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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 0276.PDF
132 FLIGHT CORRESPONDENCE The Editor of "Flight" does not hold himself responsible for the views expressed by correspondents in these columns; the names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters. In Defence of the Auxiliaries U NWILLINGLY, I have recently become involved in a series of arguments on the status of the R.Aux.A.F. fighter squad rons. The general theme has been that the Auxiliaries serve no useful purpose in the defence of the country—that they even hinder it by enabling the Government to make up the total of fighter pilots on paper by employing "cheap part-time labour." This is considered to "take the bread out of the mouths" of aspirant Regulars who are turned down because the R.A.F. already has sufficient pilots. The Auxiliaries, furthermore, are accused of indulging a selfish enthusiasm for flying at the public expense. In the event of a war, it is maintained, the Auxiliaries would need as much time to convert to Hunters or Swifts as a man out of Civvy Street would take to learn to fly them from scratch. These, to my mind, are disgraceful assertions. It has been proved before, and will if necessary be so again, that the Auxiliaries are the backbone of Fighter Command. They are made up of picked volunteers whose enthusiasm and (dare we use the word in these times?) patriotism has led them to devote the major part of their spare time to the complicated and not altogether sheltered business of fighter operation. They are part of the front line defence of Britain and would, if this country were again attacked, have to hold the fort until such people as those who made the above assertions had either found safe refuge or persuaded themselves to join the fray. London, W.l. TWO-RINGER. Red-and-Yellow Mysteries T> EFERRING to Mr. H. E. Scrope's letter in Flight of January -*•*• 8th, I was very interested to hear about the Monospar. I saw this machine, or one like it, with red fuselage, yellow wings and tail, and R.A.F. markings, at Martlesham Heath in January and February 1939. It was not a target aircraft. Several Monospars were used by the R.A.F. in the radio field. I've never seen a gaily painted target aircraft. Pre-war Queen Bees and Queen Wasps had an all-silver finish. War-time Queen Bees had early fighter camouflage (green and brown upper sur faces, undersurfaces half black, half silver). Martinets were camouflaged, with yellow undersurfaces. Jaywick, Essex. N. NUGENT. "Puffs": R.C.A.F. Pilot's View T IKE Oliver Stewart (November 20th), I also have been inter--"-' ested in the correspondence on supersonic bangs and "puffs." If I may be so bold, I should like to add fuel to the vapour-puff picture. The explanation is very simple and an analogy may be made to illustrate the point. Most of us have seen aircraft do high-speed fly-pasts without any evidence of vapour trails until the aircraft is banked or turned sharply. These wing-tip vapour trails are usually seen under humid atmospheric conditions. Similarly, during supersonic dives, the puff is not always seen, but is usually in evidence if the pilot has pulled out of his dive quickly. Obviously, if atmospheric conditions are suitable, a vapour trail will form during the pull-out. This can be verified by any pilot who has taken the trouble to investigate his own puff! In my own case, several investigations of the puff have shown it to be at the pull-out altitude; it resembles a small cumulus cloud. My compliments to Mr. Stewart as an observant commentator. The procedure he uses is quite correct; but what does he do when there is no puff? I suggest that he ask the pilot to advise him when he passes through 25,000 ft and then allow himself approxi mately 22 seconds for the bang. The fact that the puff is formed at pull-out altitude indicates that it is not caused by supersonic flight but by condensation. It may be formed at speeds less than supersonic. R.A.F. Station Edmonton, Alberta. R. H. JANZEN, F/L. [We are not anxious to reopen the "bangs" controversy unless and until new developments occur; but the above letter from Canada is so practical that we gladly make an exception.—Ed.] Fog at L.A.P. Y OUR correspondent Mr. R. Williams (January 8th) has a very naive idea of the powers of Government when he suggests that they "do something about it"—referring to the fog menace in relation to London Airport. Ever since regular services began all governments interested in flying have done their utmost to mitigate the crippling effect of zero visibility by the maintenance of expensive meteorological services and experiments in all kinds of blind-landing apparatus; and, no doubt, if they had the power they would prevent winds of over 40 m.p.h., snow in the vicinity of aerodromes, and all the other hazards to safety. I suggest that this correspondent takes a few lessons in ele mentary physics and meteorology before venturing into public discussion on such a matter. Keston, Kent. J. BODEM. [Our original correspondent, we feel sure, was aware of the efforts which Mr. Bodem mentions: his plea was for the use of Fido, or some other aid of equivalent or greater value.—Ed.] Don't Go Down the Mine . . . I READ with great interest your account (January 15th) of the development of new version$ of the North American Sabre. I was particularly struck by your statements regarding the use of titanium and its alloys in some types of Sabre and Fury, in which the new metals are employed in bulk as a replacement for fight alloys or steels. Over the past few years we have had innumerable examples of the virtual non-existence of these alloys in this country—the recent Southampton production conference is an example—and I feel that this distressing position could easily be remedied. All that is required is an M.D.A.P. allocation of a squadron of F-86Ds to the Royal Air Force. By skilfully contrived brake failures or wheels-up landings, the aircraft could be speedily written off, and the extracted titanium made available to keep our own industry going for several years. Liverpool. L. JONES. FORTHCOMING EVENTS Jan. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. 30. S.L.A.E. (S.E. Area): "Aircraft Design for Reliability and Ease of Servicing," by Car. (E) F. J. A. Nash, R.N. 2. R.Ae.S. Graduates' and Students' Section : "Structural Analysis of Swept-back Wings," by D. Howe, D.C.Ae., G.I.Meeh.E., Grad. R.Ae.S. (jointly with I.Mech.E. Graduates). 3. Royal United Service Institution: "Operational Applications for Water-based Aircraft," by G/C. G. W. Williamson, O.B.E., M.C., F.R.Ae.S. 4. R.Ae.S. Section Lecture: "Air Intake Efficiency," by F. B. Greatrex, B.A., A.F.R.Ae.S. 5. Photogrammetric Society: "New Plotting Machine for Air Photographs," by J. E. Odle. 6. British Interplanetary Society: "Progress towards Astro nautics," by K. W. Gotland. Radar Association: "Some Unsolved Radar Problems," by K. E. Harris. R.Ae.S. Main Lecture: "Recent Developments in'the Structural Approach to Aeroelastic Problems," by Dr. D. Williams, M.I.Mech.E., F.R.Ae.S. A.T.A. Association: Annual reunion dinner. British Interplanetary Society (Midlands Branch): "Astro- nautical Physics," by N. H. Langton, Ph.D. British Interplanetary Society (Provisional Yorkshire Branch): "Some Experimental Work on Rockets," by D. N. Hunter. 18. R.Ae.S. Section Lecture: "Helicopter Research," by F. J. O'Hara, A.R.Ae.S. (jointly with the Helicopter Association). 10. 11. 12. 13. 13 Feb. 20. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. 23. 24. 24. 25. 26. 27. British Interplanetary Society (North-west Branch): "Build ing the Lunar Base," by R. A. Smith. R.Ae.C: Film Show. R.Ae.C.: Dinner to speed and height record holders. R.Ae.S. Graduates' and Students' Section: "Aircraft Plastics," by Lome Welch. Aerodrome Owners' Association: Annual general meeting and dinner. Institute of Transport: Annual dinner. British Interplanetary Society (Provisional Western Branch); "Provisioning of Interplanetary Vehicles," by G L. Garth- waite. R.Ae.S. Branch Fixtures (to Feb. 12).—Feb. 1, Derby, "Aeronautical and Industrial Application of Small Gas Turbines," by F. R. Bell; Halton films. Feb. 2, Bristol, "Operating Problems of the Transport Helicopter," by P. G. Masefield. Feb. 3, Chester, "Pioneer Flying," by H. Shaw (Joint meeting with Stanlow branch of Inst, of Pet.); Brough, "Design, Construc tion and Flight-testing of the Universal Freighter," by C. W. Prower, W. A. Hargreaves and G. R. Parker. Feb. 4, I.O.W., "Development of Propellers," by H. R. Leather and T. Brett. Feb. 6, Birmingham, annual dinner. Feb. 8, Ha/ton, "Flight Simulators," by G. H. Hellings. Feb. 9, Belfast, "Engineering Problems of Airline Operation," by B. S. Shenstone. Feb. 10, Weybridge, "Navigational Aids," by W/C. G. N. Mackintosh, O.B.E. Feb. 12, Glasgow, film show (including "Story of the Century").
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