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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0796.PDF
812 FLIGHT, 13 June 1958 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in agreement with the views expressed by correspondents in these columns.The names and addresses of the writers, not for publication in detail, must in all cases accompany letters. Circumnavigational Load Shedding TN your April 25 issue, the "Straight and Level" column con-•*• tained an item which claimed that a B-52 flying from west to east "lost" 3,500 lb (out of 400,000) and likewise "gained" 3,500 lbflying in the opposite direction. The item closed with the ques- tion : "Anyone disagree?" I disagree. A derivation of the general relationship of theapparent weight-reduction to speed, heading and latitude, together with sample calculations for a speed of 1,000ft/sec (592 kt—aboutthe order of magnitude of the B-52's speed) is enclosed. [Our correspondent attaches several pages of workings and diagrams—Ed.] These calculations show that there is indeed a weight reductionof 3,800 lb for a B-52 flying east on the Equator at 1,000ft/sec. However, there is never a gain in weight, no matter what thedirection of flight. In fact, if the airplane turned around and headed due west there would still be an apparent weight reductionof 160 lb. Heading north or south, the reduction is 1,980 lb. Even if the airplane were parked in a hypothetical equatorial hangar,there would be an apparent reduction of 870 lb. At higher latitudes, where B-52 operations are no doubt morefrequent, the effect diminishes in magnitude. The chart on page 5 of my enclosure shows plots of the weight loss as a percentage oftotal weight for the Equator, 45 deg north or south latitude, and for the polar regions, as a function of the heading. The reason the apparent weight-reduction varies in the mannershown is that it depends on the square of the magnitude of the vector sum of the ground speed and the tangential velocity ofthe surface of the earth. This quantity is always greater than zero. Anyone disagree? Seattle, Washington. FRANKLYN J. DAVENPORT. Memories of the Fairey Fox -"- . •"THE letter from Mr. L. Massey Hilton ("Deck Landing the-*- Fox") in your issue of February 28 recalled to me as an ex-member of No. 12 Squadron (1927 to 1932) at Andover, thedays when the Fox delighted the crowds at Hendon Displays. No. 12 was, of course, the only R.A.F. squadron equipped withthese rJrcraft, and we, its members, were very jealous of our own special charges. Other squadrons, fighter and bomber alike, wereapt to be regarded with disdain; our Foxes could outshine them all, in all senses of the word. Our engine cowls and all brightparts had to glisten, and woe betide a fitter whose copper water pipes beneath the cowlings did not shine to a flight sergeant'ssatisfaction. I suppose we were dubbed "Shiny 12" with some justification. The Fox's 12-<:ylinder water-cooled Curtiss D.12 engine wasthe first I met with having its carburettor fitted within the vee of the two cylinder blocks. I seem to remember separate inlet andexhaust camshafts on each block, and each pair of valves being operated by one cam through a connecting bridge-piece (theaccurate setting of the clearances called for some degree of skill). It was a direct-drive engine, fitted with short exhaust stubs, anda Fairey Reed propeller of about 6ft 6in diameter. Apart from its high speed, the machine's piece de resistance was, of course, its impressive roar on pulling out at low level from a high-speeddive. There were few maintenance worries, but I remember the Foxproviding some interesting, and in retrospect amusing, moments. Two radiators were installed in the cooling system; the main,always in circuit, was retractable. The second, fitted in the under- surface of the centre-section, could be isolated by cockpit controlfor speeding up the warming-up process, and, of course, was always in the slipstream. Ethylene glycol had not been introduced—in cold weather the draining of systems or the use of catalytic lamps was the order of the day—and it did sometimes happen thatsome unthinking character, anxious to get his engine warmed up on a particularly cold morning and to return to the comparativecomfort of a cold hangar, would isolate his centre section radiator and freeze it solid within a few short minutes. I know. I did itonce! Shock absorption in the undercarriage struts was by a series ofrubber balls, and the artifices we employed to get the requisite number forced into the leg tubes were many and various. Whathappened to the old balls after removal from the struts I will not dwell upon—we of "Shiny 12" were a fairly high-spirited bunch. Then came the Curtiss D.12 spares difficulties. I hesitate toreflect on how, with wire brushes and scribers, we cleaned out corrosion pits in the water-jacket side of the cylinder barrels andfilled them with soft solder. But the engines continued to run and to give first-class service. I have in my possession a photograph of a Fox taken at Andoverin, I should think, 1929 or 1930 after the squadron CO., the then S/L. Stevenson, and his air gunner, Cpl. Hancock, had won theCock Trophy. The squadron was genuinely depressed when it eventually lostits Foxes and had to assume a status comparable with that of other similar squadrons. To those, like myself, who had something todo with its maintenance and operation, the Fox will always be regarded with a certain affection. Cambridge. E. W. GOODE. Early Agricultural Aircraft T FOUND Capt. R. Bradbury's article entitled "Crop Control"-I (May 2 issue) very interesting and it set me thinking when crop dusting first began. For instance, when and what was the first aircraft adapted forcrop dusting (or sowing, for that matter)? Secondly, what was the first aeroplane designed throughout for agricultural use? Ifound in a 1926 edition of Jane's all the World's Aircraft a photo- graph of an American Huff-Daland Petrel 5 biplane (200 h.p.Wright Whirlwind Radial)—a special aeroplane for agricultural The Grumman Ag-Cat bears a striking resemblance to theuse. Petrel 5.Birmingham, 14. MAURICE AUSTIN. Roger Out? V^OUR columnist Roger Bacon thinks that "The only thing you•*- learn from history is that you learn nothing from history" is 99 per cent true. It is not even one per cent true.Falkirk, Stirlingshire. A. C. MIDDLEMASS. FORTHCOMING EVENT8 June 14. June 14-15. June 15-29. June 18. June 19-28.June 20-2). Jwne 20-23. June 21. June 22. June 25.June 27-29. June 28. June 28. June 28. June 28-29. June 28-30. July 4. July 5.July 5-6. July 5-7. Plymouth Aero Club: Air Display. Popular Flying Association: Rally, Rhoose, Cardiff. World Gliding Championships, Poland. Kronfeld Club: "The Early Days," by F. N. Slingsby. OSTIV: Seventh Congress, Osieczna, Poland. Lerida Aero Club: International Tour of Pyrenees. Palermo Aero Club: Tour of Sicily. R.N. Air Station Ford: At Home.R.Ae.S.: Garden Party, White Waltham. Kronfeld Club: Polish film, "The First Start."Royal Dutch Aero Club: International Rally. Exeter Aero Club: Flying Display, Exeter Airport.R.A.F.A. (Cheltenham and Gloucester Branches): Air Display, Stoverton Airport.R.N. Air Station Abbotsinch: At Home. Flers Aero Club: Normandy Rally. R.Ae.C.: Private Air Rally, La Baule. College of Aeronautics Students' Society: Presentation Ball, Cronfield.NATO Air Display: Soesterberg, Holland. Aero Club de I'Ouest: Anjou Wines Rally.R.Ae.C.: Private Air Rally, Deouville. JulyJuly July July JulyJuly July July July JulyJuly July 8,8-11. 10-12. 12-14. 13. 13. 16. 19. 19-20. 26.26-27. 26-Aug. 4. Aug. Aug. Aug.Aug. 1-16. 2. 2-4.2-5. Up*. 1-7. Kronfeld Club: Welcome home to British gliding team.Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences: National Summer Meeting, Los Angeles, Cal.R.Ae.C.: National Air Races and Lockheed International Aerobatic Competition, Baginton.Royal Dutch Aero Club: Camping Rally. Wolverhampton Aero Club: At Home, Wolverhampton.Leicestershire Aero Club: At Home, Leicester East. Kronfeld Club: "The London Gliding Club," by DudleyHiscox. R.N. Air Stations Eglington and Culdrose: At Homes. Calvados Aero Club: Caen Rally.R.N. Air Station Louiemouth: At Home. Trente and Bolzano Aero Clubs: Dolomites Circuit. B.G.A.: National Soaring Week.Czech Aero Club: World Parachute Championship, Bratislava.R.N. Air Station Browdy: At Home. Plymouth Aero Club: Rally.S.M.A.E.: Model Aircraft World Championships, College of Aeronautics, Cranfield. S.B.A.C. Display and Exhibition, Farnborough.
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