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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0538.PDF
538 FLIGHT, 15 April 1%•., A Scimitar F.I of No 807 Sqn "Flight" photograph Flying the Scimitar SOME LIVELY IMPRESSIONS BY A PILOT AT present forming at RNAS Lossiemouth is the squadron,/% armed with Vickers-Supermarine Scimitars, which will •*• -™- shortly embark in Hermes. The first Scimitar unit, No 803Squadron, was formed in 1958 and embarked with eight aircraft and nine pilots in the Vickers-built carrier Victorious in Septemberof that year. In spite of early difficulties, to be expected when operating a new and complex aircraft from a new ship, the Scimitarcame through the often gruelling tests of actual sea service with flying colours. The Scimitar proved itself to be a thoroughlyreliable, robust and versatile aircraft and has earned the unqualified admiration and confidence of the pilots who fly it. The squadronnow forming will benefit from the accumulated experience of No 803 Squadron—the pioneers. To tell something about flying the Scimitar it is as well, first,to say something about the aircraft itself. The Scimitar, the fastest and most potent aircraft yet to enter service with the Royal Navy,is 54ft long, has a spread span of 37ft and the tip of the fin stands 17ft above the deck. Twin Avon engines gulp air down twocheek intakes and combine to give 22,5001b thrust. The aircraft stands on a conventional tricycle undercarriagewhose oleos are of massive proportions, and there is a no less robust tail-skid to protect the after end during catapult launchesor landings at excessive attitudes. Equally sturdy is the hook, which is fitted at the apex of a retractable "A" frame the membersof which would well serve as railway lines. Buried in the capacious, whale-like fuselage are four 30mm guns, and four universal pylonsproject beneath the wing, for the carriage of 200gal drop tanks, or any type of weapon up to 2,0001b per pylon. The wholeimpression is of a massive, robust and thoroughly aggressive looking machine. The cockpit is comfortable and roomy; the general layout isexcellent and all controls come readily to hand. Instruments are easily read, with the exception of the compass which, by tradition,is placed behind the stick. With the aircraft in the static position, the pilot's eye is some ten feet above the deck, and in the landingattitude this is increased to something approaching twenty feet above the hook position. Visibility is slightly restricted by highcockpit coamings and by the windscreen frames which, in keeping with the rest of the aeroplane, are massive. However, it is perfectlyadequate for normal deck landing purposes. THIS excellent account of handling the Vickers-Supermarine Scimit -twin-Avon fighter/bomber, both in the air and on the deck of a carrk is reproduced from "Th,e Vickers Magazine." The writer is Lt J. VBeard, RN. In the same issue of the journal appears a detailed accou, • of the design and construction of the new carrier HMS "Hermes One of the more impressive sights at sea today is that of aScimitar squatting at an attitude of 12° on the catapult, waitir;" to be launched. Pilots accustomed to the less extreme habits fifSea Hawks and Venoms understandably tend to view the whole performance with some apprehension at first. However, it looksmore forbidding than it feels and the launch given by steam boosters is considerably smoother than was available with theearlier hydraulic systems. A speed up to 100-105kt is attained by the end of the 165fttrack and once clear of the booster it is important to maintain incidence, particularly when under-wing stores are carried. Anyloss of attitude will cause the aircraft to descend. Flap-blowing is always used for catapulting, since this markedly improves thelongitudinal handling. Haying cleared away the undercarriage and flaps, the initial climb is spectacular and performance there-after, lively. The pilot can satisfy his curiosity about a passing vapour trail remarkably soon after take-off. Like the catapult launch, the business of deck-landing a Scimitarlooks considerably more dramatic than it feels and, provided it is treated with the respect due to a sophisticated aeroplane, theScimitar is a pleasant deck-landing machine. Aircraft join the circuit in pairs from astern, flying down the starboard side tobreak at fifteen second intervals. The downwind leg is established at 800ft approximately a mile on the port beam of the ship and,with everything down except fuselage flap (not forgetting to make the flap-blow switch) airspeed is reduced to between 160-165kt.The deck does undoubtedly look small from this position, in spite of the extra area bestowed upon it by 9° angle. Such spaceas there is appears to be entirely filled with aircraft, deck-landing machinery and hurrying people. The turn on to finals is made when about abreast the stern.At the 90° point the mirror comes reassuringly into view as an amber blob and, with the height of 600ft, speed lOkt above thetouchdown speed for the weight, everything is set for the final approach. The pilot's concentration is now entirely given overto the accurate obedience of the mirror, small airspeed corrections, and to lining-up with the angled deck—all of which factors arecritical. The pilot has time just to note, with slight surprise, that the deck—or that portion of it which is reserved for landing-is, after all, clear. If the mirror is correctly obeyed, the hook will clear the round-down by about 9ft and engage the second or third of a niggardly total of four wires. With such a small hook clearance, it is easilyappreciated that by flying only slightly low on the mirror there is a definite and unpleasant possibility of snatching the hook outaltogether, by engaging the solid ironmongery of the roundown instead of a wire. Alternatively, the result of approaching toohigh may be a "bolter" or, for the pilot who has his pride to consider, an uninhibited last moment push forward on the stickin a desperate effort to catch a wire. The resulting rate of descent may well break even the robust oleos of the Scimitar. In suchcases it is better to abandon the approach altogether. Decelera- tion, once a wire is caught, is rapid, but not unpleasant, with apull-out distance in the order of 250ft as a rule. Conditions are not, of course, always ideal: for instance, theship may be pitching fairly violently and this will require the pilot to interpolate a mean of the mirror signals. Several factors may,individually or in combination, reduce visibility drastically. Funnel haze, for example, not only reduces visibility but causes considerable turbulence. Salt deposits on the windscreen—or rain—may reduce visibility to practically nil, particularly when the shiphappens to be steaming up sun. Having stopped, it remains for the pilot to get out of the wiresas rapidly as possible, to clear the deck for the next aircraft. The landing interval aimed at is 45 seconds, a limit imposed by thetime taken for the wires to reset. Aircraft are parked with wings folded in that noisy, windy and crowded part of the deck forwardof the island known as Fly One. A series of marshallers direct the aircraft into this space under the hypercritical eye of theFlight Deck Officer. Taxying on a moving deck, particularly when the ship is pitch-ing, can sometimes be a confusing experience, made no easier by the unavoidable presence of scattered patches of kercsine/sea-water emulsion, when the brakes are poor, if not useless. To make maximum use of the very limited space available, aircraft must beparked within inches of each other and to achieve this wheels are run out to the extreme deck edge. When parking right forward,this means that the cockpit may well project out over the bow of the ship and there can sometimes be an unpleasant illusion ofbrake failure when the parking brake is selected. The pilot, who can only see the sea rushing past below him, sometimes forgetsfor a ghastly moment that the ship and not the aeroplane is moving. All things considered, there is a need for much vigilance.
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