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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1486.PDF
640 FLIGHT, 13 November 1953 WHERE A.T.A. LEFT OFF . . . imposed a maximum limit of three months, outside which a further check on type became necessary before ferrying could be resumed. A training unit is maintained at Benson for this purpose. _ # For delivery duties, therefore, five classes have been instituted; they cover singles, jets, fast twins (i.e., Mosquito, Beaufighter, Hornet, etc.), heavy twins (Dakota, Varsity, etc.) and four- engined equipment. At present, with the exception of the CO. and his two flight commanders, each pilot is allowed clearance for only two classes; but it is hoped that a happy medium a little nearer the earlier freedom will be reached before long. In a job of this nature it is difficult to amass any great monthly total of hours, for the average delivery flight takes probably some thing approaching 45 minutes; a far greater amount of time is spent as a passenger in the back of one of the unit's Ansons. This is explained by the fact that normally it is necessary for the pilot to be taken to the point of departure, and fetched from the aerodrome of delivery, for each actual ferry movement. He can, however, compensate for the lack of ferrying hours when his turn comes to fly an Anson (this usually works out at every fourth or fifth working day), for a "round the houses" route for each machine averages between three and four hours. During this time it is usual to call at five or six stations, dropping and picking- up "bodies" as required. As a location, Aston Down is not absolutely ideal for its purpose, because it is apt to suffer from sudden and unpredictable weather changes, due to the peculiar nature of the Gloucester shire countryside (attractive though that is) and the proximity of the mouth of the Severn; all of which leads to mist and fog when least expected. As an airfield, the home of No. 187 Squadron is adequate if not over-generous in dimensions for jet aircraft. The grass is service able and sometimes is used by machines of the Tiger Moth and Chipmunk calibre. However, it is not the home base that normally concerns the pilots in the course of their duties; more usually it is the private or manufacturers' aerodrome near which fast Service aircraft are built or repaired and which was never intended to cater for such types. The writer's own limited experi ence of flying Mosquitoes in and out of Cambridge when the grass surface was wet is sufficient to make him appreciate the degree of skill demanded of Aston Down personnel—especially as, apart from the permanent hazards, there may be no wind to assist the operation! Sywell, where Mossie B35s are converted to heavily-laden target tugs, is another example and perhaps an even trickier one. As many of the movements pass through Aston Down en route to their eventual destinations it is not surprising that No. 187 can muster an interesting array of types, and a formation tried successfully in rehearsal for the Battle of Britain display was more varied even than that put up by the Central Flying School at Little Rissington in 1952. Led by a Hastings, with an Anson and Varsity holding Nos. 2 and 3 positions respectively, a Meteor and Vampire clung to the outsides of the vie, while a Spitfire flew in the box to complete the sextet. Unfortunately, eleventh-hour unserviceability on the Hastings and the Vampire compelled the formation to be cancelled on the day of the show; but a mid-week practice flight looked very impressive from the ground. Since 1946 Aston Down pilots have ferried 16,400 aircraft in flights involving a coverage of 4,500,000 miles and amounting to 26,300 flying hours. As a meaningless but nevertheless amusing aggregate of the speeds of all the machines flown from, say, the Tiger Moth to the Canberra, this results in an average ground- speed of 175 m.p.h., including time taken on take-off, circuit and landing. Finally, one feels impelled to add that the ferry pilots of the R.A.F. must have one of the most interesting jobs available in the Service—that is, for those who appreciate the more pure forms of flying, for this is one of the few tasks in modern aviation where aircraft-handling and map-reading take precedence over Mach-meters, gee-boxes, Rebecca/Babs and all the complexities of serious all-weather operation without which, alas, a fighting force is quite useless. A PIONEER OF THE INDUSTRY ALTHOUGH it is now some 15 years since Lord Kenilworth • (formerly Sir John Siddeley) was actively concerned with the Armstrong Siddeley business, the news of his death in a Jersey nursing-home on November 3rd must have been received with a sense of profound regret by many of the older members of the automobile and aircraft industries. Born in 1866, John Davenport Siddeley entered the motor in dustry at the beginning of the century. In 1902 he designed a car, which three years later was marketed as the Wolseley Sid deley; then, in 1908, he broke away from the Wolseley organiza tion and, in partnership with Maj. H. P. P. Deasy, manufac tured the Siddeley-Deasy. It was during the World War I that the Siddeley-Deasy works first be gan aircraft manufacture, build ing R.E.8 and other airframes and the B.H.P. engine, later to become famous as the 240 h.p. six-in-line Siddeley Puma; this engine was followed by the Tiger, a virtual duplication of the same unit into a vee-twelve. At the end of the war, Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth and Co., Ltd., acquired an interest in the company, and the name Armstrong-Siddeley was established. Early in the 1920s the firm went into production with the Lynx and Jaguar air-coo!ed radials based on 1917 designs; with other engines, likewise, nearly all known by names of wild cats, they established a line of development that gained increasing fame for the company throughout the inter-war years. In airframe design, also, they pioneered the Siskin, later to achieve a great reputation as an Armstrong Whitworth type; another Siddeley type was the big Sinaia biplane, powered widi two Tigers. The Armstrong Siddeley Company was absorbed into the Hawker Siddeley Group in 1923. John D. Siddeley was knighted in 1932 and raised to the peerage in 1937. He was chairman of the S.B.A.C. from 1931 to 1933. He married in 1893, and all who knew Lord and Lady Kenilworth recall them as a particularly devoted couple—so much so that his own death only a fortnight after that of his wife was hardly a surprise. The title now passes to the eldest son, Lt-Col. the Hon. C. D. Siddeley. Lord Kenilworth. NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRESS I N a statement following the recent series of atomic tests in Australia, Professor E. W. Titterton, of the department of nuclear physics of the Australian National University, said that Britain could now supply atomic weapons for use by all three Services. Apart from the normal technique of dropping from aircraft, atomic weapons could be delivered by rocket, guided missile, ship- or submarine-borne cannon or by submarine. Nor were they any longer the equivalent of the "standard measure of 20,000 tons of T.N.T.," but had many forms and powers. ARMSTRONG SIDDELEY APPOINTMENT U NTIL recently Director of Maintenance and Repair at the Admiralty, Rear-Admiral G. C. Ross, C.B., C.B.E., has joined Armstrong Siddeley Motors, Ltd. In his new post he will act as liaison officer between the company and the Admiralty, and he is also to look after cer tain details of A.S.M.'s export business. George Campbell Ross, who is 53, was, until his recent retirement, one of the Navy's senior engineer officers; he had also been an A.D.C. to the late King George VI. He joined the Navy in 1913, served with the Home Fleet as an executive officer in World War I, afterwards transferring to the Engineering Branch. He served five years on the China and East India stations up to 1929 and, after promotion to commander, was Assistant Naval Attache at Tokio from April 1933 to July 1936. He was with the Engineer-in-Chief's Department of the Admiralty at the outbreak of World War II, but in December 1941 he became Squadron Engineer Officer in H.M.S. Nelson and saw action with Malta convoys off North Africa and Sicily. He was promoted captain in June 1943, and held the post of Deputy Director, Aircraft Maintenance and Repair Department, Admiralty, from December 1943 until December 1947. From then on he was Chief of Staff to the Rear Admiral, Reserve Aircraft, until promotion came again, with appointment in November 1949 to the post from which he has now retired. Admiral Ross, who is married, lives in Chelsea. His hobbies are fishing and painting. Rear-Admiral Ross.
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