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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 1059.PDF
FLIGHT, 29 July 1955 171 CORRESPONDENCE ^™T °L7V d0€S 7°tlt*oU *imSelf resP°nsible 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. High-speed Tunnels TN reply to "Prober" (June 24th), your correspondent appears-1- to be under two misapprehensions. Firstly, the cost of the Armstrong Whitworth supersonic wind tunnel was borne entirelyby the firm and amounted to some £200,000. Turning now to the remark "top and bottom of the workingsection were machined from iron castings", this is, of course, quite true, as this tunnel is of the variable-density type and mustbe completely free from leaks at all points. However, it does employ a ventilated throat, and this was exhibited in a partlycompleted form at the opening ceremony. The plenum chamber behind the ventilated portion of the working section forms a deadair space bounded on the outer side by these impervious iron castings. Your correspondent can, therefore, rest assured that we aretaking heed of this latest American advance in tunnel design and I would remark that this idea was first brought to my attentionin America in 1947, since when I have considered it to be an essential feature of every transonic tunnel. Baginton, Coventry. W. F. HILTON. Chief Aerodynamicist, Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, Ltd. They Also Served . . . T WAS very interested to read the letter from H. V. Cossonsx (Flight, July 15th) on the defence of airfields in the south- east of England during the Battle of Britain, for my battery, the138th Light Ami-Aircraft Battery, Royal Artillery, had a troop defending Lympne airfield during the Dunkirk evacuation. Iwell remember a squadron from the French Air Force operated from there at the time. They were equipped with Marcel Blochfighters armed with two 20 mm Hispano cannon mounted in the wings and two machine guns in the body. They were led onpatrol by a twin-engined Potez fighter with twin rudders, looking like a smaller and radial-engined version of the Messerschmitt110. A huge Armstrong Whitworth Ensign airliner had crash- landed on the airfield and so had a Westland Lysander; in anadjacent field an Avro Anson was pitched up on its nose. I remember seeing Hawker Hector biplanes with Napier Daggerengines take off with supplies for the troops besieged in Calais. It may be news to some people that this last of a long lineof Hawker biplanes saw service in the Battle of Britain, or at least just before it. The 138th Battery was divided into three troops and, duringthe whole of the Battle of Britain one troop defended Manston Aerodrome; another defended the radar compound betweenSt. Margaret's Bay and Dover; and the troop in which I served as a gunner defended Dover Harbour itself.It seems incredible to realize that we never, to the best of my knowledge, had a man killed or a gun knocked out duringthe whole of that time. I don't think diat there is another Battery in the Royal Artillery which has helped to defend threesuch important objectives against such odds, without loss, at one and the same time.Sidcup, Kent. • ^ - A.G.WILSON. Soviet Flapping'Wings—and Other ThingsT HE letter by Mr. Galitzine (July 15th) regarding his great-uncle's ornithopter glider is of considerable interest. Per- haps the facts which you suggest, that the Kashuk does notoperate on the same principle enables the Soviets to claim another first.As far as I can recall, the Golovkine ornithopter has until now been unknown outside Russia. There is an article onRussian ornithopters, mainly gliders with only manual power, in Letectvi, 26, 245-250 (1950) but this Czech journal does notmention Golovkine. Designs from the 19th century to the 1930s are described, but two very interesting designs by B. I.Cheranovskii are omitted. They are described in Samolet, No. 12 of 1937 on pages 36-37. His first ornithopter was builtin Morkva in 1921, and was a biplane type with pedal-driven mechanism. This was not designated BICh-1, by the way. TheBICh-16 of 1934 rather looks as if it were operated by hand, but Samolet says that tests were not completed. No details are known of a bat-winged ornithopter of about1933 mentioned in Roda Virigar (Malmo, 1946). I would like to make a comment on the Mig-15 cutaway onp. 112 of Flight, January 28th. I am not sure whether all Mig-15s carry a camera in the position shown, or not, but theomission of guns in the original Russian drawing may have been a "security" measure. Such practice is common enough now,but very tantalizing. The Russians have apparently a sort of graded part-publication system. I think the first trace of aMig-15 that I saw in a certain Soviet periodical was half a nose- wheel and half a mainwheel in the background of a pictureshowing officers working out combat manoeuvres with Yak-15 models! A bit later came a photograph in which the air-brakeshave been painted out. The 11-28 is beginning to make an appearance now; a photograph of the nose portion, convenientlycovered by tarpaulins, has been graciously released by the Soviet censor! To go back a little further in time, the photograph on page 6of your July 1st issue is very fascinating as it shows a couple of Shavror Sh-2 amphibians. This appeared in 1932 and wasdeveloped from the similar Sh-1 of 1928! It would be interest- ing if we could learn after a few years whether the Sh-2 or thePo-2 of 1927 will have gained the prize for long service. The An-2 seems to be replacing the Po-2 on a large scale now.Finally, I would like to go back again to the First World War. A young Russian aviation engineer called Osipenko wasworking in London in the years 1915-1916 and built a large biplane at Hendon. A photograph appears in The WarIllustrated (Ed. Hammerton) 2, 591, 1915. There is another photograph in another issue but I cannot find it at present. Hasany reader a knowledge of Osipenko's work here or in Russia? Kennedy later came back to England but I do not know whetherto file Osipenko's Hendon machine with the Russian aeroplanes. Okehampton, Devon. DENYS J. VOADEN.[C. J. H. Mackenzie Kennedy was a leading engineer in Russia, but on the outbreak of the 1914-18 War returned to this countryand experimented in the construction of large bombers.—Ed.] The Not-so-good Old DaysI ARRIVED at Uxbridge in June 1925, long after your corre-spondent Edward Hoctor (Correspondence, June 10th). Even at that time the senior N.C.O.s were more harassed than therecruits, four hundred of whom were picked for the P.T. and Torchlight Display at the Wembley Exhibition. In record time wewere 100 per cent perfect, thanks to the chief drill instructor, F/L. "Stiffy" Wombwell. The food was poor and little of it—one small round loaf betweensix men! The real tyrants were the cook-house staff, who demanded cigarettes or money for second helpings. We recruitswere highly delighted when some of these sharks were court- martialled. Darlington, Co. Durham. Ex-R.A.F. 370045. Victoria Falls AirwaysW ITH great interest I followed the article "Game-Watchingfrom the Air," by my friend T. Ivan Pyle, published in Flight of July 1st. I happened to visit Victoria Falls Airways a few daysafter Mr. Pyle and I flew in one of her attractive Tri-Pacers (VP-YKS) over the Victoria Falls which, I agree with Mr. Pyle,make a breath-taking spectacle. Victoria Falls Airways have two (not four) Tri-Pacers, whichhave respectively flown 800 and 1,000 hours so far. I too had a short interview with Mr. Colman Myers, and he told me thatVictoria Falls Airways had just ordered two Piper Apaches. Some time ago, the Piper Apache Spirit of Pretoria flew with the Piperbrothers in 95 hours from Lockhaven to Pretoria in South Africa. This Spirit of Pretoria, now owned by a sugar planter in Zulu-land, flew to Pretoria via Livingstone, where Mr. Colman Myers was able to fly it from his own airstrip. He was so enthusiasticthat he ordered two Apaches at once. They will next year replace the Rapides on the game-flights. The 880-yard strip used byVictoria Falls Airways is also used by the Livingstone Aero Club, flying, among other aircraft, a Fairchild and a Piper Cruiser.Boskoop, Holland. HUGO HOOFTMAN. July 23-Aug. 1. Aug. Aug. Aug. Aug. Aug. Aug. Sept. Sept.Sept. Sept. Dec. 6-7. 13-18. 15-26. 19-20. 21. 27. 3. 3-5,5-11. 12-18 16 FORTHCOMING EVENTS National Gliding Championships, Lasham, Hants. Dieppe Air Rally. Fourth Air Tour of Switzerland. Commonwealth Survey Officers' Conference, Cambridge. R.Ae.C: Fourth National Air Races Meeting and Lockheed Acrobatic Trophy Competition, Coventry. Northamptonshire Aero Club: At Home. R.N.A.S. Anthorn, Cumberland: Air Day. Leicestershire Aero Club: Air Display. U.S. National Aircraft Show, Philadelphia. S.B.A.C. Show. Fornborough (Public Days, 9th, 10th and 1 lth). Battle of Britain Week. London Airport inauguration by H.M. the Queen.
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