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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 0330.PDF
30 January 1959 - where the controlled airspaces are, so that he can avoid themwhen necessary. He must know their exact position both in plan and elevation relative to his aeroplane throughout the entireflight, not merely during pre-flight planning on the ground. He must therefore use an up-to-date map with the airways and othercontrolled areas shown, and a serviceable altimeter which has been correctly set. Such maps are of course available and are used by the majorityof pilots, but it is once more a question of eliminating loopholes whereby a handful of black sheep can continue to use maps ofdoubtful vintage without the faintest hint of an airway. It is this same dubious breed who fly with altimeters set to zero on theground because they cannot be bothered with mental arithmetic in the circuit. Today, when some club airfields lie beneath controlareas or airways, with precious little clearance between circuit height and the base of the controlled airspace, such a procedureis downright dangerous. The very thought of commercial aircraft using one altimeter setting for a particular area while enthusiasticamateurs fly in the near vicinity, not quite sure if they are in V.M.C. or I.M.C., with altimeters set perhaps to zero beforetake-off, or to a two-hour-old QNH approximation on an un- checked instrument, is not funny to anyone—least of all to thepilots and passengers in the commercial aircraft, who may suffer drastically in consequence. There are two answers to this problem. The first is that theuse of a suitable map and a correctly set and serviceable altimeter must be made mandatory for all private pilots. In time, compliancewith these conditions would be a logical outcome of standardized instruction, but to ensure universal coverage a simple interimprocedure would be the preparation of a Popular Flying Code. This would be a Highway Code of the air which could embracethese and other points of basic airmanship which have hitherto been handed down as accepted practice but never presented con-cisely in print. It would take the form of a booklet to be issued with the private pilot's licence and subsequently amended whennecessary. Knowledge of the Code and observation of its rules could be made a condition of licence validity and thus the aim ofuniversal coverage achieved with the least bother. The second answer lies in the use of radio. Apart from its moreobvious advantages, the urgent need for common altimeter settings for all aircraft at any given time in any particular area dictates therequirement for radio to be installed in all aircraft down to the lightest of ultra-lights. This matter is already receiving the atten-tion of the Royal Aero Club so there is no need to enlarge upon it here except to emphasise its necessity. The question of equipment leads naturally to that of the air-craft in which to instal it. This problem also is already under discussion and further comment is unnecessary except to stressthe need for new or cheaper trainers to replace the venerable Tiger Moths. Such machines must have good healthy stalling and spin-ning characteristics (because an ounce of practical demonstration at a safe height is worth a ton of circulars and sermons whendealing with such matters as stalling off a climbing turn) and must 159 A unique organiza- tion which has done much for advanced private-flying stan- dards in the U.K. is the Tiger Club, one of whose 1958 air- display formations is pictured here "Flight" photograph be fully aerobatic because aerobatics are the essence of pure flying.They are essential during the initial training of every pilot if he is to be able to recover from unusual attitudes, whatever the sizeof the aircraft which he subsequently flies, by nursing his machine back to normal rather than clutching the stick in a cold sweatbecause he's never seen the horizon at that horrible angle before. Finally there is the problem of cost: a University of Flying,popular flying for boys and girls, incentive for instructors, radio ... who is going to pay? In the first place, the idea of a Universityof Flying has only been touched upon, with its particular applica- tion to popular flying. It has, of course, far wider implications.Aircrew training for the sophisticated civil aircraft of today is one of the most stimulating challenges in the field of aviation. If weare to maintain our position in this field a University of Flying, forming a spearhead of research backed by practical experienceinto all matters concerning practical flying, is essential. Secondly, a popular flying movement is, in a smaller but noless significant way, able to offer advantages to the nation which are both fundamental and far-reaching. Both undertakings,university and movement, are therefore vital: as vital as schools and sewers, false teeth and spectacles—even politicians' salariesand imported television programmes. They are vital to us as a nation. Therefore we as a nation must find the money to establishthe former, perhaps in conjunction with the Commonwealth, and to assist the latter. Once the fundamentals have been established let us hope thatthe committees and expert bodies can proceed in their worthy task of obtaining a new deal for popular flying, of sparing noeffort to ensure that the air becomes as much a part of our national heritage as is the sea; that if it is still true to say "Thefirst article of an Englishman's creed is that he believeth in the sea," then, surely, the second must be that he believes in the air. WIDGEON BEATS DRUM T^HEN the road to the Metropolitan-Vickers experimental radar" station near the top of Drum (2,528ft) in Snowdonia became impassable during the recent severe weather, a Westland Widgeonwas used to transport personnel and stores from the coastal village of Aber, so that the station's research programme could continueuninterrupted. Within 24 hr of Westland Aircraft Ltd. being requested tohelp, a Widgeon was flown up to R.A.F. Llanbedr by the com- pany's chief flying instructor and test pilot, John Fay. He wasaccompanied by service engineer Stan Rapley and their journey from Somerset took 1 hr 50 min. Operations began on Wednesday,January 14, with Llanbedr (25 miles south of Aber) being used as an overnight base. On the first day five return nights weremade between Aber and the radar station; on the second, three; and on the last day (Friday, at the conclusion of the radar pro-gramme) one. During these flights the Widgeon transported three engineersand over a ton of stores to and from the station site. The stores included food, snowshoes, batteries, first-aid and specializedequipment, and diesel oil for the generating plant. All supplies were carried inside the cabin, involving the removal of the fourPassenger seats (an operation taking only about two minutes) to transport a 3ft-square box. Flying operations proved entirely successful, and although theweather continued cold with easterly winds (temperature on the mountain was — 2 deg C) there was no snow and none of the fiercedowndraughts normally experienced in mountainous regions. Not the Antarctic but Snowdonia—with Westland Widgeon G-ANLW near the summit of Drum at the end of another delivery run
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