1.
Bristol Hercules
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The Bristol Hercules was a 14-cylinder two-row radial aircraft engine designed by Sir Roy Fedden and produced by the Bristol Engine Company starting in 1939. It was the first of their single sleeve valve designs to see widespread use, conversely, the same octane number fuel may be utilised while employing a higher compression ratio, or supercharger pressure, thus attaining either higher economy, or power output. The downside was the difficulty in maintaining sufficient cylinder and sleeve lubrication, Bristol had introduced their first sleeve-valve designs in the 750 horsepower class Perseus and the 500 hp class Aquila that they intended to supply throughout the 1930s. The Perseus evolved into the Hercules, and the Aquila into the Taurus, in 1937 Bristol acquired a Northrop Model 8A-1, the export version of the A-17 attack bomber, and modified it as a testbed for the first Hercules engines. The first Hercules engines were available in 1939 as the 1,290 hp Hercules I, the major version was the Hercules VI which delivered 1,650 hp, and the late-war Hercules XVII produced 1,735 hp. In 1939 Bristol developed a standardised engine installation for the Hercules, the Hercules powered a number of aircraft including Bristols own Beaufighter heavy fighter design although it was more commonly used on bombers. The Hercules also saw use in civilian designs, culminating in the 735 and 737 engines for such as the Handley Page Hastings C1 and C3, the design was also licensed for production in France by SNECMA. Except for the 2000 hp-range versions in the 1950s until there were lubricating oil improvements, a total of over 57,400 Hercules engines were built
2.
Radial engine
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The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders radiate outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a star when viewed from the front, and is called a star engine in some languages. The radial configuration was very commonly used for aircraft engines before gas turbine engines became predominant, instead, the pistons are connected to the crankshaft with a master-and-articulating-rod assembly. One piston, the uppermost one in the animation, has a rod with a direct attachment to the crankshaft. The remaining pistons pin their connecting rods attachments to rings around the edge of the master rod, extra rows of radial cylinders can be added in order to increase the capacity of the engine without adding to its diameter. Four-stroke radials have an odd number of cylinders per row, so that a consistent every-other-piston firing order can be maintained, for example, on a five-cylinder engine the firing order is 1,3,5,2,4 and back to cylinder 1. Moreover, this leaves a one-piston gap between the piston on its combustion stroke and the piston on compression. The active stroke directly helps compress the next cylinder to fire, if an even number of cylinders were used, an equally timed firing cycle would not be feasible. The radial engine normally uses fewer cam lobes than other types, as with most four-strokes, the crankshaft takes two revolutions to complete the four strokes of each piston. The camshaft ring is geared to spin slower and in the direction to the crankshaft. The cam lobes are placed in two rows for the intake and exhaust, for the example, four cam lobes serve all five cylinders, whereas 10 would be required for a typical inline engine with the same number of cylinders and valves. C. M. Manly constructed a water-cooled five-cylinder radial engine in 1901, manlys engine produced 52 hp at 950 rpm. This was installed in his triplane and made a number of short free-flight hops, another early radial engine was the three-cylinder Anzani, originally built as a W3 fan configuration, one of which powered Louis Blériots Blériot XI across the English Channel. Georges Canton and Pierre Unné patented the engine design in 1909, offering it to the Salmson company. It was similar in concept to the radial, the main difference being that the propeller was bolted to the engine. The problem of the cooling of the cylinders, a factor with the early stationary radials, was alleviated by the engine generating its own cooling airflow. Most German aircraft of the time used water-cooled inline 6-cylinder engines, in the early 1920s Le Rhône converted a number of their rotary engines into stationary radial engines. By 1918 the potential advantages of air-cooled radials over the inline engine
3.
Heavy bomber
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Heavy bombers are bomber aircraft with the greatest bomb load carrying capacity and longest range of their time. They have also typically been among the largest size aircraft in military or civil service. Delivery of the largest possible amount of air-to-ground weaponry over long distances to strike enemy targets is the heavy bombers mission, availability of such large, long range aircraft in mass-produced quantity also allowed methodologies of strategic bombing to be developed and employed during the 1940s. In August 1945, the U. S. B-29 heavy bombers delivered two atomic bombs against enemy targets, the arrival of nuclear weapons permanently changed the nature of warfare and military strategy. After the 1950s intercontinental ballistic missiles and ballistic missile submarines began to supersede heavy bombers in the nuclear role. Russian and U. S. heavy bombers have been used in regional conflicts since World War II delivering conventional weapons only. Heavy bombers are today only retained in service by the U. S, Russia and China for strategic bombing and tactical bombing roles. The first heavy bomber was designed as an airliner, igor Sikorsky, an engineer educated in St Petersburg, but born in Kiev of Polish-Russian ancestry designed the Sikorsky Ilya Muromets to fly between his birthplace and his new home. It did so briefly until August 1914, when the Russo-Balt wagon factory converted to a bomber version, by December 1914 a squadron of 10 was bombing German positions on the Eastern Front and by summer 1916 there were twenty. It was well-armed with nine guns, including a tail gun. It had a wingspan just a few feet shorter but a load of just 3% of a WW II Avro Lancaster. The Handley Page Type O/100 owed a lot to Sikorskys ideas, of similar size, it used just two Rolls-Royce Eagle engines and could carry up to 2,000 lb of bombs. But after one was lost, it switched to night attacks, one was used to support T. E. Lawrences Sinai and Palestine Campaign. The Imperial German Air Service operated the Gotha bomber, which developed a series of marques, the Gotha G. IV operated from occupied Belgium from the Spring of 1917. It mounted several raids on London beginning in May 1917, some reached no further than Folkestone or Sheerness on the Kent Coast. But on June 13, Gothas killed 162 civilians, including 18 children in a primary school, initially defence against air attack was poor, but by May 19,1918, when 38 Gothas attacked London, six were shot down and another crashed on landing. German aircraft companies also built a number of giant bombers, collectively known as the Riesenflugzeug, most were produced in very small numbers from 1917 onwards and several never entered service. The most numerous were the Zeppelin-Staaken R. VI of which 13 saw service, bombing Russia and London, four were shot down and they were larger than the standard Luftwaffe bombers of World War II
4.
Handley Page
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Handley Page Limited was founded by Frederick Handley Page in 1909 as the United Kingdoms first publicly traded aircraft manufacturing company. It went into liquidation and ceased to exist in 1970. The company, based at Radlett Aerodrome in Hertfordshire, was noted for its role in aviation history and for producing heavy bombers. Frederick Handley Page first experimented with and built several biplanes and monoplanes at premises in Woolwich, Fambridge and his company, founded on 17 June 1909, became the first British public company to build aircraft. In 1912, Handley Page established a factory at Cricklewood after moving from Barking. Aircraft were built there, and flown from the adjacent airfield known as Cricklewood Aerodrome. The factory was sold off to Oswald Stoll and converted into Britains largest film studios. Handley Page had been asked by the Admiralty to produce a bloody paralyser of an aeroplane and these aircraft included the O/100 of 1915, the O/400 of 1918 and the four-engined V/1500 with the range to reach Berlin. The V/1500 had only just entered service as the war ended in 1918. The crew departed for New York from Newfoundland but were forced to land on 5 July 1919 in Parrsboro, the Atlantic continued to New York on 9 October 1919, carrying with it the first airmail from Canada to the United States of America. In the immediate postwar years, Handley Page modified a number of O/400s to passenger use, in 1924 Handley Page Transport merged with two other regional airlines to create Imperial Airways, the UKs first national airline service. Handley Page developed several large biplane airliners, including the luxurious Handley Page H. P.42, for use on Imperial routes to Africa, the leading edge slat was simultaneously designed by the German aerodynamicist Gustav Lachmann, who was later employed by Handley Page. The design was so successful that licensing fees to companies was their main source of income in the early 1920s. In 1929, the Cricklewood Aerodrome was closed and a new one built at Radlett, however the construction of aircraft at Cricklewood continued until 1964 when the premises were sold to become the Cricklewood trading estate. With the Second World War looming, Handley Page turned back to design and produced the HP.52 Hampden. However the Vulture proved so troublesome that – years before the engine was abandoned by Rolls-Royce in 1940 – the Air Staff decided that the HP.56 should be fitted with four engines instead. Therefore, before reaching prototype stage, the HP.56 design was reworked into the four-engined HP.57 Halifax, the Halifax became the second most prolific British heavy bomber of the war after the Avro Lancaster.70 Halton. After the war, the British Government sought tenders for jet bombers to carry the nuclear deterrent
5.
Pakistani Air Force
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The PAF also has a tertiary role of providing strategic air transport and logistics capability to Pakistan. The PAF employs approximately 65,000 full-time personnel and currently operates 961 aircraft and its primary mandate and mission is to provide, in synergy with other inter-services, the most efficient, assured and cost effective aerial Defence of Pakistan. Since its establishment in 1947, the PAF has been involved in combat operations, providing aerial support to Inter–Servicess operations. Under the Article 243, the Constitution of Pakistan appoints the President of Pakistan as the civilian Commander-in-Chief, the Chief of Air Staff, by statute a four-star air chief marshal, is appointed by the President with the consultation and confirmation needed from the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The Pakistan Air Force is currently commanded by Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, two PAF F-86F Sabres of No.15 Squadron on Air Defence Alert were scrambled from Sargodha Air Base to intercept the IAF aircraft. Butt attempted to bring down the Canberra by firing his Sabres machine guns, when Yunis took over from his leader, the Canberra suddenly lost height while executing a turn over Rawalpindi. Yunis fired a burst that struck the Canberra at an altitude of 47,500 feet and brought it down over Rawat, marking the first aerial victory of the PAF. Both crew members of the IAF Canberra, ejected and were captured by Pakistani authorities and were released after remaining in detention for some time. The PAF fleet at the time consisted of 12 F-104 Starfighters, some 120 F-86 Sabres, the PAF claims to have had complete air superiority over the battle area from the second day of operations. S. Equipment, claiming it to be superior to the operated by the IAF. However some Pakistanis refute this argument, as per them, the IAFs MiG-21, Hawker Hunter and Folland Gnat aircraft had better performance than the PAFs F-86 fighters. According to Air Cdre Sajad Haider, the F-86 Sabre was inferior in power and speed to the IAFs Hawker Hunter. It was a high-level interceptor designed to neutralize Soviet strategic bombers in altitudes above 40,000 feet, nevertheless, the IAF is believed to have feared the Starfighter although, it was not as effective as the IAFs Folland Gnat. According to Indian sources, the F-86F performed reasonably well against the IAF Hawker Hunters but not as well against the Folland Gnat, according to Indian sources most aircraft losses of IAF were on ground while PAF lost most in aerial combat. The PAF had achieved far more in terms of aircraft destroyed on the ground but without doubt. The two countries have made claims of combat losses during the war and few neutral sources have verified the claims of either country. The PAF claimed it shot down 104 IAF planes and lost 19 of its own, while the IAF claimed it shot down 73 PAF planes, according to the independent sources, the PAF lost some 20 aircraft while the Indians lost 60–75. Despite the intense fighting, the conflict was effectively a stalemate, during this conflict the PAF sent personnel to Egypt, Jordan and Syria to support the Arabs in their battle against the Israelis
6.
Royal Air Force
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The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdoms aerial warfare force. Formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, following victory over the Central Powers in 1918 the RAF emerged as, at the time, the largest air force in the world. The RAF describe its mission statement as, an agile, adaptable and capable Air Force that, person for person, is second to none, and that makes a decisive air power contribution in support of the UK Defence Mission. The mission statement is supported by the RAFs definition of air power, Air power is defined as the ability to project power from the air and space to influence the behaviour of people or the course of events. Today the Royal Air Force maintains a fleet of various types of aircraft. The majority of the RAFs rotary-wing aircraft form part of the tri-service Joint Helicopter Command in support of ground forces, most of the RAFs aircraft and personnel are based in the UK, with many others serving on operations or at long-established overseas bases. It was founded on 1 April 1918, with headquarters located in the former Hotel Cecil, during the First World War, by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps, at that time it was the largest air force in the world. The RAFs naval aviation branch, the Fleet Air Arm, was founded in 1924, the RAF developed the doctrine of strategic bombing which led to the construction of long-range bombers and became its main bombing strategy in the Second World War. The RAF underwent rapid expansion prior to and during the Second World War, under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of December 1939, the air forces of British Commonwealth countries trained and formed Article XV squadrons for service with RAF formations. Many individual personnel from countries, and exiles from occupied Europe. By the end of the war the Royal Canadian Air Force had contributed more than 30 squadrons to serve in RAF formations, additionally, the Royal Australian Air Force represented around nine percent of all RAF personnel who served in the European and Mediterranean theatres. In the Battle of Britain in 1940, the RAF defended the skies over Britain against the numerically superior German Luftwaffe, the largest RAF effort during the war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany by Bomber Command. Following victory in the Second World War, the RAF underwent significant re-organisation, during the early stages of the Cold War, one of the first major operations undertaken by the Royal Air Force was in 1948 and the Berlin Airlift, codenamed Operation Plainfire. Before Britain developed its own nuclear weapons the RAF was provided with American nuclear weapons under Project E and these were initially armed with nuclear gravity bombs, later being equipped with the Blue Steel missile. Following the development of the Royal Navys Polaris submarines, the nuclear deterrent passed to the navys submarines on 30 June 1969. With the introduction of Polaris, the RAFs strategic nuclear role was reduced to a tactical one and this tactical role was continued by the V bombers into the 1980s and until 1998 by Tornado GR1s. For much of the Cold War the primary role of the RAF was the defence of Western Europe against potential attack by the Soviet Union, with many squadrons based in West Germany. With the decline of the British Empire, global operations were scaled back, despite this, the RAF fought in many battles in the Cold War period
7.
Royal Canadian Air Force
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The Royal Canadian Air Force is the air force of Canada. Its role is to provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower, the RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Canadian Armed Forces. Lieutenant-General Michael J. Hood, CMM CD, is the current Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, the RCAF is a partner with the United States Air Force in protecting continental airspace under the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The RCAF also provides all primary air resources to and is responsible for the National Search, the RCAF traces its history to the Canadian Air Force which was formed in 1920. The Canadian Air Force was incorporated in 1923 and granted royal sanction in 1924 by King George V, in 1968 the RCAF was amalgamated with the Royal Canadian Navy, and the Canadian Army, as part of the unification of the Canadian Forces. Air units were split between several different commands, Air Defence Command, Air Transport Command, Mobile Command, Maritime Command, in 1975 some commands were dissolved, and all air units were placed under a new environmental command called simply Air Command. Air Command reverted to its name of the Royal Canadian Air Force in August 2011. The Royal Canadian Air Force has served in the Second World War, the Korean War, as a NATO member, the force maintained a presence in Europe during the second half of the 20th century. The Canadian Air Force was established in 1920 as the successor to a short-lived two-squadron Canadian Air Force formed during the First World War in Europe. John Scott Williams, MC, AFC, was tasked in 1921 with organizing the CAF, the new Canadian Air Force was a branch of the Air Board and was chiefly a training militia that provided refresher training to veteran pilots. Many CAF members also worked with the Air Boards Civil Operations Branch on operations that included forestry, in 1923, the CAF became responsible for all flying operations in Canada, including civil aviation. In 1924, the Canadian Air Force, was granted the royal title, most of its work was civil in nature, however, in the late 1920s the RCAF evolved into more of a military organization. After budget cuts in the early 1930s, the air began to rebuild. By the end of the war, the RCAF had become the fourth largest allied air force, after the war, the RCAF reduced its strength. In 1950, the RCAF became involved with the transport of troops and supplies to the Korean War, however, members of the RCAF served in USAF units as exchange officers and several flew in combat. Both auxiliary and regular air defence squadrons were run by Air Defence Command, at the same time, the Pinetree Line, the Mid-Canada Line and the DEW Line radar stations, largely operated by the RCAF, were built across Canada because of the growing Soviet nuclear threat. In 1957, Canada and the United States created the joint North American Air Defense Command, coastal defence and peacekeeping also became priorities during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1968 the Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Air Force and this initiative was overseen by then Liberal Defence Minister, Paul Hellyer
8.
Royal Australian Air Force
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The Royal Australian Air Force, formed March 1921, is the aerial warfare branch of the Australian Defence Force. It directly continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps, formed on 22 October 1912, the RAAF provides support across a spectrum of operations such as air superiority, precision strikes, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, air mobility, and humanitarian support. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th centurys major conflicts, thousands of Australians also served with other Commonwealth air forces in Europe. By the time the war ended, a total of 216,900 men and women served in the RAAF, later the RAAF served in the Berlin Airlift, Korean War, Malayan Emergency, Indonesia–Malaysia Confrontation and Vietnam War. More recently, the RAAF has participated in operations in East Timor, the Iraq War, the War in Afghanistan, and the intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq. The RAAF has 259 aircraft, of which 110 are combat aircraft, the RAAF traces its history back to the Imperial Conference held in London in 1911, where it was decided aviation should be developed within the armed forces of the British Empire. By 1914 the corps was known as the Australian Flying Corps, soon after the outbreak of war in 1914, the Australian Flying Corps sent aircraft to assist in capturing German colonies in what is now north-east New Guinea. However, these colonies surrendered quickly, before the planes were even unpacked, the first operational flights did not occur until 27 May 1915, when the Mesopotamian Half Flight was called upon to assist the Indian Army in protecting British oil interests in what is now Iraq. The corps later saw action in Egypt, Palestine and on the Western Front throughout the remainder of the First World War, by the end of the war, four squadrons—Nos. 1,2,3 and 4—had seen operational service, while another four training squadrons—Nos,5,6,7 and 8—had also been established. A total of 460 officers and 2,234 other ranks served in the AFC, casualties included 175 dead,111 wounded,6 gassed and 40 captured. The Australian Flying Corps remained part of the Australian Army until 1919, although the Central Flying School continued to operate at Point Cook, military flying virtually ceased until 1920, when the Australian Air Corps was formed. The Australian Air Force was formed on 31 March 1921, king George V approved the prefix Royal in June 1921 and became effective on 31 August 1921. The RAAF then became the second Royal air arm to be formed in the British Commonwealth, when formed the RAAF had more aircraft than personnel, with 21 officers and 128 other ranks and 153 aircraft. A total of 17 RAAF bomber, fighter, reconnaissance and other squadrons served initially in Britain and with the Desert Air Force located in North Africa, thousands of Australians also served with other Commonwealth air forces in Europe during the Second World War. About nine percent of the personnel who served under British RAF commands in Europe and this statistic is further illustrated by the fact that No.460 Squadron RAAF, mostly flying Avro Lancasters, had an official establishment of about 200 aircrew and yet had 1,018 combat deaths. The squadron was therefore effectively wiped out five times over, total RAAF casualties in Europe were 5,488 killed or missing. The beginning of the Pacific War—and the rapid advance of Japanese forces—threatened the Australian mainland for the first time in its history, the RAAF was quite unprepared for the emergency, and initially had negligible forces available for service in the Pacific
9.
Free French Air Forces
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The Free French Air Forces were the air arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War from 1940. They were commanded by Martial Henri Valin from 1941 to 1944, on 17 June 1940, five days before the signing of the Franco-German Armistice, the first exodus took flight from Bordeaux-Mérignac to England. Others rallied to General Charles de Gaulle from France and French North Africa during the period June 1940 to November 1942, a contingent of volunteers from South American countries such as Uruguay, Argentina and Chile was also created, as Free French officials recruited there personally. From a strength of 500 on July 1940, the ranks of the FAFL grew to 900 by 1941, a total of 276 of these flyers were stationed in England, and 604 were stationed in overseas theaters of operation. In the summer of 1940 General de Gaulle named then-Colonel Martial Henri Valin as commander-in-chief of the FAFL, Valin was at the French military mission in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the time of his appointment and he had to complete his assignment there by February 1941. It took him 45 days to get to London to see de Gaulle and it was not until 9 July that Valin formally assumed office taking over from the caretaker commander, Admiral Emile Muselier. All FAFL aircraft were to be identified differently from those of the Vichy French air force, which continued to use the pre-war tricolor roundel. The cross could be seen in the places on FAFL aircraft where the roundels used to be on all French military aircraft. The FAFL was formed with one unit at RAF Odiham on August 29,1940. Operation Menace was the Allied plan to take persuade Dakar to join the Allied cause, the resulting Battle of Dakar was a failure. The port remained in Vichy control, FAFL envoys were arrested and imprisoned at Dakar by the Vichy authorities, however, French forces in Cameroon and Chad, in French Equatorial Africa, rallied to the Gaullist cause. There were three detachments of French air force units — based at Fort-Lamy, Douala and Pointe-Noire – operating a mixed bag of Potez and Bloch aircraft, and they thus became part of the FAFL. However, Gabon remained loyal to Vichy, so, in mid- to late October 1940, FAFL squadrons set out on photo-reconnaissance and leaflet-dropping missions. The first combats between Vichy and the FAFL took place on 6 November 1940, when two Vichy air force took on two FAFL Lysanders near Libreville. Both aircraft sustained damage but made it back to base, two days later, the first FAFL airmen were shot down and taken prisoner. Two days after that, Libreville was taken by Free French army troops, the French attitude towards the fighting was that of a “civil war” that was being won for Free France, since now Libreville had joined the Gaullist cause. As it happened, this would be the time when opposing factions within FEA territory would fight each other openly. Philippe de Hauteclocque, better known by his French resistance name of Leclerc, but in outlining what he wanted the FAFL to do, he often revealed a complete lack of understanding of what it was actually capable of
10.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
11.
Avro Lancaster
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The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber designed and built by Avro for the Royal Air Force. The Lanc, as it was known, thus became one of the more famous and most successful of the Second World War night bombers. The Lancaster, an evolution of the troublesome Avro Manchester, was designed by Roy Chadwick and was powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlins, or, in one version and this was the largest payload of any bomber in the war. In 1943, a Lancaster was converted to become an engine test bed for the Metropolitan-Vickers F.2 turbojet, Lancasters were later used to test other engines, including the Armstrong Siddeley Mamba and Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops, and the Avro Canada Orenda and STAL Dovern turbojets. Postwar, the Lancaster was supplanted as the RAFs main strategic bomber by the Avro Lincoln, the Lancaster took on the role of long range anti-submarine patrol aircraft and air-sea rescue. In March 1946, a Lancastrian of BSAA flew the first scheduled flight from the new London Heathrow Airport, the resulting aircraft was the Manchester, which, although a capable aircraft, was underpowered and troubled by the unreliability of the Vulture engine. Only 200 Manchesters were built, with the type withdrawn from service in 1942, at first the aircraft was called Avro Type 683 Manchester III and later renamed the Lancaster. The prototype aircraft BT308 was assembled by the Avro experimental flight department at Ringway Airport, test pilot H. A. Bill Thorn took the controls for its first flight at Ringway, on Thursday,9 January 1941. The aircraft proved to be an improvement on its predecessor. Some of the orders for Manchesters were changed in favour of Lancasters. The Lancaster discarded the stubby central third tail fin of the early Manchesters and used the wider span tailplane, the majority of Lancasters built during the war years were manufactured by Avro at their factory at Chadderton near Oldham, Greater Manchester and test flown from Woodford Aerodrome in Cheshire. Other Lancasters were built by Metropolitan-Vickers and Armstrong Whitworth, the Lancaster B III had Packard Merlin engines but was otherwise identical to contemporary B Is, with 3,030 B IIIs built, almost all at Avros Newton Heath factory. The B I and B III were built concurrently and minor modifications were made to both marks as new batches were ordered, of later variants, only the Canadian-built Lancaster B X, manufactured by Victory Aircraft in Malton, Ontario, was produced in significant numbers. The first Lancaster produced in Canada was named the Ruhr Express, the first batch of Canadian Lancasters delivered to England suffered from faulty ailerons. This was traced to the use of unskilled labourers, the Lancaster is a mid-wing cantilever monoplane with an oval all-metal fuselage. The wing was constructed in five sections, the fuselage in five sections. All wing and fuselage sections were built separately and fitted all the required equipment before final assembly. The tail unit had twin fins and rudders
12.
Short Stirling
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The Short Stirling was a British four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It has the distinction of being the first four-engined bomber to be introduced into service with the Royal Air Force, the Stirling was designed during the late 1930s by Short Brothers to conform with the requirements laid out in Air Ministry Specification B. 12/36. When the preferred Type 317 had to be abandoned, the S.29, during early 1941, the Stirling entered active squadron service. The Sterling had a brief operational career as a bomber before being relegated to second line duties from late 1943. A handful of ex-military Stirlings were rebuilt and saw continued use on the civil market, in the 1930s, the Royal Air Force was interested primarily in twin-engine bombers. These designs put limited demands on engine production and maintenance, both of which were stretched with the introduction of so many new types into service. Power limitations were so serious that the British invested heavily in the development of engines in the 2,000 horsepower class in order to improve performance. During the late 1930s, none of these were ready for production, accordingly, in 1936, the RAF also decided to investigate the feasibility of the four-engined bomber. Amongst the several requirements specified, the load was to be a maximum of 14,000 lb carried to a range of 2,000 miles or a lesser payload of 8,000 lb to 3,000 miles. It was to have a crew of six and was to have a normal weight of 48, 000lb, while a maximum overload weight of 65. The aircraft would have to be capable of cruising at speeds of 230 mph or greater while flying at 15,000 ft, while possessing three individual gun turrets for self-defence. Additionally, the aircraft should also be able to be used as a troop transport for 24 soldiers. The concept was that the aircraft would fly troops to far corners of the British Empire, to help with this task as well as ease production, it needed to be able to be broken down into parts, for transport by train. Various companies responded to B. 12/36, including Supermarine and Armstrong Whitworth, Shorts were producing several four-engined flying boat designs of the required size and created their S.29 proposal by removing the lower deck and boat hull of the S.25 Sunderland. As originally designed, the S.29 was considered to be capable of favourable high-altitude performance, in October 1936, the S.29 was low down on the short list of designs considered and the Supermarine Type 317 was ordered in prototype form in January 1937. However it was decided that a design to Supermarine was needed for insurance. Shorts accepted this large amount of redesign work, the project had added importance due to the death of Supermarines designer, Reginald Mitchell, which had generated doubt within the Air Ministry. The S.29 used the Sunderlands 114 ft wing and it had to be reduced to less than 100 ft, in order to get the needed lift from a shorter span and excess weight, the redesigned wing was thickened and reshaped
13.
Air Ministry
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The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the authority of the Secretary of State for Air. The new Air Committee was composed of representatives of the two war ministries, and although it could make recommendations, it lacked executive authority. The recommendations of the Air Committee had to be ratified by the Admiralty Board and the Imperial General Staff and, in consequence, the Committee was not particularly effective. The increasing separation of army and naval aviation from 1912 to 1914 only exacerbated the Air Committees ineffectiveness and it was the supply problems to which an attempt at rectification was first made. This committee was titled the Joint War Air Committee, and its chairman was Lord Derby and it was also at the meeting on 15 February that Curzon proposed the creation of an Air Ministry. As with the pre-war Air Committee, the Joint War Air Committee lacked any executive powers, after only eight sittings, Lord Derby resigned from the Committee, stating that It appears to me quite impossible to bring the two wings closer together. Unless and until the system of the Air Service is changed. The next attempt to establish effective co-ordination between the two air services was the creation of an Air Board, the first Air Board came into being on 15 May 1916 with Lord Curzon as its chairman. The inclusion of Curzon, a Cabinet Minister, and other political figures was intended to give the Air Board greater status than the Joint War Air Committee, in October 1916 the Air Board published its first report which was highly critical of the arrangements within the British air services. In January 1917 the Prime Minister David Lloyd George replaced the chairman Lord Curzon with Lord Cowdray. Godfrey Paine, who served in the newly created post of Fifth Sea Lord and Director of Naval Aviation, sat on the board, despite attempts at reorganization of the Air Board, the earlier problems failed to be completely resolved. In addition, the number of German air raids against Great Britain led to public disquiet. Towards the end of the First World War, on 17 August 1917, Lord Rothermere was appointed the first Air Minister. Later, in 1919, it moved to Adastral House on Kingsway, the creation of the Air Ministry resulted in the disestablishment of the Army Councils post of Director-General of Military Aeronautics. In April 1921 David Lloyd George appointed Frederick Guest as Secretary of State for Air, more importantly in the long term he was also responsible for the appointment of Sir Sefton Brancker to develop civil aviation. With the fall of Lloyd George in October 1922 Sir Samuel Hoare became the Secretary of State for Air. He was the first Secretary to have a seat in the Cabinet, and remained in the post until January 1924, a supporter of airships, Thomson was responsible for the Imperial Airship Scheme, which involved the construction of R101 at the Royal Airship Works at Cardington
14.
Medium bomber
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The term was used prior to and during World War II, based on available parameters of engine and aeronautical technology for bomber aircraft designs at that time. After the war, medium bombers were replaced in world air forces by more advanced, in the early 1930s many air forces were looking to modernize their existing bomber aircraft fleets, which frequently consisted of older biplanes. The World War II-era medium bomber was considered to be any level bomber design that delivered about 4,000 pounds of ordnance over ranges of about 1,500 to 2,000 mi. Typical heavy bombers were those with a load of 8,000 pounds or more. These distinctions were beginning to disappear by the middle of World War II, advances in powerplants and designs eventually allowed light bombers, tactical bombers, and later jet fighter-bombers to take over the roles performed by mediums. Although a number of aircraft were designed in this performance and load-carrying range. Examples of post-war mediums include the English Electric Canberra and the Soviet Ilyushin Il-28 Beagle, subsequent to World War II, only the U. S. A-6 Intruder General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark — U. S. supersonic swing wing strike aircraft Dive bomber High level bombing Maritime patrol aircraft Strategic bomber Tactical bombing Torpedo bomber
15.
Rolls-Royce Vulture
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The Rolls-Royce Vulture was a British aero engine developed shortly before World War II that was designed and built by Rolls-Royce Limited. The Vulture used the unusual X-24 configuration, whereby four cylinder blocks derived from the Rolls-Royce Peregrine were joined by a crankshaft supported by a single crankcase. Although several new designs had been planned to use the Vulture. Another 24-cylinder engine, the Napier Sabre, would prove more successful after a development period. The supercharged Rolls-Royce Kestrel, and its derivative, the Peregrine was a standard design. The Vulture, in effect, was two Peregrines joined by a new crankcase turning a new crankshaft, producing an X engine configuration with a displacement of 42 litres, likewise, the same cancellation caused the abandonment of the Vulture-engined version of the Vickers Warwick bomber. The only aircraft designed for the Vulture to actually go into production was the twin-engined Avro Manchester. The resulting aircraft was called the Manchester Mark III and then renamed Avro Lancaster. Avro Manchester Blackburn B-20 Hawker Henley Hawker Tornado Vickers Warwick There are only two left they are in the Collection of a Dutch airwar museum
16.
Rolls-Royce Merlin
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The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled V-12 piston aero engine of 27-litres capacity. Rolls-Royce designed the engine and first ran it in 1933 as a private venture, initially known as the PV-12, it was later called Merlin following the company convention of naming its piston aero engines after birds of prey. After several modifications, the first production variants of the PV-12 were completed in 1936, the first operational aircraft to enter service using the Merlin were the Fairey Battle, Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire. A series of rapidly applied developments, brought about by wartime needs, markedly improved the engines performance, post-war, the Merlin was largely superseded by the Rolls-Royce Griffon for military use, with most Merlin variants being designed and built for airliners and military transport aircraft. Production ceased in 1950 after 160,000 engines had been delivered, Merlin engines remain in Royal Air Force service today with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, and power many restored aircraft in private ownership worldwide. The PV-12 was first run on 15 October 1933 and first flew in a Hawker Hart biplane on 21 February 1935, the engine was originally designed to use the evaporative cooling system then in vogue. This proved unreliable and when supplies of ethylene glycol from the U. S. became available, the Hart was subsequently delivered to Rolls-Royce where, as a Merlin testbed, it completed over 100 hours of flying with the Merlin C and E engines. In 1935, the Air Ministry issued a specification, F10/35, fortunately, two designs had been developed, the Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane, the latter designed in response to another specification, F36/34. Both were designed around the PV-12 instead of the Kestrel, and were the only contemporary British fighters to have been so developed, production contracts for both aircraft were placed in 1936, and development of the PV-12 was given top priority as well as government funding. Following the company convention of naming its piston engines after birds of prey, Rolls-Royce named the engine the Merlin after a small. Two more Rolls-Royce engines developed just prior to the war were added to the companys range and this was to be used in larger aircraft such as the Avro Manchester. Although the Peregrine appeared to be a design, it was never allowed to mature since Rolls-Royces priority was refining the Merlin. As a result, the Peregrine saw use in two aircraft, the Westland Whirlwind fighter and one of the Gloster F. 9/37 prototypes. The Vulture was fitted to the Avro Manchester bomber, but proved unreliable in service and the planned fighter using it – the Hawker Tornado – was cancelled as a result. With the Merlin itself soon pushing into the 1,500 hp range, the Griffon incorporated several design improvements and ultimately superseded the Merlin. Early production Merlins were also unreliable, Common problems were cylinder head cracking, coolant leaks, the prototype, developmental, and early production engine types were the, PV-12 The initial design using an evaporative cooling system. Two built, passed bench type testing in July 1934, generating 740 horsepower at 12, Merlin B Two built, ethylene glycol liquid cooling system introduced. Passed Type Testing February 1935, generating 950 horsepower at 11, Merlin C Development of Merlin B, crankcase and cylinder blocks became three separate castings with bolt-on cylinder heads
17.
Avro Manchester
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The Avro 679 Manchester was a British twin-engine heavy bomber developed during the Second World War by the Avro aircraft company in the United Kingdom. Serving in the Royal Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force, the aircraft was the forerunner of the successful four-engined Avro Lancaster, which would become one of the most capable strategic bombers of the war. The Manchester was originally designed to the Air Ministry Specification P. 13/36, provision for catapult assisted takeoff to permit the maximum load was also part of the specification, although the need for this provision was explicitly removed in July 1938. Cruising speed was to be a minimum of 275 mph at 15,000 feet, the Air Ministry had expectations for an aircraft of similar weight to the B. 1/35 specification, but being both smaller and faster. Avro had already started work on a design before the invitation to tender and they were in competition with Boulton Paul, Bristol, Fairey, Handley Page and Shorts. Vickers had the Warwick with Napier Sabre engines but did not tender it. In early 1937, the Avro design and the rival Handley Page HP.56 were accepted and this skipping of the usual process was necessary due to the initiation of a wider expansion of the RAF in expectation of war. From 1939, it was expected that the P. 13/36 would replace existing medium bombers, such as the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, Handley Page Hampden and Vickers Wellington. When developed in 1935, the Vulture engine had promise — it was rated at 1,760 hp but it proved unreliable and had to be derated to 1. The Handley Page HP.56, always intended as the backup to the Avro, was redesigned to take four engines on the orders of the Air Ministry in 1937, when the Vulture was already showing problems. While the Manchester was designed with a tail, the first production aircraft, designated the Mk I, had a central fin added. They were succeeded by the Mk IA which reverted to the system but used enlarged, taller fin and rudders mounted on a new tailplane. This configuration was carried over to the Lancaster, except for the first prototype, Avro constructed 177 Manchesters while Metropolitan-Vickers completed 32 aircraft. Plans for Armstrong Whitworth and Fairey Aviation at Stockport/Ringway to build the Manchester were abandoned, faireys order for 150 Manchesters was replaced by multiple orders for the Handley Page Halifax. The Avro Manchester was designed with consideration for ease of manufacture. The fuselage of the aircraft comprised longitudinal stringers or longerons throughout, the wings were of a two-spar construction, the internal ribs being made of aluminium alloys, fuel was contained with several self-sealing fuel tanks within the wings. The tail shared a similar construction to the wing, featuring a twin fin-and-rudder configuration that provided good vision for the dorsal gunner, the cockpit housed the pilot and fighting controllers position underneath the canopy, and these two crew members were provided with all-round vision. The navigator was seated aft of the controller and the position included an astrodome for use of a sextant
18.
Strategic bomber
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In addition to strategic bombing, strategic bombers can be used for tactical missions. There are three countries including United States, Russia, and China are operating strategic bombers, the modern strategic bomber role appeared after strategic bombing was widely employed, and atomic bombs were first used in combat during World War II. An example is Frances Mirage IV, a strategic bomber replaced in service by the ASMP-equipped Mirage 2000N fighter-bomber. Study of strategic bombing continued in the interwar years and it was widely believed by the late 1930s that strategic terror bombing of cities in any war would quickly result in devastating losses and might decide a conflict in a matter of days or weeks. But theory far exceeded what most air forces could actually put into the air, Germany focused on short-range tactical bombers. Britains Royal Air Force began developing four-engine long-range bombers only in the late 1930s, the U. S. Army Air Corps was severely limited by small budgets in the late 1930s, and only barely saved the B-17 bomber that would soon be vital. The equally important B-24 first flew in 1939, both aircraft would constitute the bulk of the American bomber force that made the Allied daylight bombing of Nazi Germany possible in 1943–45. Both Britain and the U. S. were developing larger two- and four-engined designs, after American entry into the war, late, in 1941, the U. S. 8th Air Force began to develop a daylight bombing capacity using improved B-17 and B-24 four-engine aircraft. The RAF concentrated its efforts on night bombing, but neither force was able to develop adequate bombsights or tactics to allow for often-bragged pinpoint accuracy. The post-war U. S. Strategic Bombing Survey studies supported the notion of strategic bombing. Attempts to create pioneering examples of smart bombs resulted in the Azon ordnance, deployed in the European Theater, most strategic bombers of the two superpowers were designed to deliver nuclear weapons. For a time, some squadrons of Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers were kept in the air around the clock, the Royal Air Forces British-produced V bombers were designed and designated to be able to deliver British-made nuclear bombs to targets in European Russia. These bombers could have been able to reach and destroy cities like Kiev or Moscow before American strategic bombers, the Soviet Union produced hundreds of unlicensed, reverse-engineered copies of the American Boeing B-29 Superfortress, which the Soviet Air Forces called the Tupolev Tu-4. The Soviets later developed the jet-powered Tupolev Tu-16 Badger, the Peoples Republic of China produced a version of Tupolev Tu-16 on license from the Soviet Union in the 1960s which they named the Xian H-6, it remains in service today. Mirage IVs served until mid-1996 in the role, and to 2005 as a reconnaissance aircraft. Today the French Republic has limited its strategic armaments to a squadron of four nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, france also maintains an active force of supersonic fighter-bombers carrying stand-off nuclear missiles such as the ASMP, with Mach 3 speed and a range of 500 kilometers. These missiles can be delivered by the Dassault Mirage 2000N and Rafale fighter-bombers and it is likely that this bomber would also serve as a replacement for both the B-52 and B-1. The Russian Air Forces new Tu-160 strategic bombers are expected to be delivered on a regular basis over the course of 10 to 20 years, in addition, the current Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers will be periodically updated, as was done during the 1990s with the Tu-22M bombers
19.
Maiden flight
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The maiden flight of an aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground under its own power. This is similar to a maiden voyage. The first flight of a new type is always a historic occasion for the type. In the early days of aviation it could be dangerous, because the exact handling characteristics of the aircraft were generally unknown, the first flight of a new type is almost invariably flown by a highly experienced test pilot. First flights are usually accompanied by a plane, to verify items like altitude, airspeed. A first flight is one stage in the development of an aircraft type. Unless the type is a research aircraft, the aircraft must be tested extensively to ensure that it delivers the desired performance with an acceptable margin of safety. In the case of aircraft, a new type must be certified by a governing agency before it can enter operation. An incomplete list of first flights of aircraft types, organized by date. October 23,1906 – Alberto Santos-Dumont 14-bis flight, in Bagatelle park, Paris and he flew 5,080 feet, to win the Scientific American Trophy and its $2,500 purse. July 28,1935 – Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress – World War II American heavy bomber. December 17,1935 – Douglas DC-3 – propeller-driven passenger and cargo aircraft of more than 10,000 were produced December 29,1939 – Consolidated B-24 – World War II American heavy bomber. November 2,1947 – Hughes H-4 Hercules – only flight of this oversized flying boat, July 27,1949 – de Havilland Comet – first jet airliner. August 23,1954 – Lockheed C-130 Hercules – military transport plane, may 27,1955 – Sud Aviation Caravelle – first jet airliner with engines mounted in the tail. April 25,1962 – Lockheed A-12 Blackbird – supersonic reconnaissance plane, june 29,1962 – Vickers VC10 – first airliner with 4 engines mounted in the tail. April 9,1967 – Boeing 737 – short-to-medium-range airliner, october 4,1968 – Tupolev 154 – Soviet/Russian airliner, still in operation. December 31,1968 – Tupolev Tu-144 – Soviet supersonic airliner, february 9,1969 – Boeing 747 – first widebody airliner. March 2,1969 – Anglo-French Concorde – supersonic airliner, september 19,1969 – Mil Mi-24 – Russian/Soviet-made helicopter used by many countries to this day
20.
RAF Bomber Command
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RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAFs bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bombing campaign against Germany became less restrictive and increasingly targeted industrial sites, in total 364,514 operational sorties were flown,1,030,500 tons of bombs were dropped and 8,325 aircraft lost in action. Bomber Command crews also suffered a casualty rate,55,573 were killed out of a total of 125,000 aircrew, a further 8,403 were wounded in action. Bomber Command stood at the peak of its military power in the 1960s, the V bombers holding the United Kingdoms nuclear deterrent. In August 2006, a memorial was unveiled at Lincoln Cathedral, a memorial in Green Park in London was unveiled by the Queen on 28 June 2012 to highlight the price paid by the aircrews. At the time of the formation of Bomber Command in 1936, Giulio Douhets slogan the bomber will always get through was popular, until advances in radar technology in the late 1930s, this statement was effectively true. Attacking bombers could not be detected early enough to assemble fighters fast enough to prevent them reaching their targets. Some damage might be done to the bombers by AA guns, and by fighters as the returned to base. Consequently, the conception of Bomber Command was as an entity that threatened the enemy with utter destruction. In 1936, Germanys increasing air power was feared by British government planners who commonly overestimated its size, reach, planners used estimates of up to 72 British deaths per tonne of bombs dropped, though this figure was grossly exaggerated. As well, the planners did not know that German bombing aircraft of the day did not have the range to reach the UK with a load of bombs, British air officers did nothing to correct these perceptions because they could see the usefulness of having a strong bombing arm. At the start of the Second World War in 1939, Bomber Command faced four problems, the first was lack of size, Bomber Command was not large enough effectively to operate as an independent strategic force. The second was rules of engagement, at the start of the war, the third problem was the Commands lack of technology, specifically radio or radar derived navigational aids to allow accurate target location at night or through cloud. The fourth problem was the accuracy of bombing, especially from high level. When the war began on 1 September 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the neutral United States, the French and British agreed to abide by the request, provided that these same rules of warfare will be scrupulously observed by all of their opponents. British policy was to restrict bombing to military targets and infrastructure, such as ports, while acknowledging that bombing Germany would cause civilian casualties, the British government renounced deliberate bombing of civilian property as a military tactic. The British abandoned this policy at the end of the Phoney War, or Sitzkrieg, on 15 May 1940, one day after the Rotterdam Blitz
21.
Axis powers
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The Axis powers, also known as the Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, were the nations that fought in World War II against the Allied Powers. The Axis agreed on their opposition to the Allies, but did not completely coordinate their activity, the Axis grew out of the diplomatic efforts of Germany, Italy, and Japan to secure their own specific expansionist interests in the mid-1930s. The first step was the treaty signed by Germany and Italy in October 1936, Mussolini declared on 1 November that all other European countries would from then on rotate on the Rome–Berlin axis, thus creating the term Axis. The almost simultaneous second step was the signing in November 1936 of the Anti-Comintern Pact, Italy joined the Pact in 1937. At its zenith during World War II, the Axis presided over territories that occupied parts of Europe, North Africa. There were no three-way summit meetings and cooperation and coordination was minimal, the war ended in 1945 with the defeat of the Axis powers and the dissolution of their alliance. As in the case of the Allies, membership of the Axis was fluid, at the time he was seeking an alliance with the Weimar Republic against Yugoslavia and France in the dispute over the Free State of Fiume. The term was used by Hungarys prime minister Gyula Gömbös when advocating an alliance of Hungary with Germany, when Mussolini publicly announced the signing on 1 November, he proclaimed the creation of a Rome–Berlin axis. Italy under Duce Benito Mussolini had pursued an alliance of Italy with Germany against France since the early 1920s. He believed that Italy could expand its influence in Europe by allying with Germany against France, in early 1923, as a goodwill gesture to Germany, Italy secretly delivered weapons for the German Army, which had faced major disarmament under the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. General Hans von Seeckt supported an alliance between Germany and the Soviet Union to invade and partition Poland between them and restore the German-Russian border of 1914. The discussions concluded that Germans still wanted a war of revenge against France but were short on weapons, however at this time Mussolini stressed one important condition that Italy must pursue in an alliance with Germany, that Italy must. Tow them, not be towed by them, the French government warned Italy that it had to choose whether to be on the side of the pro-Versailles powers or that of the anti-Versailles revanchists. Grandi responded that Italy would be willing to offer France support against Germany if France gave Italy its mandate over Cameroon, France refused Italys proposed exchange for support, as it believed Italys demands were unacceptable and the threat from Germany was not yet immediate. In 1932, Gyula Gömbös and the Party of National Unity rose to power in Hungary, Gömbös sought to alter Hungarys post–Treaty of Trianon borders by forming an alliance with Austria and Italy, knowing that Hungary alone was not capable of challenging the Little Entente powers. At the meeting between Gömbös and Mussolini in Rome on 10 November 1932, the question came up of the sovereignty of Austria in relation to the rise to power in Germany of the Nazi Party. Mussolini was worried about Nazi ambitions towards Austria, and indicated that at least in the term he was committed to maintaining Austria as a sovereign state. Italy had concerns over a Germany which included Austria laying land claims to German-populated territories of the South Tyrol within Italy, Mussolini said he hoped the Anschluss could be postponed as long as possible until the breakout of a European war that he estimated would begin in 1938
22.
Night bomber
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A night bomber is a bomber aircraft intended specifically for carrying out bombing missions at night. The term is now mostly of historical significance, night bombing began in World War I and was widespread during World War II. A number of aircraft types are designed primarily for nighttime bombing. More common terms today include interdictor and strike fighter, and such aircraft tend to have all-weather, navigation was difficult and precision was almost nonexistent, but the psychological effect was strong. Night bombing made a good terror weapon, prior to the introduction of radar, aircraft flying at night were nearly impossible to locate accurately enough for attack. Acoustic location was used to obtain preliminary rough coordinates, anti-aircraft artillery scanned the sky with searchlights, which could illuminate the aircraft by chance and attempt to track it for some time. Alternatively, night fighters were used for interception, they cooperated with searchlights or tried to spot the bombers in the moonlight. The success rate of such defences were so low that it was believed that The bomber will always get through. Even since World War I, the bomber had been seen as a terror weapon, as Baldwin later said, their primary purpose was to kill the enemys women and children more rapidly than they killed yours. As aircraft capabilities grew, so did their defensive firepower, by the mid-1930s, opinions were changing and the idea of daylight raids of aircraft providing their own self-defense came to the fore. In practice these aircraft proved entirely vulnerable to fighter aircraft and were rapidly returned to the night bombing role. Theyd forgotten to design or produce any navigation equipment, so the Wellington bomber and it had virtually the same equipment that the Tiger Moth had, with one exception—the Wellington had a loop aerial. Here we were flying 500 or 600 miles over enemy territory, trying to locate a target in total blackout, often with cloud below us and its not surprising that our bombers were 5,10 miles away. We were largely on our own, perhaps 10 or 14 aircraft at intervals, —John Gee, Bomber Command pilot The USAAF was the only force to press ahead with daylight strategic bombing raids during World War II. This proved as disastrous as the earlier Royal Air Force and Luftwaffe attempts, attrition of the Luftwaffe was so great that the RAF was also able to take to the daylight skies later that year. As a result in February 1945, the USAAF switched to low-level incendiary raids against Japanese cities, most of them took place at night. The most devastating air raid in the war was the firebombing of Tokyo on the night of March 9-10,1945, which destroyed 16 square miles, killed 100,000 Japanese, and made a million people homeless
23.
Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet
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In 1942, the British Cabinet agreed to the area bombing of German cities. Harris was tasked with implementing Churchills policy and supported the development of tactics, Harris emigrated to Southern Rhodesia in 1910, aged 17, but returned to England in 1915 to fight in the European theatre of the First World War. At the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Harris took command of No.5 Group RAF in England and he retained that position for the rest of the war. After the war Harris moved to South Africa where he managed the South African Marine Corporation, Harris was born on 13 April 1892, at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, where his parents were staying while his father George Steel Travers Harris was on home leave from the Indian Civil Service. A former Allhallows student, the actor Arthur Chudleigh, often visited the school, Harris received such a ticket in 1909, and went to see the play during his summer holidays. The lead character in the show was a Rhodesian farmer who returned to England to wed, harriss father was disappointed, having had in mind a military or civil service career for his son, but reluctantly agreed. In early 1910, Harris senior paid his sons passage on the SS Inanda to Beira in Mozambique, Harris earned his living over the next few years mining, coach-driving and farming. Harris quickly gained his employers trust, and was made manager at Lowdale when Townsend went to visit England for a year in early 1914. Having acquired the necessary to ranch successfully in Rhodesia, Harris decided that he would start his own farm in the country as soon as Townsend returned. According to Probert, Harris by now regarded primarily as a Rhodesian. When the First World War broke out in August 1914, Harris did not learn of it for nearly a month, having learnt to bugle at Allhallows, he successfully applied for the bugler slot and was sworn in on 20 October 1914. The 1st Rhodesia Regiment briefly garrisoned Bloemfontein, then served alongside the South African forces in South-West Africa during the first half of 1915. When the South-West African Campaign ended in July 1915, the 1st Rhodesia Regiment was withdrawn to Cape Town, Harris sailed for England from Beira at the Company administrations expense in August, a member of a 300-man party of white Southern Rhodesian war volunteers. 45 Squadron, flying the Sopwith 1½ Strutter and Sopwith Camel, before he returned to Britain to command No.44 Squadron on Home Defence duties, Harris claimed five enemy aircraft destroyed and was awarded the Air Force Cross on 2 November 1918. Intending to return to Rhodesia one day, Harris wore a shoulder flash on his uniform. He finished the war a major, in April 1920 Squadron Leader Harris was jointly appointed station commander of RAF Digby and commander of No.3 Flying Training School. He later served in different functions in India, Mesopotamia and Persia and he said of his service in India that he first became involved in bombing during the usual annual North West Frontier tribesmen trouble. In Mesopotamia he commanded a Vickers Vernon squadron and we cut a hole in the nose and rigged up our own bomb racks and I turned those machines into the heaviest and best bombers in the command
24.
Blockbuster bomb
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A blockbuster bomb or cookie was any of several of the largest conventional bombs used in World War II by the Royal Air Force. The bombs then called Blockbusters were the RAFs HC bombs and these bombs had especially thin casings that allowed them to contain approximately three-quarters of their weight in explosive, with a 4, 000-pound bomb containing over 3,000 pounds of Amatol. Most General-purpose bombs contained 50% explosive by weight, the rest being made up of the bomb casing. Blockbusters got larger as the war progressed, from the original 4,000 pounds version, the Mark I4000 lb bomb was a welded, cylindrical shell, made of 0. 31-inch thick steel. The body of the bomb was 30 inches in diameter and 88 inches long with a overall length of 115 inches. The nose of the bomb was conical and a 27-inch long cylindrical tail was fitted, a T-section steel beam was welded to the inner surface of the bomb to strengthen it. Subsequent Mark II and Mark III HC bombs differed in detail, the nose was replaced with a domed nose. The Mark IV bomb did not have the T-section beam, the Mark V and Mark VI bombs were versions manufactured in the United States. The larger 8,000 lb bomb was constructed from two 4,000 lb sections that together with bolts, although these sections were of a larger 38 in diameter. A12,000 lb version was created by adding a third 4,000 lb section, the 4,000 lb high capacity design was little more than a cylinder full of explosives—it was unaerodynamic and did not have fins. The same weight American 4,000 lb AN-M56 general purpose bomb was designed as its others were, with a sheet metal tailfin assembly and shaped nose. When fitted with a spoiler and a drum tail the British blockbuster bomb fell straight. These bombs were designed for their blast effect, to damage to buildings - specifically to blow roof tiles off. These high capacity bombs were used only by the RAF, being too big to fit in the bays of other aircraft. The local newspaper referred to him as Blockbuster Brooks, the 8,000 lb and the 12,000 lb could only be carried by the Avro Lancaster, slightly modified with bulged bomb-bay doors. First use of the 8,000 lb was by 15 Squadron Lancasters against Berlin on 2 December 1943, bad weather and other factors meant their effectiveness was not noted. The 4,000 lb cookie was regarded as a particularly dangerous load to carry, due to the airflow over the detonating pistols fitted in the nose, it would often explode even if dropped, i. e. jettisoned, in a supposedly safe unarmed state. We dropped it in the middle of town, which gave the aircraft a hell of a belt, lifted it up, an unusual dry period led to low river levels in the Rhine in December 2011, exposing a 4,000 lb blockbuster in the riverbed near Koblenz
25.
Allies of World War II
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The Allies of World War II, called the United Nations from the 1 January 1942 declaration, were the countries that together opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War. The Allies promoted the alliance as seeking to stop German, Japanese, at the start of the war on 1 September 1939, the Allies consisted of France, Poland and the United Kingdom, and dependent states, such as the British India. Within days they were joined by the independent Dominions of the British Commonwealth, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Poland was a minor factor after its defeat in 1939, France was a minor factor after its defeat in 1940. China had already been into a war with Japan since the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937. The alliance was formalised by the Declaration by United Nations, from 1 January 1942, however, the name United Nations was rarely used to describe the Allies during the war. The leaders of the Big Three – the UK, the Soviet Union, in 1945, the Allied nations became the basis of the United Nations. The origins of the Allied powers stem from the Allies of World War I, Germany resented signing Treaty of Versailles. The new Weimar republics legitimacy became shaken, by the early 1930s, the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler became the dominant revanchist movement in Germany and Hitler and the Nazis gained power in 1933. The Nazi regime demanded the cancellation of the Treaty of Versailles and made claims to German-populated Austria. The likelihood of war was high, and the question was whether it could be avoided through strategies such as appeasement, in Asia, when Japan seized Manchuria in 1931, the League of Nations condemned it for aggression against China. Japan responded by leaving the League of Nations in March 1933, after four quiet years, the Sino-Japanese War erupted in 1937 with Japanese forces invading China. The League of Nations condemned Japans actions and initiated sanctions on Japan, the United States, in particular, was angered at Japan and sought to support China. In March 1939, Germany took over Czechoslovakia, violating the Munich Agreement signed six months before, Britain and France decided that Hitler had no intention to uphold diplomatic agreements and responded by preparing for war. On 31 March 1939, Britain formed the Anglo-Polish military alliance in an effort to avert a German attack on the country, also, the French had a long-standing alliance with Poland since 1921. The Soviet Union sought an alliance with the powers. The agreement secretly divided the independent nations of eastern Europe between the two powers and assured adequate oil supplies for the German war machine, on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany. Then, on 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, a Polish government-in-exile was set up and it continued to be one of the Allies, a model followed by other occupied countries. After a quiet winter, Germany in April 1940 invaded and quickly defeated Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Britain and its Empire stood alone against Hitler and Mussolini
26.
Commonwealth of Nations
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The Commonwealth of Nations, also known as simply the Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of 52 member states that are mostly former territories of the British Empire. The Commonwealth dates back to the century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. It was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which established the states as free. The symbol of free association is Queen Elizabeth II who is the Head of the Commonwealth. The Queen is also the monarch of 16 members of the Commonwealth, the other Commonwealth members have different heads of state,31 members are republics and five are monarchies with a different monarch. Member states have no obligation to one another. Instead, they are united by language, history, culture and their values of democracy, free speech, human rights. These values are enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter and promoted by the quadrennial Commonwealth Games, the Commonwealth covers more than 29,958,050 km2, 20% of the worlds land area, and spans all six inhabited continents. She declared, So, it marks the beginning of that free association of independent states which is now known as the Commonwealth of Nations. As long ago as 1884, however, Lord Rosebery, while visiting Australia, had described the changing British Empire—as some of its colonies became more independent—as a Commonwealth of Nations. Conferences of British and colonial prime ministers occurred periodically from the first one in 1887, the Commonwealth developed from the imperial conferences. Newfoundland never did, as on 16 February 1934, with the consent of its parliament, Newfoundland later joined Canada as its 10th province in 1949. Australia and New Zealand ratified the Statute in 1942 and 1947 respectively, after World War II ended, the British Empire was gradually dismantled. Most of its components have become independent countries, whether Commonwealth realms or republics, there remain the 14 British overseas territories still held by the United Kingdom. In April 1949, following the London Declaration, the word British was dropped from the title of the Commonwealth to reflect its changing nature, burma and Aden are the only states that were British colonies at the time of the war not to have joined the Commonwealth upon independence. Hoped for success was reinforced by such achievements as climbing Mount Everest in 1953, breaking the four minute mile in 1954, however, the humiliation of the Suez Crisis of 1956 badly hurt morale of Britain and the Commonwealth as a whole. More broadly, there was the loss of a role of the British Empire. That role was no longer militarily or financially feasible, as Britains withdrawal from Greece in 1947 painfully demonstrated, Britain itself was now just one part of the NATO military alliance in which the Commonwealth had no role apart from Canada
27.
Polish contribution to World War II
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The European theatre of World War II opened with the German invasion of Poland on Friday September 1,1939 and the Soviet invasion of Poland on September 17,1939. The Polish Army was defeated more than a month of fighting. After Poland had been overrun, a government-in-exile, armed forces, and these organizations contributed to the Allied effort throughout the war. The Polish Army was recreated in the West, as well as in the East, Poles provided significant contributions to the Allied effort throughout the war, fighting on land, sea and air. Notable was the service of the Polish Air Force, not only in the Allied victory in the Battle of Britain, Polish ground troops were present in the North Africa Campaign, the Italian campaign, and in battles following the invasion of France. Some Polish contributions were less visible, most notably the prewar and wartime deciphering of German Enigma machine codes by cryptologists Marian Rejewski, the Polish intelligence network also proved to be of much value to the Allied intelligence. Unlike in France, the Nazis did not set up a collaborationist government, instead Poland was governed directly by a purely German administration known as the Generalgouvernement. The Polish forces as a whole are considered to have been the 4th largest Allied army in Europe, after the Soviet Union, United States and Britain. The invasion of Poland by the forces of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union. The Soviets had been taken by surprise by the speed of the German advance as they had expected to have several weeks to prepare for an rather than merely a few days. They did promise to move as quickly as possible, on September 17 the Soviets invaded eastern Poland, forcing the Polish government and military to abandon their plans for a long-term defense in the Romanian bridgehead area. The last remaining Polish Army units capitulated in early October, in accordance with their treaty obligations, the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany on September 3. Hitler had gambled, incorrectly, that France and Britain would allow him to parts of Poland without military reaction. It ended on October 6,1939, with Germany and the Soviet Union occupying the entirety of Poland, German and Soviet units went on a military parade in Brest-Litovsk followed by the joint victory parade in the streets of Lwow. Further cooperation between German and Soviets took the form of an exchange of Polish prisoners of war. Following order by Lavrentiy Beria given to the NKVD on October 3,1939,46,000 Polish prisoners detained in Soviet camps were traded against 44,000 POWs released by the Germans. German losses included approximately 16,000 killed in action,28,000 wounded,3,500 missing, over 200 aircraft, the Polish casualties were around 66,000 dead and 694,000 captured. Though the German attack was successful, losses were greater than expected and it has been estimated that, during the September campaign in Poland, the Wehrmacht needed to use more than twice the ammunition they used in France the following spring
28.
Gun turret
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A gun turret is a location from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility, and some cone of fire. Rotating gun turrets have the protection, the weapon, and its crew rotate, when this meaning of the word turret started being used at the beginning of the 1860s, turrets were normally cylindrical. Barbettes were an alternative to turrets, with a barbette the protection was fixed, in the 1890s, armoured hoods were added to barbettes, these rotated with the platform. By the early 20th Century, these hoods were known as turrets, modern warships have gun-mountings described as turrets, though the protection on them is limited to protection from the weather. They may be manned or remotely controlled and are most often protected to some degree, the protection provided by the turret may be against battle damage, the weather conditions, general environment in which the weapon or its crew will be operating. A small turret, or sub-turret set on top of a one, is called a cupola. The term cupola is used for a rotating turret that carries a sighting device rather than weaponry. Before the development of large-calibre, long-range guns in the mid-19th century, firepower was provided by a large number of guns, each of which could traverse only in a limited arc. Additionally casemate mounts had to be recessed into the side of a vessel to afford a wide arc of fire, designs for a rotating gun turret date back to the late 18th century. The Lady Nancy proved a success and Coles patenting his rotating turret design after the war. Coless aim was to create a ship with the greatest possible all round arc of fire, the Admiralty accepted the principle of the turret gun as a useful innovation, and incorporated it into other new designs. Coles submitted a design for a ship having ten domed turrets each housing two large guns, the design was rejected as impractical, although the Admiralty remained interested in turret ships and instructed its own designers to create better designs. Coles enlisted the support of Prince Albert, who wrote to the first Lord of the Admiralty, in January 1862, the Admiralty agreed to construct a ship, the HMS Prince Albert which had four turrets and a low freeboard, intended only for coastal defence. While Coles designed the turrets the ship was the responsibility of the chief Constructor Isaac Watts, another ship using Coles turret designs, HMS Royal Sovereign, was completed in August 1864. Its existing broadside guns were replaced with four turrets on a flat deck, early ships like the Royal Sovereign had little sea-keeping qualities being limited to coastal waters. Sir Edward James Reed, went on to design and build HMS Monarch, laid down in 1866 and completed in June 1869, it carried two turrets, although the inclusion of a forecastle and poop prevented the turret guns firing fore and aft. The gun turret was independently invented by the Swedish inventor John Ericsson in America, Ericsson designed the USS Monitor in 1861, its most prominent feature being a large cylindrical gun turret mounted amidships above the low-freeboard upper hull, also called the raft. This extended well past the sides of the lower, more traditionally shaped hull, a small armoured pilot house was fitted on the upper deck towards the bow, however, its position prevented Monitor from firing her guns straight forward
29.
Paratrooper
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Paratroopers are military parachutists — military personnel trained in parachuting into an operation and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World War II for troop distribution and transportation, Paratroopers are often used to seize strategic objectives such as airfields or bridges. They are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air and they jump out of airplanes using their parachutes to land safely on the ground. It is one of the three types of forced entry strategic techniques for entering a theater of war, the two are by land and sea. Another common use for paratroopers is to establish an airhead for landing other units and this doctrine was first practically applied to warfare by the Italians and the Soviets. During World War II, however, the two countries ground forces were overstretched, leaving their elite paratroopers to be employed as regular infantry. The first extensive use of paratroopers was by the Germans during World War II and later in the war also by the Americans, owing to the limited capacity of cargo aircraft of the period they rarely, if ever, jumped in groups much larger than 20 from one aircraft. In English language parlance, this load of paratroopers is called a stick, the terms come from the common use of white chalk on the sides of aircraft and vehicles to mark and update numbers of personnel and equipment being emplaned. In World War II, paratroopers most often used parachutes of a circular or round design and these parachutes could be steered to a small degree by pulling on the risers and suspension lines which attach to the parachute canopy itself. German paratroopers, whose harnesses had only a single riser attached at the back, today, paratroopers still use round parachutes, or round parachutes modified as to be more fully controlled with toggles. The parachutes are deployed by a static line. Mobility of the parachutes is often limited to prevent scattering of the troops when a large number parachute together. Some military exhibition units and special forces units use ram-air parachutes, many countries have one or several paratrooper units, usually associated to the national Army or Air Force, but in some cases to the Navy. Argentina was the first country on the continent of South America to use Paratroopers, the first paratroopers were issued jump helmets similar to that used by the British at the time, as the rest of the equipment slightly based on the Fallschirmjäger. The 4th Parachute Brigade is a unit of the Argentine Army specialised in airborne assault operations and it is based in Córdoba, Córdoba Province. The Rapid Deployment Force is based on this unit, the members of the unit wear Boina Rojas of the paratroopers with unit badges. During the Second World War the Australian Army formed the 1st Parachute Battalion, however, in the post-war period Australias parachute capability was primarily maintained by special forces units. In the 1970s and 1980s a parachute capability was revived, while a Parachute Battalion Group based on the 3rd Battalion
30.
Avro Lincoln
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The Avro Type 694, better known as the Avro Lincoln, was a British four-engined heavy bomber, which first flew on 9 June 1944. Developed from the Avro Lancaster, the first Lincoln variants were known initially as the Lancaster IV and V but were renamed Lincoln I and it was the last piston-engined bomber used by the Royal Air Force. The Lincoln became operational in August 1945, the Lincoln was used in action during the 1950s, by the RAF in the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya and with the RAF and RAAF during the Malayan Emergency. The type also saw significant service with the Royal Australian Air Force, in Argentine service it was also replaced by the Canberra. The Avro Lincoln was Roy Chadwicks development of the Lancaster, built to the Air Ministry Specification B.5 tons of various armaments and equipment fittings. As a result of changes, the Lincoln had a higher operational ceiling and longer range than the Lancaster, having a maximum altitude of 35,000 ft. The prototype Lancaster IV was assembled by Avros experimental flight department at Manchesters Ringway Airport, separate production lines were also set up in Canada and Australia, although with the end of the war, production in Canada was halted after only one aircraft had been built. Production in Australia proceeded, the Lincolns that were manufactured there were operated by the Royal Australian Air Force. One Lincoln B Mk XV pattern aircraft was completed in Canada by Victory Aircraft. Along with two aircraft on loan from the RAF, the type was briefly evaluated postwar by the RCAF. The Lancaster V/Lincoln II differed mainly in that it was fitted with Merlin 68A engines, before the Lincoln was developed, the Australian government intended its Department of Aircraft Production, later known as the Government Aircraft Factory, would build the Lancaster Mk III. In its place, a variant of the Lincoln I, re-designated as Mk 30, was manufactured between 1946 and 1949, it has the distinction of being the largest aircraft built in Australia. Orders for a total of 85 Mk 30 Lincolns were placed by the RAAF, the first five Australian examples, were assembled using British-made components. On 17 March 1946, A73-1 conducted its début flight, the first entirely Australian-built Lincoln, the Mk 30 initially featured four Merlin 85 engines, this arrangement was later changed to a combination of two outboard Merlin 66s and two inboard Merlin 85s. A further improved version, designated as Lincoln Mk 30A. During the 1950s, the RAAF heavily modified some of their Mk 30 aircraft to perform anti-submarine warfare missions, the Mk 31 was particularly difficult to land at night, as the bomber used a tailwheel and the long nose obstructed the pilots view of the runway. 18 aircraft were rebuilt to standard in 1952, gaining new serial numbers. Ten were subsequently upgraded to MR. Mk 31 standard, which included an updated radar and these Lincolns served with No.10 Squadron RAAF at RAAF Townsville, however, the discovery of corrosion in the wing spars led to the types premature retirement in 1961
31.
Egyptian Air Force
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The EAF is headed by an Air Marshal. Currently, the commander of the Egyptian Air Force is Air Marshal Younes Hamed, the forces motto is Higher and higher for the sake of glory. The Egyptian Army Air Service was formed in 1932, and became an independent air force in 1937 and it had little involvement in the Second World War. From 1948 to 1973 it took part, with mediocre results, in four separate wars with Israel. It also supported the Egyptian Army during the North Yemen Civil War, from 1977 to 2011 it saw virtually no combat, but has participated in numerous exercises, including Operation Bright Star. Since 1992 the EAF has also provided support for the police. In recent years the Air Force has acted in the Sinai insurgency, the Second Libyan Civil War, the EAF primary role is the air defence of the nation, with secondary tasks of strike and army support operations. The EAF provides official government transport and carries out international search-and- rescue operations in the desert, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Red Sea. In 2014 the IISS estimated the total manpower of the Egyptian Air Force at approximately 30,000 personnel, including 10,000 conscripts. This contrasts with an estimate of some 35,000 personnel, with most aircrew being long-term professionals, in late 1928, the Parliament of Egypt proposed the creation of an Egyptian Air Force. The Egyptian ministry of war announced that it needed volunteers for the new arm to become the first four Egyptian military pilots, over 200 Egyptian officers volunteered, but in the end only three succeeded in passing strict medical tests and technical examinations. These three went to No.4 Flying Training School RAF at RAF Station Abu Sueir near the Suez Canal, after graduation, they traveled to the United Kingdom for specialised training. On 2 November 1930, the King of Egypt and Sudan, on 27 May 1931 the Egyptian Council of Ministers approved the purchase of five aircraft and the building of an airfield at Almaza with a budget of 50,000 pounds. The first commander of the EAAF was Squadron Leader Victor Hubert Tait RAF, Tait selected staff, weapons and initiated building a number of airfields. In 1934 the British government provided ten Avro 626 aircraft, which were the first real Egyptian military planes, a further 17 626s together with Hawker Audaxes for army cooperation and close support and Avro Ansons for VIP work followed shortly afterward. In 1937 the Egyptian Army Air Force was separated from the Army Command, new stations were built in the Suez Canal Zone, and the Western Desert. As the Egyptian border was threatened by an Italian and German invasion during the Second World War, as a result, few additional aircraft were supplied by Britain, however the arm did receive its first modern fighters, Hawker Hurricanes and a small number of Curtiss P-40 Tomahawks. In the immediate period, cheap war surplus aircraft, including a large number of Supermarine Spitfire Mk. IXs were acquired
32.
French Air Force
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The French Air Force is the air force of the French Armed Forces. It was formed in 1909 as the Service Aéronautique, an arm of the French Army. The number of aircraft in service with the French Air Force varies depending on source, the French Air Force has 233 combat aircraft in service, with the majority being 125 Dassault Mirage 2000 and 108 Dassault Rafale. As of early 2016, the French Air Force employs a total of 42,607 regular personnel, the reserve element of the air force consisted of 5,187 personnel of the Operational Reserve. The Minister of Defence is responsible for execution of military policy and he is advised by the Chief of Staff of the Armies in regard to the use of forces and the control of military operations. The Chief of Staff of the French Air Force determines the air force doctrines and advises the CEMA how to deploy French air assets and he is responsible for the preparation and logistic support of the air force. The French took active interest in developing the air force from 1909 and had the first World War I fighter pilots, in the post–World War II era, the French made a successful effort to develop a domestic aircraft industry. Dassault Aviation led the way mainly with delta-wing designs, which formed the basis for the Mirage series of jet fighters. The Mirage demonstrated its abilities in the Six-Day War, Yom Kippur War, the Falklands War, the French Air Force participated in several protracted colonial wars in Africa and French Indochina after the Second World War, and continues to employ its air power in Africa. The Military Air Transport Command had previously formed in February 1962 from the Groupement dUnités Aériennes Spécialisées. The Dassault Mirage IV, the principal French strategic bomber, was designed to strike Soviet positions as part of the French nuclear triad, also created in 1964 was the Escadron des Fusiliers Commandos de lAir, seemingly grouping all FCA units. CFAS had two squadrons of S-3 IRBMs at the Plateau dAlbion, six squadrons of Mirage IVAs, coTAM counted 28 squadrons, of which ten were fixed-wing transport squadrons, and the remainder helicopter and liaison squadrons, at least five of which were overseas. CAFDA numbered 14 squadrons mostly flying the Mirage F. 1C, two other commands had flying units, the Air Force Schools Command, and the Air Force Transmissions Command, with four squadrons and three trials units. In 1994 the Commandement des Fusiliers Commandos de lAir was established, the French Air Force is expanding and replacing aircraft inventory. After an absence lasting several decades, the French President Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed that France will rejoin the NATO integrated command, from 2008-2010 the Air Force underwent an organisational streamlining process. This project was called Air 2010, which was the year of the deadline for all transitions, the main targets of this project were to simplify the command structure, to regroup all military and civil air force functions and to rationalise and optimise all air force units. Five major commands, were formed, instead of the former 13, CDAOA CFA CSFA DRHAA SAGF The last remaining squadron of Dassault Mirage F1s were retired in July 2014 and replaced by the Rafale. The Chief of Staff of the French Air Force determines air force doctrine and he is responsible for the preparation and logistic support of the air force
33.
Pakistan Air Force
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The PAF also has a tertiary role of providing strategic air transport and logistics capability to Pakistan. The PAF employs approximately 65,000 full-time personnel and currently operates 1,032 aircraft and its primary mandate and mission is to provide, in synergy with other inter-services, the most efficient, assured and cost effective aerial Defence of Pakistan. Since its establishment in 1947, the PAF has been involved in combat operations, providing aerial support to Inter–Servicess operations. Under the Article 243, the Constitution of Pakistan appoints the President of Pakistan as the civilian Commander-in-Chief, the Chief of Air Staff, by statute a four-star air chief marshal, is appointed by the President with the consultation and confirmation needed from the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The Pakistan Air Force is currently commanded by Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, two PAF F-86F Sabres of No.15 Squadron on Air Defence Alert were scrambled from Sargodha Air Base to intercept the IAF aircraft. Butt attempted to bring down the Canberra by firing his Sabres machine guns, when Yunis took over from his leader, the Canberra suddenly lost height while executing a turn over Rawalpindi. Yunis fired a burst that struck the Canberra at an altitude of 47,500 feet and brought it down over Rawat, marking the first aerial victory of the PAF. Both crew members of the IAF Canberra, ejected and were captured by Pakistani authorities and were released after remaining in detention for some time. The PAF fleet at the time consisted of 12 F-104 Starfighters, some 120 F-86 Sabres, the PAF claims to have had complete air superiority over the battle area from the second day of operations. S. Equipment, claiming it to be superior to the operated by the IAF. However some Pakistanis refute this argument, as per them, the IAFs MiG-21, Hawker Hunter and Folland Gnat aircraft had better performance than the PAFs F-86 fighters. According to Air Cdre Sajad Haider, the F-86 Sabre was inferior in power and speed to the IAFs Hawker Hunter. It was a high-level interceptor designed to neutralize Soviet strategic bombers in altitudes above 40,000 feet, nevertheless, the IAF is believed to have feared the Starfighter although, it was not as effective as the IAFs Folland Gnat. According to Indian sources, the F-86F performed reasonably well against the IAF Hawker Hunters but not as well against the Folland Gnat, according to Indian sources most aircraft losses of IAF were on ground while PAF lost most in aerial combat. The PAF had achieved far more in terms of aircraft destroyed on the ground but without doubt. The two countries have made claims of combat losses during the war and few neutral sources have verified the claims of either country. The PAF claimed it shot down 104 IAF planes and lost 19 of its own, while the IAF claimed it shot down 73 PAF planes, according to the independent sources, the PAF lost some 20 aircraft while the Indians lost 60–75. Despite the intense fighting, the conflict was effectively a stalemate, during this conflict the PAF sent personnel to Egypt, Jordan and Syria to support the Arabs in their battle against the Israelis
34.
Cargo aircraft
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A cargo aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that is designed or converted for the carriage of cargo rather than passengers. Such aircraft usually do not incorporate passenger amenities and generally one or more large doors for loading cargo. Freighters may be operated by passenger or cargo airlines, by private individuals or by the armed forces of individual countries. Cargo aircraft represent a small proportion of the air freight market. The majority is carried in special ULD containers in the holds of normal passenger aircraft. Aircraft were put to use carrying cargo in the form of air mail as early as 1911, although the earliest aircraft were not designed primarily as cargo carriers, by the mid-1920s aircraft manufacturers were designing and building dedicated cargo aircraft. The Vickers Vernon, a development of the Vickers Vimy Commercial, in February 1923 this was put to use by the RAFs Iraq Command who flew nearly 500 Sikh troops from Kingarban to Kirkuk in the first ever strategic airlift of troops. The Victorians also helped to pioneer air routes for Imperial Airways Handley Page HP.42 airliners, the World War II German design, the Arado Ar 232 was the first purpose built cargo aircraft. The Ar 232 was intended to supplant the earlier Junkers Ju 52 freighter conversions, most other forces used freighter versions of airliners in the cargo role as well, most notably the C-47 Skytrain version of the Douglas DC-3, which served with practically every Allied nation. This aircraft, like most of its era, used tail-dragger landing gear caused the aircraft to have a decided rearward tilt when landed. A similar rear loading ramp even appeared in a different form on the nosewheel gear-equipped. Postwar Europe also served to play a role in the development of the modern air cargo. To rapidly supply the numbers of aircraft, many older types. In operation it was found that it took as long or longer to unload these older designs as the much larger tricycle landing gear Douglas C-54 Skymaster which was easier to move about in when landed. The C-47s were quickly removed from service, and from then on flat-decks were a requirement of all new cargo designs, in the years following the war era a number of new custom-built cargo aircraft were introduced, often including some experimental features. For instance, the USs C-82 Packet featured a cargo area. Although larger, smaller and faster designs have been proposed for many years and these designs offer the ability to carry the heaviest loads, even main battle tanks, at global ranges. The Boeing 747 was originally designed to the specification as the C-5
35.
Berlin Blockade
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The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies railway, road, the Soviets offered to drop the blockade if the Western Allies withdrew the newly introduced Deutsche mark from West Berlin. In response, the Western Allies organized the Berlin airlift to carry supplies to the people of West Berlin, the Soviets did not disrupt the airlift for fear this might lead to open conflict. By the spring of 1949, the airlift was clearly succeeding, on 12 May 1949, the USSR lifted the blockade of West Berlin. The Berlin Blockade served to highlight the ideological and economic visions for postwar Europe. These zones were located roughly around the then-current locations of the allied armies, also divided into occupation zones, Berlin was located 100 miles inside Soviet-controlled eastern Germany. The United States, United Kingdom, and France controlled western portions of the city, factories, equipment, technicians, managers and skilled personnel were removed to the Soviet Union. Stalin and other leaders told visiting Bulgarian and Yugoslavian delegations in early 1946 that Germany must be both Soviet and communist, a further factor contributing to the Blockade was that there had never been a formal agreement guaranteeing rail and road access to Berlin through the Soviet zone. At the end of the war, western leaders had relied on Soviet goodwill to them with access. The Soviets also granted only three air corridors for access to Berlin from Hamburg, Bückeburg and Frankfurt, in response, the Soviets started a public relations campaign against American policy and began to obstruct the administrative work of all four zones of occupation. Until the blockade began in 1948, the Truman Administration had not decided whether American forces should remain in West Berlin after the establishment of a West German government, Berlin quickly became the focal point of both US and Soviet efforts to re-align Europe to their respective visions. As Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov noted, What happens to Berlin, happens to Germany, what happens to Germany, Berlin had suffered enormous damage, its prewar population of 4.3 million people was reduced to 2.8 million. After harsh treatment, forced emigration, political repression and the hard winter of 1945–1946. Local elections in 1946 resulted in a massive anti-communist protest vote, Berlins citizens overwhelmingly elected non-Communist members to its city council. Meanwhile, to coordinate the economies of the British and United States occupation zones, after March 1946 the British zonal advisory board was established, with representatives of the states, the central offices, political parties, trade unions, and consumer organisations. As indicated by its name, the advisory board had no legislative power. The Control Commission for Germany – British Element made all decisions with its legislative power and it created its own central bodies headed by a secretariat seated in Stuttgart. Eventually the London Agreement on German External Debts, also known as the London Debt Agreement, was concluded, in response to the announcement of the first of these meetings, in late January 1948, the Soviets began stopping British and American trains to Berlin to check passenger identities
36.
Cricklewood
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The area is split between three London boroughs, Barnet to the north-east, Brent to the west and Camden to the south-east. The bustling shops on Cricklewood Broadway, as Edgware Road is known here, contrast with surrounding streets of largely late-Victorian, Edwardian. The area has links with Ireland due to a sizeable Irish population. The Crown pub, now the Crown Moran Hotel, is a local landmark, the 35-hectare Gladstone Park marks its north-western edge. Cricklewood has two areas, the Mapesbury Estate and the Cricklewood Railway Terraces, and in 2012 was awarded £1.65 million from the Mayor of London’s office to improve the area. There was a settlement at the junction of Cricklewood Lane and the Edgware Road by 1294. By the 1750s the Crown was providing for coach travellers, and by the 1800s it had a handful of cottages and Cricklewood House as neighbours, by the 1860s there were a number of substantial villas along the Edgware Road starting with Rockhall Lodge. Childs Hill and Cricklewood station, later renamed Cricklewood, opened in 1868, mr H. Finch laid out a handful of streets directly behind the Crown Inn, in 1880. The station had become the terminus for the Midland Railway suburban services by 1884, the census of 1881 showed that the population had grown enough for a new church, and St. Peters replaced a tin chapel in 1891. A daughter church called Little St. Peters was opened in 1958 on Claremont Way, the parish church on Cricklewood Lane was demolished and rebuilt in the 1970s. This church building was closed in 2004, services for Anglicans were then held in the Carey Hall on Claremont Road but were discontinued there in December 2015. The London General Omnibus Company commenced services to Regent Street from the Crown in 1883, and in 1899 opened a bus garage, by the 1890s, houses and shops had been built along part of Cricklewood Lane. Cricklewood Broadway had become an area by 1900 replacing the Victorian villas. The Queens Hall Cinema, later the Gaumont, replaced Rock Hall House, thorverton, Caddington and Dersingham Roads were laid out in 1907, the year of the opening of Golders Green tube station. Cowhouse Farm, latterly Dickers Farm and finally Avenue Farm, was closed in 1932, from 1908 to 1935, Westcroft Farm was owned by the Home of Rest for Horses, at its peak it could house 250 horses. The Metropolitan Borough of Hampstead opened the Westcroft Estate in 1935, much of the land to the west of Edgware Road was part of the estate of All Souls College, Oxford. Much of the land was wooded and in 1662 there were 79 oaks in Cricklewood, the transformation of the area came with the opening of the underground station in Willesden Green in 1879, which was known as Willesden Green and Cricklewood station from 1894 to 1938. A number of acquired land in the area and built houses in the 1890s and 1900s
37.
Bomber
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A bomber is a combat aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry, firing torpedoes or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. In 1912, during the First Balkan War, Bulgarian Air Force pilot Christo Toprakchiev suggested the use of aircraft to drop bombs on Turkish positions, captain Simeon Petrov developed the idea and created several prototypes by adapting different types of grenades and increasing their payload. This is deemed to be the first use of an aircraft as a bomber, the first heavier-than-air aircraft purposely designed for bombing were the Italian Caproni Ca 30 and British Bristol T. B.8, both of 1913. The Bristol T. B.8 was an early British single engined biplane built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, under the command of Charles Rumney Samson, a bombing attack on German gun batteries at Middelkerke, Belgium was executed on 25 November 1914. The dirigible, or airship, was developed in the early 20th century, early airships were prone to disaster, but slowly the airship became more dependable, with a more rigid structure and stronger skin. Prior to the outbreak of war, Zeppelins, a larger and these were the first long range, strategic bombers. Although the German air arm was strong, with a total of 123 airships by the end of the war, they were vulnerable to attack and engine failure, German airships inflicted little damage on all 51 raids, with 557 Britons killed and 1,358 injured. The German Navy lost 53 of its 73 airships, and the German Army lost 26 of its 50 ships, the Caproni Ca 30 was built by Gianni Caproni in Italy. It was a biplane with three 67 kW Gnome rotary engines and first flew in October 1914. Test flights revealed power to be insufficient and the engine layout unworkable, the improved design was bought by the Italian Army and it was delivered in quantity from August 1915. Bombing raids and interdiction operations were carried out by French. Sustained attacks with a view to interrupting the enemys railway communications, in conjunction with the main operations of the Allied Armies. The most important bombers used in World War I were the French Breguet 14, British de Havilland DH-4, German Albatros C. III, the Russian Sikorsky Ilya Muromets, was the first four-engine bomber to equip a dedicated strategic bombing unit during World War I. This heavy bomber was unrivaled in the stages of the war. With engine power as a limitation, combined with the desire for accuracy and other operational factors. By the start of the war included, dive bomber — specially strengthened for vertical diving attacks for greater accuracy. Light bomber, medium bomber and heavy bomber — subjective definitions based on size, torpedo bomber — specialized aircraft armed with torpedoes. Ground attack aircraft — aircraft used against targets on a such as troop or tank concentrations
38.
Horsepower
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Horsepower is a unit of measurement of power. There are many different standards and types of horsepower, two common definitions being used today are the mechanical horsepower, which is approximately 746 watts, and the metric horsepower, which is approximately 735.5 watts. The term was adopted in the late 18th century by Scottish engineer James Watt to compare the output of engines with the power of draft horses. It was later expanded to include the power of other types of piston engines, as well as turbines, electric motors. The definition of the unit varied among geographical regions, most countries now use the SI unit watt for measurement of power. With the implementation of the EU Directive 80/181/EEC on January 1,2010, units called horsepower have differing definitions, The mechanical horsepower, also known as imperial horsepower equals approximately 745.7 watts. It was defined originally as exactly 550 foot-pounds per second [745.7 N. m/s), the metric horsepower equals approximately 735.5 watts. It was defined originally as 75 kgf-m per second is approximately equivalent to 735.5 watts, the Pferdestärke PS is a name for a group of similar power measurements used in Germany around the end of the 19th century, all of about one metric horsepower in size. The boiler horsepower equals 9809.5 watts and it was used for rating steam boilers and is equivalent to 34.5 pounds of water evaporated per hour at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. One horsepower for rating electric motors is equal to 746 watts, one horsepower for rating Continental European electric motors is equal to 735 watts. Continental European electric motors used to have dual ratings, one British Royal Automobile Club horsepower can equal a range of values based on estimates of several engine dimensions. It is one of the tax horsepower systems adopted around Europe, the development of the steam engine provided a reason to compare the output of horses with that of the engines that could replace them. He had previously agreed to take royalties of one third of the savings in coal from the older Newcomen steam engines and this royalty scheme did not work with customers who did not have existing steam engines but used horses instead. Watt determined that a horse could turn a mill wheel 144 times in an hour, the wheel was 12 feet in radius, therefore, the horse travelled 2.4 × 2π ×12 feet in one minute. Watt judged that the horse could pull with a force of 180 pounds-force. So, P = W t = F d t =180 l b f ×2.4 ×2 π ×12 f t 1 m i n =32,572 f t ⋅ l b f m i n. Watt defined and calculated the horsepower as 32,572 ft·lbf/min, Watt determined that a pony could lift an average 220 lbf 100 ft per minute over a four-hour working shift. Watt then judged a horse was 50% more powerful than a pony, engineering in History recounts that John Smeaton initially estimated that a horse could produce 22,916 foot-pounds per minute
39.
Cantilever
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A cantilever is a rigid structural element, such as a beam or a plate, anchored at only one end to a support from which it is protruding. Cantilevers can also be constructed with trusses or slabs, when subjected to a structural load, the cantilever carries the load to the support where it is forced against by a moment and shear stress. Cantilevers are widely found in construction, notably in cantilever bridges and balconies, in cantilever bridges the cantilevers are usually built as pairs, with each cantilever used to support one end of a central section. The Forth Bridge in Scotland is an example of a truss bridge. A cantilever in a timber framed building is called a jetty or forebay. In the southern United States a historic barn type is the barn of log construction. Temporary cantilevers are used in construction. The partially constructed structure creates a cantilever, but the structure does not act as a cantilever. This is very helpful when temporary supports, or falsework, cannot be used to support the structure while it is being built. So some truss arch bridges are built each side as cantilevers until the spans reach each other and are then jacked apart to stress them in compression before final joining. Nearly all cable-stayed bridges are built using cantilevers as this is one of their chief advantages, many box girder bridges are built segmentally, or in short pieces. This type of construction lends itself well to balanced cantilever construction where the bridge is built in both directions from a single support and these structures are highly based on torque and rotational equilibrium. In an architectural application, Frank Lloyd Wrights Fallingwater used cantilevers to project large balconies, the East Stand at Elland Road Stadium in Leeds was, when completed, the largest cantilever stand in the world holding 17,000 spectators. The roof built over the stands at Old Trafford Football Ground uses a cantilever so that no supports will block views of the field, the old, now demolished Miami Stadium had a similar roof over the spectator area. The largest cantilever in Europe is located at St James Park in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, less obvious examples of cantilevers are free-standing radio towers without guy-wires, and chimneys, which resist being blown over by the wind through cantilever action at their base. Another use of the cantilever is in fixed-wing aircraft design, pioneered by Hugo Junkers in 1915, early aircraft wings typically bore their loads by using two wings in a biplane configuration braced with wires and struts. They were similar to bridges, having been developed by Octave Chanute. The wings were braced with crossed wires so they would stay parallel, the cables and struts generated considerable drag, and there was constant experimentation for ways to eliminate them
40.
Monoplane
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A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with a single main wing plane, in contrast to a biplane or other multiplane, each of which has multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing configuration and is the simplest to build, however, during the early years of flight, these advantages were offset by its greater weight and lower manoeuvrability, making it relatively rare until the 1930s. Since then, the monoplane has been the most common form for a fixed-wing aircraft, although the first successful aircraft were biplanes, the first attempts at heavier-than-air flying machines were monoplanes, and many pioneers continued to develop monoplane designs. For example, the first aeroplane to be put into production was the 1907 Santos-Dumont Demoiselle, while the Blériot XI flew across the English Channel in 1909, throughout 1909–1910, Hubert Latham set multiple altitude records in his Antoinette IV monoplane, eventually reaching 1,384 m. The equivalent German language term is Eindecker, as in the mid-wing Fokker Eindecker fighter of 1915 which for a time dominated the skies in what known as the Fokker scourge. The German military Idflieg aircraft designation system prior to 1918 prefixed monoplane type designations with an E, however, the success of the Fokker was short-lived, and World War I was dominated by biplanes. Towards the end of the war, the parasol monoplane became popular, nonetheless, relatively few monoplane types were built between 1914 and the late 1920s, compared with the number of biplanes. The reasons for this were primarily practical, towards the end of the First World War, the inherent high drag of the biplane was beginning to restrict performance. Engines were not yet enough to make the heavy cantilever-wing monoplane viable. It remained popular throughout the 1920s, on flying boats with a shallow hull, a parasol wing allows the engines to be mounted above the spray from the water when taking off and landing. It was popular on flying boats during the 1930s, an example being the Consolidated PBY Catalina. It died out when taller hulls became the norm during World War II, most military aircraft of WW II were monoplanes, as have been virtually all aircraft since. Jet and rocket engines have more power, and all modern high-speed aircraft. The inherent efficiency of the monoplane can best be realised in the cantilever wing which carries all structural forces internally. By contrast, a wing has additional drag from the exposed bracing struts and/or wires. On the other hand, the wing has greater structural efficiency. This in turn means that for a wing of a size, bracing allows it to fly slower with a lower-powered engine, while a heavy cantilever wing needs a more powerful engine. A cantilever wing can be lighter by making it thicker
41.
Fairey Aviation Company
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The Fairey Aviation Company Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer of the first half of the 20th century based in Hayes in Middlesex and Heaton Chapel and RAF Ringway in Lancashire. After the Second World War the company diversified into engineering and boat-building. The aircraft manufacturing arm was taken over by Westland Aircraft in 1960, following a series of mergers and takeovers, the principal successor businesses to the company now trade as FBM Babcock Marine Ltd, Spectris plc, and WFEL the latter manufacturing portable bridges. The first aircraft designed and built by the Fairey Aviation specifically for use on a carrier was the Fairey Campania a patrol seaplane that first flew in February 1917. In the third report of the Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors, reported in Flight magazine of 15 January 1925, C. R. Fairey and the Fairey Aviation Co. Ltd. was awarded £4,000 for work on the Hamble Baby seaplane. Fairey subsequently designed many types and, after World War II. The Propeller Division was located at the Hayes factory, and used designs based on the patents of Mr Sylvanus Albert Reed, C. R. Fairey first encountered Reed’s products in the mid-1920s when investigating the possibilities of the Curtiss D-12 engine. The Curtiss company also manufactured propellers designed by Reed, Aircraft production was primarily at the factory in North Hyde Road, Hayes, with flight testing carried out at Northolt Aerodrome, Great West Aerodrome, Heston Airport, and finally at White Waltham. One notable Hayes-built aircraft type during the late 1930s and World War II was the Swordfish, in 1957, the prototype Fairey Rotodyne vertical takeoff airliner was built at Hayes. After the merger with Westland Helicopters, helicopters such as the Westland Wasp were built at Hayes in the 1960s, Flight test facilities were built at Manchesters Ringway Airport, the first phase opening in June 1937. A few Hendon monoplane bombers built at Stockport were flown from Manchesters Barton Aerodrome in 1936, quantity production of Battle light bombers at Stockport/Ringway commenced in mid 1937. Large numbers of Fulmar fighters and Barracuda dive-bombers followed during WWII, Faireys also built 498 Bristol Beaufighter aircraft and over 660 Handley Page Halifax bombers in their northern facilities. Postwar, Firefly and Gannet naval aircraft were supplemented by sub-contracts from de Havilland for Vampire, Aircraft production and modification at Stockport and Ringway ceased in 1960. The Board felt that the change, taking effect on 1 April 1959, would enable the Rotodyne and other aircraft work to be handled by a concern concentrating on aviation. It is proposed to change the name to the Fairey Co. Ltd. Under these changes, the Fairey Co. would become a company, with control of policy. The government in the late 1950s was determined to rationalise the UKs aero industry, the Ministry of Defence saw the future of helicopters as being best met by a single manufacturer. H.121. was transferred to Westland. Fairey received 2,000,000 Westland shares of 5 shillings each, the sale did not include Fairey Air Surveys or the works at Heston which was home to the weapon division, which had a contract for research into advanced anti-tank missile systems
42.
Boulton Paul Aircraft
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Boulton Paul Aircraft Ltd was a British aircraft manufacturer that was incorporated in 1934, although its origins in aircraft manufacturing began earlier in 1914, and lasted until 1961. The company mainly built and modified aircraft under contract to other manufacturers, but had a few designs of its own, such as the Defiant fighter. The companys origins date back to a shop founded in 1797 in Norwich. By the early 1900s, Boulton & Paul Ltd was a general manufacturing firm. The aircraft building business was sold off from the construction business in 1934. Boulton & Paul started its construction engineering division in 1905, in 1915, Boulton & Paul began to construct aircraft under contract, including 550 of the Royal Aircraft Factory FE. 2b. During the war the company built more Sopwith Camels than any other manufacturer, success as an aircraft builder led to the company to form a design department but none of its resulting aircraft made a significant impact while the war lasted. Boulton Pauls chief aircraft designer was John Dudley North, who joined the company from Austin Motor Company Aircraft Department, after World War I, Boulton & Paul made their mark with the introduction of powered and enclosed defensive machine gun turrets for bombers. Their Sidestrand twin-engined biplane bomber, which could fly at 140 mph, had a nose turret which was clearly inadequate. The subsequent Overstrand bomber featured the worlds first enclosed, power-operated turret, mounting a single Lewis gun, the company licensed a French design of an electro-hydraulic four-gun turret which became a major feature of their future production. In addition to fitting turrets to bombers, Boulton Paul was to them in fighters. During this period Boulton & Paul continued to operate outside the industry as well. They manufactured equipment such as tools and stationary engines. The latter were also coupled to a dynamo for powering electric lighting circuits. In 1934, Boulton & Paul sold their Aircraft Department which became Boulton Paul Aircraft Ltd, over the next couple of years a new factory site was built up in Wolverhampton. This gave access to a skilled workforce on top of the 600 or so employees that left Norwich for Wolverhampton. Even so, Boulton Paul would later set up a centre in Scotland to bring in extra workers. The first turret fighter to be built was the Hawker Demon, turret fighters were expected to be able to engage enemy bombers from any aspect
43.
Short Brothers
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Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aircraft and it was particularly notable for its flying boat designs manufactured into the 1950s. In 1943 Shorts was nationalised and later denationalised, and in 1948 moved from its base at Rochester. In the 1960s, Shorts mainly produced turboprop airliners, major components for aerospace primary manufacturers, in 1989 Shorts was bought by Bombardier, and is today the largest manufacturing concern in Northern Ireland. Prior to that merger, the capital share by the owner was, HM Government,69. 5% Rolls-Royce Ltd,15. 25%. The Short Brothers business started in 1897 when Eustace Short bought a coal gas filled balloon. In 1900 the two visited the 1900 Paris Exposition, where they saw the balloons of Édouard Surcouf. In 1902 Eustace and Oswald started offering balloons for sale and they manufactured the balloons at Hove, Sussex, in premises above the acoustic laboratory run by a third brother, Horace Short. Horace had invented an acoustic amplifier, and was working to perfect it with Thomas Edisons European agent, in 1905 they won a contract for three balloons for the British Indian Army. The quality of their work impressed Colonel Templer, superintendent of the Royal Balloon Factory, Rolls commissioned them to build him a large balloon to compete in the 1906 Gordon Bennett balloon race. More orders soon followed from members of the Aero Club of Great Britain. Oswald succeeded in persuading Horace to leave his job with Parsons, at the end of 1908 Horace started work on the two designs, and in early 1909 construction was started of McCleans aircraft, the Short No.1 biplane. In March 1909 it was exhibited, without its fabric covering, meanwhile, the brothers had obtained the British rights to build copies of the Wright design. In February 1909 Shorts started construction of a new workshop on unobstructed marshland at Leysdown and this had been acquired by the Aero Club for use as a flying ground, together with Mussell Manor, which became its clubhouse. Construction of a batch of six aircraft was started immediately. Short Brothers thus became the first aircraft manufacturing company in the world to undertake production of an aircraft design. In 1910 the business, together with the Royal Aero Club, moved to premises at Eastchurch. Here the Short-Dunne 5, designed by John W. Dunne, was built, in 1911 Shorts built one of the worlds first successful twin-engine aircraft, the Triple Twin
44.
Napier Sabre
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The Napier Sabre was a British H-24-cylinder, liquid-cooled, sleeve valve, piston aero engine, designed by Major Frank Halford and built by D. Napier & Son during World War II. The engine evolved to one of the most powerful inline piston aircraft engines in the world. Other aircraft using the Sabre were early prototype and production variants of the Blackburn Firebrand, the Martin-Baker MB3 prototype, prior to the Sabre, Napier had been working on large aero engines for some time. By the late 1920s, the Lion was no longer competitive, Napier followed the Lion with two new H-block designs, the H-16 and the H-24. The H-block has a layout, consisting of two horizontally opposed engines, lying one atop or beside another. Since the cylinders are opposed, the motion in one is balanced by the motion on the opposing side, in these new designs, Napier chose air cooling but in service, the rear cylinders proved to be impossible to cool properly, which made the engines unreliable. During the 1930s, designers were looking to future engine developments and this specific power output was needed to propel aircraft large enough to carry large fuel loads, for long range flights. A typical large engine of the era, the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp, developed about 1,200 hp from 1,820 cubic inches and this called for radical changes and while many companies tried to build such an engine, none succeeded. In 1927, Harry Ricardo published a study on the concept of the sleeve valve engine, in it, he wrote that traditional poppet valve engines would be unlikely to produce much more than 1,500 hp, a figure that many companies were eyeing for next generation engines. Halfords office was next to Ricardos in London, and while Ricardo started work with Bristol Engines on a line of designs, Halford started work with Napier. Another important effect of increasing the number of cylinders was that the area increases. The Napier company decided first to develop a large 24 cylinder liquid–cooled engine, although the company continued with the opposed H layout of the Dagger, this new design positioned the cylinder blocks horizontally and it was to use sleeve valves. All of the accessories were grouped conveniently above and below the cylinder blocks, rather than being at the front and rear of the engine, the first Sabre engines were ready for testing in January 1938, although they were limited to 1,350 hp. By the end of the year, they were producing 2,400 hp, to put this in perspective, the contemporary 1940 Rolls-Royce Merlin II was generating just over 1,000 hp from a 1,647 cubic inch displacement. Problems arose as soon as production began. Prototype engines had been hand-assembled by Napier craftsmen and it proved to be difficult to adapt it to production techniques. The sleeves often failed, leading to seized cylinders, which caused the loss of the sole prototype Martin-Baker MB3, after testing some 18 different materials and manufacturing techniques, a process of nitriding and lapping the sleeves helped resolve the problem. Quality control proved to be inadequate, engines were delivered with improperly cleaned castings, broken piston rings
45.
Fairey P.24
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The Fairey P.24 Monarch or Prince 4 was a British experimental 2,000 hp class H-24 aircraft engine designed and built by Fairey in the late 1930s. The engine did not go into production, the P.24 Monarch was an enlarged development of the Prince, designed by chief engine designer Captain A. G. Forsyth. Similar in layout to the Napier Dagger the cylinders were arranged vertically in two blocks, driving contra-rotating propellers via separate shafts and gears. Like the smaller Prince engine each bank of cylinders could be shut down in flight to drive only one propeller, the idea came from the desire to deliver high power in a reliable form for naval use. The engine was test flown in a Fairey Battle, serial K9370, following cancellation, the engine provided three trouble-free years of service in K9370. Fairey Battle Hawker Tornado P-47 Thunderbolt P.24 Monarch or Prince 42,240 hp Data from Lumsden
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