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Aviation History
1958
1958-1- - 0831.PDF
28 November 1958 837 CORRESPONDENCE The Editor of "Flight" is not necessarily in agreement with the views expressed by correspondents in these columns.The names and addresses oj the writers, not for publication in detail, must in all cases accompany letters. Missiles, Men and Employment IT is not much over a year since the Soviet Union successfullyput the first artificial Earth satellite into orbit; and it is barely seven months since the Minister of Supply, Mr. Aubrey Jones,made his prophecy about possible unemployment (saying that the aircraft industry might drop 100,000 employees in the next fiveyears), less Government spending and the ultimate shrinkage of major airframe and engine firms from 14 and five respectivelyto a total of four and two. Yet already the combined effect of these two most critical events has been felt in the industry by bothemployer and employee. Some go-ahead firms have announced their amalgamation plans; and, according to recent Ministry ofLabour figures, nearly 12,000 workers lost their jobs in eight months. It seems, at this rate, that the Minister's estimate mayregrettably prove accurate by 1963. Far more alarming, however, than this persistent downwardtrend of monthly employment figures is the fact that our top aircraft-manufacturing allies—the U.S.A., France and Canada—have the same disturbing symptoms in their dwindling employ- ment totals. Letters from colleagues already settled in NorthAmerica tell the writer of a continued recession in their aircraft firms. One well-known Long Island factory laid off no fewer than250 draughtsmen after first offering them alternative jobs as riveters on the night-shift.For a would-be emigrant from Britain such news naturally dampens enthusiasm for trying one's luck overseas. A family man,in particular, would be wise to seek more information. The following is the result of my own enquiries from official sources inLondon: — Country United StatesGreat Britain... France...Canada Total Employ**!* Oct. 1H7 847,000261.500 81.00022.500 jun* me 761.400 249,600 74.600 20.700 No. of Major Firm* Airfram* 1214 53 Engin* 45 32 'Includes minor firms and equipment manufacturers. The commercial attaches and civil air attaches at the U.S. andFrench Embassies realistically attribute their aircraft-industry lay-offs and cancelled contracts directly to Russia's initial successwith satellites and to their own governments' quick appreciation that manned combat aircraft must soon be replaced by guidedmissiles. The U.S. has been rapidly transferring its defence expen- diture to this pattern for the past two to three years. Theaccompanying bar-chart shows the trend comparatively. France, whose£369m military-air- craft programme for1958 has been slashed by £42m, expects that20,000 of her 80,000 aircraft workers will belaid off this year. Only recently Canada an-nounced that in the first three months ofthe present year British emigrants numberedfewer than a quarter of the total for the corre- Missilcs Electronics Engines (inc. someramjets) Mowed Aircraft ^^^^^^^_ 1__^^_^^__1 s ponding period last year. It would seem that news of the cur- rent North American recession has already 1956 I960 discouraged the faint- hearted. The Government's rumoured inclination to buy American prop-jet freighters for our Army's "fire-brigade" duties could have been avoided if this obvious weakness in transport aircraft had been spotted during the Suez crisis. An order placed then for pure-jet transports of the HP.lll calibre would have given us work and the ability to quell fires 4,000 miles away in 6J hours' flying-time! Perhaps, however, our phenomenal success with the launch of the Black Knight rocket atWoomera, plus the news that our Fairey Rotodyne is to be built under licence by an American firm, will persuade those who would leave to stay a while. St. Albans, Herts. WILLIAM RICHARDSON. Rotodyne Opportunity f are all, I am sure, impressed by both the performance andthe economics of the Fairey Rotodyne; in fact, as is well known, an airline in Canada went as far as ordering it "off thedevelopment board," to coin a phrase. Rarely in aviation history has a small airline ordered an aircraft which is not even assuredof existence. Surely this is proof of its worth. The Minister of Supply does not seem to think so. Isn't it abouttime that the Government stopped wasting millions on failures, when here is a ready-made success for the offering, a success thatcould be the greatest thing in British aviation since A. V. Roe built his first aeroplane? Wembley, Mddx. H. GINSBERG. [This situation is the subject of new reports : see pp. 818 and 842—Ed.] Luftwaffe Pilots' Score TN mentioning Allied versus German air victory scores ("Corre-A spondence," Flight, October 31), Maurice Austin is stirring up a hornet's nest. I forecast that once the flow of letters on thissubject commences it will take some stopping. You may be surprised to learn that no fewer than 91 Germanfighter pilots are reputed each to have shot down one hundred or more aircraft during the 1939-45 conflict. To me this seemedludicrous until I examined the breakdown of these scores in more detail. The case of Oberst Johannes Steinhoff makes a goodexample. His total number of claimed victories is 166, but of these 139 were Russian machines destroyed on the Eastern Front.In the West his score came to only 27—12 R.A.F. during the Battle of Britain, and 15 U.S.A.A.F. later shot down in NorthAfrica and Italy. During the latter half of 1941 the Luftwaffe destroyed vast numbers of Soviet aircraft, thereby giving a goodstart to the "hundred plus" aces. It is obvious from contem- porary accounts that exaggerated claims were made on both sides,but even if we halve the scores of the top-ranking German pilots, it would still leave a round dozen with over 100 victories apiece. I think that the claimants should be given the chance of defend-ing themselves, and in the hope that Flight is read as eagerly in the messes of the resuscitated Luftwaffe as it is in most otherplaces where aeronautical types relax, I would make the following request. Could any serving or ex-Luftwaffe fighter pilots orIntelligence officers provide us with information on the methods used during the last war for confirming or disclaiming victories?Were camera-gun films always used as the final evidence of a "kill," or was personal observation on the part of the claimantenough to secure official confirmation? Were aircraft destroyed on the ground, or moored balloons, included in a Luftwaffe pilot'sscore? Do the pilots themselves now believe in the complete accuracy of these figures? Do the headquarters of the Luftwaffe(or our own Air Ministry for that matter) possess any hitherto unpublished records which might add to our knowledge? Of the "hundred plus" merchants, a surprising number are,or were until recently, still alive. If any of the following read this letter, and would like to put their own point of view, I am sure thatFlight would provide the necessary space: — Major Erich Hartmann,* Ritterkreuz mit Brillanten, 352 victories (Mr. Austin quotes 336); Major Gerhard Barkhorn,* Ritterkreuz mit Schwertern, 301; Major Guenter Rail, Ritterkreuz mit Schwertern, 275; Major Wilhelm Batz, Ritterkreuz mit Schwertern, 242; Major Erich Rudorffer, Ritterkreuz mit Schwertern, 222; Oberst Hermann Graf, Ritterkreuz mit Brillanten, 205. Hauptmann Walter Krupinski,* Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub, 197; Major Anton Hack], Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub, 190; Oberst Johannes Steinhoff,* Ritterkreuz mit Schwertern, 166; GeneraUeutnant Gordon Gollob, Ritterkreuz mit Brillanten, 160; Leutnant Guenther Schack. Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub, 160; Leutnant Max Stotz, Ritterkreuz mil Eichenlaub, 150-plus; Major Adolf Dickfeld, Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub, 132-plus; Major Hartmann Grasser, Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub, 131. Hauptmann Alfred Grislawski, Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub, 114-plus; Oberst Herbert Ihlefeld, Ritterkreuz mit Schwertern, 113; Major Reinhard Seiler, Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub, 109; Major Hans Hahn, Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub, 108; Hauptmann Viktor Bauer, Ritterkreuz mil Eichenlaub, 106-plus; Obcrstleutnant Kurt Buehligen, Ritterkreuz mit Schwertern, 104; Generalleumam Adolf Galland, Ritterkreuz mit BriUantcn, 103; Oberst Josef Priller, Rirterkreuz mit Schwertem, 101; Hauptmann Karl-Heinz Weber, Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub, 100-plus; Hauptmann Heinrich Ehrler, Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub, 100-plus; Hauptmann Walter Schuck, Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub, 100-plus. Notes. *These men are also serving officers in the post-war Luftwaffe. Ritterkreuz mit Brillanten (Knights Cross with Diamonds) . . . mit Schwertern (with Swords) . . . mit Eichenlaub (with Oak Leaves), are condensations of the full title, e.g., Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes being translated as "Oak Leaves to the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross." Swords and then Diamonds would be added for additional acts of gallantry. [Continued overleaf
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