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A Desoutter Drill Manual wouldn’t be any use at all

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learn b e t te r ! -Type M.4. M ighty Atom double-jointed close corner drill. This tool was designed so th a t holes could be drilled to w ithin i inch of a face a t r ig h t angles to the work. The head m ay be ordered a t any angle required, up to and including 180 degrees.

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Type M.2. 90 degree Mighty Atom corner drill, has a spindle speed of 2,500 r.p.m. and a capacity of -ft inch. This tool will drill a hole, ihe centre of which is within

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The A e r o p l a n e Advertisement 2 MAY 29, 1942

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MAY 29, 1942 Advertisements 3 T h e A e r o p l a n e

BALDWINS LIMITEDManufacturers o f

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T he A e r o p l a n e Advertisements 4 MAY 29, 1942

HIGH PRESSURE HOSE UNITSfor Hydraulic Controls, Hot Oil Systems, Brake Fluids (Mineral[ and Castor Rase) and Petrol, also Ethylene G lyco l and Carbon Tetra C h lo rid eHENRY MILLER & CO., L O N D O N— —' v'.l

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MAY 29, 1942 Advertisements 5 T he A e r o p l a n e

INSTRUMENTSm s m m

T he A e r o p l a n e Advertisements 6 MAY 29, 1942

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<cfo r w an t of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse

was lost; for want of a horse the rider was lost; and for want of a rider

the battle was lost ” . . . So do great issues hang on trifles often uncon­

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To-day the smooth functioning of a wide web of all-

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AC-SPHINX SPARKING PLUG CO. LTD, DUNSTABLE

MAY 29, 1942 Advertisements 7 THE AEROPLANE

Before the advent of Scientific Fire Fighting Appliances, the sound of the dread “ Fire A la rm ” ringing across the barrack square brought apprehension to all. In t ru th it meant all hands to the pump in every sense o f the w ord—it meant the quick clearance o f quarters, the salving of stores and ammu­nition. Now w ith General Fire Appliances available to save the lives of men, to pro­tect stores and magazines, the task of dealing w ith any outbreak is wei! w ith in the capacity o f ail—trained or untrained.

W r i t e for the Catalogue of

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GENERAL FIRE APPLIANCE CO. LTD,II WATERLOO PLACE. LONDON. S.W .I T e l e g r a m s : F I R G E N A P

T h e A e r o p l a n e Advertisements 8 .TPlAY 29, i;4 2

MAY 29, 1942 Advertisements 9 T he A e r o p l a n e

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T h e A e r o p l a n e Advertisements 10 MAY 29, 1942

PITMAN'S for AERONAUTICAL BOOKS

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ELEM ENTARY MATHEMATICS for W ireless Operators

By W . E. Crook. An R.A.F. instructor writes of this book: “ The simplicity in which the normally complicated and confusing equations are portrayed will beyond doubt encourage and assist not on ly those in training but th ose w h o are already qualified Wireless Operators . I should like to take this oppor tunity to congratulate the author and yourselves on presenting to the public this excel lent handbook, that will be an asset to all, I am sure.” This is not a formal mathematical t ex tb ook: it is intended merely to give the wireless operator all the mathematics he needs to know on his course and will save him, and his instructor, those moments of despair so familiar in radio schools. 3s. 6d. net.E LEM ENTARY H A N D B O O K — For W i r e l e s s O p e r a t o r s . By W . E.Crook. An R.A.F. man says of this b o o k :— “ I consider the work of great practical scope and an invaluable guide to all tradesmen in this important part o f the service .” This sums up the hundreds of appreciative let ters we have received. Gives all the preliminary information required by the Wireless operator in training. A first-rate training manual— direct, sympathetic and practical. 4s. net.

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I N S P E C T I O N O F AIRCRAFT AFTER O V E R H A U L —“ B ” LICENCE.By S. J. Norton , Assoc.M.Inst.C.E., A.F.R.Ae.S. 3s. 6d. net.

ELECTRICAL A N D WIRELESS E Q U I P M E N T O F AIRCRAFT— “ X " LICENCE.Including t h e Repair, O v e r h a u l , and T e s t in g o f M agn e tos .By S G. W y b ro w , A.M.I.E.E., A.M.i.M.E. 5s. net.

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T H E A IR CR AFT B E N C H FITTER.By William S. B. Town sen d. 3s. 6d. net.

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A leaflet describing this Series w i l l be sent post free.

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Advertisements 11T he A eroplane

1942

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T h e A e r o p l a n e Advertisements 12 MAY 29, 1942

F I RST I N T H E W O R L D T O F L Y ' w i T H

V A R I A B L E P I T C H

C O N T R A R O T A T I N G A I R S C R E W S

MAY 29, 1942 599 T he A e r o p l a n e

IN THIS CO UNTRY.—One of the first Lockheed Vega Venturas, the militarised version of the Lockheed Lodestar, and the successor to the Hudson, ferried across the Atlantic to Great Britain by the R.A.F. Ferry Command for service with Coastal Command. The broad blades of the airscrews are to overcome the difficulty imposed by mounting the 2,000 h.p. Double Wasp motors without altering the jigs laid down for the Lodestar. Normally the motors would have had to be

farther apart to permit bigger diameter airscrews.

part of the enemy’s material from reaching the forces which m ight bring it into action. The period is one of cut and thrust by both sides, each choosing a different point a t which to get under the guard of its adversary. I t leads

to another phase in which the enem y’s shield will be overborne by the cum ulative weight of m any attacks and by the thinning of his defences through the desire to protect every vulnerable r»lace on lengthy frontiers.

The Sources of ThunderboltsAN O TH ER COMMENTARY on the indestructible nature

of airfields is being made in the duel between Allied and Japanese air units across the m ountains of New Guinea. The Japanese do their best to pound P ort Moresbyi The Australians and Americans make a practice of destroying Japanese aeroplanes at Lae on the other side of the m oun­tains; and neither side keeps the other inactive for long. The lesson is much the same as th a t which is being taught again to the Germans a t Malta. It- is reminiscent of the much heavier onslaughts on the advanced aerodromes in K ent during the B attle of B ritain. An aerodrome, like a railway, may be pu t out of service for a time, bu t it can usually be made fit for use again within a rem arkably short space if the need is urgent. The Russians learned the lesson long since and gave their attention to aeroplanes on the ground and not to the ground which they need for operation. We believe th a t the British and Americans follow the same policy in general.

Dispersal thus becomes a more im portant m atter than the protection of aerodromes or even aerodrome buildings, from damage. W here dispersal is difficult, replacem ent of a ir­craft is still more im portant. In the particular case of New Guinea, the Jap an ese 'a re a t a greater disadvantage th ar the' Allies; and the more fighters they lose the more wi they be compelled to expose ships as well as aeroplanes 1 Allied bombers a t Fritzhafen, near Lae, and a t R abaul, ir, New Britain. W hereas the bombers m ay be flown to these bases from the E ast Indies, the fighters m ust be sent by ship. On the Allied side, fighters can probably be flown from Australia to Port Moresby and the aerodrome can thus serve more as an advanced field than as a regular base with a standing complement of aeroplanes. F ighter protection will be highly essential on both sides, not only in these days when m utual bombing raids represent the main activity, bu t on the more critical occasions of combined operations and the reconnaissance work which precedes them.

In the encounter with Japanese naval units in the Coral Sea, the Allied Forces were extremely well served by the Air Arm. The aeroplanes were probably ship-borne, and the surprising thing is th a t the Japanese should have allowed themselves to take the risk of a naval operation without full air cover. Their air reconnaissance m ust have

been a t fault, and p a rt of the credit for th a t m ay be due to the units which kept Lae and R abaul under frequent a ir bom bardm ent. The continuing value of th a t battered out­post a t P ort Moresby will be shown to be extrem ely high if, when the full story can be told, we find th a t its a ir units helped both to blind the Japanese and to give the Allied naval forces early and accurate information of the enem y’s entry into the Coral Sea. Since the end of the fighting in the Philippines, the Japanese will have had more aero­planes to spare for other spheres and m ay be reinforcing New Guinea and New B ritain. The battles for a ir control over and near the enem y’s bases will no doubt become heavier, and A ystralia will need all the air strength she can m uster on her N orth-E ast corner while she continues to keep a close watch on the better equipped and more fully

A IR D E N T IT IE S —III

Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles F. A. Portal, K.C.B., C.B., D.S.O., M.C., Chief of the A ir Staff.

T he A e r o p l a n e 600 MAY 29, 1942

ODDENTIFICATION—LXI

First i t was the “ Seventeen,” then they modified it,Numbered i t the “ Tw o-O ne-F ive” but subsequently tr ied it In a d iffe ren t fo rm , which bore the label “ Seventeen Z ” —And now to help make matters worse inside the S po tte r ’s head The shape’s been altered once again, the num ber’s also new— Behold the “ Two-O ne-Seven” — D o rn ie r ’s latest—now on v iew !

supplied enemy bases in the East Indies from her North- West corner.

W ar in the Pacific is evidently going to dem and of Air Power all the mobility and flexibility which it boasted in peace-time tha t it could afford and which the Germans have shown it to possess. The R .A .F . has long practised the transport of ground crews and a certain am ount of equip­ment by air when squadrons are moved to new stations. . Its units in the desert have had plenty of experience in advancing and retreating with an army. Among the islands of the Pacific, the Allied Air Forces will have to become equally adept a t taking the longer hops which inva­sion by sea will prescribe. Sea Power is entitled to look to the Air Arm for coastal cover beyond the ranges of coastal guns in these days, and tha t means th a t the air squadrons must move into new conquests on the heels of the invading armies. Port Moresby is an example of outpost operation behind the cover of defending troops. I t is worth several aircraft carriers to an Allied fleet and yet is little farther from the nearest enemy base than is Malta from Sicily.

In China, the Japanese are making special efforts to neutralise such advanced aerodromes as might be used for raids on Japan . They have bombed m any of them, but they have thought the cause worthy of a new invasion. The Japanese seem to have arrived a t the right conclusion— tha t an airfield is best p u t out of action by occupation. The second best method of dealing with the threat which an advanced air base represents is to have efficient fighter pro­tection for the objectives th a t are likely to be attacked. Japan , like Germany, is beginning to realise th a t she will soon have too few aeroplanes to reply effectively to the air offensives the Allies will be able to mount. Air bases thus become even more valuable than hedgehog defence systems. T hey 'a re the catapults which will launch the thunderbolts.

The United Nations Air ConferenceRE PR E SE N T A T IV E S of 14 nations a ttended the United

N ations Air T raining Conference which was held a t O ttaw a from May 18 to 22. A num ber of committees were appointed and a t the close of the Conference an announcem ent sta ted th a t the form ation of a Combined Committee on Air Training had been agreed. The Committee will have advisory functions only and will sit a t W ashington. I t will include representatives of Great B rita in , Canada and the United S tates and repre­sentatives of o ther Governments will appear before i t as occasion arises. The Chairman will be an American.

The duties of the Committee will be to co-ordinate the tra in ­ing capacity of the United N ations and ensure a rapid and effective interchange of inform ation on training. I t will advise on standardisation and on measures to ensure the most effec­tive use of the air training facilities in N orth America.

Mr. Mackenzie King, Prim e Minister of Canada, opening th e Conference on May 18, said th a t the N orth American continen t had a d istinct advantage in the aerial warfare because from it forces could be disposed either to the Atlantic or Pacific oceans. A message from President Roosevelt was also read a t the opening session, and the in tention plainly is to make the Committee a machine for supplying air crews where they are needed with the least possible delay.

One of the changes expected to be made in the training programme, following the Conference, is th a t Operational Training Units will be added to the schools already established in N orth America. This would save sending the pupils to Great Britain for final operational train ing, which is the present practice.

The British delegation to the Conference was led by Capt. H. H. Balfour, Jo in t Under-Secretary of S tate for Air, and the other members w ere:— Air Marshal P. Babington, Air Member for P e rso n n e l; Air Marshal A. G. Garrod, Air Member for Training ; Sir John Abraham, D eputy Under-Secretary of State ; Air Vice-Marshal L. N. Hollinghurst, Director-General of Organisation ; Mr. Malcolm MacDonald, United Kingdom High Commissioner in C anada : and Air Vice-Marshal McKean, head of the United Kingdom Liaison Mission a t Ottawa.

As Good as a Mile

TH OSE who raised acrid criticism th a t the Prinz Eugen was allowed to reach Kiel despite strong attacks by R .A .F . torpedo-bombers m ay sweeten their lam ent with the story of

enemy a ttacks on IT.M.S. Penelope, a cruiser.Sum m ary of the official version of these attacks reveals

th a t Penelope underw ent two weeks’ intensive bombing in Malta, then—splintered, b u t no t seriously damaged—put to sea, where no fewer than 10 Ita lian torpedoes were aimed a t her bv enemy torpedo-bombers and she also endured five separate bom bing a ttacks to ta lling 21 aircraft, 14 of which were Ju 88s used in one a ttack . The Penelope was “ shaken ” as regards some instrum ents; b u t was otherwise unharmed.

A t least the R .A .F . scored hits on the enemy.The fact of this torpedo-bomber m atte r is th a t for this

specialised work years of practice are required to give a pilot an “ eye ” for the offset aim. However expert in all normal flying, a pilot m ust expect to s ta rt again for torpedo work. The difficulties of “ rapid tun ing ” of the eye to sea level distances and measures after a swift swoop from height are preclusive of success unless long tra in ing has been undergone.

In the Fleet Air Arm the N avy has a torpedo-bomber force backed by nearly 20 years of experience and training. No other country approaches half this t o t a l ; significantly, no other country has had half the success of the F.A.A. torpedo- bombers.

The official announcem ent includes: " . . . six torpedo- bombers delivered an accurate torpedo a ttack , but H.M.S. Penelope, superbly handled, was able to take evading action and was no t h i t .” An accurate a t tack th a t did not h it its objective?

Gun Turrets on Show

A SELECTION of Frazer-Nash gun tu rre ts which are m anu­factured by Parnall Aircraft Limited was included in an

exhibition opened a t ITarrods Stores on May 26 as an ad junct to the W .A .A .F . recruiting campaign. These exhibits afford to the public one of the few opportunities they have had since the W ar began of examining the power-operated turre ts which have given the R .A .F . so large an advantage over the enemy in the protection of bombers during operations. The exhibi­tion will remain open until June 6.

The exhibition has been arranged by ITarrods in collaboration with the Parnall firm, b u t a num ber of interesting items were also loaned by the Air Ministry and the Ministry of Aircraft Production. One of the most interesting dem onstrations con­cerns the use th a t is made of scrap. The exhibition shows certain classes of scrap metal together with the finished aircraft parts into wjhich they are turned.

Among the vacancies which now exist in the W .A .A .F. are those for m otor drivers, cooks and barrage balloon operators. A scale model enables the visitor to examine the methods of handling the balloons which form a barrage. The relation of R .A .F . activ ity to combined operations is illustrated by a large backcloth of some hundreds of paratroops in action. There are also models of Allied and enemy aircraft in some of the gun tu rre t cupolas, and some of the equipm ent used by enemy spies captured in this country includes a rubber dinghy, a portable wireless set and first-aid equipment.

The exhibition occupies about 5,000 sq. ft. of floor space and has already a ttrac ted large numbers of visitors.

MAY 29, 1942 601 THE AEROPLANE

The 142nd Week of

THE WAR IN THE AIR

MERLIN-POWERED.—The Curtiss P-40f, the W arhawk, the latest in the series of Curtiss Hawk fighters. This version is powered with Rolis-Royce Merlin motor manufactured by the Packard Company in the U.S.A. The top speed, greater than that of any earlier Hawk, is more than 350 m.p.h. A bomb can be substituted for the long-range tank slung

underneath the fuselage.

Q U R P R IS IN G L Y few new tactical weapons have been k-' evolved so far in this War. The magnetic mine dropped from the air is probably the new weapon which has had the greatest effect so far. The big bomb is only an exten­sion of previous practice. Dive bombing has been boosted greatly, chiefly by German propaganda swallowed whole by the lay Press. B ut dive bombing has had its day and is unlikely to be seen on a large scale in any operations in the future now tha t Allied air strength matches th a t of the enemy and now that, for attack, the Allies have more effective weapons than the obsolete tactical method of releasing a bomb in a dive.

Possibly the most im portant tactical advance in air weapons is the rocket bomb invented by the Russians and used by them from the Iliuchin Stormovik— erroneously termed a dive bomber— and from the H aw ker Hurricane. Few details have been given about the rocket bom b and the Germans have confirmed its potency by an ominous silence on the subject. However, the Russians have said enough about it for its general principle to be gathered. Apparently the rocket bomb is slung on a guide rail under the wing of an aeroplane intended for low-attack work. The machine is flown low down and aimed at the target in much the m anner of a ground strafing cannon-fighter. When the sights are on the target the electrical firing button is pressed and the bomb is projected forwards by rocket apparatus in its tail. The effect is the same as tha t of a very large low-velocity cannon shell.

The advantages are great hitting power sufficient to knock out tanks—an end which dive bombing can only achieve by a sheer fluke— and greater accuracy of bomb delivery than either dive bombing or low-level attack bombing. The disadvantages are tha t the rocket apparatus obviously reduces the weight of the charge in the bomb and that, compared with the fighter armed with big cannon, relatively few projectiles can be carried.

/There can be no doubt tha t for close-support work with troops the Russians have evolved a very fine weapon. The results of the rocket bombs fitted to Hurricanes in Russia will be watched with the greatest interest because first reports suggest tha t this method of delivery of the projectile is more efficient than the normal bombing as done a t present by these versatile machines.

Gains and Losses in RussiaAGAINST THE RE-OCCUPATION of the Kerch Peninsula,

in the Crimea, the Germans have had to set the loss of equally valuable territory near Kharkov and the partial failure of their counter-offensive on the Izyum-Barvenkovo front, to the South-East of that city. The defenders of the Kerch Peninsula, denied the use of- an aerodrome, were handicapped by the lack of fighter protection, and the enemy's command of the air was so complete that he was able to use dive bombers again. The position on the Kharkov sector was different. Here, the Russians held the mastery and towards the end of a 10 days' battle were able to send their light bombers over the enemy's positions without fighter escorts.

T h e A e r o p l a n e 602 MAY 29, 1942

In its early stages, the German counter-offensive below K harkov made progress, b u t this followed the Red A rm y’s withdrawal to soften the im pact of the enem y’s initial blows. Later, they stood their ground and smashed the German attacks. Casualties in men and tanks in both the defensive and offensive operations on the mainland compelled the Germans to call heavily upon their reserves. The Russians, too, probably suffered losses on an almost equal scale, but they were able to resume the offensive against K harkov after a pause of only two days to consolidate their gains and bring up fresh forces. They were content to remain on the defensive in the Izyum -Barvenkovo front, where their units have been liberally equipped with an ti- tank artillery and powerful air support.

German sources reported Soviet a t tacks South-East of Lake Ilmen, all of which were alleged to have been repulsed. The same sources also mentioned G erm an-Rum anian pressure along the Taganrog-Rostov railway as the prelude to an offensive for the recapture of Rostov and the s ta r t of a campaign for the Caucasus oilfields. The Germans further claimed th a t the Luftwaffe had bombed Sevastopol for 48 hours and had set fire to a m erchant ship in the harbour. The final German claim was th a t the. “ Russian K harkov offensive had com­pletely collapsed with very heavy losses."

Neither the Germans nor the Russians described the work of their Air Forces in any detail. One supplement to a Russian communique stated th a t a large num ber of German tanks had been destroyed by the Red Air Force and another report spoke of groups of 60 to 70 aeroplanes being engaged in single operations. The air losses of the respective Air Forces, as given by the Russians, were: German, 332; Russian, 117. The Germans, on the other hand, claimed th a t in the period May 14-21, the Soviet Air Force had lost 452 machines and the Germans a mere 45.

Harassing the Japanese in BurmaBom bing attacks on che Japanese in Burm a by the Royal

Air Force showed a marked tendency to increase both in ‘frequency and in degree. At the same time, the offensive was still too weak to influence the progress of the war in th a t theatre to any measurable extent.

OVER MALTA.—Cant 1007bis three-motor bombers of the Regia Aeronautica photographed during an attack on the resolute Island of Malta, which is still courageously with­standing the Nazi onslaught. Ack-ack shells are bursting all round the bombers, whose bombs have just left their racks.

[“ Life " photograph

FOR AMERICA, BRITAIN, RUSSIA A N D THE NETHER­LANDS.— North American B-25c, Mitchell III bombers for many nations lined up for delivery from the North American factory at Burbank, California. Beginning in the foreground the markings are : the red, white and blue star of the United States Army Air Forces, the red star of the Red A ir Force, the orange triangle of the Netherlands A ir Forces, and the red, white and blue roundel of the Royal A ir Force. The Mitchell is also being supplied to China and took part in the bombing of Tokyo. Both top and under turrets, mounting

two 0.50 in. machine-guns each, can be seen.

Most of the a ttacks were made on river craft and riverside targets a t and near Kalewa on the Chindwin river, and on the aerodrome a t Akyab. Most of the raids were made by Bristol Blenheims, which also machine-gunned enemy lorries near Tiangzup in northern Burm a and “ strafed " the aerodrome a t M yitkyina. In another raid, sampans a t the m outh of the river Mayu, near Akyab, were bombed and machine-gunned. In yet another, barracks and store buildings a t K yaukpyu, 60 miles south of Akyab, were attacked. All these attacks had good results, and cost the enemy casualties in aeroplanes in the air and on the ground, and the loss of paddleboats, barges and other small river craft. One R .A .F . aeroplane was lost in these raids.

New operations started by the Japanese indicated the enem y's intention to overrun or a t least paralyse China before moving against India or, possibly, Russia. Hangchow became a base for air operations in support of the offensive in the coastal province of Chekiang where the enemy continued to advance on K enteh and Yiwu on the Hangchow railway. Chuanshih island, a t the m outh of the Min River, was occupied by the Japanese under cover of naval gunfire and air bombing. Using their undisputed m astery of the air, the Japanese also bombed 20 towns in Chekiang, H unan, Fukien and Kwangsi during the week, in a search for Chinese military headquarters and bases. Santu, P ing tang and Nanjih, small islands off the Fukien coast, were bombarded by 21 Japanese warships.

A week-end communique from Chungking said th a t the Chinese were keeping up their pressure on Tengchung, in

~ Y unnan Province, and had occupied several strategic positions to the East.

No news was received during the week of the American Volunteer Group operating with the Chinese forces, beyond a sta tem ent th a t during April its pilots had destroyed 37 Japanese aeroplanes in com bat or on the ground.

Bombing in the MonsoonsAllied bombers were still more active than before against

enemy targets in the South-W est Pacific, in spite of the arrival of the monsoons. Their principal targets were shipping in the harbour and aeroplanes on the aerodrome a t Kupang, in D utch Timor, the aerodrome a t Lae (New Guinea), the

MAY 29, 1942 603 I HE AEROPLANE

W A S H IN G OFF THE SALT CRUST.—The Vought-Sikorsky OS2U-1 Kingfisher float-seaplane of the U.S. Navy, which is used for reconnaissance duties over the Atlantic from Iceland, being given a wash-down with fresh water after a

reconnaissance. In landplane form the Kingfisher is also flying over Great Britain.

aerodrome and harbour a t R abaul (New B r i ta in ) , Dilli, in Portuguese Timor, and shipping a t Amboina (N .E .I .) .

In the iirst raid on K upang, two ships were hit and prob­ably destroyed; in the second, three aeroplanes on the ground were destroyed and others damaged. Lae was raided three times. Of- the fighters which intercepted the bombers, three were shot down in the first raid and five in the second. In the third a ttack , eight fighters intervened, b u t none was destroyed. In the second raid, two Japanese bombers on the ground were destroyed and a tanker was badly damaged. Six heavy bombers were damaged a t Rabaul aerodrome and a large transport was damaged in the harbour. A t Amboina, three of the intercepting enemy fighters were b rought down. Allied losses were one aeroplane in the third raid on Lae and one in the raid on Amboina.

E3ort Moresby (capital of Papua, New Guinea), had its 51st raid on May 17. This was followed by others on May 18 (which was one of the heaviest a ttacks so far made by the Japanese on P o rt Moresby) and on May 20. In the first, a lighter was shot down by Allied lighters, in the second, a bomber was shot down, and in the third, four fighters were damaged. The Allies lost one fighter. <r

Quiet in the DesertYet another week of com parative inaction passed in the

Western Desert of N orth Africa. Both sides did little more than send patrols in to the No M an’s Land separating the© main positions, and only the lightest of skirmishes took place. Nor frere there any air operations suggesting an impending th rust by either side

Royal Air Force fighters seemed slightly more aggressive than usual. In addition to giving support to the forward troops they attacked enemy m otor transport vehicles and camps in the Mekili, Sengali and Tengeder areas and traffic on the roads in the Benghazi, Soluk and Msus areas. By night, bombers raided objectives a t Benghazi, Derna and M artuba, and day bombers, escorted by fighters, attacked enemy camps in the Tmimi region. Altogether, four enemy fighters— all Messerschmitt Me 109s— were shot down in the forward area. F arther East, a Junkers Ju 88 which tr ied to cross the coast near Alexandria was shot down in to the sea.

Axis air raids on Malta showed a marked fall in number and strength. More fighters than bombers were shot down and of the bombers only one, a Junkers Ju 88, was a German type. The rest belonged to the Regia Aeronautica. Among the fighters were five R E . 2001s, the new Italian escort fighter. All wrere destroyed by fighters, which suggests th a t the Royal Air Force has once more regained numerical as well as moral supremacy over the Island. Three B .R .20 night bombers were shot down by one pilot within an hour.

H its w ith bombs and probably with torpedoes were scored

on a medium-sized m erchant vessel and a destroyer during an a ttack on an enemy convoy in the Central M editerranean .by Royal Air Force and Naval aeroplanes on the night of May 19-20. An enemy m erchant vessel was hit and brought to a standstill in the Gulf of Sirte by cannon fire on May 23.

The Prinz Eugen TorpedoedA striking force of more than 50 Hudsons, Beauforts and

Beaufighters intercepted the German cruiser Prinz Eugen off the Lister L ight (South-west N o m a y ) on the evening of May 17. The cruiser had been lying a t Trondheim, and was apparently m aking for a dockyard in Germany for repairs after being torpedoed by the subm arine Trident in February.

Four destroyers and a t least forty Messerschmitt Me 109s were escorting the Prinz Eugen, and the attackers encountered fierce opposition. The Hudsons made a high level bombing a ttack , the Beaufighters raked the decks of the destroyers with cannon fire, while the Beauforts made their difficult torpedo attacks. Many com bats took place, and in the course of them five Me 109s wTere shot down. Reports indicated th a t the Beauforts made two hits with their torpedoes and prob­ably a third. Later, the Prinz Eugen was reported to have reached Kiel. Nine of the attackers— not 29 as claimed by the Germans— were lost.

Unfavourable weather again interfered with Bomber Com m and’s offensive last week, b u t something like 300 bombers were able to operate on the n igh t of May 19-20, when Mannheim was the principal objective. The raiders were made up of Short Stirlings, H andley Page Halifaxes, Avro Lancasters, Avro Manchesters, Vickers-Armstrongs W ellingtons and H andley Page Ham pdens, and they carried a wide assortm ent of bombs, including incendiaries. One detachm ent of Stirlings alone carried 40,000 incendiary bombs, and air crew reports left no doubt th a t the m ajority were well placed. Huge fires were soon serving as guides for the bombers with the high explosives, and m any bursts were seen am ong scores of factories known to be on war production.

Cloudy skies and poor visibility on several days limited the scale of the R .A .F . 's daylight operations over Northern France and the Low Countries, bu t Spitfires were out most days m aking sweeps of various sizes. On two occasions they accompanied Hurricanes carrying bombs and on one escorted Bostons to the docks a t Boulogne.

German air raids on Great B rita in were also restricted by the weather. Most were tip-and-run daylight a ttacks and on only one occasion were night bombers sent out. These made a sharp a ttack on a North-eastern port— said by the Germans to be Hull.

A sum m ary of the offensive operations of the Fighter, Coastal and Bomber Commands of the Royal Air Force during the week appears on page 604.

T h e A e r o p l a n e 604 MAY 29, 1942

O VERSEA PATRO L .—A German Do 24 three-motor flying- boat in service with the Luftwaffe. This photograph shows well the new gun turrets in the nose, on top of the

fuselage, and in the tail.

Diary of the W e e k

Offensive Operations of the Fighter, Coastal and Bomber Commands of the R.A.F. From

May 17 to 23, 1942.

S u n d a y , May 17D a y ... T w o enem y fighters destroyed during fighter sweep

over Northern France. F iv e enem y lighters destroyed when fighter-escorted B o s to n bombers attacked docks a t Boulogne. T w o more enem y lighters destroyed in two later fighter sweeps. E ig h t R . A . F . fighters lost. A force of more

than 50 Hudsons, Reauforts and Reaufighters of Coastal Comm and attacked the German cruise. Prinz E u gen oil the South-west of N orw ay. A t least two hits were scored with torpedoes by the Reauforts, and probably a third, but the German cruiser later reached Kiel. Five iYle 109 fighters destroyed in combats. Nine R . A . F . machines lost.

M o n d a y , May I S

D a y ... f ig h t e r s made several sweeps over Northern France and Channel. During one, bomb-carrying Hurri­

canes attacked small cnem v vessel and left it sinking.

T u e s d a y , May H)D a y ... Three enem y lighters destroyed during fighter

sweep. Fighter-escorted Hurricane bombers attacked ra i lway targets near St. Omer. A fourth German fighter was destroyed during this operation. Four raiders lost, but pilot of one saved.

N i g h t ... Main ta r g e t : Mannheim. Submarine base at >>t.Nazaire also bombed. Mines laid in enem y waters.

Aeroplanes of Fighter C om m an d attacked enem y aerodromes in France and Holland. One enem y bomber shot down. T w e lve aeroplanes of Romber Com m and and two of Fighter Com m and lost.

W e d n es d a y , May 20D a y ... One Me 1 0 9 shot down b y gunfire from tw o naval

M .L .s off S . E . coast of E n glan d, and another of the same ty pe destroyed b y gunfire from coastal A . A . batteries during attem pted a t ta ck on Rritish shipping. Spitfires of second E agle squadron made mast-high a t ta ck on an armed German motor vessel in the North Sea and left it l isting heavily .

T h u r sd a y , May 21D a y ... Spitfires a t ta cke d shipping in the Dieppe-Lo Havre

area. One fighter lost from offensive patrol over Northern France.

Fr id ay , May 22N i g h t ... Main target: Submarine base of St. Nazaire. Mines

were also laid in enem y waters.

S a tu r d a y , May 2iiD a y ... Sweeps b y R . A . F . fighters over Northern France and

Channel. One en em y fighter destroyed. T w o R . A . F . fighters lost. One German bomber was shot down by fighters during light raids on the South and W est of England.

GERMAN, ITALIAN A N D BRITISH LOSSES— MAY 1 7 -2 3 , 19 42

DateAxis

(N .E u r o p e )

Machines Personnel

Axis ^Near East)

Machines Personnel

R.A.F.(N. Europe)

Machines Personnel

R.A.F. (Near East)

Machines Personnel

1 7 -5 -4 2 1 4 10 9 2 8 1 7 42 2 118-5 -42 — — 8 8 — — 4 919-5- 42 5 9 2 7 1 8 87 1 —

2 0 - 5 - 4 2 2 2 _ — — 1 12 1 - 5 - 4 2 — — 2 2 1 ! — —

2 2 - 5 - 4 2 — — 6 1 3 — — 4 42 3 - 5 - 4 2 2 6 6 o ) 2 4 1 1 *

Totals 23 2 7 33 67 33 132 1 6 26

TOTAL LOSSES IN THE AIR WAR* (To dawn, May 24).

Axis Air Forces Imperial Air Forces

Machines destroyed in combator by A.A. gunfire .. 8,594 4,738

Personnel 23,205 14,242

* Excluding Russia and the Far East.

A D D I T I O N A L LOSS

In the early morning of May 1 4 a Junkers J u 8 8 was hi t by ( fire from the anti-aircraft defences and crashed into the sea

North of Alexandria Harbour.

I__________________________________________________________

T H IS W EEK S LOSSES—May 17 to 23, 1942.A X 15 BRITIS11 a n d IMPERIAL AIR FORCES

N rtR T H P K N ni/K O PF. NT! \R E A S T N O R T H E R N E U R O P E NT:AR E A S T

THIS WEEK’S LOSSES AT A GLANCE.— Comparat ive losses in the Air War for the we ek May 17 to 2 3 , 1942 , inclusive. The chart does not include aeroplanes destroyed in Russia and in the Far East or those destroyed on the ground. The comparative losses are: Northern E uro pe: Axis (daylight offensive) I bom ber and 2 fightersj; (night offensive) I b o m b er; (defence by day) 19 fighters. British (daylight offensive) 8 bombers and 16 f ighters; (night offensive) 12 bombers and 2 aeroplanes o f Fighter Command. The losses in the Near East w e r e ; Axis: 9 bombers and 2 4 fighters. British: 3 bombers and 13 Fighters. The approximate personnel losses suffered by the respective Air Forces w e r e : Northern Europe :

Axis, 2 7 ; British, 132 . Near East: Axis, 6 7 ; British, 2 6 .

MAY 29, 1942 605 T he a e r o p l a n e

NEWS OF THE WEEKTHE O U T P U T of ae rop lanes by the

U nited N atio n s w as es tim ated a t 8,600 a m o n th by Mr. J . C arlton W ard , J r . , P re s id en t of the F a irch ild E ng ine a n d A erop lane C om pany in a speech a t New Y o rk on M ay 20. This figure was, he said, double th a t of the Axis countries. H e gave the rate of p ro d u c ­tion per m onth for the Axis an d U nited N ations as:— G erm any , includ ing the occupied territories, 2,900; I ta ly , 700; an d Ja p a n , 500; the U nited States, 3,300; G reat B rita in , 2,400; an d Russia, 2,900.

Brigadier-General James Doolittle.one of A m erica ’s best-know n racing pilots, led the A m erican ra id on T o k y o on Apl. 18. H is iden tity was revealed on M ay 19 w hen he was aw ard ed the Congressional M edal of H onour. T he I).S .C . has been aw ard ed to 78 o ther men who took p a r t in the raid .

The Government of Y ugoslav ia has been au thorised to raise a n d tra in an a rm y and an a ir force in C anada .

In a little m ore th a n th ree weeks 8,616 people were evacu a ted b y air from the N o rth of B u rm a to In d ia by the R .A .F . , the U n ited S ta tes A rm y A ir Forces an d the C hina N ationa l A viation C orporation . A b o u t 6,000 of th e evacuees were civilians. In a d d i­tion, the R .A .F . d ropped supplies to refugees m ak ing the ir w ay on foot to In d ia . One R .A .F . sq u a d ro n d ropped 44 tons of food, b lan k e ts an d clo th ing in n ine days.

Aira cobras, K itty haw ks a n d T o m a ­haw ks are in service w ith a R ussian A ir R eg im en t n e a r the Moscow fron t. A ccording to reports pub lished on M ay 26, the R ussian pilots like the A m erican aeroplanes, b u t give an im pression of believing th a t the re are b e tte r types. T h e A iracobras are reported to be n o t qu ite a m a tch for the H einke l H e 113 an d to be a little delicate for m akesh if t wTar-tim e ae ro ­drom es. Of 86 enem y aerop lanes destroyed b y th is A ir R eg im en t 29 were shot dow n b y the T o m ah aw k s. T he A iracobras h av e only been in opera tiona l service for a sh o r t tim e.

The inventors of th e G yroscopic Control of A eroplanes, Mr. F red er ick W illiam M eredith and Mr. P h ilip Cooke, were g ran ted an extension for the p a ten t of eight years, on M ay 19. Mr. Jus tice S im onds announc ing the extension said th a t the device was of such value a n d im p o r t­ance th a t th e inven to rs h ad not been sufficiently rem u n era ted . T he use of this invention h a d m ade the crossing of the A tlan tic a routine operation ra th e r th a n an ad v en tu re .

The three Brewster aeroplane factories w hich were taken over by the

U .S . N a v y on Apl. 18 h av e been re tu rn ed to th e B rew ster C om pany by o rder of P re s id en t Roosevelt. T he factories were ta k en over because of d issatisfaction w ith the m an ag em en t, b u t accord ing to the P re s id en t th ey will now be p r iv a te ly opera ted " in a m a n n e r consisten t w ith th e W a r effort.”

One hundred and eighty Ja p a n e se ae rop lanes h av e been destroyed b y the R .A .A .F . , 100 h av e been d am ag ed a n d a n o th e r 80 p ro b ab ly d am ag ed since the beg inn ing of the Pacific W a r on Dec. 7 last. T hese figures were qu o ted b y Mr. A. S. D rak efo rd on M ay 18. H e also to ld how special v o lu n tee r recon­naissance flights in old fighters were m ade b y R .A .A .F . p ilo ts over M alaya .. T he m ach ines were s tr ipped of all a rm a m e n t an d a rm o u r a n d eq u ip p ed w ith long-range tanks . T h ey p en e ­tra te d deeply into enem y te rr i to ry every d a y an d took m a n y v a lu ab le p h o to g ra p h s w ith o u t loss, a l th o u g h m a n y of the m ach ines were d am aged .

Japan has an n o u n c ed th a t a new h e a d q u a r te rs of the A rm y A ir Force is to be estab lished u n d e r the com m and of a G eneral ap p o in ted by, an d d irec tly responsible to, the E m p ero r . T h e new h ea d q u a r te rs will h av e a h ig h e r s ta tu s th a n th e existing A rm y A ir D ivision h ead q u a r te rs .

British aerop lanes were reported to h av e been shot dow n b y V ichy F re n c h ae rop lanes n ea r A lgeria a n d the W est Coast of A frica las t week. On M ay 19 V ichy an n o u n ced th a t a B ritish sea­p lane flying over A lgerian w aters h a d been in te rcep ted b y a F re n c h fighter an d when it resisted h a d been forced dow n on th e sea. One V ichy repo rt w as th a t a B ritish to rp ed o -b o a t h ad fired a t th e F re n c h aerop lane , a fight h a d ensued a n d an o th e r B ritish ae ro ­p lane h ad been sho t dow n. A n o th e r repo rt alleged th a t th e B ritish to rpedo- b o a t opened fire on tw o F re n c h boats w hich h a d gone to the rescue of the B ritish crew an d then destroyed the rem a in d er of the aerop lane .

T h e M inistry of In fo rm atio n s ta ted on M ay 20 th a t a C a ta lina h a d been a t ta c k e d b y a F re n c h fighter on M ay 18 a n d forced to a ligh t on th e sea some 20 miles N o rth of Algiers. T h e crew, tw o of w hom were in ju red , were p icked up b y a B ritish ship. V ichy reported fu r th e r incidents on M ay 20 a n d alleged th a t a B ritish ae rop lane h a d been forced dow n a t K o n ak ri , 500 miles from D ak a r , on M ay 10, an d a n o th e r a t P o r t D o u e t on M ay 18.

A Chinese G o v ern m en t spokesm an ap p ea led on M ay 19 for fighters and bom bers, a n d said th a t the n e x t item

on the J a p a n ese p ro g ram m e was a m a jo r offensive ag a in s t C hina. L a te r an A rm y spokesm an reported th a t the Ja p a n e se were m a in ta in in g a force of m ore th a n 500 ae rop lanes in B u rm a a n d h a d increased th e a ir force a t H an k o w to 100. A erop lanes from an a irc ra f t ca rr ie r off th e coast of C hek iang h a d been tran sfe rred to the aerodrom e n e a r H an g ch o w .

Pan-American Airways first d irec t N o r th A tlan tic service betw een N ew Y o rk a n d F o y n es since the beg inn ing of the W a r a r r iv ed a t F o y n es last week. T h e d irec t service will be opera ted tw ice a week.

Service

A M O B IL E W O R K S U N IT of 1,000 * * m en is being form ed b y th e R oyal A u s tra lian A ir F o rce to co ns truc t la n d ­ing g rounds, roads and encam pm en ts fo r th e a ir defence of A ustra lia . The u n i t will be eq u ip p ed w ith m ach ine guns a n d a rm o u red vehicles so th a t in th e ev en t of em ergency it can operate as a fighting un it. T he fo rm ation of th e u n it was an n o u n ced on M ay 18.

Twenty-two m ore T u rk ish a ir cadets h av e left for th e U n ited K ingdom for a course of tra in in g w ith the R .A .F . T h is b a tc h b rings th e n u m b e r of T u rk ish cadets tra in in g in E n g lan d up to 100.

Wing Commander M. F. D . Williams, w ho led the Bristol ■Beauforts in the ip to rpedo a t tack ag a in s t the P r in z E ugen on M ay 17 is reported m issing.

**

Nine pilo t officers an d 39 sergeant pilots from N ew Z ea land arr iv ed in the U n ited K ingdom on M ay 18.

Naval aerodromes are to be p ro ­tected by an a r ra n g e m en t sim ilar to th a t ad o p ted for R .A .F . aerodrom es, excep t th a t the defence garrisons will be form ed b y the R o y a l M arines instead of b y the R .A .F . R egim ent. T h e A rm y will con tinue to p rov ide the garrison un til the R oya l M arine Force tak es over th e responsibility . This s ta te m e n t was m ade by Mr. A. V. A lex an d er in the H ouse of Com m ons on M ay 20.

The fourth special U niversity course for R .A .F '. p ilo t an d observer c a n d id a tes will begin in O ctober. N om ina tions m u s t be received b y the A ir M inistry b y J u ly 1. T h e course lasts six m o n th s an d in fu tu re will inc lude a w ider choice of sub jects , such as m odern E u ro p e a n a n d A m eri­can h istory , economics a n d political in s titu tions instead of be ing m ain ly confined to m a th em atic s an d science.

THE AEROPLANE 606 MAY 29, 1942

THE LUFTWAFFEIts Strength and Dispositions

strengthinferior,

to-day both inAN EXAM INATION of G e r m a n y ’s air

suggests th at the L u ftw affe of 1942 is numbers and in qual ity , to the Luftw affe of 1941.

Such a s tatem ent m a y appear to be born of optimism, ye t the more the facts are probed the more certa in the condition appears. T h e f lying equipm ent of the Lu ftw affe has been im proved during the past year, but the in troduction of hew fighters and bombers cannot make good shortcom ings in other fields.

Brief ly the reasons for the present shortcomings are:— - (i) Loss of valuable leaders and experienced pilots.

(ii) Less thorough training.(iii) A wider distribution enforced on the Luftwaffe .(iv) H e a v y losses in Ru ssia and o ver Malta.(v) Curtailed product ion as the result of R . A . F . bombing,

and(vi) A fa l l ing a ircraft production relative to All ied

production.

PersonnelT h e backbone of the L u ftw a f fe 's f ly ing personnel has been

the several thousands of ex-members of the C on d or L egion who fo u g h t in Spain. T h e y were the first E u ropean airmen to gain experience of air tact ics in modern war. A lm o st all the w el l-know n Comm odores an d W i n g Com m anders of Jagdgeschwader, and pra ct ica l ly all the fighter pilots with more than 70 victories to their credit, belonged to that crack formation. T h e late Colonel Molders, the late Majors W ie k and B althasar , the present Inspector of Fighters, Colonel Gallancf, and the Comm odores of Jagdgeschwader, L ie u te n a n t Colonel L i i tzo w , Majors T r a u t lo f t and Oesau, all belonged to the Condor Legion. Most of the holders of the K n i g h t ’s Insignia of the Iron Cross flew in the Spanish W a r .

L ik e the Germ an A r m y , the L u ftw affe suffered h e a v y losses during the Russian W in ter offensive. I t has paid a h e a v y price for its raids on Malta , and in m eeting the d a y l ig h t challenge of the R . A . F . over F ra n ce and the L o w Countries. The num ber of o b i tu a ry notices in G erm an papers announcing the death of Lu ftw affe personnel who fo u g h t in Spain rose sharply during the W in te r months. There were m a n y fatal accidents, and the L u f tw a f fe ’s f ighting strength was drained still more b y transfers of experienced airmen to training schools or to the staffs of A ir Divisions, A ir Corps or Air Fleets , and o ther adm inistrat ive posts where their experience was c o n ­sidered of great im portance. Moreover, several L u ftw affe officers— their number will remain u n k n o w n until the end of this W a r — were drafted to other services, and there is a t least

one instance of a former pilot of the Condor L egion becoming a submarine com m ander.

Airmen trained since the outbreak of war have been sent into action b y the thousand. A l th o u g h m a n y of them have shown courage and skill as high as th a t of their older c o m ­rades, th ey lack the long experience w hich the “ Spaniards gained. Moreover, th e y are not as well trained as the regular airmen or those who joined a front-line unit during the first 18 m onths of the W ar .

Since the B a t t le of B r ita in , when the L u ftw affe suffered its first severe losses, training has had to be accelerated to match the o u tp u t of the Brit ish C o m m o n w ealth Joint Air Train in g Plan.

Before the W a r , G erm an pupils averaged a b o u t 200 flying hours before th e y received their wings, and underwent special operational instruction before going to a Staffel. N ow , the average pupil obtains his p i lo t ’ s certificate after 100 hours, and most of the operational training is gained on active service. A s the selection of candidates is now less strict than before the W a r , the average G erm an pilot of to-day cannot be as efficient as the ^average airman of a year ago, and still less than at the beginning of the Wrar.

EquipmentSquadrons of the L u ftw affe f ighting on the principal fronts

— in particular over the Channel area— are equipped with better aeroplanes than th e y had a y ea r ago. The Me 109f | and f 2 , and the F o c k e - W u lf F w 190n single-seat fighters have better performances than the earlier Me 109e. T h e Me 110c is being replaced b y the Me 210, and reports from G erm an y indicate th a t the F o c k e - W u lf C o m p a n y is still experimenting with the F w 187 Zerstorer. Th e Henschel Hs 126 is no longer in q u a n t i ty production and is being replaced b y the more efficient F w 189 twin-boom ty pe buil t for tact ical reconnais­sance and ground a t ta ck . Of the new bombers, only the D o rn ie r D o 217 m ulti-purp ose bom ber is ye t in service. C o m p a ra t iv e ly few. of the queer-lookin.g three-seat B lo h m un" Voss B v 141, the four-m otor He 177 and the new Junkers Ju 91 four-m otor bombers h ave been in service so far. These types are o n ly just co m in g into q u a n t i t y production and few are l ike ly to be- seen for some time— unless there is truth in

' t h e report th a t G erm an a ircraft factories in former Polish te rr i to ry have been building new types in large numbers for some time and that these machines are held in reserve.

E v e n were the machines available, the tra ining of airmen to fly them would take several m onths and this might explain, a t least p art ly , the reduced activit ies of the Luftwaffe on several fronts during the W inter.

S H A D O W OVER MALTA.—A Junkers Ju 8 8 A 6 , the latest of its type, bombing La Valetta, the strongly fortified harbour of Malta, which still resists the German attempts to subdue it, in spite of more than 2,600 alerts. The Axis A ir Forces

have lost some 550 aeroplanes over Malta and the attack is now weakening because of urgent demands elsewhere.

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THE N E W DORNIER.—A Dornier Do 217e2 bomber (two 1,600 h.p. B M W 801 motors) showing the two-gun dorsaltu rre t and the long projection behind the tail which houses the dive-brakes.

The Luftwaffe’s improved equipm ent alone canno t win it even equality in the air in the future. I ts position will depend upon the efficiency of the flying crews, and there is evidence th a t the Germ an airm en of 1942 are no t y e t able to get the best from the ir new aeroplanes. E ven the older s tandard British and American types have shown th a t they are no t inferior to the newest German designs.

NumbersB u t perhaps the m ost im p o rtan t p o in t of all is the numerical

s treng th of the Luftwaffe. The Luftwaffe of 1942 is certain ly inferior in num bers to the Luftwaffe a t the ou tb reak of the Russian, cam paign. A t th a t time th e operational s treng th of th e Luftwaffe was ab o u t 6,500 first-line aeroplanes. This fell to abou t 4,000 machines by the end of 1941 and the first-line operational s treng th can now hard ly exceed 5,000.

This deficiency in num bers is n o t offset by the higher quality of the equipm ent. More efficient fighters and bom bers can make good a deficiency in num bers only when the op Dosing air force canno t com m and aeroplanes of equal quality , or when the force w ith superior quality can concen tra te a t a few vital poinits while the more num erous force is widely scattered . Neither condition applies to th e Luftwaffe. Allied Air Forces are using aeroplanes a t least equal in quality , an d the Luftwaffe is now widely scattered and unable to concen tra te as i t could in the early days of the W ar. I t m ust be used to p ro tec t the te rr ito ry th e Nazis have overrun.

Distribution— 1941At the s ta r t of the Russian cam paign in June, 1941, the

bulk of the Staffeln of the Luftwaffe were stationed along the E astern F ro n t, w aiting for reinforcem ents, particu larly in fighters, from Marshal Sperrle’s Luftflot.te which had had to guard the W estern F ro n t. The units did no t arrive before the middle of Ju ly in the Southern and Central sectors of the front.

Elsewhere there were only com paratively small Luftwaffe contingents. General Geissler’s Air Corps had been recalled

DORNIER LINE-UP.— Bombers of a German squadron operating in France. Production of the new Dornier 217e is now being pushed forward as rapidly as possible for operation on Germany’s two fronts, but the German production cannot hope to keep pace with that of the newest types now being developed by the United Nations.

from Sicily and had gone E ast. N o rth Africa held a bare 200 fighters, reconnaissance machines, S tukas and bombers; more were n o t required as th e opposing British forces did no t receive reinforcem ents until some m on ths la ter . P ractically all the Luftwaffe un its which had fough t in th e B alkans and over Crete had been transferred to the U kraine.

P robab ly fewer th a n ^0 Germ an first-line aeroplanes were s ta tioned in Greece and Crete, and even the I ta lian air units which could' be spared for newly occupied countries were small because of the heavy losses which Mussolini's “ W hite EagJ.es ” had suffered from the a ttacks of the R oyal Air Force in Africa.

.Inside G erm any, fighter— an d in p a r t icu la r n igh t fighter— pro tec tion was poor. General Kaimmhuber was. busy form ing his N ight F ig h te r Division which was to be equipped w ith m ore suitable types. U ntil then , th e chief Germ an n igh t fighters were th e elderly A rado Ar 68 and Heinkel H e 51 single-seat fighter biplanes, a lthough a few He 113s and Me 110s were used. The new N igh t F igh te r Division was to be equipped with Me 109s for in tercep tor work, w ith Me 110s for pursuit, and w ith Ju 8 8 b n igh t fighters for pu rsu it and in truder work. K am m h u b er’s units were originally in tended for the p ro tec tion of such im p o r ta n t ta rg e ts as H am burg , Brem en, Wilhelms- haven and E m den— the same area, roughly, which was covered by the Schum acher F ig h te r G roup in 1939. K am m h u b er’s air un it was th en hard ly more th an a skeleton organisation, and even in Ju ly , 1941, n igh t fighter opposition was still weak except over H am burg .

Thus th e chief s treng th of th e Luftwaffe was concen tra ted on tihe E aste rn and; W estern F ron ts , while ..the two o ther fron ts in Africa an d the B alkans were merely side-shows.

ProductionThe pauses in a ir operations during th e W in ters of th e first

two years of the W ar were n o t accidental. The G erm ans used them to overhaul the ir w ar machine, to im prove its organisa­tion according to the lessons learned, to tra in and re-equip the troops, and to prepare fo r com ing offensives. Som ething like a million and a 'h a l f m en were sent to the factories in each of th e tw o first W inters of the W ar in order to speed up production , b u t in the th ird W in te r the Russian offensive upset th e N azis’ plans and dem anded the recall of thousands of Germ an soldiers who had been sent hom e on industria l leave. In consequence, a rm am en t p roduction schedules were n o t fulfilled, and still s te rner measures h ad to be enforced to raise factory ou tpu ts . One of th e new rules m ade absenteeism a crime alm ost as great as treason..

Shortage of labour is G erm any’s m ost serious problem — as i t was in the last W ar. In an a t te m p t to overcome it, the Germ ans are em ploying still more women in indus try and still more foreigners. In BM W ’s new p la n t near Munich, for instance, foreign workm en who previously were n o t allowed so m uch as a glance inside an assembly shed are now helping to assemble th e new BMW 801 m otors, and even Heinkel has had to change his policy and em ploy foreigners in v ita l depart- memts of his works. Foreigners are now w orking in G erm any in such huge num bers th a t even th e newspapers canno t avoid com m enting on the fact. As in the last W ar, the “ Volk ohne R aum " (the people w ithou t space) has become a

R aum ohne Volk " (a space w ithou t people).In q u a n t i ty and qua lity the work of the foreigners employed

in a rm a m en t p lan ts d isappoin ted the G erm an au thorities and special orders for the supervision of th e non-Germ anic “ A rbeitskam eraden " (work-m ates) were issued. T heoreti­cally, foreign workm en are pro tec ted by the Germ an labour legislation, b u t the ir employers can easily ob ta in exem ption from m a n y of th e rules by p leading “ the national in te re s t ." As the definition of “ national in terest " has never been clearly s ta ted in Germ any, there is practically no lim it to the power of the em ployer of foreign labour over his employees.

Despite all the measures taken , a irc ra ft p roduction from June , 1941, to the end of the first quar te r of 1942 fell far

T h e A e r o p l a n e 608 MAY 29, 194-2

O L D STAGER.— Heinkel He 111 tw o -m o to r bombers. Pro­duction of th is type was s ti l l being pushed fo rw ard at some sacrifice o f the new er types at Rostock because of the u rgent need to replace the grave losses suffered during the W in te r .

short of German needs. Output increased by a bare 10 per cent, and was attained only by extending existing plants. Though higher than a year ago, production is inadequate to meet the increased commitments of the Luftwaffe and, judged side-fby-side with Allied production, shows a comparative decline that may soon become catastrophic.

But it is too early to assume that the symptoms now visible are comparable with those that marked the decline of German air power in the last war.

The Present DistributionThe present distribution of the Luftwaffe is approximately

as follows:—

Northern France— Part of Third Air Fleet (Marshal Sperrle).

Western J Norway— Part of Filfth Air FleetEurope (Generaloberst Stumpff).

Southern France— Part of Third Air Fleet (Marshal Sperrle).

Total about 1,350 Operational Aircraft.

Italy and Sicily— Part of Second Air Fleet (Marshal Kesselring).

Greece and Crete— Bomber Group of Fourth Air Fleet (General Felmy).

North Africa— Tenth Air Corps, Afrika Korps (General Frolich).

Total about 1,300 Operational Aircraft.

Germany— Two Night Fighter Divi- Central I sions (Generals Kammhuber andEurope | von Doering).

Balkans— German-Rumanian Air Corps.

Total about 600 Operational Aircraft.

Far North— Part of Fifth Air Fleet (Generaloberst Stumpff).

Leningrad Sector and Baltic— First Russian J Air Fleet (Generaloberst Keller).Front 1 Moscow Sector—Part of Second Air

Fleet (Marshal Kesselring).Southern Sector— Part of Fourth Air

Fleet (Generaloberst Lohr).

Total about 1,600 Operational Aircraft.

The estimated total of 5,000 operational aircraft does not include transports.or reserves, but makes up those squadrons which are in the actual Order of Battle of the Luftwaffe.

The Western Front is considered by the enemy to be of supreme importance, particularly since the Royal Air Force

• began its daylight air offensive in February, 1941, against military targets in the Low Countries and Northern France. The number of fighters which Marshal Sperrle has at hi?

MediterraneanArea

disposal may not be great, but the Jagdgeschwader under his command are the best in the Luftwaffe. Two of the six fighter groups are the famous Richthofen and Schlageter Jagdge- schwader which have been fighting in this area since the Battle of Britain,.

The Richthofen Group lost two famous Group Captains, Major Wick and Hauptmann Balthasar, both ex-“ Spaniards." The present commander, Major Oesau, also belonged to the Legion Condor. A third Group, the Schlageter, was com­manded by Colonel Galland, who succeeded the late Colonel Molders as Inspector of Fighters. How important the enemy considered this front can be judged from the fact that both the Me 109f and the Fw 190 were delivered first to the Staffeln fighting in the Channel area.

In bomber strength the Sperrle Air Fleet, whose Chief of Staff is Colonel Koller, is not great, consisting of about 10 ordinary bomber wings and the “ long-range " wing with headquarters at the Merignac aerodrome, near Bordeaux, from which the Focke-Wulf 200Ks start on their commerce-raiding flights over the Atlantic. This wing also operates from an aerodrome in the neighbourhood of Brest on short-range patrols, mainly with He I l ls . This formation is to receive new types in the near future; these will probably be either the new four-motor Junkers bombers or He 177s. The remainder of Sperrle's bomber force, which amounted to at least five bomber groups during the Battle of Britain, is distributed all over Europe. Several wings operate from Norway against this country; others went to Sicily in the first months of last year and returned to their former bases when raids on Malta had to stop. ^One bomber wing whioh took part in all these operations is now stationed in Holland and flies Ju 88s, a type which seems to be popular with German crews. For mine- laying and torpedo-carrying duties, the Sperrle bomber Staffeln are usually equipped with He I l ls . During the second half of 1941, Spenrle's Command w as reinforced with a wing or two of night fighters of the Kammhuber Division for use mainly as intruder fighters. There is, finally, a small number of seaplanes, in particular the He 115, for reconnaissance.

An example of the Luftwaffe’s extreme mobility was given when the three German warships Gneisenau, Scharnhorst and Prinz Eugen were transferred from Brest to North Sea ports. For this operation, fighter and. bomber units were brought to France and the Low Countries from many points of Europe, including Italy, at short notice, and returned immediately the move was completed. I

Norway and the northern sector of the Russian front, from Petsamo to the Karelian Isthmus, comprise the area of opera­tions for Generaloberst Stumpff’s Fifth Air Fleet, the newest and smallest of the five German air fleets. Stumpff, perhaps the most cultured of the Luftwaffe generals, came to England as the representative of the Luftwaffe at the funeral of King George V. The Chief of Staff of the Fifth Air Fleet is Lieu­tenant General Kiihne. The protection of the long Norwegian coast was entrusted to one fighter group alone until the Commando raids forced the Nazis to despatch more fighters to this front.

FLYING TEST-BED.—A Junkers Ju 52/3m used as a fly ing tes t­bed in Germany. In the to p p ic ture i t is seen w ith a 1,200 h.p. Jumo 211 m o to r and a three-blade airscrew in the nose, below w ith a 1,600 h.p. BM W 801 m o to r and four-b lade wooden a ir ­

screw. This must give the Ju 52 a f igh te r- l ike performance.

T he A e r o p l a n eMAY 29, 1942

IAT0RSCOOLERS

W e have rece ived an in te r im re p o rt f ro m a leading a ir c ra f t f irm , and the fo llow ing a re e x t ra c ts f ro m s a m e : —

“ I should like to say th a t we are ve ry gra t i f ied w i th the results obta ined w i th y o u r rad ia to r and o i l coo le r (Aerodynam ic) , bo th these units showing rem arkab ly good eff ic iency. ’

“ Thank ing you fo r y o u r co -opera t ion in o u r d eve lo p m e n t . ”

WARNINGPatented in

G re a t B rita in Canada U .S .A .France

BelgiumIta ly

Roum ania

and Patents applied fo r in o th e r countries.

DELANEY GALLAY LIMITED,VULCAN WORKS, EDGW ARE ROAD,

CR ICKLEW OOD, LONDON, N.W.2.

MAY 29, 1942 609 THE AEROPLANE

A streng th of some 300 operational aeroplanes p robab ly represents all the machines the Luftwaffe can spare for this sector. The Kustenseeflugkom m ando has also a few bases along the Norwegian coast, b u t the num ber of its flying-boats and floatplanes is small.

Equipped principally w ith Me 110s and Ju 88s, the rem ainder of S tum pff’s Air F leet operates in the F a r N o rth and in F inland. A m ong it are wings of “ A d l e r " and of ano ther Kam pfgeschwader composed of crews w ith special experience in a ttack ing ships.

The Baltic area and the Leningrad sector a re covered by th e F irs t Air F lee t under the com m and of Generaloberst Keller, the “ Iron K eller ," a P o u r le Merite bom ber pilot of the last W ar. D uring the fierce German a t tack s on Leningrad in the A u tu m n of last year, Keller had two Air Corps a t his disposal, one com m anded by General F o rs te r -who, up to June of th a t year, had been in charge of the T ra in ing D ivision of the Luftwaffe, a u n it which is n o t s tr ic tly a n operational tra in ing form ation, b u t is a m in ia tu re Luftwaffe for developing and testing new equ ipm ent under active service conditions and p u tt in g to proof new strategic and tactical theories. The o ther Air Corps, com m anded by Generaloberst von R ichthofen , is p robably the m ost widely travelled un it of the Luftwaffe. I t flew in Poland, Norway, H olland, Belgium an d F rance , took p a r t in the B a ttle of B rita in , w ent to th e M editerranean, and before i t began its operations on the Southern sector of the Russian F ro n t on June 22, assisted in th e occupation of Jugoslavia, Greece and Crete. F rom the Southern sector it was sent to Moscow and finally to the L en ingrad area. W hen the Germans had to give up the a t tack s on Leningrad, the Richthofen Corps went back to the Southern sector.

Richthofen’s StukasThere are more S tuka Staffeln in the R ichthofen form ation

than in most o th e r G erm an Air Corps. R ich thofen , the last com m ander of the Legion Condor, was the first officer of the Luftwaffe to te s t the S tuka arm in ac tual w ar conditions, and is said to have been responsible for lay ing down the rules for th e co-opem tion of tanks and dive bom bers. Wihen the W7ar began he was en trusted1 with the com m and of an assault corps which had to blast a way for the a t tack in g P anzer units. R ichthofen is, of all Luftwaffe com manders, a typical Prussian; he is b ru ta l and ruthless and trea ts his men according to the old m o tto of the Prussian Army: “ A soldier m ust be more afraid of his com m anding officer th a n of the enem y ." In addition to Luftwaffe units R ichthofen also com m ands several of the small foreign air un its such as th e Croats and, te m ­porarily, the Spanish a ir un it of 18 fighter pilots.

The Moscow sector (from R zhev to B riansk) is ra ted the most im p o r ta n t of the entire Russian f ron t and is the province o<f Kesselrin.g— " Sm iling-through-Albert " as he is called by his men. U ntil th e end of last year, when p a r t of his force was transferred to Southern I ta ly , the Second Air F lee t was the strongest. I t consisted of a t least two Air Corps, one of which was com m anded by Generaloberst Loerzer, the man to whom Goring owes all his successes. In add ition to these form ations, the Kesselrin.g F leet was often reinforced by o ther units, such as the R ichthofen Air Corps. P a r t of th is a ir fleet was transferred to I ta ly and Sicily for the a t ta c k on Malta, b u t m any units seem now to have re tu rned to the ir Russian bases. This year the Nazis will be unable to w ith ­draw all the ir forces from Sicily, an d the presence of General Geissler in I ta ly indicates th a t the Nazis will keep more th an an air corps in th a t coun try .

Generaloberst Lohr com m ands the Luftwaffe un its on the southern p a r t of the front. L ohr is the only A ustrian am ong the Air F leet generals, and received his h igh post because of his long m em bership of th e Nazi p a r ty . W h a t he lacks in ruthlessness is made up for by his Chief of Staff, L ieu tenan t

G R O U N D STRAFER.—The Hs 123, an old aeroplane still used by the Luftwaffe for ground attack in co-operation with the land forces. On the front of the fuselage the aeroplane has the insignia of the infantry as a symbol of its

close relation with the land forces.

General G un ther K orten , who w as previously Sperrle’s Chief of Staff. U nder L ohr are two Air Corps com m anded by Generals Pfluglbeil and R i t te r von Greim. The la tte r , like Keller, is a P o u r le M erite of th e las t W ar an d directed the operations otf an Air Corps during the B a ttle of B rita in . This Air F leet has been reinforced tem porarily by G erm an and foreign a ir units, such as the I ta lian Air Legion and General Speidel’s G erm an-R um anian Air Corps, and appears, now, to be the strongest fleet of all.

R eports of th e fighting on th e Kerch. Peninsu la and the extensive use of dive bom bers by the G erm ans indicate th a t R ich thofen ’s Staffeln have re tu rned to this sector. Nom inally, G eneraloberst L ohr is also in com m and of the Germ an air units s ta tioned in the Balkans, Greece and Crete. D uring th e W in te r von R ich thofen was reported to be supervising the tra in ing of new personnel— Germ an and foreign— in B ulgaria and Croatia. T he un its s ta tioned in Greece and Crete are mainly bom ber wings equipped with H e I l l s and J u 88s, the la t te r being used for bo th bom bing an d fighting.

Since th e first Luftwaffe un its were transferred to N o rth Africa a t the beginning of 1941, L ieu ten an t General Frohlich has been the ir com m anding officer. F rohlich was in charge of a F igh te r Group sta tioned in Breslau a t the beginning of the W a r and was prom oted very rapidly . T o-day his force, con­sisting of a large p roportion of bo th Ju 87s an d Ju 88s, canno t give up un its to o the r fron ts because of the pressure exerted upon i t by th e R oyal Air Force in th e Middle Bast.

L as t in this su rvey comes G erm any itself. U ntil the L ancaste r raid on A ugsburg on April 17 there were practically no day fighters for the p ro tec tion of the F a the rland . The bad impression which th is ra id m a d e . on th e G erm an population has undoubted ly influenced th e Luftwaffe Com m and to transfer a t least a few fighter squadrons from the w ar zones to the hom eland. The defence of the Reich aga in s t n igh t a t tac k s is en trusted to two fighter form ations which, a lthough called Divisions, have only th e s treng th of two F ig h te r Groups each. They have to p ro tec t th e whole area of th e Reich and are scattered along the coast from H am burg to B rest and from St. N azaire to H anover. One of these form ations is com ­m anded b y L ieu ten an t General K am m huber, who was shot down during a raid on P ar is and becam e a prisoner of w ar with the F rench . W hen F rance collapsed he was am ong the 400 G erm an airm en who were set free by the P6ta in G overn­m ent. On March 27, K am m huber 's Division claimed to have sho t down 500 B ritish bom bers since its formation.. The o ther n ig h t fighter form ation is com m anded b y L ieu tenan t General von Doering, who was in charge of th e R ichthofen and H o rs t Wessel Jagdgeschw ader before he was transferred to his presen t post. '

A lthough the Luftwaffe is still a formidable force, which still can h i t very hard , i t is definitely losing th a t decree of superiority which enabled the arm ed Germ an forces to gain th e ir spectacular successes in th e early days of th e W ar. No one could be accused of wishful th ink ing if he regarded these sym ptom s as th e prelude to the final and complete defeat of th e G erm an Air Force.

ARMY CO -OPERATION.—The administrative control of the Army Co-operation units of the Luftwaffe is independent, and under the operational command of the German Army, as in the British Army Co-operation Command. Left is seen a Henschel Hs 126 (880 h.p. BM W 132 motor) which corre­sponds more or less to the British Westland Lysander. The Hs 126 is now being superseded by the two-motor Fw 189.

THE FIRST OF THE BREED.—The Sopwith Came!, used for the ffe’t dive-bombing experiments in 1917. These experiments haveformed the basis of all later developments in dive-bombing in both Germany and America.

EARLY EFFORTS.—(Above) A development of the Chance-Vought SBU-1 the first Corsair and one of the first American dive bombers, and (right) a British experiment, the Hawker PV-4, a dive bomber developed from

the Hart and fitted with a Bristol Pegasus engine.

THE HELLDIVERS.—The first American dive bomber (left), the Curtiss OC-I Falcon, 1920, which later gained the name Helldiver. This name has been used for a long line of Curtiss dive bombers, and is now applied to the SB2C-1 (above), the latest type to go into production.

[“ A eroplane ” photograph

LAST OF THE BIPLANES.—The Curtiss SBC-4, originallyknown by its makers as the Helldiver and in the R.A.F. as

the Cleveland.

B ut there m ust first come an in term ediate weapon. Its function and specification are clear. I t m ust be able to burst open tanks, wreck gun posts, create havoc on supply lines, b last bases and destroy encam pm ents. I t m ust have the h itting power of a bom ber and th e speed of a fighter. I t m ust be heavily arm oured, and easy to build, to fly and to service. I t will need fighter cover, b u t will itself be no m ean adversary in com bat.

In th is W ar, the B ritish A ircraft In d u stry has bu ilt all the best bom bers and fighters th a t have gone in to action. In peace and w ar its designers have always m et the dem ands m ade upon them , and if some of the ir creations in the past have had curious shapes and undistinguished perform ances, th a t has been less the ir fau lt th a n th a t of the ir custom ers.The “ in term ediate weapon ” m ay prove a te s t of skill and ingenuity , b u t no one need doub t th e ability of one or other of the In d u s try ’s leading designers to produce a type th a t will supersede the dive bom ber.

H ad the Air M inistry no t tu rn ed a deaf ear to the clam our for dive bom bers, tim e, m aterials and labour— three of our m ost precious com m odities— would have been diverted from the m aking of those very fighters and bom bers which turned back the N azi invaders of 1940 and are now them selves invad­ing the enem y’s lands in veritable arm adas. To d ivert them now would be to reduce the scale of invasion and draw no com pensating advantage.

Dive-bombing at SeaA t sea, conditions are only different when ship-borne dive

bom bers are operating outside the range of land-based fighters.Hence, ship-borne dive bom bers are of little value either in th e M editerranean or the N orth Sea. Enem y surface ships in the A tlan tic seldom offer them selves as ta rgets, and in the w ar on subm arines depth charges are more effective th an dived bom bs. In the Pacific we have suffered naval losses from the dive-bom ber tactics of fighters carrying bombs, bu t, by an unfortunate circum stance for us, the a ttackers were

NOISY, BUT N O T DANGEROUS.— Except to its crew. TheJunkers Ju 87b , Germany’s notorious Stuka, which has won

most of its battles on moral effect.

FOR MANY MONTHS the dive bom ber has been the subject of acrim onious dispute and never was opinion more shasply

divided. Of the two camps, the supporters of the S tuka and its relatives are the more vocal, and the more they th in k of Poland, Belgium , France, Greece, Crete, M alaya and Singa­pore, the louder grow their voices and the more fervent their advocacy. And they are a p t to be in to leran t of those who assess the dive bom ber a t a value lower th an theirs.

Glibly they invest the weapon w ith qualities i t never had and can never possess. They adm it of no o ther order of bom bers, and offer it as the sovereign rem edy for all the Allies’ ills. In the ir view, no genii of the lam p can perform greater wonders. They contend th a t had we arm ed the R .A .F . w ith dive bom bers we should have held N orw ay, F rance, the Balkans, M alaya, Singapore and all o ther lost territories.

They will no t adm it th a t the Germ ans m ight now have won the W ar had they equipped the Luftwaffe w ith more big bom bers and b e tte r fighters and given it fewer dive bombers. Y et historians of a fu tu re generation m ay well conclude th a t the N azis’ over-reliance on the dive bom ber was paid for in defeat. W hen the decisive struggle came— the B attle of B rita in — the dive bom ber failed, and the Luftw affe’s wings were weakened.

The S tuka squadrons— the shock troops of th e , Luftwaffe— suffered a m om entous defeat over B rita in . Their Junkers Ju 87s, originally designed as fighter-dive bom bers, proved too old to fight when only fighting qualities could have saved them . Their ranks were sm ashed and w ith in two days they were taken ou t of th e fight. Their d isaster was shared by the ir escorts. The M esserschmitt fighters, which should have overpowered all opposition and swept a p a th th rough the defences for the S tukas, were them selves overwhelm ed. They were mown down by the hail of bullets from eight-gun H urricanes and Spitfires which trium phed no t by v irtue of superior num bers, b u t by v irtue of superior m erits.

Never had the S tukas and their escorts been so m altreated . In Poland, the Ju 87 had removed all opposition and was hailed as the symbol of Germ an m ight. I t was cast for the

THE R.A.F. AND THE DIVE BOMBERContrary to popular belief, the Royal Air Force has lost little, if any, striding power by the non-delivery of the dive bombers ordered from America. Had dive bombers formed part of its small operational strength when war broke out they might well have been a liability instead of an asset because they would have absorbed materials and labour urgently needed for fighters

and other defensive types.

leading role in Nazis propaganda films, and the factories turned i t ou t in ever-growing num bers. I t repeated its Polish trium phs in H olland and Belgium, France, the B alkans and Crete. Over all these countries it was opposed by little more th a n the dauntless courage of a few pilots whose noblest deeds and highest valour could do no th ing to stem the tide of aerial invasion. The Stukas swept back and forth in undu la t­ing flight delivering their bom bs and rarely falling victim to enemy fire. Never had theory and practice been in closer accord.

The Stuka PanicsY et a few m onths la ter S tukas perished by the score over

E ngland. Theory and practice diverged. Targets could not be reached; form ations were b roken ; escorts fled. T h a t hap­pened because neither the gun crews nor the fighter pilots defending E ngland were unnerved by the scream ing dives th a t had spread terro r in o ther countries, and they took a terrible toll. I t was the S tuka’s tu rn to panic.

In defeat, the S tuka was exposed as a sparrow m asquerading in eagle's feathers. Of w hat use was it to a nation sorely tested to hold the m astery of its own air, and incapable of invading the enem y’s? How could it serve a nation debarred, by a shortage of weapons, from in itia ting a land cam paign? The dive bom ber is essentially a weapon of offence, no t defence. W7as it rem arkable, then, th a t B rita in ignored i t and cultivated the fastest of hard -h itting fighters and the m ost capacious of big bom bers?

The Air M inistry knew th a t the dive bom ber was effective in certain conditions, b u t it could n o t see when B ritain would enjoy those conditions. H er handicaps were legion, and she had to arm herself w ith weapons th a t would serve her more im m ediate needs. Iu some ways, B rita in had been forced to follow the German lead. Sue had had to tra in parachute troops, make use of air-borne in fan try , and of gliders— b u t she had been convinced th a t these things were essential to modern war. In any case, she was too late to en ter the race w ith dive bom bers, and needed a newer, less costly and more effective weapon— som ething th a t would supersede and no t merely m atch it. B u t there was less urgency abou t th a t th an there was abou t fighters and bombers.

Dive bom bers are no t easy to design. If they were, the Luftwaffe would have replaced the S tuka w ith som ething newer and better. I ts replacem ent was to have been the Ju 88, bu t th a t is no more successful th an its predecessor. The object of dive bom bing is to give direction, not speed, to a bom b, and

th e heavy tw in-m otor Ju 88 falls fast in spite of its dive- brakes, and its aim is uncertain . I ts dive is long, and it often comes w ithin the range of ligh t an ti-a ircraft gunfire, w ith fatal consequences 1y> itself. M alta has taken as heavy a toll of Ju 88s as it has of Ju 87s, and the Luftwaffe still has no proof th a t the Ju 88 is an im provem ent on its 12-year-old Ju 87— as a dive bom ber. The Ju 88 has the advan tage th a t i t can also be used for level bom bing, bu t i t could probably carry more bom bs were i t no t stressed for diving.

Our first need was for versatility and power in defence and we could no t afford to w aste tim e and m aterials on a weapon th a t had no great tu rn of speed, had to be conducted to and from its ta rg e t by powerful fighter forces w henever opposition faced it, and was helpless to defend itself.

The sweeps m ade by the R .A .F . over F rance since early in 1941, w ith small forces of bombers and iarge flights of fighters, cannot be com pared w ith the Luftw affe’s use of dive bom bers in Poland, the Low Countries, F rance and the B alkans, or the Japanese use of them in the F ar E ast. The raids over France began as a “ wearing-down " process, an expedient to make the enemy fight when he would have preferred inaction.

Later, when Russia was invaded, these sweeps served to bind the enem y still closer to the Low Countries and N orthern France under the th rea t of losing the fruits of his conquests. The th re a t still ex ists; alm ost daily, fighter-escorted bom bers fly from bases in E ngland to targets in F rance, Belgium or H olland, and photographs show th a t the bom bers can bomb w ith an accuracy th a t equals the best the dive bom ber can do. H urricane bom bers, w hether diving on the ir ta rge ts or bom bing from low level, seldom miss. Bombs gone, they become venom ­ous fighters again, w ith a good chance of shooting their way ou t if accosted by enem y in tercep ter. The B ostons have a nice tu rn of speed, as well as good arm am ent, to see them to safety should an enemy fighter elude the guards and a ttack .

If the Boston and the H urricane bom bers are no t the R .A .F .’s answer to the Germ an Stuka, they a t least work in precisely those conditions dem anded for the successful opera­tion of the S tuka. The Spitfires clear a passage for them to the ta rg e t and safeguard them while they are w ithin the range of enemy fighters. By the same m ethods, still larger bom bers could be—and, indeed, have been— conducted to and from the same targets. Thus, there arises the prospect th a t one day th e R oyal Air Force m ay use four-m otor Stirlings, Halifaxes and L ancasters for work once perform ed by the notorious S tuka— w ith ten tim es the bom b-load and- form idable powers of self-defence.

THE BUCCANEER.—This dive bomber, the SB2A-1 , named the Brewster Buccaneer by the U.S. Navy, is ordered in modified form as the Bermuda for the R.A.F. in which it

should prove useful for reconnaissance duties.

unhindered by fighter opposition, and were able to drop their bombs unmolested.

Lack of details prevents the value of the dive bomber in the battle of the Coral Sea being assessed. Claims were made that “ waves " of American dive bombers sank an air­craft carrier. That may have been true, but they probably had the company of ship-borne fighters to prevent Japanese interference with ship-borne fighters. The best air weapon against warships was proved long ago to be the torpedo- bomber, whether shore- or carrier-based.

British convoys steaming up and down the Channel and along the East Coast were once regularly dive-bombed by the Luftwaffe. But the results could hardly have comforted the attackers. Had they been good, nothing would have stopped the building of a British dive bomber to molest shipping on the German sea routes. But better woik than that of the Stuka v/as done by Blenheims, Beauforts and Hudsons, at less cost, and a not inconsiderable tonnage of enemy shipping has been sunk by Hurricanes and Spitfires armed only with 20 mm. cannon. * *

Britain’s early reverses sprang not from her lack of dive bombers alone, but from her complete unreadiness for war in all arms. All three Services were ill-equipped to meet their responsibilities and our defeats on land and sea, as well as in the air, can be ascribed entirely to constitutional weaknesses and not to a lack of dive bombers. As things were, the R .A .F . could have had dive bombers only at the expense of other types which it could not afford to displace.

Dive-bombing was no novelty to the Royal Air Force. Its predecessor, the Royal Flying Corps, first used the Camel as a dive bomber in 1917 before any other Air Force prac­tised the trick. After the War, dive-bombing was featured in several R .A .F . Pageants at Hendon, and all the R .A .F .’s single-seat biplane fighters were designed to carry small frag­mentation bombs to be dropped from dives. Diving brakes were not needed in those days: the old biplanes had “ brakes " all over them and additional restraints were super­fluous.

In its many punitive operations in the peace years the

R .A .F . had ample opportunities to extend its war-time experi­ences and test its peace-time theories, and may have discovered the dive bomber’s vulnerability to ground fire long before the Germans did over here. But that is a mere guess. Lack of funds may have caused research and development to be abandoned. Or it may have been that aiming the entire aero­plane to launch a bomb did not achieve the precision sought. The crowded beaches of Dunkirk made an ideal target for the German dive bombers, but the casualties they caused were light. This, and the few ships sunk in convoy attacks, suggest that the accuracy of dive-bombing has been too highly rated even when fighters are absent and fire from the ground weak.

Much of the dive bomber’s early success was won on “ moral effect” and little else. Despite the much-publicised use of dive bombers in Spain, no country had had the foresight to train and arm its soldiers to meet the new form of attack. Confusion, panic and despair, born of a sense of helplessness, spread wherever dive bombers cast their bombs— until they cast a few on the South-east of England. Large-scale unopposed precision bombing might have been equally demoralising.

Since the Battle of Britain the range and scope of the Luft­waffe’s dive bombers have steadily diminished. To-day, there are a few places in Europe and Africa where the enemy can use them without risk of heavy losses, and in the Far East the rise of Allied air power is fast placing restrictions on the Japanese use of them. The process will continue until the Allies gain such mastery of the air that effective opposition ends. When that happens victory will be in sight and if the Allies care to enlist the services of the dive bomber they will do little more than add weight to the knock-out blow.

The additional weight may mean a speedier victory, and the Air Ministry's order for Bermudas and Vengeances from America is therefore justified on that account alone, whether they use them for dive-bombing or not. When the ridge has been topped, all manner of bombers may be let loose upon the enemy at all times of the day and night to complete his demoralisation and defeat. They will enjoy, at the end of the War, the freedom of operation which the Stuka enjoyed at the start, and the Axis nations will be compelled to swallow medi­cine far more bitter than the potion they concocted for us. And it will be administered from more than one bottle.

History will undoubtedly find a place for the dive bomber. It was a novel weapon, and was used with calculated savagery by well-armed nations against weak enemies. It broke the moral of the forces opposed to it and encouraged those with whom it worked. When free from fighter interference and opposition from guns it could— if used in sufficient numbers— gain its end. It could wipe out gun emplacements, cause or remove road obstructions, sink small ships, and make aero­dromes unusable. But it lacked versatility and could do none of these things without heavy losses if the targets were strongly guarded by fighters or defended by concentrated gunfire. Poland, the Low Countries, France, the Balkans and Crete provided the one condition, and Great Britain and Malta the other. That will be the record of the Stuka handed down to posterity if history is chronicled aright.

The shadow of obsolescence has already fallen upon the dive bomber and a more potent weapon than a dived bomb is in prospect. That is the large-bore cannon, and its arrival cannot long be delayed.

T h e A e r o p la n e 612 m ay 29, 1942

A RUSSIAN GROUND STRAFER.—A picture of Stormovik low attack bombers in action, transmitted to this country by radio. The Stormovik fires a rocket bomb and is reported to be particularly effective against tanks and motorised infantry columns.

It is not a dive bomber, though often miscalled such.

MAY 29, 194-2 Advertisements 19 T h e A e r o p l a n e

Raglan Castle ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

After the siege of Raglan, the garrison was allowed to march out with drums beating, banners flying and all the honours of war. The spirit of the garrison in these last days befitted the proud magnificence of the castle itself. Even in ruins, what an impres­sive record this is of the skill and artistic genius of the early 15th-century architects. Raglan had lofty walls with elaborate machicolations, a fine gatehouse, and a great hexagonal keep.Design in the Middle Ages was emphasised by defensive structure —towers, curtain walls, fortified moats, machicolations and many other features. The emphasis to-day is on convenience, hygiene, light—and such considerations call for steelwork in structure if the best is to be 'made of designers’ ideas.

Boulton & Paul LimitedS T R U C T U R A L E N G IN E E R S

London Norwich

Mil4.

C R O Y D O N

W I N G S F I N S T A I L P L A N E S A I L E R O N S R U D D E R S E Q U I P M E N T i l E T C .

TH O S E w ho b e liev e th a t b reed in g te lls w ill read ily p lace th e H a lifa x in th e f ro n t ra n k of h e a v y b o m b ers . N o

o th e r a e ro p la n e now in se rv ice w ith B o m b e r C o m m an d h a s a lo n g er p ed ig ree o r a m ore fam o u s a n c e s try . I t is th e y o u n g es t m e m b er of a lo n g line of a e ro p la n es w h ich b eg an w ith th e H a n d le y P ag e 0 /1 0 0 of 1915 a n d in c lu d es m an y o th e r n o ta b le m ilita ry ty p es a n d se v e ra l w h ich d is tin g u ish e d th em se lv es in c iv il a n d co m m erc ia l fly ing .

B ig b o m b ers a n d c iv il tr a n s p o r ts a s th e y ex is t to -d a y ow e a g re a t d ea l to H a n d le y P a g e L td . W h e n M r. F . H a n d le y P ag e fo u n d e d h is c o m p a n y in 1910 h e s ta r te d a n o rg an isa tio n w h ich w ith in five y ea rs h a d ev o lv ed th e firs t p ra c tic a l h e a v y b o m b e r a n d w ith in te n h a d p u t in to serv ice th e firs t m u lti-en g in ed a ir- lin e rs in th e W o rld . In sp ire d b y su ch a w eig h ty s ta r t in life th e C o m p an y h a s ev e r since p u rsu e d a m o st en e rg e tic p o licy in d ev e lo p in g th e la rg e ae ro p lan e . T h u s , som e 30 y ea rs of ex p erien ce in design , co n s tru c tio n a n d o p e ra tio n a re in c o rp o ra te d in th e la te s t H a n d le y P ag e b o m b er. /

T h e design of th e H a lifa x o r ig in a te d in a tw o -m o to r design to th e A ir M in is try m ed iu m b o m b e r specifica tion P . 13/36 of 1936. L a te r th is a e ro p la n e — th e H .P .56— w as a lte re d to ta k e fo u r M erlins in s te a d of tw o V u ltu re s as o rig in a lly p la n n e d a n d b ecam e k n o w n as th e H .P .57— la te r th e H a lifa x . In th is fo rm it firs t flew on O c to b e r 25, 1939. T h e H a lifa x I , w ith tw o B o u lto n P a u l tu r re ts a n d fo u r 1,145 h .p . R o lls-R o y ce M erlin X m o to rs w as b y th e n a lre a d y in la rg e-sca le p ro d u c tio n a n d it s ta r te d to go in to serv ice in N o v em b er, 1940.

A fte r th e firs t p ro d u c tio n b a tc h h a d been co m p le ted th e H a lifa x I I w ith th e 1,280 h .p . R o lls-R o y ce M erlin X X m o to rs su p e rsed ed th e o rig in a l v e rsio n . T h e firs t m ach in es of th e new series h a d th e sam e a rm a m e n t a s th e H a lifa x I , b u t m ore re c e n t ex am p les h a v e an a d d itio n a l B o u lto n P a u l tu r re t on to p of th e fu se lag e .

T h e H a lifa x firs t w en t in to ac tio n on M arch 11, 1941, a g a in s t ta rg e ts a t L e H a v re , a n d ev e r since it h a s b een u sed in s te ad ily in c reas in g n u m b e rs b y n ig h t, a n d (less f re ­q u e n tly ) b y d ay .

P e rh a p s th e m o st sp e c ta c u la r of d a y lig h t o p e ra tio n s b y

[ “ A ero p la n e ” photograph

th e H a lifa x w as th e fam o u s a t ta c k on th e S c h a rn h o rs t a t L a P a llice on J u ly 24, 1941. O n th a t d a y , a n u n e sc o rted fo rce of th ese b o m b ers a t ta c k e d th e G erm an b a ttle -c ru ise r w h ich h a d ju s t s lip p ed o u t of B re s t. T w o h its w ere m ad e on th e w a rsh ip w h ich th e n re tu rn e d to B re s t w here it rem a in ed u n til th e ca re fu lly p la n n e d a n d e la b o ra te ly ex ecu ted escape of th e im p riso n e d w a rsh ip s en a b le d th e m to reg a in th e ir h o m e p o r ts in a b a t te re d co n d itio n . D u rin g o p e ra tio n s a t L a P a llice som e of th e H a lifa x e s w ere s u b ­je c te d to fierce a n d p e rs is te n t a t ta c k s b y fig h te rs a n d th e m a n n e r in w h ich th ese w ere b e a te n off b y th e tu r re t- m o u n te d g u n s w as th e c lea re s t p ro o f u p to th a t tim e of th e effectiveness of th e p o w er-o p e ra ted g u n tu r re t .

T h e ta il tu r r e t in th e H a lifa x is re m a rk a b ly co m p ac t, y e t m o u n ts fo u r B ro w n in g s w ith se rvo -feed , a n d is u n u s u ­a lly co m fo rtab le fo r th e g u n n e r . T h e co m fo rt of th e ta il g u n n e r on lo n g flig h ts h a s a d ire c t b e a rin g on h is efficiency a n d , th e re fo re , on th e sa fe ty of th e b o m b e r a s a w hole.

O n n ig h t w o rk th e H a lifa x h a s p la y e d a c o n s ta n tly im p o r ta n t p a r t in th e R .A .F . ’s m o u n tin g offensive. B y th e en d of 1941 m o st of th e im p o r ta n t E u ro p e a n ta rg e ts so f a r v is ited b y th e R .A .F . h a d rece iv ed its unw elcom e a t te n tio n . M ore re ce n tly i t h a s ta k e n p a r t in th e d e v a s ­ta tin g a t ta c k s on th e G erm an B a ltic p o r ts of L iib eck ,R o s to ck a n d W a m e m u n d e .

A lth o u g h th e m a n y H a n d le y P a g e a e ro p lan es of th e p a s t h a v e in c lu d ed som e fam o u s b o m b ers th e re h a v e also b een som e e q u a lly h is to ric c iv il ty p e s . T h ese d id m u ch as p io n ee rs of co m m erc ia l a v ia tio n in th e y ea rs b e tw een th e tw o W o rld W a rs . T h e C o m p an y w hile b u s ily en g ag ed on co m m erc ia l ty p e s a lw a y s m a in ta in e d a close in te re s t in b o m b e r d ev e lo p m e n t ev en in th e lean “ d isa rm a m e n t ” y ea rs w h en little official su p p o r t w as fo rth co m in g . T h is w as fo r tu n a te fo r th e N a tio n ; w h en W a r cam e H a n d le y P a g e b o m b ers , a s efficient a s ev e r, fo rm ed a v ita l p a r t of o u r b o m b in g fo rce . T h e y w ill co n tin u e to do so u n til th e en d of th e W a r. W h e n p eace is re s to red H a n d le y P ag e will b e ab le to tu r n a g a in to th e n eed s of a ir tra n sp o r t, a n d p la y a le ad in g p a r t in d es ig n in g a n d b u ild in g th e a e ro p lan es th a t w ill h e lp to m ak e B rita in p re -e m in e n t in a ir com m erce .

T h e A e r o p l a n e 6 U m a y 29, 1942

THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

THE CREW OF A BRISTOL BEAUFORT PREPARES FOR THE ATTACK O N THE PRINZ EUGEN.

The Roll of Honour

THE ON E H U N D R E D -A N D -TH IR T Y -SE C O N D Casualty List was published by the Air Ministry on M ay 20. It contains 262

names of R .A .F . personnel, including those of 167 previously reported. Of those, three missing are now prisoners, 163 missing believed killed or missing are now presumed killed in action, and one missing is now presumed killed on active service.

The L ist includes four killed in action, three wounded, two died of wounds and 56 missing. On active service three are missing, 13 have been killed, seven wounded, and seven have died of wounds.

The total of R .A .F . casualties officially reported since the W ar began is now 24,758.

The One Hundred-and-Thirty-second Casualty List is:—Killed in Action

1 0 5 2 1 1 4 Sgt. L. Johnson .1 0 6 6 4 7 P / 0 R. W. M. Moon.

1 1 8 0 6 5 0 Sgt. K. W. Stevenson.Previously Reported Missing Believed K illed in Action, Now Presumed

K illed in Action1 0 0 6 3 5 8 Sgt. C. T. R. Anderson.

6 5 1 9 1 0 Sgt. E. S. Briggs. 1 3 7 8 5 6 5 Sgt. J . B u t te rw o r th .

9 8 4 2 0 7 Sgt. A. V. C arpen ter. 1 1 6 2 8 0 8 Sgt. W. R. Cheesman. 1 2 8 1 4 0 0 Sgt. J . S. D ainton.

3 3 2 3 8 S /L P. G. S. Dickenson. 1 1 8 1 6 2 4 Sgt, M. Gill.1 0 6 0 7 4 8 Sgt. A. Gilmour.1 0 1 3 7 5 2 Sgt. J . R . Griffiths.

9 6 4 9 5 5 Sgt. J . A. Groom.9284-26 Sgt. J . G. H an lin .

1 0 5 9 1 7 9 Sgt. L. H ard ing .9 2 8 2 7 6 Sgt, S. Jam ieson .7 4 6 4 5 4 Sgt. T. Kelly.

1 1 6 3 2 7 9 Sgt. W. J . Lewis. 1 2 5 4 9 7 1 Sgt. J . II. Lucking. 1 2 8 1 2 0 6 Sgt. J . E. M edhurs t . 1 0 5 3 5 8 6 Sgt. B. N. B. Orr.

9 8 6 4 2 0 Sgt, R. 1. Rhodes. 9 6 3 8 5 8 Sgt- J . S. Saunders . 9 8 1 1 9 8 Sgt. R. A. Scott.

8 7 6 3 9 Act. F /L R . P. Stevens, D.S.O., D.F.C.

1 2 5 4 4 8 3 Sgt. K. E. Stew art. 1 1 0 5 4 7 9 Sgt. A. Stockdale.

3 2 7 4 5 7 F /S g t , F. Sum ner.9 9 5 8 6 1 Sgt. P . A. Taylor.

1 1 7 2 5 9 9 Sgt. A. B. Thom as. 1 0 2 2 7 5 0 Sgt. J . Towns.

7 5 9 0 3 4 F /S g t . E. Twelves.7 3 0 1 2 S /L J . G. W alker.3 7 0 3 0 S /L C. A. Wood.

1 0 5 9 4 6 9 Sgt. M. C. Young.Previously Reported Missing, Now

Presumed K illed in Action7 5 5 2 6 9 Sgt. E. O. Adam s.7 5 4 1 9 8 F /S g t . R . A tk in .9 7 7 8 8 8 A .C .l A. C. Attwood. 9 5 5 0 1 6 Sgt. G. E. Bagshaw. 9 9 4 3 5 8 Sgt. W. L. Ball.9 5 8 4 9 9 Sgt. L. H . B arrac lough . 5 4 0 3 2 8 F /S g t . W. E. B a r re t t . 9 2 3 4 3 0 Sgt. R. E. Bates. 9 1 8 4 3 3 Sgt. J . C. Beardm ore. 9 7 6 1 7 4 Sgt. W. Bearne.9 4 '8 4 4 3 Sgt. E. P . Beckwith.

6 2 2 9 9 P /O R . F. B enne tt . 6 7 5 9 0 P /O H. R. Bentlev.

6 4 1 0 3 5 F /S g t . K. G. B etts . 1 0 5 4 9 5 6 Sgt. J . R. Boland.

8 1 1 1 4 4 Sgt. R. H. Breckell. 9 4 1 3 8 7 F /S g t . A. Brown.

1 0 o 3 0 2 7 Sgt. J . B ruckshaw .6 0 7 9 4 P /O G. W. Bull.8 5 9 3 8 P /O A. Carey-Hill.7 2 4 7 9 F /O A. W. L. Cobbe.

7 5 1 1 3 0 Sgt. R. Davies.5 6 7 5 1 9 Sgt. D. M. V. P.

Devereux.1 2 5 3 2 1 1 Sgt. K G. Ed:s.

7 3 0 4 3 F /O A. G. Evill.7 8 5 0 3 6 Sgt. M. E. F a rn a n . 5 2 8 2 6 4 F /S g t . E. W. W. Gange. 7 4 8 7 2 4 Sgt. R . G. Gove.9 6 3 9 4 6 Sgt, W. A. Gray.9 5 0 6 2 0 Sgt. P . R. Griffin.

1 1 6 0 1 1 6 Sgt. J . W. H allam .7 5 9 1 4 0 F /S g t . W. P . J . Hancox. 6 2 8 8 4 0 Sgt. A. C. F. H arrop . 7 5 5 7 0 1 F /S g t . T. II. H arrow er.

8 8 2 3 2 F /O A. M. Harvey. 7 7 8 3 4 3 Sgt. S. A. Harvey.

1 1 5 2 4 9 4 Sgt. I). G. Hodge.9 4 7 4 2 4 Sgt. J . L. Holloway.

1 0 0 7 1 9 9 Sgt. J . H orab in .7 9 3 7 5 F /O M. Jacoby.6 6 5 1 9 P /O J . E. Johnson .

7 7 6 0 0 2 Sgt. P. S. D. Jo h n s to n . 7 8 5 0 0 2 Sgt. G. A. Ju p p .7 4 7 7 2 7 Sgt. J . H. Keen.

1 1 5 3 4 9 9 Sgt. L. W. K e t te r in g h a m . 1 1 5 0 7 9 1 Sgt. J . A. C. King.

9 2 1 9 1 1 Sgt. V. F . D. Kirk . 5 8 0 0 5 5 F /S g t . W. S. K itson .

D.F.M.1 2 5 5 3 9 1 Sgt. R. M. K n a p m a n .

8 8 4 3 4 P /O E. J . Lam b.5 4 4 4 3 7 Sgt. W. D. L am bert .

8 8 0 2 1 P /O W. E. Law.6 3 8 1 9 8 Sgt. J . W. Lee.

8 9 8 2 6 P /O M. Lee.7 0 4 2 1 S /L II. F. McCullagh.

9 6 1 6 6 6 Sgt. W. J . Moss.1 1 5 3 0 5 1 Sgt, A. R . M cEldcn.

1 0 3 4 9 1 P /O R. H. M cG lashan. 9 2 0 3 8 7 Sgt. J . A. McLean.

1 1 6 5 2 7 4 ,S g t . J . F. E. M altbv. 7 4 1 5 9 3 F /S g t . B. M artin .9 7 6 1 0 7 Sgt. G. II. Maivor. 9 2 3 9 8 2 Sgt. A. J . R . Millard-

Tucker.7 0 ? 3 2 2 L.A.C. IT. Mills.7 5 1 3 5 5 Sgt. R. M. M inchin . 9 2 6 3 2 9 Sgt, K. E. Newman. 1 0 1 5 5 6 P /O J . A. N u t t ,9 5 7 0 0 6 Sgt. J . R. Pa lm er. 6 3 0 8 3 9 F /S g t . J . P a rk in .

1 0 6 2 7 6 8 Sgt. J . M. P a t t iso n . 9 5 7 3 3 7 Sgt. A. P . Perrv-Keene. 6 1 7 3 8 0 F /S g t . J . E. Phillips.

7 6 0 1 6 F /O A. L. Pu llen .8 2 9 9 2 P /O C. D. R am sav .

1 1 6 2 2 0 5 Sgt. E. J . R ichards . 6 2 9 3 1 8 L.A.C. J . F . R ichard . 9 2 4 8 6 0 Sgt. G. A. Robbins.

1 1 6 8 6 2 1 Sgt. F . H . Sanders. 1 3 7 8 1 2 3 Sgt. E. R. Schofield.

6 1 5 1 0 P /O F . W. Selfe.4 4 0 5 0 F /O D. Shaw.

1 2 5 8 4 7 2 Sgt. D. R . Sherwin. 7 5 1 8 8 1 Sgt. D. Sills.9 3 7 5 4 5 Sgt. J . M. Simmons. 9 5 7 7 2 6 Set. A. E. Simpkln. 5 6 9 7 1 7 Sgt. R. B. S trach an .

1 3 7 5 4 3 9 Sgt. J . F. T arran .6 1 9 8 4 4 L.A.C. F . Teasdale. 9 6 3 0 4 6 Sgt. C. D. Thomas.

8 1 6 2 2 F /O E. Q. Tobin.9 3 0 3 4 3 Sgt. S. C. Tottle.7 4 5 1 8 6 F /S g t . E . D. Tyler.

4 1 2 2 7 A ct. S /L T. J . S. W arren ,D.F.C.

8 8 0 2 2 Act. F /O J . T. W aterfa ll . 1 2 5 3 7 8 6 Sgt. II. P . S. W hite.

6 2 4 0 5 8 Sgt. R. J . W'hite 9 3 7 6 7 0 Sgt. J . L. W hitticase . 9 9 1 3 1 9 A .C .l G. A. Widdowson.

1 3 7 6 5 5 4 Sgt. G. W. T. Wiggs. 1 1 6 9 1 0 9 Sgt. F. B. H. Wildgoose.

1 0 4 5 2 5 P /O T. McS. Wilson. 7 7 8 4 7 8 Sgt. W. J . Young.Wounded or Injured in Action5 7 0 2 2 9 Sgt, G. W. H erring .

8 8 7 2 4 F /O N. W. Lee.Died of Wounds or Injuries Received

in Action9 1 3 5 3 5 L.A.C. G. E. Boorman. 9 4 1 6 0 7 Sgt. K. W. McCaskill.

Missing1 1 5 6 7 2 P /O H . S. Brough.

1 3 5 6 4 2 0 Sgt. C. Brown.1 0 0 2 2 5 2 Sgt. J . Burns .1 3 8 7 6 7 6 Sgt. E. A. Cobham. 1 1 1 3 2 0 5 Sgt, A. Currie .

1 0 6 0 7 5 P /O R. J . Cussen.9 2 1 1 2 6 F /S g t . E. R. Dimond. 9 4 0 0 3 1 Sgt. J . W. G. Foreshow. 9 3 2 3 9 1 Sgt. B. H. Fors ter .6 2 5 7 4 6 Sgt. F . A. Fry.5 8 1 4 4 6 Sgt. II. Gatiss.9 2 4 4 9 7 Sgt. G. Giles.9 0 3 5 6 5 Sgt. J . T. C. Haziedine. 7 4 3 0 5 5 F /S g t . B. M. S.

Henderson 9 2 1 6 9 5 Sgt. F . H. W. H o a d ’.ev.

1 2 6 5 8 5 7 A .C .l J . W. Hooper. 9 4 4 0 9 0 Sgt. R. F . Howell. 7 5 5 4 1 5 F /S g t . N. D. Lenton. 7 5 5 5 7 7 F /S g t . R . T. Lindon. 9 8 7 1 7 3 Sgt. D. McDonald. 9 7 2 2 9 8 F /S g t . M. M cLean. 1 0 0 6 3 9 ' P /O G. J . M aygothiing.

1 0 6 3 2 6 2 Sgt. R. Moffitt.7 4 5 1 5 8 F /S g t . G. E. H. Obott.

2 6 2 1 0 F /L R. H . Page.] 3 7 9 5 2 9 A .C .l F . W. Pa lm er.

9 9 4 8 8 1 Sgt. E. F . P en ling ton . 6 3 6 0 8 2 Sgt. W. H. Peters .

1 0 7 1 8 7 0 Sgt. I t . L. Price. 1 3 0 5 0 4 6 L A.C. R. F . Rendel!.

T he a e r o p l a n eM A Y 29, 1942

e t t i j d ia u l ic a lh j O p e l a t e d

CONSTANT SPEED FEATHERI NG

cttijdlaulicattu Operated CONSTANT SPEED

F E A T H E R I N G

. '•ZM,

T h e A e r o p l a n e Adoertisements 22 I j \ : 1942

t h e r e ’ 8Where

always been Schrader’s job and the ir p roducts are playing a very useful p a r t in the production drive to-day . H Various types of industria l valves are used to provide in te rm it te n t air blasts for all types of machine tools and also for ejecting finished work. The Schrader Quick- Acting Coupler is the ideal u n it for speedily p lug­ging in pneum atic tools to the airline. Schrader equ ipm ent is the outcome of specialised knowledge and the Schrader technical staff can advise on all forms of compressed air control.

S ch rad crAIRLINE EQUIPMENT

T o A. S C H R A D E R ’S S O N , D iv i s ion o f Scovi l l Mfg. Co . ,829 T Y B U R N R O A D , E R D i N G T O N , B I R M I N G H A M , 24.

P le a s e send i l lu s tr a te d c a t a l o g u e of S c h r a d e r Q uick-ac t ing C o u p le r s , Industria l B lo w V a lv e s and B lo w Guns.

N A M E .............................................................................................................................

A D D R E S S .....................................................................................................................

A. 3 0

*MAY 29. 1942 Advertisements 23 THE AEROPLANE

T h e A e r o p l a n eAJccrtisemenii 24

MAY 29, 1942

aircraft poweredby ROLLS-ROYCEengines aie fitted uM44iS.U.Carburetfers

S . U . C A B B U R E T T E R . - Q : L T P-

ORC. TION

A E R O P L A N E S OF T H E J A P A N E S E ARM Y A N D N A V Y AIR F O R C E S -I I I

MAY 29, 1942 619 THE AEROPLANE

T H E K A W A N I S H I N A V Y L L - 9 7 - 2(One 650 h.p. Kawanishi motor)

T y p e .— Torpedo reconnaissance floatplane.C r e w .— Two.A r m a m e n t .— One lixecl and one movable machine-gun. D i m e n s i o n s .— Span, 45 ft. 6 ins.; length, 38 ft. 0 in.;

height, 13 ft. 9 ins.; wing area, 680 sq. ft.W e i g h t .—Loaded, 8,000 l b .P e r f o r m a n c e .— Max. speed, 155 m.p.h . a t 7,000 ft.; range,

450 miles a t 135 m.p.h .; service ceiling, 19,000 ft. Made by Kawanishi Kokuki Kabushiki Kaisha (Kawanishi Aircraft Co.) a t Kobe.

T H E K A W A N I S H I N A V Y L L - 9 7 - 3(Liore et Olivier LeO H24-6)

(Four 720 h.p. I lispano-Suiza 12xirs motors)T y p e .— Reconnaissance flying-boat.C r e w .—Four to six.A r m a m e n t .— Probably six movable machine-guns. D i m e n s i o n s .— Span, 104 ft. 0 in.; length, 69 ft. 5 ins.;

height, 23 ft. 5 ins.; wing area, 1,410 sq. ft.W e i g h t s .— Em pty , 21,560 lb.; loaded, 32,912 lb. P e r f o r m a n c e .— Max. speed, 208 m.p.h. a t 6,560 ft.; range

930 miles a t 158 m .p .h . Made by Kawanishi K okuk’ Kabushiki Kaisha (Kawanishi Aircraft Co.) a t Kobe.

T H E K A W A S A K I A R M Y L B - 9 3(One 600 h.p. Kawasaki (BMW) motor)

T y p e .— Reconnaissance bomber.C r e w .— T w o .A r m a m e n t .—One fixed and one movable machine-gun. D i m e n s i o n s .— Span, 42 ft. 8 ins.; length, 32 ft. 9^ ins.;

height, 9 ft. 10 ins.W e i g h t .—Loaded, 6,820 lb.P e r f o r m a n c e .— Max. speed, 161.5 m.p.h. a t 1,0C3 ft.;

service ceiling, 22,960 ft. Made by Kawasaki Kokuki Kogyo Kabushiki (Kawasaki Dockyard Co.) a t Kobe.

T H E K A W A S A K I A R M Y 1-95(One 600 h.p. Kawasaki (BMW) motor)

T y p e .— Single-seat lighter.C r e w .— One.A r m a m e n t .*—Three fixed forward-firing machine-guns.. D i m e n s i o n s .— Span, 33 ft. 0 in.; length, 26 ft. 2£ ins.;

height, 9 ft. 10 Ins.; wing area, 230 sq. ft.W e i g h t .— Loaded, 4,000 lb.P e r f o r m a n c e .—Max. speed, 250 m.p.h. a t 13,000 ft.; range,

300 miles a t 216 m.p.h.; service ceiling, 33,000 ft. Made by Kawasaki Kokuki Kogyo Kabushiki (Kawasaki Dockyard Co.) at Kobe.

T H E K A W A S A K I A R M Y L B - 9 7(One 900 h.p. Kawasaki motor)

T y p e .— Reconnaissance bomber.C r e w \ — Two.A r m a m e n t .— Two fixed and one movable machine-guns. D i m e n s i o n s .— Span, 47 8J ins.; wing area, 295 sq. ft. W e i g h t .—Loaded, 7,000 lb.P e r f o r m a n c e .— Max. speed, 236 m.p.h. a t 13,000 ft.; range,

490 miles a t 206 m.p.h .; service ceiling, 25,000 ft. Made by Kawasaki Kokuki Kogyo Kabushiki (Kawasaki Dockyard Co.) a t Kobe.

T H E K A W A S A K I A R M Y B -9 7(Two 820 h.p. Kawasaki 98 motors)

T y p e .— Bomber.C r e w .—Five.A r m a m e n t .— Two movable cannon and four movable

machine-guns.D i m e n s i o n s .— Span, 75 ft. 0 in.; length, 62 ft. 0 in.; height,

12 ft. 6 ins.; wing area, 665 sq. ft.W e i g h t . —Loaded, 20,900 lb.P e r f o r m a n c e .— Max. speed, 245 m.p.h. a t 15,000 ft.; range,

1,250 miles a t 196 m.p.h.; service ceiling, 24,500 ft. Made by Kawasaki Kokuki Kogyo Kabushiki (Kawasaki Dockyard Co.) a t Kobe.

(Drawings by John H. Stroud, Copyright, “ The Aeroplane.") I 8

T h e A e r o p l a n e 620 MAY 29, 1942

I AM AN AIRCRAFT DESIGNER—IVBy Rex K. Pierson

A talk given in the Forces Programme oj the B .B .C . on Monday, May 18, 1942.

1 D I D N ’T as a b o y show a prophetic interest in model aero­planes. B u t I was interested in trains. I remember, when I

was four years old, m y father— a c o u n try parson— stoppingdead in the m iddle of his sermon to glare a t me while I w as “ shunting " prayer books up and dow n the ledge of our pew , and im ita tin g an engine g iv in g off steam.

I spent so m uch of m y y o u th fu l spare m om ents fiddling a b o u t w ith m echanical toys th a t m y m other decided th a t m y bent definitely was for engineering. W hen I le ft Felstead in 1908 m y father wished me to take a post in the B a n k of E n glan d; but m y m other prevailed— as m others usually do— and I w en t, rejoicing, into the E rith w orks of the great V ickers co n ­cern as an apprentice. There I spent a h a p p y three years on the substantial engineering w o rk typ ica l of the firm in those days. M y jo b w as on N a v a l G un Breech m echanism s in the F it t in g

Shop, and m y hours were 6 a .m . to 5 p .m . in the W orks, fo l­lowed b y evening classes a t the P o ly te ch n ic four nights a week until 9 o 'c lock; m y h om ew ork I did on the rem aining evenings.

I t w as in 1910 th a t m y C o m p a n y opened an a v ia tio n section and I was m ade assistant to A . R . L o w , w ho had been appointed Chief Designer. So I passed from the h ea vy engin­eering of ordnance to the designing of aircraft, and on th a t w ork I h ave rem ained ever since.

Starch and Piano WireT h e C o m p a n y had a F ly in g School a t B rooklan d s and I had

a lw ays longed to learn to fly m yself. I was ta u g h t on a B o x - kite b y R . H . B arn w ell and Archie K n ig h t, Instructors w ho will be rem em bered b y m a n y pilots of the 1914 /1918 war and earlier. A rchie is still w ith the firm and doing fine w ork on W e llin g to n bombers.

T h a t old B o x k ite had a ro ta ry engine, which had a b o u t the same m axim um h.p . as a m odern 16 h .p . car engine. I t really did resemble a large kite, w ith m an y struts and piano wires, and covered w ith fabric doped w ith starch to tighten it and m ake it leak-proof. Its top speed was ab o u t 35 m .p .h . Its

m inim um speed 25 m .p .h . F ly in g it, I assure y o u , w as ve ry like w alk in g on a t ig h t rope

A rchie K n ig h t w as a first-class instructor w ho believed in k ick in g a n y nervousness o u t of his pupils. I well remember the un com fortable m om ents he gave me when suddenly he w ould deliberately k n o c k the jo y-stick o u t of m y hand. “ T h a t , " he w ould say, “ is to'*impress y o u w ith the effective­ness of the co n tro ls ." - I t certa in ly did. In cid en tally , he is the o n ly m an I know7 w ho has been h it on the head b y a pro­peller going full-out and survived.

The Gun Bus and ViinyY o u y o u n g pilots of to -d a y can n ot realise w h a t an adventure

fly in g w as in th a t far-off tim e. I shall never forget practising •my first figure of eight, and stalling the m achine on a turn. A s a result I n early ended m y career b y finishing up in the sewage farm a t B rooklan d s.

A t th a t F ly in g School of ours we used to fly a t four o ’ clock in the m orn in g if there was :io w ind ! This we decided w ith great care b y hold in g up a handkerchief— if the handkerchief fluttered w e d id n ’t fly.

B y 1913 the V ickers G un B u s was produced in small num bers b oth for the R o y a l F ly in g Corps and for the A d m ira lty . A t the outbreak of w ar in 1914, I believe th a t this pusher was the on ly availab le a ircraft w ith a practicable gun, b u t those were th e d ays w hen the pilots of m ost aircraft, on either side, when th ey encountered an enem y in the air, could do little more than shake their fists a t one an oth er and fly on. I believe the first high decoration aw arded to an airm an was gained on the V ickers G un B u s in the same year.

T h e ou tstan d in g success of those times, how ever, was the V im y bom ber,_ w hich in the yea r 1917 we b u ilt from scratch to first flight inside six m onths. B y this tim e I had becom e Chief Designer, and I well rem em ber ta lk in g over the pro ject of this a ircraft w ith M ajor J. C. B u ch an an a t the A ir M inistry. B e tw een us the la y o u t of the m achine was hatched ou t on a piece of foolscap paper, and I can vouch for the fact th a t the craft, as first flown, was reason ably like th a t prelim inary free­hand sketch. I t was the b iggest design we had tackled and the sw ift com pletion of th a t first m achine was a great credit to m y staff.

T h e V im y bom ber was not read y in sufficient numbers in time for p artic ip ation in the w ar effort, a lth ough arrangem ents were a c tu a lly in hand for a special raiding trip to be m ade b y

THE FIRST FIGHTER.—The Vickers F.B.9 Gun Bus, the first aeroplane to be designed and built as a fighter. It appearedin 1913, and was used in France during the Great W ar.

M r. Rex K. Pierson, Chief Designer,

Vickers-Armstrongr Ltd.

MAY 29, 1942 621 T he A e r o p l a n e

A STALWART OF BOMBER C O M M A N D .—The Vickers-Armstrongs Wellington II which, though basically built to Air Ministry specification B.9/32 of 1932, is still doing fine work together with the Wellington Ic and the Wellington III and

musters in force when the R.A.F. makes its heavy night raids on Germany and targets in occupied territory.

some of the p ro to ty p e s ; this, however, was stopped by the Armistice.

The old Vimy was a most adaptable design, and after the war, we were quickly able to transform it into a very service­able civil type called “ Vimy Com mercial,” which was operated successfully by the Instone Air Line in the early days of the Croydon— Paris service, and known as the “ City of L ondon .” I t was in a Vimy 'p lane th a t Alcock and Brown made tha t marvellous first non-stop A tlantic crossing in 1910 from New­foundland to Ireland in 16 hours 27 minutes, a t a speed of just over 117 m .p .h . I was a t our main works when I got the news th a t the machine had landed in Ireland, and I certainly got a great kick ou t of hearing th a t the flight was successful. T hat old machine is now in the South Kensington Museum.

Also in 1919, the Ross-Smith Expedition accomplished the first flight to Australia in a similar m ach in e ; while in 1920 the Vimy ‘ ‘ Silver Queen ” took p a r t in the first flight to South Africa.

The years following were each m arked by one or more experi­mental aeroplane designs, all interesting, some more successful than others. In fact, th irty-three basic designs have been com­pleted with a hundred and forty variants.

The “ Vespa ” was the first Vickers aircraft of all-metal construction to go into q uan tity production. An example of this type, fitted with Bristol engine, was in 1932 successful in scoring a world's height record of 44,000 ft.

The “ Virginia ” bomber and “ Victoria ” troop carrier were designed and produced as sister ships. They more or less marked the end of the era of woodeh construction, and were largely converted to metal construction a t a later phase. The “ Victoria ” will be remembered on account of its use in the evacuation of the inhabitants of Kabul by the Royal Air Force

in 1929. A la ter development of the “ V ictoria ,” called the “ V alentia ,” is still in service.

Our la test types you knowr all about.The “ Wellesley ” is a. leading example of the geodetic sys­

tem of construction patented by my colleague, B. N. Wallis, who, before coming into aeroplane designing, was distinguished for his work on His M ajesty’s Airship R.100 a t Ilowden. The single-engined Wellesley monoplane w'as selected by the R .A .F . for an a t tem p t on the W orld’s long-distance record, which was duly achieved by three Wellesley machines flying 7,158 miles non-stop. T hat record still stands.

The later W ellington type, also a monoplane, continues the geodetic construction, b u t has two engines and carries a substantial bomb load.

The “ W ellington ” has seen much service in this. W ar on almost all the fighting fronts, from Greece to Crete to the Middle East, and a t home, where nightly it has been bombing Germany so heavily.

This aircraft-design business, as the other designers in this series have s ta ted— is no one-man show. I t is a job for a team, and a big team a t th a t . W ay back in 1917 a machine could be got out with two or three technical assistants and a dozen or so draughtsm en. (Incidentally , several members of my old Vimy team are still pulling their weight with me in this second World W ar.) . ,

B u t the modern aircraft is so complex th a t a design staff of several hundred is needed.

Such is the work of an aircraft designer, and a full life it is in the great and progressive organisation of Vickers. I would have preferred no other career, and I have been happy in it. B u t I sometimes wonder w hat m ight have happened if I had grasped a t th a t opening in Threadneedle Street—34 years ago.

VICKERS O N PARADE.—Three aeroplanes designed by Mr. Rex Pierson and built by Vickers Ltd. (Left) The Vickers Virginia, with Napier Lion motors. This was the standard night bomber of the R.A.F. for many years. (Middle) The Vickers Viget single-seat light aeroplane, a small type built for experimental purposes. (Right) The Vickers Vimy bomber (two Rolls-Royce Eagle motors) which made many pioneer flights. This type was the first to cross the Atlantic by the

direct route, the first to fly from England to Australia, and the first to fly from England to South Africa.

T h e A e r o p l a n e 622 MAY 29, 1942

* ‘ • . [Air-Log photographIN SERVICE COLOURS.—The Centaurus, one of Qantas Empire Airways flying-boats which was taken over by the Australian Government at the beginning of the W ar, photographed on an Australian waterway early this year. The Centaurus was the first Empire flying-boat to be flown out to Australia and was also used by Imperial Airways to survey the Atlantic routes. A brass plaque in the cabin commemorates the Atlantic surveys. The Centaurus was damaged

at Broome during one of the first air raids on that Australian town.

Vichy-Spanish Co-operation ?AIR FRA N CE and Iberia (Spanish Air Lines) are reported to

be planning an exchange of facilities for the operation of services between Casablanca and D akar and between Madrid and the Canary Islands.

Spain’s share in the deal will presum ably be the bases on the routes, w ith Air F rance supplying the equipm ent, as Spain seems to have no flying-boats or long-range landplanes suitable for such services. If these routes to D akar and the, Canaries are operated the reason for the com pletion of the Potez 161 and the other flying-boats which Vichy France is reported to be building is obvious. Germ any would find such routes, operated by a neu tra l and a vassal S tate, useful.

Two m onths ago the possibility of a Spanish service to the Argentine was reported from W ashington, though such a pro­ject was considered im practicable because of Spain’s lack of suitable equipm ent and shortage of petrol. Now Spain appar­ently expects to have both as a report from Rio de Janeiro on May 14 sta ted th a t a Spanish mission headed by Senor Edouardo Aunos had arrived a t Rio. The mission is on its way to Buenos Aires to discuss the establishm ent of an air service between M adrid and Buenos Aires.

Canadian Airways to VancouverIN TW O YEARS Canadian Airways L td . (now p a rt of the

C .P .R . Air Services) operated 3,067 round trip s on its services between V ictoria and Vancouver. Since the service started on

March 1, 1939, the Com pany’s aeroplanes have flown 1,01^112 passenger miles and carried more th an 100,000 lb. of mail. The Chief P ilot, Capt. C. Gordon Ballentine, recently completed his thousand th round trip on th is route.

Canadian Airways has increased the services on the Victoria- V ancouver rou te to five daily, each way, including two mail flights. Two de H avilland Rapides are used and a D.H. Dragonfly carries the early m orning mail.

Air Mail Rates to GibraltarTH E POSTM ASTER-GENERAL announced on May 12 that

air m ail le tters addressed to G ibraltar, whether for members of His M ajesty’s Forces or civilians, should be prepaid a t the ra te of 5d. for the first ounce and 3d. for each additional ounce.

Air mail letters for the Forces and civilians addressed to countries in Africa and Asia which are served by the Empire Air Services, and for H.M . ships whose address is care of the G .P .O ., London, should be prepaid a t the rate of Is. 3d. per half-ounce. *

The Spoils of the VictorTRANSPORT A ERO PLA N ES commandeered from some of

the occupied countries are being used by Germany on several outside routes. Deutsche L u ft H ansa is operating the once-

daily services between Berlin and Lisbon with Douglas DC-3s instead of Junkers types. An additional weekly service to Stam boul has also been started recently w ith Lockheed 14s which belonged to L .O .T . (Polskie Linje Lotnicze).

The Douglas DC-3s on the Lisbon service m ay be those owned by K .L.M . (R oyal N etherlands Air Lines), Sabena (Belgian Air Lines) or Czechoslovakia—dertainly some1 of K .L.M .s as the N etherlands insignia has been seen inside the DC-3s a t Lisbon. This practice is typical of the H un who would delight in flaunting captured equipm ent on the same aerodrome w ith the DC-3s flown by the D utch pilots on the K.L.M . service betwreen Great B ritain and Lisbon.

Increased FaresFARES on Pan-Am erican Airways services to Lisbon and

Berm uda have been increased. The single fare to Lisbon is now $625 (about £150), com pared with the previous $525; and the retu rn fare has been increased from $945 to $1,125 (about £280). Fares to Berm uda have been increased from $70 to $80 (single) and from $120 to $144 return.

Pan American has also reduced the baggage allowance for each passenger on the A tlantic, Pacific and N orth Pacific ser­vices in order to increase the passenger accom m odation. Each passenger is now allowed only 15£ lb. instead of the previous maximum of 75 lb. Governm ent officials may carry more.

An Australian RecordREGULAR air lines in A ustralia completed three years of

accident-free operation on Oct. 25, 1941. D uring the three years nearly 25,000,000 miles were flown and 300,000 passen­gers were carried.

The Extended Airgraph ServiceTH E A IR G RA PH service for civilians which was forecast

by the Postm aster-General recently began on May 22. The Airgraph service has now been extended to include civilian addressees in E gypt, India, Ceylon, Palestine, T ransjordan, Cyprus, A nglo-Egyptian Sudan, Aden, Bahrein, British Somali­land, and the Seychelles; members of the R .A .F . and the Army serving in India, Burm a and Ceylon ; and officers and crews of H.M. ships serving on the E ast Indies station whose address is care of the G .P .O ., London.

MAY 29, 1942 623 THE AEROPLANE

SIDELIGHTS FROM THE PAST-XXVI

THE RE-BUILDING OF A MORANE-SAULNIER M.S. 138-E2 BY R.A.F.'OFFICERS IN FRANCE—1939-1940

TIME hung heavily during the early days of the W ar in France. The men of the R .A .F . with the Air Component

and the Advanced Air Striking Force occupied their leisure in devious ways. Possibly the most interesting way of waiting for the W ar to s ta rt was th a t of Flying Officer Fowler, R .A .A .F ., and Pilot Officer Petrus H. Hugo, Rhodesian Air Force, now W ing Commander Hugo, D .F.C. and Bar. Both belonged to No. 615 Squadron, the Auxiliary Air Force Squadron of which Mr. Churchill is the H onorary Air Commo­dore and the first Auxiliary Squadron to go to France in 1939 —equipped with. Gloster Gladiator single-seat fighters.

W hen the two officers arrived a t St. Inglevert where their flight was operating, they discovered in the corner of the hangar a Morane-Saulnier M.S. 138-E2 two-seat parasol mono­plane, produced in 1927 as a trainer and fitted with an SO horse-power Le Rhone ro tary motor. The actual machine was the SOth built.

The Morane was almost a wreck, b u t ap a rt from' flying instrum ents no vital parts were missing. The wing was the most damaged part, as all the fabric had perished and the woodwork was badly eaten by insects. The fuselage was fairly complete bu t was short of some bracing wires and needed new fabric. The Le Rhone m otor was in excellent condition internally; the outside was badly rusted.

This decided the enthusiatic am ateur engineers. They asked permission of the Com m andant to rebuild the machine and, undeterred by the caustic remarks of their fellow pilots, they spent every m om ent of their spare time for the next five weeks in making the Morane serviceable.

First, the wing was completely stripped; new ribs were made and fitted, spars and other parts were whipped with cord and glued. Fabric was “ scrounged " from the French stores and from R .A .F . stores in Boulogne, and the wing was re-covered, doped and given R .A .F . markings.

Meanwhile, the ro tary m otor was being overhauled by the ground staff. This was against the wishes of the pilots, as they fully intended to do all the renovations themselves, but they realised th a t time was against them.

News of their industry spread, and when the am ateur aircraft engineers appeared with their rebuilt craft to test it thev had a gallery of French pilots and all the rest of the R .A .F . squadron.

The first test was of the engine. The stripped fuselage was wheeled out of the hangar to the accompaniment of lusty cheers. The tank was filled, oil checked and after about two good swings, the engine fired. I t ran for abou t forty seconds and then cut, because of a breakdown of the insula­tion of the plugs. F u rthe r efforts to re-start were of no avail.

A new set of plugs could no t be had for several days, and meanwhile work proceeded on the rest of the jobs. At the second test, the engine started almost a t the first swing, and full revs, were obtained and held.

This success proved too much of a tem pta tion to Hugo, and with Fowler in the back seat, he opened the thro ttle and taxied all over the aerodrome. To the am azement of everyone, the bare fuselage lifted to a height of about 4 ft. and continued,,airborne for a distance of 60 yds. or so.

A photograph was taken of this incident, b u t unfortunately no copy is available. W ork on the wing was now hastened, and soon it was fitted and fully rigged for an air test. By now excitem ent was high.

The first flight was made one evening in perfect weather, and circuits and landings were made by bo th pilots. The only instrum ent on the dash was the oil pressure gauge, so they evidently had great faith in their workm anship and capabilities as pilots.

The machine was then flown over to W issant, where the Squadron was billeted, to give a dem onstration to the rest of the personnel. The whole of the population tu rned out and gazed skywards a t this strange contraption circling over­head. The speed was evidently low, as F /O Fowler was seen standing up in the rear seat waving his hat. They landed on the beach and were soon surrounded by a crowd— which included the local gendarme, who, in true policeman style, took out his notebook and demanded full particulars. He did not seem too friendly towards this unorthodox landing, and warned the pilots th a t the m atte r would be reported.

In fact, Operations did receive warning th a t an unidentified aircraft was flying over the coast. Soon afterwards, when the real W ar began, it was decided to fly the machine back to base with the idea u ltim ately of getting it to England. The two pilots got away b u t were forced to land in the street a t Le Touquet through oil trouble.

Subsequent events prevented them from repairing it again. D uring flying operations on the Belgian frontier F /O Fowler was shot clown and became a Prisoner of War. P /O Hugo got back safely to England to fly th roughout the Battle of Britain, in which he gained his promotion and honours.

The photographs above show the Morane in various stages of its reconstruction and, lower right, finished. The picture a t the top, right, also includes a Gloster Gladiator. P a r ticu ­lars of the Morane-Saulnier M.S. 13S-E2 a r e :—

D i m e n s i o n s .—Span, 35 ft. 9 ins.; length, 22 ft. 5 ins.; wing area, 210 sq. ft.

W e i g h t s .— E m pty , 1,140 lb.; loaded, 1,710 lb.P e r f o r m a n c e .— Max. speed, 84 m .p.h. a t sea level.

1 HE AERO PLANE 624 MAY 29, 1942

B o o k R e v i e w sCopies of any of the books published in Great Britain can be obtained from “ The Aeroplane," Book Dept., Bowling Green Lane, London,

E.C. I . Postage on books up to I Os. 6d. is 6d. ; orders for £5 or more are post free.

Without “ Electrickery ”A IR C R A F T DIESELS. By Paul //. Wilkinson.- 6\ ins. by g\ ins. 275 pp. Illustyated. Published Nov. 18, 1941,

by Pitman. Price 30s.

TH E A U T H O R of this book, which is alm ost alone in its particular held, is an engineer with wide experiences in

this cou n try and in Am erica, in connection w ith aircraft. He has not been content to collect his m aterial through the post, b u t has travelled extensively in Germ any, France and E ngland, righ t up to the outbreak of the W ar, as well as in the U .S .A ., to get first-hand material. This fact is revealed in every page o f the book. F acts are given in plenty; more than m ight be expected in m an y instances, from the experimental nature of the subjects with which they deal. The style of w riting is straightforw ard, and the general m ethod of presentation simple and well ordered. There is, too, a good index. Mr. W ilkinson has been A viatio n E d ito r of “ Diesel Progress ” since 1935. A lthou gh he is keenly interested in aircraft oil engines, he has not allowed th at fact to distort his technical judgm ent, nor does he permit the intrusion of the “ factor of optimism " which sometimes detracts from the value of Am erican technical publications.

Including an appendix, the book covers a little less than 300 pages of sufficient size to allow drawings to be reproduced large enough for the stu d y of detail. W ith one or two excep­tions, the art w ork is of a high standard.

In the first chapter a concise history of the development of the aircraft oil engine is given, but this is amplified in later sections of the book b y the history of the various makes ofengine.

N e x t follows a group of seven chapters on general technical m atters, such as basic principles, two-stroke and four-stroke operation, com bustion chambers, valves and ports, fuel injec­tion systems, pressure-chargers and engine accessories.

As to actual engine designs, these are covered in a group o f six chapters, the first of which gives specifications for various types of engine of 11 different makes. The data is presented statistically and in a standardised form, so th at comparisons can be made w ith ease. The five chapters fol­lowing the specifications are really amplifications of the data given in the specifications.

In the seven chapters form ing the concluding section of the book, consideration turns to operational and economic aspects, including fuel research and future developments. Throughout this section of the work, facts and figures are given which show th a t the actual number of flying hours and service experience in Europe and Am erica have been far greater than m any, even in the aircraft industry, imagine to be the case.

Since the tim e th at m an y countries of the W orld had per­force to devote more attention to m ilitary aircraft than to com ­mercial types, the oil engine, still in its infancy, has been thrust into the background. “ A ircraft Diesels,” therefore, performs an even more valuable function than it would have done if peace had continued, because it recalls for the benefit of those who will later take up the task w h at has already been achieved, thus saving time and labour b y establishing land­marks.

The value of this historical material is emphasised, because some of the good work achieved before the W a r was done in countries no longer free, and in which still greater destruction m ay be caused before technical developm ent on aircraft Diesels can be resumed. There is also the grave possibility th at m any of those who have contributed to such painstaking research will not again be heard of, except in such books as this.— D . S . D . W .

Air WarfareB R IT A IN ’S AIR POW ER. By R. A. Saville-Sneatli.7$ ins. by 10 ins. 24 pp. Illustrated in colour. Published

by J . Salmon Ltd., 1942. Price 3s. 6d.

TH IS L I T T L E B O O K is intended as a brief review of British Air Pow er for those members of the public who lack a

balanced picture of air warfare to-day. T h at, at least, was the present w riter ’ s impression after reading the 24 pages of this, Mr. Saville-Sneath’s latest publication.

T h e subject is tackled in six short chapters in a cheerful and n ot too profound manner. On the whole, the picture is truly painted, even if in places a slightly inaccurate impression is given, and in others the stories of past achievements have been retold so often th at even the m ost uninformed of newspaper readers m ust remember every detail.

The illustrations are from water-colour drawings b y A . F . D. Bannister. T h ey are well reproduced in colour 011 art paper and several of them are very effective. U nfortunately, the remainder are disappointingly inaccurate.:— p .w .b .

Signposts for Air CadetsTHE AIR C A D E T S H ANDBOOK ON NAVIGATION.Part Tivo. By W. J. D. Allan. 4i- ins. by 61 ins, 79 pp.Illustyated. Published Jan. 29, 1042, by George Allen and

Unwin. Price 2s.

TH E F I R S T P A R T of this “ H a n d b o o k ” was published a short while ago and introduced to the Cadet such topics

as variation and deviation, the setting and reading of com ­passes, the use of p lottin g instruments, the interpretation of m aps and the terms and expressions used in navigation. The second part now leads the Cadet through the triangle of velo­cities to practical p lottin g and thence to the construction of the pilot-type compass, turning and acceleration errors, the isother­mal and I .C .A .N . altimeters and, finally, altim eter problems arising out of changes of atmospheric pressure with time and place.

T h e book is ostensibly w ritten for A ir Training Corps Cadets. I f those Cadets read and digest the Chapters 011 the triangle of velocities and 011 p lottin g th ey will find their work on this subject a n easy m atter even up to th e completion o f the E lem entary F ly in g Train in g School course. T h ey would find that work even easier if all navigation instructors would model their teaching of p lottin g 011 those first tw o Chapters. T lie book can, therefore, be recommended not only to A .T .C . Cadets but also to I .T .W . Cadets, pupil pilots and ground instructors. O nly tw o comments are justified on those tw o Chapters, v iz.: (i) th at space m ight have been found for a lull explanation of the use of the A ppleyard scale; and (ii) th at those items o f information which should be marked on a plot m ight have been collected together under some such mnemonic as “ daft a s s ” — “ m ark D .R . positions, A ir positions and Fixes with Times; d o n 't forget Arrows, vector Scale and time of S ettin g C ourse.” The rest of the book does not bear out the promise ot the first tw o Chapters. F o r example, Mr. Allan will, perhaps, confuse the pupils and offend the Compass O bservatory theorists b y stressing the effects of the off-set centre of g ra v ity in accelerations and decelerations and only d evoting four lines to the effects due to “ Z ” — and also b y rechristening the earth 's total m agnetic force as “ T ” instead of the conventional “ I . ”

He m ay regain favour, however, in dealing with turning errors by v irtu ally disregarding the effects due to the off-set centre of g ra v ity in an incorrectly banked turn. In explaining the causes of compass errors it is a p ity th a t an obsolete observer-type compass with a “ c a r d ” is used for illustrations. I t is feared th at the Cadet m ay thereby fail to visualise the p ilot-type compass with which he m ust m ake himself familiar in practice. The Cadet m ay fail, too, to visualise the interior of the A ir Speed Indicator and the Altim eter b y reason of the a u th o r ’s use of conventional but unreal diagrams. Mr. Allan m ight have made greater use of diagram m atical explanations in the solution of altimeter problems.

B u t these criticisms are mere differences of opinion in the methods of teaching the subject and the book will certainly be a valuable supplem ent to the lectures which the Cadets receive.— N a v i g a t o r .

Poems of the SchoolsT IIY MUSE HATH WINGS. By Pilot Officer G. Eades.5 ins. by 7I ins. 31 pp. Published 1941 by the Pen-in-Iiand

Publishing Co. Price 3s. 6d.

MA N Y D I F F E R E N T abilities and talents are jumbled together in the Train ing Schools of the R .A .F . , and the

m edley of impressions received finds expression in various w ays — ‘in conversation, in letters, in diaries, in songs, and in com ­m unal activities, but not very often in the old poetic forms, which have been invested with self-consciousness b y the prosaic developm ent of the machine-made world. W ar tends to break down the reserves which restrain the free expression of senti­ment, and P ilo t Officer G. Eades is am ong the outspoken spirits bold enough to seek a new path along the well-charted w ay. H o has collected his impressions from Elem entary F ly in g T rain ing School to Operational Training U n it in poetry th at disarms b y its obvious sincerity and almost naive youth-

. fulness. His expression is happiest when he frees himself from the atmosphere of war. In Canada, for instance, he pictures a deer as it:

Looked with b ig w et eyes D ow n over the woods, dark spire below spire,And far across the W entworth valley to the plains; T h in k in g perhaps how beautiful the world,A nd peaceful once again to be aw ayAlone and still, am ong the imperturbable trees.”

Y e t the spirit of the poems is imbued with the keener appre­ciation of life that springs from the awareness of death.— j . j b .

MAY 29, 1942 Advertisements 25 T h e a e r o p l a n e

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MAY 29, 1942 625 T h e A e r o p l a n e

FORTHCOMING EVENTSMay 29.—Glasgow.—S.C. No. 3b (Glasgow and West o! Scotland

R.S.A.).—Third and Second Class Tests.—A ll Certificates gained over six months ago due for endorsement.—A t 101, Albion Street.— 19.30 hrs.

May 29.—Huddersfield.—S.C. No. 49 (Huddersfield and District).— Annual General Meeting.—A t A .R .P. Hdqrs., South Parade.— 19.50 hrs.

May 29.—Watford.—S.C. No. 118 (Watford).—Instructional illustrated lecture by B. D. Phillips.—A t Watford Public Library.—19.00 hrs.

May 29.—Richmond.—S.C. No. 184 (Richmond).—Meeting in Darrel Rd. School, Darrel Rd.—19.30 hrs «,

May 29.—Preston.—S.C. Mo. 249 (Preston and District).—Annual General Meeting.—At Central Police Stn.—19.30 hrs.

May 30.—Stoke Park.—R.O.C.C. Branch No. 1 (Guildford).—Talk by E. W. Argent, on “ Flying-boats and the work of Coastal Com­mand.”—New Second Class Test.—Final round of Inter-post Comp.— At the Councy Technical College.—15.00 hrs.

May 31.—W atford.—R.O.C.C. Branch 3 (Hendon).—Talk by Major John Savage, R .E ., on “ A.A. Plotting.”—Second Class Test.—A t Watford Public Library.—10.50 hrs.

May 31.—Lincoln.—R.O.C.C. Branch 39 (Lincoln).—Talk on “ Hominar of Friendly Bombers,” by Sqdn. Ldr. Singleton.—Third Class Test.—St. M artin ’s Hall.—14.45 hrs.

June 1.—Lewes.—R.O.C.C. Branch 66 (Lewes).—Talk on Bomber Command by a Serving Officer.—Demonstration of models and model m aking—A t A ll Saints Parish Room.—19.00 hrs.

June 1.—HanweH.—S.C. No. I l l (Ealing).—Meeting at Drayton' School, Drayton Bridge Rd.—20.15 hrs.

June 1.—Plymouth.—S.C. No. 299 (Plymouth).—Meeting at the Caprera Club, Coburg St.—19.^0 hrs.

June 5.—Lincoln.—R.O.C.C. Branch 39 (Lincoln).—Dance at County Assembly Rooms.—20.00 hrs. (in aid of R .A .F . Benevolent Fund.)

June 3 — Blackpool.—S.C. No 2 (Blackpool).—Meeting at Talbot Rd. Police Stn.—19.15 hrs.

June 4.—Blackfriars.—R.O.C.C. Branch 62 (City of London).—Meeting in Unilever House.—18.30 hrs.

New Appointments

MR. J. M. BROOKE, at one time Works Manager of Rover Company No. 2 Shadow Factory, and General Manager

of Rootes Securities Nos. 1 and 2 Shadow Factories, recently became General Manager of Venner Time Switches Ltd. and has now been appointed to the Board of Directors of that Company.

( " A ir Log ” Photograph)

AUSTRALIAN ARRIVAL.—A ir Marshal R. H. (Dicky) Williams of the Royal Australian A ir Force (right) was met on his arrival at Rose Bay, Sydney, on Feb. 21, by Wing Cmdr. Geoffrey Hughes (left) and Squadron Ldr. George N. Mills, who were

. both in the Australian Flying Corps with him in the Great War.

New PatentsA P P L IC A T IO N S A C C E P T E D

544,779.—Dowty 'Equipment, Ltd., and R. II. Bound.—Aircraft alighting- gear.—Oct. 24, 1940.

Opposition period expires Ju ly 13, 1942.

Printed specification available May 28, 1942.

B IR T H SAwens.—On May 15, at the Woking Maternity

Home, to Betty (nee Poole), wife of Fit. Lt. A. R. Avens, R .A .F .—a daughter.

Baker.—On May 16, at Woodside, Lansdowne Road, Hove, to Joan (nee Nicholson), wife of Fig. Off. Basil Baker, R .A .F .V .R .—a son. ,

Bodriam-Whetham.—On May 17, at War Memo­rial Hospital, Congleton, to Barbara, wife of F!g. Off. A. D. Boddam-Whetham—a son

Boult.—On May 13, at Salisbury, Rhodesia, to Peggy (nee Symons), wife of Wng.-Cmdr. N. De W. Boult, A.F.C., R .A .F .—ia daughter.

Broughton.—On May 15, at Worthing Maternity Home, to Muriel (nee Waldie), wife of F it Lt. A. D. Broughton, R .A .F .V .R .—a son.

Canney.—On May 16, at Brunswick Nursing Home, Cambridge, to Ann (nee Willoughby), wife of Wng. Cmdr. P. J . C. Canney, R .A .F. (missing). —a daughter

Crawford.—On May 13, at Malt Cottage. H ill Green, Leckhampstead, to Daphne [nee Paul), wife of Fit. Lt. R . S. Crawford—a daughter.

Davis.—On May 15, at Argyll House Nursing Home, Sheffield, to Doreen (nee Heaton), wife of Wng. Cmdr. J . G. Davis, R .A .F .—a daughter.

Duke.—On May 15, at Dumfries, to Marie, wife of Fit. Lt. L. E. Duke, R .A .F.—a daughter.

Ewing.—On May 8, at Orchard Bungalow, Pinhoe, Exeter, to Karla, wife of Pit. Off. F. R. Ewing, R .A .F .—a son.

Fieiden.—On May 16, at the North Herts and South Beds Hospital, Hitchin, to Angela, wife of Wng. Cmdr. E. II. Fieiden—a - son.

Foss.—On May 20, at S-tanmore, to Olive (nee Turgoose), wife of Wng. Comdr. G. II. Foss—a son.

Fraser-James.—On May 15, at La Casita Nurs­ing Home, Paignton, to Vera (nie Finch), wife of Pit. Off. James Fraser-James, R.A.F.V.R.«-a son.

Frazer.—On May 16, at Nelson Hospital, W im ­bledon, to “ B illie ” (nee Richards), wife of R . W. Frtazer, R .A .F.V .R .—a son.

Gibson.—On May 6, at Abingdon, Berks, to Mary (nee Worsdall), wife of Pit. Off. R . A. Gibson, R .A .F .V .R .—a son.

Gilbert.—On May 18, at Heaton Moor Nursing Home, to Joan (nee Miller), wife of Fig. Off. E. Stuart Gilbert (Canada)—a daughter.

Graham.—On May 6, at Washington, to Nan, wife oE Sqdn. Ldr. J . Patrick Graham, R .A .F.V .R . —a son.

Jeffery.—On May 19, at St. Joseph’s, Beacons- fi&’.d, to Sylvia (nee H olland), wife of Fit. Lt. D. G. Jeffery, R .A .F .V .R .-a son.

Keighley.—On May 19, at Ohivery, to Heather (nee Harrison-Broadley), wife of Act. Sqdn. Ldr. G. Peter Keighley, A .A .F.—a daughter.

Kent.—On May 4, at Montreal, to Vivien (nee Baker), wife of Fit. Lt. Basil S. Kent—a daughter.

Larkinson.—On May 11, at the Rena Nursing Home, Bedford, to B essie (nee Baston), wife of Robert Larkinson, R .A .F .—a son.

Lawrence—On May 10, at Bristol, to Margery (nee W inn), wife of Wng. Cmdr. W. G. Lawrence —a daughter.

Matson.—On May 18, at Tangley, Andover, Muriel (nee Eldridge), wife of Wng. Cmdr. B. Matson, R .A .F .—a daughter.

IVicEwen.—On May 17,Felicity (nee Iline), wife of McEwen. R .A .F.V .R .—a son.

Michaelson.—On May 17,Hospital, Shifnal, to Peggy,R. C. Michaelson—a daughter.

Nichols— On May 6, wife ot Fit. Lt. B. E.

PERSONAL NOTICESOpenshaw.—On May 13, at Sudbury, Suffolk, to

Mary (nee Barr), wife of Sqdn Ldr. G T. Open­shaw, R .A .F .—a son.

Phillipson.—On May 1% at Finchley, to Claire, wife of the Rev. J . M Y. Phillipson, R .A .F.V .R. —a son.

Redding.—On May 17, at Petts Wood, to Mar­garet (nee Rerggren), wife of Pit. Off. II. A. Redding, R .A .F .V .R .—a son.

Reiss.—On May 14, at Stanmore. to M. Joan (nee Ping), wife of Sqdn. Ldr. J, M. Reiss, R .A .F.V .R .—a son.

Rossington.—On May 13, at West End Nursing Home, Esher, to Sheila (nee Leckie), wife of Pit. Off. P. J. Rossington, R .A .F .V .R .—a daughter.

Smith.—On May 15, at Great Missenden, to Nancye. wife of Sqdn. Ldr. Kenneth C. Smith, R .A .F .V .R .—a daughter.

Trelawny.—On May 18, at Ilenfield, to Rosa­mund (nee Ropes), wife of Sgt. Robin Trelawny, R .A .F .—a son.

Turner.—On May 16, at Grantham, to Jennie (nee Earnshaw), wife of Fig. Off. II. Turner, R .A .F .V .R —a son.

Vyse.—On May 11, in Winnipeg, to Muriel, wife of Sqdn. Ldr. II. G. Vyse, R .A .F .V .R .—a daughter.

F O R T H C O M IN G M A R R IA G E SBrooke— Philips.—The engagement is announced

between Second Lt. C. J. G. G. Brooke, only son of Brigadier WTalter II. Brooke, M.C., M.B.E., and and the late Mrs. Walter H. Brooke, of Lyrnp- stone, Devon,,, and Pamela Valerie Philips, W .A.A.F., younger daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert N. Philips, of St. Leonards, Tring.

Carey—Richards.—The marriage arranged be­tween Harold Iloghton Carey, R .A .F., younger son of Mr. H. L. Carey and Mrs. Carey, Green- lands, Tunbridge Wells, and Edith Lucy, second daughter of the Rev. R. P. E. and Mrs. Richards. The Vicarage, Burwash Weld, Sussex, will take place at Burwiash on Tuesday, June 23.

Everidge—Gardner.—The engagement is an­nounced between Lt. Charles Everidge, R .A ., only son of WTng. Cmdr. J . Everidge, M.C., R.A.F.V.R^, and Mrs. Everidge, and Josephine Gardner, W .A.A.F., only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. Turville Gardner, of Shalford, Surrey.

Goldsmith—Goodfellow.—A marriage has been arranged and will take place on Friday, June 12, at Seaton, Devon, between Sgt. A. O. J. Goldsmith, R.A.F., son of Major F. T. Goldsmith, and Diana, third daughter of Mrs. M. Goodfellow, of Devon.

Lindsay—Suttie.—The engagement is announced between Pit. Off. W. R. M. Lindsay, R .A .F.V .R .,

W. A. Lindsay and Mrs. Glasgow, and Marjorie, J . II. C. Suttie and Mrs

at Letchworth, Fig. Off. W. J.

toN.

toF.

at Shifnal Cottage wife of Sqdn. Ldr.

at Bournemouth, to Madge, Nichols. R A F.V .R .—a son.

only son of the late Mr.Lindsay, of Bearsden, daughter of the late Mr.Suttie, of Bearsden, Glasgow.

Livingston—Johnson.—The engagement is an­nounced between Fit. Lt. George W. Livingston, R .A .F.V .R ., son of the late Mr. W illiam Living­ston and Mrs. Livingston, of Theale, Berks, and Mary, youngest daughter of the Late Mr. Emmanuel Johnson and Mrs. Johnson, of Ivy Garth, Kendal.

Luff—Ward.—The engagement between Pit. Off. Norman R .A .F.V .R ., son oi Mr. and Mrs.Malden Bradley, and Peggy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ward, The Grange, Finchampstead.

Turner—Noble.—The engagement is announced between Pit. Off. John W. Turner, R.A.F.V .R. (prisoner of war), youngest son of Mr. and Mrs Guy Turner, of Rockville, Felixstowe, and Mary

is announced Luff, D.F.M., Robert Luff, of

Noble, W .A.A.F., only daughter of the late Mr. W illiam R . Noble, of Assam, and the late Mrs. Rabv Noble.

MARRI AGESAspinall—Burch.—On May 16, in London, FU.

Sgt. Pit. Frank W. Aspinall, R.A .F., only son of Mr. T. A. Aspinall and Mrs. G. Dobson, of Stoke-on- Trent, to Cynthia May, only daughter of Mr. H Burch, J .P ., and Mrs. Burch, of Sandwich, Kent.

Burr—Harris.—On May 19, at St. Mary's, Oster- ley, Fit. Sgt. Harold WTil.liam, only son of William and Alice Burr, of Isleworth, to Helen Myrtle, elder daughter of James and Helen Harris, of Washington.

Gaire—Hedges.—On May 9, at St. Aloysius Church, Oxford, Pit. Off. F. A. B. Gaire, R.A.F.', son of Mrs. A. Gaire, of Queenstown, Co. Cork, to Joan Mary, only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. P. E. Hedges, of Oxford. The ceremony was performed by Grp. Capt. Monsignor II. Beauchamp, M.C.. R .A .F ., and F it. Lt. W. C. Maher, A.F.M., was best man.

Gates—Smyth.—On May 17, at Chichester, Lt. B. ‘M. Gates, only son of the late H. M. and Mrs. Gates, of Selsey, to Kathleen Patricia, W .A.A.F.. fourth daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J . E. Smyth, of Canford Cliffs.

Holloway—Calvert.—On May 16, Cadet C. C. Holloway, R .A .F .V .R ., younger son of Mr. C. Holloway, of Mombasa, to Ada, third daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Calvert, of Salford.

Lawrence—Silberston.—On May 17, at White­haven, Cumberland, Second Lt. Anthony J. Law­rence, third son of Mr. and Mrs Charles Lawrence, of Wimbledon, to Sylvia Silberston, W .A.A.F., fourth daughter of Mr and Mrs. Louis Si’berstoo, of London and Cumberland.

Lax—Bernthal.—On Feb. 5, in Haifa, Palestine. Fit. Lt. H. A. Lax, R .A .F ., to Dora Bernthal.

Little—Van Meurs.—On May 12, at Caxton Hall, Wng. Cmdr. James H. Little, D.F.C.,, to Sheila Van Meurs.

Murphy—Knapp.—On May 16, at St. Margaret’s, Roath, Pit, Off. R. L. Murphy, R .A .F.V .R ., elder son of Major and Mrs. R . W. Murphy, of Maiden­head, and Adelaide, South Australia, to Doreen, elder daughter of Mr. and Mrs. P. C. Knapp, of Ca-rdiff.

0 11 iff—Greenley.—On May 10, at Richmond Parish Church, Sgt. C. M. Olliff, R .A .F.V .R ., only son of Mr. and Mrs. W. Olliff, to Patricia Joan, daughter of Capt. and Mrs. Greenley.

Osborn—Gameson.—On May 9, at St. James the Great, Friern Barnet, Pit. Off. Osborn, R.A.F.V .R., to Eileen M. Gameson.

Peel—Hutchinson.—On May Grp. Capt. John Peel, D.S.O.,Hutchinson.

Roberts— Hibberd.—On May 18, at St Church, Nailswyorth, Pit. Off. EdwinRoberts, second son of the late Mr. R. F . __ ___and Mrs. S. K. de L. Roberts, of Victoria, Austra­lia, to A/S/O Patricia A. Hibberd, only daughter of Sqdn. Ldr. and Mrs. Hibberd, of Dorking.

Thurlow—Bayne.—On May 16, at A ll Saints Church, St. Ives, Cpl. Ronald W. Thurlow, R.A.F.' to Catherine Bayne, W .A.A.F., only daughter of the late Dr. T. W. Bayne and Mrs. Bayne, of Whitchurch, Glamorgan.

Wickham—Woolley.—On May 14, at St. Peter’s Church, Selsey, Sqdn. Ldr. Claud E. G. Wickham, M.B., M.R.C.S., son of Mrs. F. H. Wickham, to Patricia Mary, daughter of Mr. H. Woolley, late of Blackheath.

Willock—Yealland.—On May 2, at St. Paul’s Church, Capt. Garth D. W'illock, R.A., to Patricia Maureen Yealland. W.A.A.F.

8, at Therfield, D.F.C., to Barbara

Ceorge’3 R. B.

Roberts,

T h e A e r o p l a n e 626 m a y 29, 1942

CORRESPONDENCEGliders for Bombing

A LOT I1AS B E E N W R IT T E N abou t the use by the Russians, the Germans, and, mere recently, by ourselves

of towed gliders for the transporc of troops and their equip­m ent and supplies. Even the carrying of small tanks in gliders has been mentioned.

As far as I am aware the use of towed gliders for bombing purposes, particularly for n igh t bombing, has never been suggested or tried. The towing of even one glider each by night bombers would add considerably to the load of bombs carried by a bom ber force, w ithout, i t would appear, any decisive reduction in speed. Each towed glider would require only one pilot, who would also release the bombs on a signal from the towing bomber. Moreover, it should not prove beyond hum an ingenuity to provide a system of electrically operated remote control for the glider and its bomb load. In this connection the recent German p a ten t (No. 713,058) for “ Towing Rope Head with Conical A ttachm en t for Ropes Provided with In ternal Electrical Leads ” is perhaps a pointer to future developments.

W ith remote control the glider would, of course, require no pilot and, if painted a light colour, m ight serve the purpose of drawing searchlights and A.A. fire. There would likewise be little hesitation abou t “ dropping ” the glider.

As far as the bom bing is concerned, I appreciate th a t bombs dropped from the glider merely on instructions, or by remote control from the towing bomber, would be less accurately aimed than those dropped from a bomber, b u t with area -bombing as practised a t Rostock and Ltibeck this would no t be a very serious consideration.

To sum up : Towed bom b-carrying gliders appear to offer the simplest, cheapest and m ost rapid means of increasing the bom b-carrying capacity of our present and future bombers with —and this is im portan t—a minimum of alterations to the bombers themselves ; no t to mention the provision of slip-wings and similar what-nots.

N o t being an expert in aeronautics I s tand to be corrected on any of the sta tem ents made, and comments on this proposal would be m ost welcome. A. B e h r , B.Sc.

Seadromes

APA R T from the m any o ther whys and wherefores, one feels th a t Mr. C. G. Grey would have done well to have con­

sidered some of the nautical difficulties of the Seadrome before offering it as a hypothetical cure for such tactical difficulties as were encountered in the ill-fated B attle of Crete.

The Singapore Dock, which, like all floating docks, had a com paratively shallow d raugh t when light, took over six m onths to be towed from England to its destination— repre­senting an average speed of around two knots. I believe I am correct in saying th a t six of the most powerful deep-sea tugs in the W orld were used in th a t task. I th ink it will be adm itted th a t to allow a similar speed for the towing of a seadrome is generous. Ignoring all wartime hazards for the moment, this wrould mean a voyage of tw o m onths from Great Britain to a position south of Crete. I assume Mr. Grey would want to get his twelve seadromes there within some reasonably short time of each other. Suppose they left on successive days. The result would be a convoy 600 miles long, made up of twelve seadromes 50 miles apart, each towed by a num ber of tugs, speeding along a t two knots. For a solid m onth some or all of this convoy would be within range of dive bombers based in Sicily. Certainly the Luftwaffe was no t there a t th a t time, bu t the Regia Aeronautica would probably have relished the chance of a ttack ing such targets.

G ranting Mr. G rey’s claim for invulnerability from under­water a t tack for the seadrome, would the poor little tugs be imm une? And w hat abou t repairing the undoubted damage to the flight decks of the seadromes? II.M.S. Illustrious had in the end to go to the U.S.A. to heal her wounds.

A. E. G a v v n .

Balloon Assisted

I HAVE O FTEN seen suggestions for assisted take-off men­tioned in your journal and e ther aeronautical magazines.

Never, however, have I seen one which employed the exhaust gases from the engine.

W ould it n o t be possible to fix a semi-rigid body in the shape of a large lifting surface on top of an aeroplane? If we

connect this arrangem ent with the exhaust pipes a double lilt could be obtained from it. W ith a suitable system of valves a constan t flow of ho t air into the body could be m aintained. W hen finally the aeroplane has taken the air the arrangem ent could be slipped. If the construction of a semi-rigid wing was found not to be worth while, a well-shaped non-rigid balloon could take its place. N. M i r s k y .

[Most a t tem p ts to get the best of both world’s are fruitful in disappointm ents. A semi-rigid balloon plane would add notably to drag and would have to be capable of lifting practically the whole loaded weight of the aeroplane to be of any real advantage. To lift, by the lighter-than-air principle, a load of any th ing from three to th ir ty tons, the balloon plane would be of huge dimensions and would probably prevent the aeroplane from reaching its unaided flying speed before the auxiliary wing was slipped. In effect we should be back a t the old condition of launching aeroplanes from airships. The W ar is now too far advanced to contemplate building a large fleet of “ biimps ” for such a purpose and to undertake the train ing of pilots in diving away from the belly of an airship when the release hook is opened in mid-air.

In considering the possible uses of the exhaust gases, the s tuden t of aeronautics m ay bear in m ind two facts. The tu rbo ­supercharger is already m aking valuable use of exhaust gases in certain types of aeroplanes and the ducting of exhaust gases has aheady succeeded in obtaining a certain am ount of th ru s t from these waste products of combustion. Auxiliary lifting surfaces may well afford a means of helping to get heavily loaded aeroplanes into the air, b u t they m ust add as little as possible to the complication of the machines they assist. A billowing wing, requiring gas-tight connections with the exhaust system, would no t seem to simplify either m ain­tenance or control a t the take-off. We prefer to consider the more orthodox form of slip-wing or the provision of additional th ru s t by means of rocket or je t or by means of a ca tapu lt.— E d . ]

Old Crates

A W R IT E R called “ Spotter ” asked for information regard­ing the Vickers Vernon. 1 can give none, b u t with regard

to the oldest aeroplane in Service, I th ink he is wrong. Last September, somewhere in Sussex, a last war Bristol F ighter used to fly around. I t still had R .A .F . markings. The under surfaces were yellow. An aerodrome outside London also has—or perhaps had— one. I saw it several times on the ground.

Also a couple of m onths before the W ar I saw an F .E .2 single-seat fighter. The old Gnome-Rhone rotary pusher engine was banging away. The speed seemed to be abou t 50 m .p .h . As the aeroplane was just above the roof tops with the aid of binoculars i could see every detail. The Lewis gun was no t on the m ounting for the Pilo t Gunner. The racks for am m unition pants (two each side) were em pty. Tail was set ou t on either steel tube or bamboo frame booms. The pilot was well up in the draught. I p ity and admire last W ar pilots for their pluck and skill in flying such crates. A. D e n n i s .

[Our recent suggestion th a t the Vernon is the “ oldest inhab itan t " is certainly incorrect if a Bristol F ighter is still flying. There is also probably an Avro 504K in existence and should th a t be in flying condition it would have a prior claim.

The pusher seen by our correspondent was probably the reconstructed “ Horace ” Farm an , which is known to have been flying in this country before the W ar.— E d . ]

The fact that goods made of raw materials in short supply because of war conditions are advertised in this journal should not be taken as an indication that they

are necessarily available for export.

T h e A e r o p l a n e Advert isementi 28 MAY 29, 1942

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Telegrams: “ P r e s e im u s , S m i t h , L o n d o n ” P R E P A I D R A T E S : 4 d . p e r w o r d , m i n i m u m , 4/-. P a r a g r a p h s , 1 2 w o r d s o r le s s , 4 / - . “ S i t u a t i o n s W a n t e d ” O N L Y , 2 i d . p e r w o r d , m i n im u m 2 /6 . B o x N o . 1 / - e x t r a .

Photographic materials of all descriptions, p rom p t service, l ist free. H appy landings. Ed. E. Kimber , 1 0 5 Queen’s Road, Brigh ton. zzz

P R O D U C T IO N C A P A C I T Y A V A I L A B L E A N D --------------------------------- W A N T E D ------------------------------------Large Airctaft and Engineering Firm is willing to consider m anufac tu r in g projects for post-war development . Will persons or companies having schemes to submit , write, giving as much informa­tion as possible. All correspondence will be t rea ted in the s t r ic tes t confidence. Apply to Box 2 0 4 7 , care of T h e A e r o p l a n e . 618-2

--------------------- ROAD T R A N S P O R T ---------------------Bal lard’s Special Transport for the Aircraf t Indust ry . Twickenham, Middlesex. Popesgrove 2833-4. 6 4 8 -2 0 0 1

------------------— S I T U A T I O N S V A C A N T ---------------------R eaders are advised t h a t under the U n d e r ­tak ings (Restr ic t ion on Engagement ) Order, 1 9 4 0 , we are unab le to inser t adve rt i sements offering s i tua t ions in the A i rc ra f t I n dus t ry o the r t h a n posts for Managers (Superin­t e nde n t s and Head Foremen) , Clerks t (other t h a n costing or progress clerks a n d d r a u g h t s ­men) or salesmen.

Pilots and Observers (R .A .F . ) . Special rapid home-study courses in the essent ial b ranches of mathemat ic s . Details of this scheme a n d subse­quen t m a t t e r will be s e n t (post free) on receipt of 2*/{>d. in s tamps. B . I E . T . (Dept. M.4), 17 St ra tford Place, London, W . l . 6 1 8 - 4 0 3 2

------------------S I T U A T I O N S W A N T E D ------------------------“ B ” Licensed Pilot, 7 ,3 00 hours, all types, aix line. C.F.S., desires to r e tu rn to flying. Box 2043 , ca re of T h e A e r o p l a n e . 618-1Executive Engineer requires posit ion of respon­sibi li ty; 23 years ’ experience construct ion, repa ir and inspect ion of a i r f rames and engines. All licences. Excel lent references and long experi­ence staff control , office rou t ine and organiza­tion. Now free. Box 2 0 2 3 , care of T h e A e r o ­p l a n e . 6 1 8 x 4 0 6 7Instructor, Ground Engineer, l a te R.A.F . , 1 4years ’ a i r c ra f t experience, desires admin is t ra t ive s i tuat ion. Box 20^-8. ca re of T h e A e r o p l a n e .

6 1 8 3A, B, C and X Ground Engineer, used to execu­tive work, desires posit ion as chief inspector or manager , a i r c ra f t construc t ion, repair or over­hau l ; good references. Box 2 0 2 4 , care of T h e A e r o p l a n e . 6 1 8 -x 4 0 6 6

------------T I M E R E C O R D E R S F O R S A L E --------------Staff Time Checking and job cost ing tiii<e recorders (all makes) for quick cash sale, excep­t ional condi tion. W rite, “ Betarcol ,” Box 75 0 0 , care of T h e A e r o p l a n e . zzz-156

------------------------------ W A N T E D ------------------------------------Aircraft Wanted. We are open to buy several cab in and open cockpi t l ight a i rcraf t . They would be placed immediately on work of National Impor tance . Please send us full detai ls of your m ach ine and indicate lowest price acceptable. W. S. Shackleton, Ltd., 1 7 5 Piccadi lly, London, W . l . Regen t 24 4 8 . 6 1 8 3

--------------------- W E L D I N G R E P A I R S ---------------------Barimar is ready to push ahead with all welding repairs under Bar im ar Monev-back G uaran te e a t Bar im ar House, 22-24 Peterborough Road, F u lh a m , London, S.W.6 (A.I.D. Air Ministry Ref. No. 1 0 5 / 4 0 ) , Renown 2147-8. N igh t calls, R e n o w n ( 2148 . Grams: “ Bar iq uam ar , Walgreen, London .” B ar im ar branches in Birmingham, Manchester , Newcastle-on-Tyne and Glasgow are also operat ing at lull blast. zzz-478

SU B SC R IPTIO N R A T E S : ‘ THE A E R O PL A N E ” w ill be sent post paid direct for one year 61/-. Shorter periods pro rata. Send remittance to the Publishers.

P r i n t e d i n E n g l a n d a n d P u b l i s h e d W e e k ly b y t h e P r o p r i e t o r s , T E M P L E P R E S S L T D . , B O W L I N G G R E E N L A N E , L O N D O N , E .C . l .E n t e r e d a s s e c o n d - c la s s m a t t e r a t t h e P o s t O ffice a t N e w Y o r k , N .Y „ u n d e r t h e A c t o f M a r c h 3 , 1 8 7 9 ( S e c . 5 2 3 P . L . & R .) .

A G E N T S A B R O A D — U .S .A .— T h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l N e w s C o . , N e w Y o r k . , N .Y . C A N A D A — W . D a w s o n & S o n s ( S u b s c r i p t io n S e r v ic e ) , L t d . , T o r o n t o , e t c . ; I m p e r i a l N e w s C o ., L t d . , T o r o n t o , e t c . ; G o r d o n & G o tc h , L t d . , T o r o n t o . A F R I C A — C e n t r a l N e w s A g e n c y , L t d . , C a p e T o w n , e t c . ; W . D a w s o n & S o n s ( S .A .) , C a p e T o w n . I N D I A — A . H . W h e e le r &

C o ., A l l a h a b a d , B o m b a y , C a l c u t t a , e t c . _ A U S T R A L A S I A — G o r d o n & G o tc h (A ’s ia ) , L t d . , S ” d n e y , M e lb o u r n e , A d e la id e , B r i s b a n e , P e r t h , L a u n c e s t o n , W e l l in g to n , e tc .

R E I N F O R C E D

he British Reinforced Concrete Engineering Co. Lid,, Stafford, London, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Leicester, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, Cardiff, Glasgow, Dublin, Belfast

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