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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0088.PDF
90 FLIGHT, 17 January 1956 CORRESPONDENCE The Editor of "Flight" is not necessarily in agreement with the views expressed by correspondents in these columns.The names and addresses of the writers, not for publication in detail, must in all cases accompany letters. Flying on One Eye IN reply to the comment by Mr. Conry (December 13) on thequestion of the one-eyed pilot, and the many words from Cyclops 2 which fill over three-quarters of a column (January 3)on the same subject, it should be pointed out that nobody has disputed the fact that a number of one-eyed pilots are able to pilotaeroplanes. Instances of one-eyed pilots who fly well illustrate an admirable triumph over a disadvantage—they do not prove thatthe disadvantage does not exist, which was the point under discussion. Mr. Conry remains curiously silent about bis Association. MayI now address a question to the Publicity Committee of the Royal Aero Club, who surely know about these things. What is theBritish Aeroplane Owners and Pilots Association, apart from a line beneath Mr. Conry's signature in letters to Flight London, S.W.8. . K. TUDOR. What the Stars Foretell ""THE perspicacious prediction by Miss Crystal Ball, in her "Old-*- Bore's Almanack" (Correspondence, January 3) that in September 1958 a new ejector seat for the Fleet Air Arm willbe announced, capable of astonishing performance, may prove remarkably accurate.Security considerations are probably preventing informed people from declaring that such a seat is here now. However, giving timefor operational requirements to be formulated, specifications pre- pared and contracts signed, September 1958 seems to be a prettygood guess of the announcement date. What intrigues me more is whether your correspondent's otherpredictions will also materialize. Certainly my diary confirms that Christmas Day falls on a Thursday. "Old Bore's Almanack" willbe well worth watching. Amersham, Bucks. EXPECTANT. Society of Aircraft Historians? T^HE proposal by "Beltane" (December 6) to form a society for•*• those interested in the history of aeronautics will surely have support from all over the country. if your correspondent will agree to receive names and addressesof all historians, amateur or professional, who would help foster this idea I am sure he will be surprised at the amount of responsehe will get. I, personally, know of three people who will give every assistance and who look forward to the formation of such a society.Expense need be only negligible. And, perhaps, when the society is a going concern Flight would allow us a little space to reportour progress and activities. It is to be hoped that "Beltane" will agree to my suggestion andlet us have his name and address so that all who are interested may write and help him form this much-needed society.Hounslow, Middx. H. F. COWLEY. Restrictions on the Private PilotY OUR recent correspondence on the restriction of private flyinghas proved interesting, due to the various opinions put forward by pilots and air-traffic controllers as to who is to blame for thestate of affairs. The airline pilot's opinion (minority, of course) is that the private flyer is a "deadbeat" and the cause of it all!Yet, where would the former be today without the sympathetic attitude and the guiding hand of his instructors?Does the carping airline pilot stop to think what a dangerous business this single-engine flying can be under many circum-stances? One can easily criticize and pass advice when one is sitting between four big engines with duplicated A.D.F., I.L.S.,hot and cold running fixes and stewardesses, to say nothing of a crew to share the ulcers of flying close to the limit! How wouldthe airline pilot like to fly in a Proctor, at night, in 2,000 yards' visibility (fog), on one V.H.F. set, to be told that he could nothave radar assistance to his base because he only held a night rating and not the full instrument rating! Yet this happened,only a month ago. Given such treatment the airline pilot would down tools andtake up farming. But the private flyer has to press on or give up. Those who do give up do so principally because of theattitude of the real enemy, the M.T.C.A. The air-traffic con- troller says everyone should have radio. An ideal proposition.But has he ever stopped to consider the difficulties involved? Many current V.H.F. sets with a reliable performance carry anextreme weight penalty for a light aircraft, to say nothing of the cost of purchasing, the fees, and "bull" of the A.R.B., not forgettingthat the Postmaster General suddenly puts a demand on the pilot for £1 per year for doing absolutely nothing! Then, of course, there is that useless bit of paper called an R/T.licence. If you live at Wick (Scotland) you have to take two days off from work, travel to London (about £8 return), sit in a littlebox in the madhouse at Berkeley Square and go through a parrot- fashion rigmarole which will in no way help you to carry out acompetent R/T. discourse in an aeroplane which is bumping all over the sky, while you are trying to find the crystal that fell onthe floor when you tried to crystal up! Some two years ago the writer put up the suggestion that R/T.licence tests should be carried out at M.T.C.A. aerodromes and conducted by chief air-traffic controllers under actual flight condi-tions—but no! Far too common-sense? Even with his radio, and licence, the private pilot will find that there is no UNICOM as inthe United States, and no standardization or coherency of radio channels—except 121.5, which he will be terrified to use until heis down on the water! The air-traffic controller, Air. Wilde, mentions in Flight(December 20) that "private flying in America is thriving partly because aircraft owners are radio-conscious. . . ." I would liketo advise him tiiat most of America's private flying is done from non-radio airfields; and, further, if Mr. Wilde would pay a visitto the U.S.A. he would find that their A.T.C. operators not only give "light-gun" signals, but give them very clearly and efficiently.However, such is the plethora of radio communication that the Americans have worked out a signalling system so that lights fromthe tower are acknowledged—it is very simple, and it works; the probable reason why the M.T.C.A. have not adopted it here. It is our opinion that the unhappy state of affairs of private flyingin this country will not be any happier until the desk-flyers at B.S. House are moved to the operation of desks, and their placestaken by pilots used to the operation of aeroplanes. E. Grinstead, Sussex. M. J. CONRY, Hon. Sec, British Aeroplane Owners and Pilots Association. German World War I Rarities f\N reading Thrilling Flights, edited by Capt. W. E. Johns, and^ Pilot's Summer, by Frank D. Tredrey, I found, in each in- stance, a reference to an unusual type of 1914-18 German aircraft.Here is a description of both types; I would be grateful if the experts could identify them. In the first instance (Thrilling Flights), Capt. L. W. B. Rees(who later won the Victoria Cross), flying an old Vickers fighter, with F/Sgt. J. M. Hargreaves armed with a stripped Lewis gun,spotted and fought a machine with two fuselages with tractor screws, and a nacelle with a propeller behind. In the second instance (Pilot's Summer) Mr. Tredrey describesthe contents of a German pilot's photograph album. Of particular interest was a small twin-engined three-seater with three ruddersand machine guns on swivels pointing in all directions. Incidentally, I must congratulate John Barron (December 13)on his suggestion for an aviation book club (publishers please note). In my humble opinion this is a winner. Have other readersanything to add to the suggestion? Birmingham, 14. MAURICE AUSTIN. Pardon our Accent T HOPE those who "bouffed" the opera in line 28, 1st column,-•; page 863 of Flight of December 6 have not suffered from distended stomach. There is a world of difference between an opera bouffe whichcomes from the words opera bouffon (comic opera) and an opera bouffe, the word bouffe meaning "eaten" in slang French. Please treat this letter in the opera bouffe spirit in which it issent. Paris, XVIe. H. R. GILLMAN. A Publisher Looks Ahead Y Reviewer "A. C. B." ends his recent notice of Werner •*• Buedeler's Operation Vanguard: "How useful it would be ifan enterprising publisher were to get a similar book from Russia about how the programme there was brought to fruition." In the light of this comment it may be of interest to your readersto know that we attempted to obtain such a book from Russia long before the Sputniks were first launched. In fact, the onlybooks and information forthcoming from the Soviet authorities offered no original material or indication of forthcoming eventsfor which we were looking and did not warrant our publication in this country. HAROLD K. STARKE, London, E.C.I. Director, Burke Publishing Co., Ltd.
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