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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0062.PDF
60 FLIGHT, 13 January 1961 CORRESPONDENCE... Wiisthoff. He was wounded and shot down in the French lines.Apparently he had left the late Baron von Richthofen's squadron only three days previously to take command of another and was by way ofshowing how to shoot down a balloon when we blew in. This effort after the balloon accounted for the Huns' unwonted appearance on our sideof the Line. Lt Wiisthoff had 27 victories to his credit and at this time was fourth on the enemy's list of 'aces.' We collected his machine and . . .the rudder and fin went to adorn our notice board." The list of decisive combats in the same book indicates that thecredit for the shooting down of Lt Wiisthoff was shared by three officers of No 24 Sqn, Capt I. D. R. McDonald, MC, DFC; CaptG. O. Johnson, MC; and 2/Lt H. D. Barton, DFC. On the same day 2/Lt W. C. Lambert, DFC, shot down twoaircraft, one breaking up in the air and another falling in flames, and these two victories are presumably the "others" mentionedabove. Are there any other readers who, like Mr McGregor, cansupply first-hand details of this combat? Windsor, Berks C. JOHN BARRON Who Designed the Famous Sopwith Types? fH reference to Wg Cdr NormanMacmillan's article in your issue of December 30, I was not aware thatany mystery existed as to the identity of the Sopwith Aviation Company's chiefdesigner, and I enclose a photograph [reproduced herewith—Ed] of HerbertSmith. He came to Kingston in March 1914 and became chief designer inNovember of that year. He was respon- sible for the development of all Sopwithprojects from then on, including the Pup and the Camel. This is evidenced by thefact that all principal assembly drawings are "Approved H. Smith," while compo-nent drawings are simply countersigned by Ashfield. What I am unable to confirm is whether Smith was responsible for thepost-war commercial designs, the Wallaby, Gnu, Atlantic and Antelope.Cobham, Surrey FRANCIS K. MASON The New York CollisionW HEN I saw the diagram relating to the probable tracks ofthe relevant aircraft in the recent New York air disaster (Flight, December 30), I was reminded of the Decca chart (Flight,January 30, 1959) of a Comet approach to London Airport. One can easily see from this that the aircraft began to take a courseto land on runway 28L but turned off to land on 23L. These runways are approximately one mile apart and it is reported thatthe DC-8 was six miles off course, and the following questions spring to mind: (1) if the DC-8 had been using a Decca Navigatorand flying on a prescribed course, would there have been an accident? (2) should not BOAC fit this equipment in their jetsto prevent a possible recurrence of this disaster? Feltham, Middx J. DAVIES P.S. I have no interest in the Decca Co, other than goodwill. Not-so-Rampant Lion ?R EADING your article headed "Judah's Lion Rampant" on*• page 763 of your issue dated November 11,1 found myself with rather a different impression than that gained after two visits toEthiopia. These visits took place in August 1959 and January 1960 and are, therefore, recent enough to have taken place duringthe period to which the article referred. However, my experience has been solely on the international services of Ethiopian Airlinesand were from Frankfun to Addis Ababa and back to Khartoum and from Cairo to Addis Ababa and back to Athens, in each casetravelling on their DC-6Bs. My knowledge of the airline set-up is very limited, but fromwhat I have learnt from the crews of the aircraft and from in- dividuals in Addis Ababa, I understand that they have a completemonopoly of all services within Ethiopia, that foreign airlines can only land at Asmara and then have to hand their passengers overto Ethiopian Airlines for the rest of their journey, and that their DC-6 planes are on loan or rented from TWA who, I understand,organize the airline and train its personnel and supply the captain on each of their international machines. I feel, therefore, that your praise of this airline would be of morevalue if such points were made clear to your reading public because it seems to me, in point of fact, that any airline in a similar positionwould be most remarkable if they failed to make a resounding success of their services. I cannot, of course, know exactly what you mean when you referto the peculiar adverse environment in which EAL operate, but if you are referring to the nature of the country, I would have thought that this would have been very much in favour of any airline,because whereas it may only take an hour or two between the principal towns by air, it can take the same number of days bysurface, especially for freight; and as I am again given to under- stand by friends, because I have no personal experience to go by,the only train service—from the port of Djibouti to Addis Ababa —is so subject to theft and pilferage that the only safe way ofgetting goods to Addis Ababa is by air. I would, therefore, be extremely surprised if it were not the case that people are tum-bling over themselves to send freight by air; and further, although the Italians produced some quite good roads between the maincentres, the standard of lorries and buses which use those roads is so poor that the fate of valuable cargo and the comfort oftravellers leaves much to be desired. Having said all that I do not wish to infer that EAL are not to becongratulated on what they are doing, but I feel that your article is not likely to put their position in its true perspective. I believethey have a first-class safety record and maintain a high rate of regularity, and I can certainly confirm that international serviceson their DC-6Bs are comfortable and happy; but when you men- tioned their intention of buying jet aeroplanes to face competition,I must ask from whence comes the competition, for unless foreign airlines are to be given the right to fly services within the country,I can see no possible competition to EAL, and from my rather limited experience of the passenger loads carried on their inter-national services, I cannot imagine any call for any aircraft larger than the DC-6Bs. Birmingham 1 R. N. DIXON,Managing Director, Rabone, Petersen & Co Ltd 707 Statistics TXAVING greatly enjoyed reading and seeing the fine selection•*••*• of 707 series (including 720s) photographs on pages 672 and 673 in your Oct 28 issue (recently received in Nairobi), may I pointout one omission under the heading of "Leased 707s"? In the winter of 1958-59, PanAm leased to National Airlines (of Miami)two of their original 707-121s. These aircraft were exclusively used on the highly lucrative New York/Miami schedules ofNational. Regarding your own estimate of about 9,000 tons (basic weight)covering the 160-odd 707s and 720s delivered to fifteen different airlines since September 1958, I'm somewhat puzzled by your"comparison remarks." You state, "this equals seven years' pro- duction of 280-odd DC-6Bs." Do you mean that 160-odd 707/720series built is equivalent in weight to a total of about 1,960 DC-6Bs? Copies of Douglas annual reports in my possessiondisclose a grand total of all the DC-6/DC-7 series—totalling exactly 1,041 aircraft built and delivered in the twelve-year period1947-59. I'd much appreciate your clarification of the DC equiva- lent of 160-odd Boeings in terms of basic weight. Nairobi, Kenya DENNIS M. POWELL [About 280 DC-6Bs—plus other airliners—were built in the seven-yearperiod 1952-58. The 280, we calculated, would have been equivalent in basic weight to 160-odd 707-720s.—Ed.] The First Night Flight MR GIBBS-SMITH is quite right to place due weight on therecollections of the eminent English pilot (I wonder which one it was at that time—Cockburn, Bertram Dickson?) and alsoHarry Delacombe. I knew him well and also his son Roy. Harry's French, as became his name, was fluent. I think the answer is thatHarry Delacombe would find it tedious to converse in English with Farman, and Farman would find it so much more easy toconverse in French to someone who was near his equal in French, because French was his native tongue, and his whole life hadbeen spent in France. The English aviation world and possibly the Press as well, seeking to bask in the high reputation of this"British" inventor and pioneer, certainly urged Farman to avow British nationality now that fame had reached him. And I canconfirm that Farman certainly gave the matter consideration, but after reflection he told me that as his whole life had been spentin France, and he had come to consider himself a Frenchman, he decided he would not change his nationality. As to the calligraphy, or even the composition of Farman'sletter, I have studied the document, since Mr Gibbs-Smith's startling conclusion. I agree that the signature is deeper in imprintthan the text, but then many of us develop bold or characteristic signatures that bear no relation to the text of what we havewritten above it. On phrasing, I do not draw the same inferences either. "Dear Friend" is typically Gallic. The spelling "Graham"instead of "Grahame" I think is significant. The opening, "I beg you to excuse me," is redolent of the French "Je vous prie dem'excuser," and, take another example, "but as I have given you most of my time I must also be of help to Monsieur Paulhan."The inclusion of Monsieur as a prefix to Paulhan I regard as significant. But the whole sentence bears the mark of Frenchconstruction. An Englishman would have phrased it differently. Polperro, Cornwall F. NETTLEINGHAME
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