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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0118.PDF
120 FLIGHT, 25 January 1957 Correspondence The Editor of "Flight" is not necessarily in agreement with theviews expressed by correspondents in these columns; the names and addresses of the writers, not for publication in detail, must, . in all cases accompany letters. The Spitfire Preferred to by Mr. A. G. Sharp. The Auxiliaries ON the news this evening [January 16] it is stated that thequestion of the flying squadrons of the R.Aux.A.F. and the R.N.V.R. has apparently been settled, the reasons being given asin the interests of national economy. Surely this decision refutes the whole principle of these squad-rons. The squadrons provide the nation with a pool of experienced pilots to draw upon in an emergency and the aircrew for thesecan be obtained from the ex-Regulars who do not want to take up permanent commissions.If the national economy warrants the disbandment of these squadrons surely the shocking waste of public money on NationalService aircrew and the University Air Squadrons should be stopped first and foremost. Saffron Walden, Essex. COLIN HILL. "Open Skies"T HE publicity given to the American "Open Skies" Exhibitioncould overshadow British achievements in this field, and the presentation, though interesting and impressive, is leading to mis-conceptions by the general public. I shall be grateful, therefore, if you will allow me space to comment.(1) The exhibition discloses nothing in technique or equipment not already known and available to British experts.(2) The origin of the proposal to use air photography in peace as a disarmament check as opposed to offensive and defensiveintelligence in war was a letter to the Press from the writer on October 11, 1944. This letter emphasized the tremendous con-tribution of the Royal Air Force using British cameras and lenses in winning the war, and proposed the continuance of photographicreconnaissance in the conquered countries. The Eisenhower scheme, as it has become known, is a development of a suggestionoriginating in this country twelve years ago. (3) Given good weather enormous areas can be photographedwith a few aircraft, since a single wide-angle camera flying at 60,000ft records 280 square miles on one photograph; but forinterpretation of the type which disclosed the flying bomb at Peenemunde, selected areas must be photographed with narrow-angle cameras covering 4i square miles per photograph. Weather and logistics mean that a few hundred vital large-scale photo-graphs take months to accomplish. This must be borne in mind when the publicity about selected cases suggests the job can bedone in days and hours. When my letter of 1944 was written we knew little about theenemy effort in air photography. On the events uncovered after the war our Air Force and their equipment had a massivesuperiority, and there is today a continuing effort in research and development which must be maintained if we are to keep our leadin this vital field. London, N.W.10. J. E. ODLE. [Mr. J. E. Odle, F.R.G.S., h an authority on aerial photographyand air survey. He is joint managing director of the Williamson Manufacturing Co., Ltd.—Ed.] Sequel to a StoryA S an ardent enthusiast and reader of your excellent journal,• I have been most interested in Dr. A. A. Griffith's recent summary of his father's life, and in the disclosure of hisresting-place. As soon as I had read "A Story—and Its Sequel" (Flight,January 11), I set off for the Port Erin churchyard, quite close to my home here—determined to locate this fabulous man's grave. Surely enough, I eventually found myself standing in deepreflection before the following epitaph: — George Chetwynd GriffithAuthor Traveller Journalist Born Plymouth 20th Aug 1857Died Port Erin 4th June 1906 : .. This has been most interesting to me, firstly having read"Outlaws of the Air" and secondly living so close to the resting- place of a truly remarkable man "and not having known it.Thanking you for endless hours of absorbing reading. Port Erin, I.o.M. DONALD G. DOBSON. Met. Spitfires—a Farewell T ENCLOSE a photograph [reproduced above—Ed.] which I-I think may prove of interest to your readers. I took it at bpeke Airport, Liverpool, and it shows one of the last three Super-marine Spitfires in service with the R-A.F. They are based at Woodvale, Lanes, with Short Bros, and Harlands' met. flight,and every day one takes off to fly down to Worcester to gather data for the B.B.C.'s 1 p.m. weather forecast. The machines are finished in P.R. blue overall, with black oryellow spinners. They are to be withdrawn from service and scrapped this month and replaced with de Havilland Mosquitoes. Liverpool. A- G- SHARP. Transatlantic Flight Souvenirs WE have recently obtained a number of souvenirs of the firsttransatlantic flight, which was made on July 14/15, 1919, by Alcock and Brown. These items include Whitten Brown's flyingclothing, his black-cat mascot "Twinkletoes," the Atlantic chart believed to have been used on the flight, the Vimy's compass andvarious documents. We propose to build up a small permanent exhibition of relics ofthis great flight, and if any of your readers have knowledge of the whereabouts of other souvenirs of the occasion I would bevery glad to hear from them. We are already fairly well provided with photographs and contemporary newspaper cuttings.Weybridge, Surrey. CHARLES GARDNER, Information, Publicity and Promotions Manager,Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), Ltd. Russian Airline Equipment T WAS interested to see Mr. Muirhead Johnston's article about•*- Russian and Chinese air services. However, when he states that aircraft such as the Yak-18 may still be used on local routes,he must surely be referring to the Yak-16, not the 18. The Yak-18 is in fact a two-seat trainer and could not possibly be used as anairliner, whereas the Yak-16 has for some time been in service with Aeroflot and is a twin-engined ten-passenger feeder-liner. Arbroath, Angus. R. A. G. STUART.[Yes—the Yak 16 was intended—Ed.] FORTHCOMING EVENTS Jan. Feb. 29. R.Ae.S.: Section Lecture: "Design for Production," by E. D. Keen. 2. British Interplanetary Society: "Accelerations in Flight," by W/C. F. Latham. Feb. 5. Aviation Forum: "Catering on Aircraft," by W. Michel. Feb. 7. R.Ae.S.: Main Lecture, at Halton, "Synthetic Training Methods in Aviation," by W. Makinson. Feb. 11. Institute of Transport: Brancker Memorial Lecture: "Com- petitive Economics of Pure-jet y. Turboprop Aircraft," by Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Douglas of Kirtleside, G.C.B., M.C., D.F.C., M.lnst.T. Feb. 12. Joint R.Ae.S. and Helicopter Association Lecture- "Vibra- tion Problems Associated with the Helicopter," by O. L. L. Fitzwilliams, A.F.R.Ae.S. Feb. 14. R.Ae S.: Main Lecture: "The Fairey Delta," by R. L. Lickley and P. Twiss. Feb. 15. Institute of Navigation: "Navigation and Traffic Control t K i* ?vc' Lthc North Atlantic," by D. 0. Froser.reD. 16. British Interplanetary Society: Chemical Demonstration by Dr. J. Diederichsen. Feb. 26. R.Ae S.: Section Lecture: "Recent Advances in the Design AFRAS " °nd Brakes'" bv H- w- Trevaskis, Mar. 7. R.Ae.S : Tenth Louis Bleriot Lecture: "New Methods in Aircraft Production," by M. Badre, production director of Sud-Ouest Aviation. May 24- June 2. Paris Aero Show, Le Bourget Sept. 2-8. S.B.A.C. Show, Farnborough. R.Ae.S. Branch Fixtures (to February 15):(t ^hnmi'/^'V.' "?ivi"9 ""d ^^water Engineering," by I. Fraser; outBampron "Atomic Energy for Aircraft Propulsion " by J. E. Perl aret^F fh% Eolectr0lV" °"<l ^e Aircraft Industry," by Dr. C. F. t ^8l'i?'S DoM"1 """""an Liitti f Hih Pof °"<l ^e Aircraft Industry, by Dr. C. F. \8l'i.?'S DoM"1' """""an Limitations of High Per- V V G/£vW-,K- Stewart" Feb- 6' Lu»0"' "Production Deebomtnt nf M"!?S' OV i Crowther- Feb ». Leicester, "Flight Deelopment of Modern Prototype Aircraft," by C. F. Bethwaite. reo. 15, Brough, Annual Dinner and Dance. -;::. - • •-... .'. •'?,
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