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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 0781.PDF
FLIGHT International, 17 May 1962 779 Controller of TRfcra&tion, Air Ministry, Loadon, if»C*2, 13 Aviation trame Officer, f$&ivm Airship.:gtatic». repreaantat;ive of. is a.uthcn8eA ts «nt«r ptakaa AirsMp Stat ion,a»d to fee takm en fecard H.'Sl t&x & flight oc *Jane l4tb. for Controller of Information. Lighter-than-air. Mr Yoxall is permitted to fly in the airship R.36 in 1921 to watch traffic control from the air S«rial_Ko.. M • 1 T Am KEgSTRY PASS (Q.R. 992) (which suet .be Fiver, up at the Station Guardrooa on termination of the visit) To: ?he c0!aasu'-4ing Offi.-er, Soyal Air Joroe Station, ,VA 1"JIS;-„'J-;. Mr./1lii|i 111 l»/niotographer I.','' : -iCrc.-.L", (Address) or "irLIViT ; f::^:\XVjK>l.'. :... '.Til;'-. ia hereby granted perBission to visit the station in order tc:- gajTy out air tc atr rhotogramr/ wltii "Llai.tnlm:" alrcmii. of NO. 111 Squadron, Royal Air jo:-ce, period of Validity PIV79 Mnrnh, 1-Sfif (J.K.TJ8DSAS) for Chief Inforaiation Officer UOTS8; (i) Thla pmt 1» valid wily for the jpecific faoilitica afcatedatoveV J o"furiher~£acilit'ies should ^e_ providecTirl^hoirl~oot'alning the approval o?JLof. lfa gacTl 1 tie s ~,~ Air "Mini s try. (ii) Flying facilities are not to be offered urleBs specifically authorised above, in which event an Air Passenger ticket wuat be issued in accordance With tM9. S697/60 6.02217/fS/8/6lA0O0 Permit for photographer Ian Macdonald to watch—from the side lines—a performance by Treble-One Squadron's Lightnings In addition to flying AAF Westland Wapitis and D.H.9As, many of them owned private machines. When Service flying was over for the day, the real battles started, opposing camps being bombed with flour and toilet rolls. A visit of particular interest this year was to the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious, equipped with Fairey IIIFs and Flycatchers. It is sufficient for the present generation to be told that there were no arrester wires, no brakes and no catapults. The Flycatchers were lined up diagonally inside the forward hangar, engines were started, doors opened and, at the drop of a flag, each in turn took off from the fore deck. What flying speed was not gathered during the short run on the deck was gained as the aircraft sank towards the sea. Next squadron on the list to be visited in 1930 was No 43, then commanded by Sqn Ldr C. N. Lowe, the England rugby player. They were flying Armstrong Whitworth Siskin HIAs. Apart from ordinary formation flying, they demonstrated for my benefit their ability to fly and land tied together. No 43 is almost a spiritual home for me. I have flown with them when they have had Siskins, Furies and Meteors, during a period stretching well over a quarter of a century. Only a fortnight ago the squadron held a reunion in London. Photographing 101 (Bomber) Sqn with their new Boulton and Paul Sidestrands in 1931 provided me with a last opportunity of flying in a Bristol Fighter. When some measure of doubt was expressed whether these two dissimilar types could keep in formation it was pointed out that the Sidestrands could fly in formation at 85 m.p.h. and that the ancient Brisfit could do 90 m.p.h. Away we galloped and all would have been well if the Sidestrands had not got their 85 m.p.h. by climbing. As it was, we could only get within shooting distance by cutting the corners and making in telligent guesses as to where best to make an interception. That Bristol Fighter sure was out of breath. In 1931 one of many periodic visits to CFS was made. It was then at Wittering, on the Great North Road. An exciting element was the inverted formation flying by five instructors on D.H. Moths, and the visit also provided an opportunity of witnessing blind flying for the first time. And very convincing it was. FgOff W. E. P. Johnson (now a technological consultant) sat himself solo in a Lynx Avro, started up, pulled down the hood, took off, climbed, did half a circuit, put the machine into a spin, recovered and only raised the hood for landing. Of quite exceptional interest was the visit to the submarine air craft carrier M.2. Originally, M.2 mounted a 12in naval gun, the idea being to surface near an enemy shore, carry out a bombard ment and then submerge before being attacked—Polaris forty years before its time. After the war the gun had been removed and a small hangar substituted. In the hangar was a Parnall Peto seaplane with folded wings. Clearance in some places was less than an inch; engine oil was kept warm by an immersion heater. On surfacing the hangar door opened forward and downward, the Peto was pushed out, unfolded and catapulted off. The door then shut and M.2 submerged Back on the surface, the Peto's pilot had to find the M.2, land alongside and be taken on board by crane. Later M.2 was sunk with all hands, a most tragic accident. Flying in 1932 in a 40 Sqn Fairey Gordon provided an excite ment. We had finished taking pictures and my pilot pointed out that we were then at 9,500ft—did I mind a stall turn ? He waited while I packed, tucked my shoulder under the cockpit coaming, held tight—I was not strapped in—and gave him the OK. He promptly turned the Gordon on its back and left it to find its own way right side up again. An observer's chute was hanging within a yard of my hand. How I wished it had been clipped on. On a flight shortly afterwards this pilot became detached from the squadron formation and was never seen again. North of the border, the same year, we visited No 100 (Torpedo- Bomber) Sqn and flew in their Hawker Horsleys. To drop a "mouldie" the drill was to get into position at about 5,000ft and then dive to 15ft in roughly 7 seconds, levelling out before dropping. My pilot had no torpedo on board and felt it incumbent upon him to spin his wheels on the water at the end of the dive. In addition this dive managed to break one of my eardrums. But it was worth it. The target was Champion, the only ship in which I have suffered mal de mer. This happened when it was being used as a grandstand to watch Agamemnon, under radio control, being bombed from 8,000ft. It was in 1932 that I took the first infra-red pictures from the air. Brooklands and a 33 Sqn Hart provided the targets. In Flight I speculated on the possibility of making the rays visible—which is exactly the principle now being used in the infra-red gun sight. Back to gasbags in 1933 with a visit to the Balloon Centre at Larkhill, where observation kite balloons were still in existence. I used the trip as an opportunity to do some more infra-red photo-
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