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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 0082.PDF
International, 9 January 1964 65 So, finally, the shorter time for which the aircraft is airborne the better. The more there is of post- and pre-flights inspections the better. The faster the aircraft is, and the shorter the time it is airborne between checks, the better for all concerned. London NW3 GEORGE KORAB-MOERS, AFRACS Dinghies and Ditching: SIR,—Recent press reports indicate that current memoranda with the Ministry include a paper relating to the tightening of regulations concerning the carriage of life-rafts. . Any legislation providing for the more liberal provision of inflatable life-rafts on trans-ocean flights is to be welcomed. It has been proved on many occasions that an experienced airline captain can accomplish a successful ditching in moderate seas; the first major hazard having been overcome, large rubber dinghies or rafts are essential for escape and also make sighting so much easier for search and rescue crews. I found a Mae West very comforting during my sojourn with Coastal Command, but knowledge of the dinghy in the wing stowage was the greater consolation. Holywood, Co Down p. G. RACKLDFFE, Dip Geog, FRMets A Preservation Plan SIR,—We have drawn up an overall plan for preservation of British Second World War aircraft which embraces all those types at present preserved by the Air Ministry, and by the different firms in the aircraft industry, such as Vickers- Armstrongs and de Havilland (if we may refer to them, nostalgically, under their old and independent names). The plan envisages the preservation, within the British Isles, of as many as possible of the famous aircraft of British design and construction used in the Second World War. A number of these have, regrettably, been allowed to disappear completely, with no attempt made to save them. In this category, we have the Typhoon fighter, Halifax bomber and Skua naval aircraft. Others, such as the Blenheim bomber and Albacore, are extant still in foreign countries or in the Dominions. It is desirable that there should be preserved from those still available at least four aircraft to represent each of the flying commands of the Royal Air Force, and the Fleet Air Arm. The following list shows the breakdown of types and their location, by command, together with the numbers available in each case, the location and ownership. Projected subjects for Skyfame are in italics. Fighter Command: Spitfire — 40-plus, various RAF stations: I, Vickers- Armstrongs, Wisley. Hurricane — 8, various RAF stations; I, Hawker Aircraft, Dunsfold. Tempest— I, RAF Middleton St George; I, College of Aeronautic*, Cranfield. Defiant — I. RAF St Athan. Bomber Command: Lancaster — I, RAF Scampton; I, College of Aero- nautics, Cranfield. Wellington — I, RAF Biggin Hill. Mosquito — I, RAF Henlow; I, RAF Little Rissington; 2, de Havilland, Hatfield; I, Skyfame, Cheltenham. Blenheim (Canada) — /, Skyfame, Cheltenham. Coastal Command: Sunderland — I, Short Sunderland Trust, Pembroke Dock. Anton —• I, Skyfame, Cheltenham. Beaufighter — I, RAF Bicester. Walrus Australia) — /, Skyfame, Cheltenham. Tactical Air Forces: Lysander — I, RAF Bicester; Gladiator — I, RAF Biggin Hill; I, Shuttleworth Trust, Biggleswade. Hart— I, Shuttleworth Trust, Biggleswade. Meteor I — 4, various RAF stations. Fleet Air Arm: Swordfish — 4, Fulmar — I, Firefly — I, Seafire — 6, all at RNAS Yeovilton. Flying Training Command: Tiger Moth — 100-plus, various private owners. Oxford—I, Skyfame, Cheltenham. Magister — 20-plus, various private owners. Martinet— /, Skyfame, Cheltenham. Transport Command: York — I, Dragon Rapide — ', Proctor—/, all at Skyfame, Cheltenham. Halifax — I (nose only). From this it will be seen that Skyfame do not intend to duplicate, generally speaking, but rather to fill in the gaps left, as in the case of the Anson. One exception is, of course, the Mosquito, but this is an aircraft of which there should be several examples left, as with the Hurricane and Spitfire. If our plans work out as hoped, then we will be trying to fetch the Blenheim, Walrus and Martinet from abroad, to join the other veterans here at Staverton. Some may raise a question about future policy for some Mentioned by Mr Peter Thomas in a letter on this page: the* ignominious war-time end of "Hadrian," of the Imperial Airways H.P.42 fleet, on the railway line adjacent to Doncaster Airport. Mr J. V. Venn (at that time a pilot in 271 Sqn, which operated a mixed bag of requisitioned transports) tells us that the gale which wrecked the aircraft was gusting to 100 m.p.h. "We had the whole squadron out trying to hold it but we could not do so," he says. " 'Hadrian' was the most spacious aircraft I have ever been in. It was great fun—like flying a Spanish galleon" Air Ministry types, as listed, and which might result in a decision to scrap the Tempest or the Defiant. Should this happen, Skyfame would always make it a priority matter to offer such types a home here. I enclose a photograph taken during the war by Mr Venn, manager of Midland Bank, Cheltenham, and showing what happened to Hadrian of the HP 42 series, after a severe gale at Doncaster—home of 271 Sqn, with which unit Mr Venn was then a pilot. Cheltenham, Glos PETER M. THOMAS, Managing Director, Skyfame Ltd [The College of Aeronautics Lancaster referred to in the list above is illustrated on page 71 of this issue.—Ed] Shorts' Salesman? SIR,—Lt Ayling need not worry about the TSR.2 flying under the radar screen over Portsmouth (Letters, December 12,1963). His navy is well protected by Seacats, which would regard such a target as easy meat. Any attack is just as invulnerable as the defence will allow it to be. Belfast 9, N. Ireland D. J. REILLY FORTHCOMING EVENTS Jan 10 Institute of Navigation: "Presentation of Height Information of Air Maps and Charts" technical discussion). Jan 10 RAeS, Belfast Branch: Annual dance. Jan 13 RAeS, Henlow Branch, and IME: "Airliners of the Future," by G. H. Lee. Jan 14 RAeS, Boscombe Down Branch: "Scientific Investi- gation of Aircraft Accidents" by P. B. Walker. Jan 14 RAeS, Luton Branch: "Blind Landing Systems," by J. E. Nethaway, and film "Revealing Eye." Jan 14 RAeS, Bristol Branch: "The VCJO," by A. D. Cowell. Jan 15 British Institution of Radio Engineers, Liverpool: "Masers and Lasers," by W. A. Gambling. Jan 15 RAeS, Coventry Branch: "Development of Thunder- bird," by G. R. Jefferson. Jan 15 RAeS, Gloucester and Cheltenham Branch: "Plastics in the Aircraft Industry," by N. Eastwood. Jan 15 RAeS, Prestwick Branch: "Aviation Photography" by John Yoxatt. Jan 15 RAeS, Reading Branch: Film evening.
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