album." In 1939 and '40 Eastleigh Airport was a vulnerable point and as such had a Civil Police guard until the Military took over in September, 1940. Hours "on the gate" and wandering round the hangars, apron and canteen brought me into contact with the people who made the aircraft and flew them. Memories of several Spitfires, complete with Turkish star and crescent, gomg off by road— and coming back about a week later! George Pickering looping a Walrus; Alex Henshaw hareing off up Wide Lane on his wife's cycle after a day's flying; the apron gang doping lengths of "cord in fabric" on the ailerons to get a trim, with the pilot showing the inches of cord required by holding up the necessary number of fingers; attending and helping to investigate the burglary at Cdr. Quill's house; and photographing the tragedy which overtook Cdr. Bird. I have no connection with either the Service or the industry, but maintain my interest through your journal. Thank you for a most excellent publication. London, W.l. NORM AN MARSHALL-POTTER. Supersonic Bangs "VpUR correspondent Mr. Hearne (October 16th) is mistaken •*• in supposing that the "shock-wave theory" fails to account for the absence of bangs due to aircraft travelling at high sub sonic speeds. Supersonic velocity is essential to the formation of a shock- wave, which itself travels at supersonic speed. An aeroplane whose speed exceeds Mach 1 is supersonic relative to the whole of the surrounding atmosphere, and the shock-waves which it generates are free to propagate through the atmosphere in any direction and to any distance—subject, of course, to other con siderations. The shock-waves accompanying an aeroplane in subsonic flight can exist only within that small region of the surrounding air which, owing to local accelerations, is travelling supersonically relative to the aircraft; they cannot travel outside this region into the mass of air whose speed relative to the air craft is subsonic. Hence they cannot reach the ground and give rise to bangs. If Mr. Hearne will consent to hang head-downwards from the car of a free balloon while an aeroplane flies past beneadi him at a speed of, say, Mach 0.9, sufficiently close for the upper surface of the wing to pass within a few inches of his ear, he will find that these shock-waves do in fact give rise to audible bangs, although they are incapable of detaching themselves from the close proximity of the aircraft. Horning, Norfolk. N. YOUNG, Wing Commander. Training Airline Pilots IN his article "Pilots for the Airlines" (October 16th) Capt. Brice showed justifiable concern about the recruitment of suitable pilot material. However, his scheme to tailor young men to fit airline captain's uniforms seems rather more idealistic than practical. Certainly, when his young man, for the first time in his life, takes over a great responsibility in the shape of a valuable aircraft crew and passengers, I shall watch his progress with keen interest—but I shall watch it from the ground. It is not enough that the budding captain should have an intimate knowledge of airline operation and should have shown that he can carry out the required procedures in well-behaved aircraft. The Service pilot, while he acquires his very expensive experience, also acquires a sense of responsibility and self- reliance. If he is allowed to survive his mistakes, he profits by them, but at least he is given the opportunity to make them, and I think there are few experienced pilots who would not admit to a fair score. The point is they are unlikely to make the same mistakes again. Captain Brice's aspirant will have no real opportunity to make his own decisions affecting the safety of an aircraft (apart from his very basic training) until he suddenly finds himself in com mand of a large and very expensive one. This doesn't bear thinking about. Many more good Service pilots would mink seriously of air line flying as a career and obtain licences if they were assured of reasonably rapid promotion to captain; and whv should they not have it when they have the required route experience and are otherwise suitable ? Surely no difficulty would arise where pilot and co-pilot are of captain's rank provided one is delegated as captain for the flight. Such a scheme would be more expen sive, of course, but if it had the effect of getting the right types and keeping up morale, the money would be well spent. Belfast. W. J. D. EASSIE. Gliding, Then and Now I WAS most interested to read the article on contemporary gliding (October 9th) by your Mr. Owen. Although I ceased taking an active interest in the sport some years ago, and might have expected changes, I must confess that Kenneth Owen's experiences afforded me an awakening much ruder than I had ever anticipated. Surely this cannot be called sport ? The very idea of mastering the art of gliding within a week, to a strict timetable, seems to
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