1.
Biplane
–
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, while a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage over a monoplane, it produces more drag than a similar unbraced or cantilever monoplane wing. Improved structural techniques, better materials and the quest for greater speed made the biplane configuration obsolete for most purposes by the late 1930s. Biplanes offer several advantages over conventional cantilever monoplane designs, they permit lighter wing structures, low wing loading, however, interference between the airflow over each wing increases drag substantially, and biplanes generally need extensive bracing, which causes additional drag. Biplanes are distinguished from tandem wing arrangements, where the wings are placed forward and aft, instead of above, the term is also occasionally used in biology, to describe the wings of some flying animals. In a biplane aircraft, two wings are placed one above the other, either or both of the main wings can support ailerons, while flaps are more usually positioned on the lower wing. Bracing is nearly always added between the upper and lower wings, in the form of wires and/or slender interplane struts positioned symmetrically on either side of the fuselage. The primary advantage of the biplane over the traditional single plane or monoplane is to combine great stiffness with light weight. A braced monoplane wing must support itself fully, while the two wings of a help to stiffen each other. The biplane is therefore inherently stiffer than the monoplane, also, the structural forces in the spars of a biplane wing tend to be lower, so the wing can use less material to obtain the same overall strength and is therefore much lighter. A disadvantage of the biplane was the need for extra struts to space the wings apart, the low power supplied by the engines available in the first years of aviation meant that aeroplanes could only fly slowly. This required an even lower stalling speed, which in turn required a low wing loading, combining both large wing area with light weight. A biplane wing of a span and chord has twice the area of a monoplane the same size and so can fly more slowly. Alternatively, a wing of the same area as a monoplane has lower span and chord, reducing the structural forces. Biplanes suffer aerodynamic interference between the two planes and this means that a biplane does not in practice obtain twice the lift of the similarly-sized monoplane. The farther apart the wings are spaced the less the interference, given the slow speed and low power of early aircraft, the drag penalty of the wires and struts and the mutual interference of airflows were relatively minor and acceptable factors. The smaller biplane wing also allows greater maneuverability, during World War One, this further enhanced the dominance of the biplane and, despite the need for speed, military aircraft were among the last to abandon the biplane form. Specialist sports Aerobatic biplanes are still occasionally made, biplanes were originally designed with the wings positioned directly one above the other
Biplane
–
Reproduction of a
Sopwith Camel biplane.
Biplane
–
The
Antonov An-2 is the largest single-engine biplane design and has the longest production history of any aircraft, except for the
C 130.
Biplane
–
Biplane hang glider under tow. Philadelphia, USA, 1920s.
Biplane
–
Zeppelin-Lindau D.I strutless biplane
2.
Fighter aircraft
–
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat against other aircraft, as opposed to bombers and attack aircraft, whose main mission is to attack ground targets. The hallmarks of a fighter are its speed, maneuverability, many fighters have secondary ground-attack capabilities, and some are designed as dual-purpose fighter-bombers, often aircraft that do not fulfill the standard definition are called fighters. This may be for political or national security reasons, for advertising purposes, a fighters main purpose is to establish air superiority over a battlefield. Since World War I, achieving and maintaining air superiority has been considered essential for victory in conventional warfare, the word fighter did not become the official English-language term for such aircraft until after World War I. In the British Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force these aircraft were referred to as scouts into the early 1920s, the U. S. Army called their fighters pursuit aircraft from 1916 until the late 1940s. In most languages a fighter aircraft is known as a hunter, exceptions include Russian, where a fighter is an истребитель, meaning exterminator, and Hebrew where it is matose krav. As a part of nomenclature, a letter is often assigned to various types of aircraft to indicate their use. In Russia I was used, while the French continue to use C and this has always been the case, for instance the Sopwith Camel and other fighting scouts of World War I performed a great deal of ground-attack work. Several aircraft, such as the F-111 and F-117, have received fighter designations but had no fighter capability due to political or other reasons, the F-111B variant was originally intended for a fighter role with the U. S. Navy, but it was cancelled. This blurring follows the use of fighters from their earliest days for attack or strike operations against ground targets by means of strafing or dropping small bombs, versatile multirole fighter-bombers such as the F/A-18 Hornet are a less expensive option than having a range of specialized aircraft types. An interceptor is generally an aircraft intended to target bombers and so often trades maneuverability for climb rate, fighters were developed in World War I to deny enemy aircraft and dirigibles the ability to gather information by reconnaissance. Early fighters were very small and lightly armed by later standards, and most were built with a wooden frame, covered with fabric. As control of the airspace over armies became increasingly important all of the major powers developed fighters to support their military operations, between the wars, wood was largely replaced by steel tubing, then aluminium tubing, and finally aluminium stressed skin structures began to predominate. By World War II, most fighters were all-metal monoplanes armed with batteries of guns or cannons. By the end of the war, turbojet engines were replacing piston engines as the means of propulsion, further increasing aircraft speed. Since the weight of the engine was so less than on piston engined fighters. This in turn required the development of ejection seats so the pilot could escape, in the 1950s, radar was fitted to day fighters, since pilots could no longer see far enough ahead to prepare for any opposition. Since then, radar capabilities have grown enormously and are now the method of target acquisition
Fighter aircraft
–
A fly by of an
F-22 Raptor, a pair of
F-86 Sabres, and a
P-38 Lightning during Heritage Flight training at
Davis–Monthan Air Force Base
Fighter aircraft
–
Landing on
HMS Furious in a
Sopwith Pup scout
Fighter aircraft
–
Hawker Sea Hurricanes in formation
Fighter aircraft
–
MiG-17 underside
3.
Sopwith Aviation Company
–
Sopwith aircraft were also used in varying numbers by the French, Belgian, and American air services during the War. In April 1919 the company was re-named Sopwith Aviation & Engineering Company Limited, in September 1920 the company entered voluntary liquidation after a move to build motorcycles failed. The patents and assets were bought by a new company H. G, a small factory subsequently opened in Woolston, Hampshire in 1914. During the First World War, the company more than 16,000 aircraft. Many more of the aircraft were made by subcontractors rather than by Sopwiths themselves. These included Fairey, Clayton and Shuttleworth, William Beardmore and Company and Ruston Proctor. Towards the end of the war, Sopwith took out a lease on National Aircraft Factory No.2, the company were able to greatly increase production of Snipe, Dolphin and Salamander fighter planes as a result. At the beginnning of the war the company had 200 employees this had reached 6,000 employees by the Armistice, at a meeting of creditors held in October 1920 it was explained that although the company had previously accumulated a surplus of £900,000 in 1918. Following a slump in the sale of motorcycles the company had liabilities of £705,430, the amount of excess profit duty was being disputed by the company which had already paid £450,000 in duty. The meeting concluded that the best result would be to sell the business as a going concern, the Ham factory which was included in 38 acres of freehold land was sold to Leyland Motors. The newly formed H. G Hawker Engineering Company obtained the Sopwith patent rights, upon the liquidation of the Sopwith company, Tom Sopwith himself, together with Harry Hawker, Fred Sigrist and Bill Eyre, immediately formed H. G. Hawker Engineering, forerunner of the Hawker Aircraft and Hawker Siddeley lineage, Sopwith was Chairman of Hawker Siddeley until his retirement. These later jet types were manufactured in the factory buildings used to produce Sopwith Snipes in 1918 as Hawker Aircraft bought the Ham Factory when Leylands lease expired. Initially, Tom Sopwith himself, assisted by his personal mechanic Fred Sigrist. A float-equipped version of this won the Schneider Trophy in 1914. The landplane version was used by both the RNAS and RFC at the start of the war, with higher power and floats, the type evolved into the Sopwith Baby, which was a workhorse of the RNAS for much of the First World War. In 1916, Herbert Smith became Chief Engineer of the Sopwith company, soon after came the small and agile single-seat Scout, which quickly became better known as the Pup because of its obvious descent from the 1½ Strutter. The Pup and 1½ Strutter were the first successful British tractor fighters equipped with a gear to allow a machine gun to fire through the rotating propeller
Sopwith Aviation Company
–
Thomas Sopwith, circa 1910
Sopwith Aviation Company
–
The Sopwith "Schneider" (a float-equipped
Sopwith Tabloid) at the 1914
Schneider Trophy in Monaco.
Sopwith Aviation Company
–
Three views of the single-seat bomber version of the
Sopwith 1½ Strutter
4.
Herbert Smith (aircraft designer)
–
Herbert Smith CRAeS was a British aircraft designer. Smith was born in Bradley, North Yorkshire, England, on 1 May 1889, as a youth, he attended Keighley Boys Grammar School, in West Yorkshire. Smith subsequently attended Bradford Technical College, graduating with a degree in engineering in 1907. Smith started his career with the Yorkshire machine-tool manufacturers Dean, Smith & Grace, then became a draughtsman with Northampton lift manufacturers Smith, Major, in March 1914, Smith joined the Sopwith Aviation Company as a draughtsman. Later that year, he became Sopwiths chief engineer, Smith went on to design the Pup, Triplane, Camel, and Snipe. He worked for the Sopwith firm until it dissolved in October 1920, after moving to Japan, they designed the 1MT, B1M, 1MF, and 2MR. Smith returned to England in 1924 and retired from the aviation industry
Herbert Smith (aircraft designer)
–
Commemorative plaque displayed at the town hall in
Skipton
Herbert Smith (aircraft designer)
–
A
Sopwith Camel, one of the aircraft designed by Smith
5.
Royal Flying Corps
–
The Royal Flying Corps was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War, until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC supported the British Army by artillery co-operation, at the start of World War I the RFC, commanded by Brigadier-General Sir David Henderson, consisted of five squadrons – one observation balloon squadron and four aeroplane squadrons. These were first used for spotting on 13 September 1914. Aerial photography was attempted during 1914, but again only became effective the next year, by 1918, photographic images could be taken from 15,000 feet, and interpreted by over 3,000 personnel. By this time parachutes had been used by balloonists for three years, on 17 August 1917, South African General Jan Smuts presented a report to the War Council on the future of air power. On 1 April 1918, the RFC and the RNAS were amalgamated to form a new service, the RAF was under the control of the new Air Ministry. After starting in 1914 with some 2,073 personnel, by the start of 1919 the RAF had 4,000 combat aircraft and 114,000 personnel in some 150 squadrons. The recommendations of the committee were accepted and on 13 April 1912 King George V signed a royal warrant establishing the Royal Flying Corps, the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers became the Military Wing of the Royal Flying Corps a month later on 13 May. The Flying Corps initial allowed strength was 133 officers, and by the end of year it had 12 manned balloons and 36 aeroplanes. The RFC originally came under the responsibility of Brigadier-General Henderson, the Director of Military Training, and had branches for the Army. Major Sykes commanded the Military Wing and Commander C R Samson commanded the Naval Wing, the RFCs motto was Per ardua ad astra. This remains the motto of the Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces, the RFCs first fatal crash was on 5 July 1912 near Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain. Loraine and his observer, Staff Sergeant R. H. V, an order was issued after the crash stating Flying will continue this evening as usual, thus beginning a tradition. Four months later on 11 December 1912 Parke was killed when the Handley Page monoplane in which he was flying from Hendon to Oxford crashed. The Naval Wing, with pilots and aircraft than the Military Wing. In November 1914 the Royal Flying Corps, even taking the loss of the Naval Wing into account, had expanded sufficiently to warrant the creation of wings consisting of two or more squadrons and these wings were commanded by lieutenant-colonels. In October 1915 the Royal Flying Corps had undergone further expansion which justified the creation of brigades, further expansion led to the creation of divisions, with the Training Division being established in August 1917 and RFC Middle East, being raised to divisional status in December 1917. Finally, the air raids on London and the south-east of England led to the creation of the London Air Defence Area in August 1917 under the command of Ashmore who was promoted to major-general
Royal Flying Corps
–
Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
–
Sopwith Camel
Royal Flying Corps
–
RFC
Bleriot XI monoplanes at Netheravon, 1914
Royal Flying Corps
–
Recruiting poster
6.
Royal Naval Air Service
–
In 1908, the British government had recognised that the use of aircraft for military and naval purposes should be investigated. To this end the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, approved the formation of an Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, both committees were composed of politicians, army officers and Royal Navy officers. After much discussion on the Committee of Imperial Defence the suggestion was approved on 7 May 1909, the airship, named Mayfly, never flew and broke in half on 24 September 1911. The then First Sea Lord, Sir Arthur Wilson, recommended that rigid airship construction be abandoned, on June 21st,1910, Lt. George Cyril Colmore became the first qualified pilot in the Royal Navy. After completing training, which Colmore paid for out of his own pocket, in November 1910, the Royal Aero Club, thanks to one of its members, Francis McClean, offered the Royal Navy two aircraft with which to train its first pilots. The Club also offered its members as instructors and the use of its airfield at Eastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey, the airfield became the Naval Flying School, Eastchurch. Two hundred applications were received, and four were accepted, Lieutenant C. R. Samson, Lieutenant A. M. Longmore, Lieutenant A. Gregory and Captain E. L. Gerrard, RMLI. After prolonged discussion on the Committee of Imperial Defence, the Royal Flying Corps was constituted by Royal Warrant on 13 April 1912 and it absorbed the nascent naval air detachment and also the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers. It consisted of two wings with the Military Wing making up the Army element and Naval Wing, under Commander C. R. Samson, the naval wing, by the terms of its inception was permitted to carry out experimentation at its flying school at Eastchurch. In the summer of 1912, in recognition of the air branchs expansion, sueters remit as outlined in September 1912 stated that he was responsible to the Admiralty for all matters connected with the Naval Air Service. In the same month as the Air Department was set up, in 1913 a seaplane base on the Isle of Grain and an airship base at Kingsnorth were approved for construction. On 16 April ten officers of the Navy Service graduated from the Central Flying School, as of 7 June 44 officers and 105 other ranks had been trained at the Central Flying School and at Eastchurch, and 35 officers and men had been trained in airship work. Three non-rigid airships built for the army, the Willows, Astra-Torres, on 1 July 1914, the Admiralty made the Royal Naval Air Service, forming the Naval Wing of the Royal Flying Corps, part of the Military Branch of the Royal Navy. By the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, the Navy maintained twelve airship stations around the coast of Britain from Longside, Aberdeenshire in the northeast to Anglesey in the west. On 1 August 1915 the Royal Naval Air Service officially came under the control of the Royal Navy, inter-service rivalry even affected aircraft procurement. This situation continued, although most of Sopwiths post-1915 products were not designed specifically as naval aircraft, on 23 June 1917, after the Second Battle of Gaza, RNAS aircraft attacked Tulkarm in the Judean Hills. On 1 April 1918, the RNAS was merged with the RFC to form the Royal Air Force, at the time of the merger, the Navys air service had 55,066 officers and men,2,949 aircraft,103 airships and 126 coastal stations. The RNAS squadrons were absorbed into the new structure, individual squadrons receiving new squadron numbers by effectively adding 200 to the number so No.1 Squadron RNAS became No.201 Squadron RAF
Royal Naval Air Service
–
Personnel of No 1 Squadron RNAS in late 1914
Royal Naval Air Service
–
Commander C Samson of the RNAS takes off from
HMS Hibernia in his modified
Shorts S.38 “hydro-aeroplane” to be the first pilot to take off from a ship underway at sea.
Royal Naval Air Service
–
Sopwith Triplanes from No. 1 (Naval) Squadron, in Bailleul, France. The aircraft nearest the camera (N5454) was primarily flown by ace
Richard Minifie
Royal Naval Air Service
–
Raymond Collishaw
7.
Royal Air Force
–
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
Royal Air Force
–
A later version of the
Spitfires which played a major part in the
Battle of Britain.
Royal Air Force
–
Royal Air Force emblem
Royal Air Force
–
The
Avro Lancaster heavy bomber was extensively used during the strategic bombing of Germany.
Royal Air Force
–
The
Handley Page Victor bomber was a
strategic bomber of the RAF's
V bomber force used to carry both conventional and
nuclear bombs.
8.
Sopwith Pup
–
The Sopwith Pup was a British single-seater biplane fighter aircraft built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It entered service with the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service in the autumn of 1916, with pleasant flying characteristics and good manoeuvrability, the aircraft proved very successful. The Pup was eventually outclassed by newer German fighters, but it was not completely replaced on the Western Front until the end of 1917, remaining Pups were relegated to Home Defence and training units. The Pups docile flying characteristics also made it ideal for use in aircraft carrier deck landing, in 1915, Sopwith produced a personal aircraft for the companys test pilot Harry Hawker, a single-seat, tractor biplane powered by a 50 hp Gnome rotary engine. This became known as Hawkers Runabout, another four aircraft have been tentatively identified as Sopwith Sparrows. Sopwith next developed a fighter that was heavily influenced by this design, though more powerful. The resulting aircraft was a single-bay, single-seat biplane with a fabric-covered, wooden framework and staggered, the cross-axle type main landing gear was supported by V-struts attached to the lower fuselage longerons. The prototype and most production Pups were powered by the 80 hp Le Rhône 9C rotary engine, armament was a single 0.303 inch Vickers machine gun synchronized with the Sopwith-Kauper synchronizer. A prototype was completed in February 1916 and sent to Upavon for testing in late March, the Royal Naval Air Service quickly ordered two more prototypes, then placed a production order. Sopwith was heavily engaged in production of the 1½ Strutter, the Royal Flying Corps also placed large orders for Pups. The RFC orders were undertaken by sub-contractors Standard Motor Co. deliveries did not commence until the beginning of 1917. A total of 1,770 Pups were built by Sopwith, Standard Motor Co. Whitehead Aircraft, in May 1916, the RNAS received its first Pups for operational trials with A Naval Squadron. The first RFC Squadron to re-equip with the Pup was No.54 Squadron, the Pup quickly proved its superiority over the early Fokker, Halberstadt and Albatros biplanes. After encountering the Pup in combat, Manfred von Richthofen said, the Pups light weight and generous wing area gave it a good rate of climb. Agility was enhanced by installing ailerons on both wings, the Pup had half the horsepower and armament of the German Albatros D. III, but was much more manoeuvrable, especially over 15,000 ft due to its low wing loading. Ace James McCudden stated that When it came to manoeuvring, the Sopwith would turn twice to an Albatros once and it was a remarkably fine machine for general all-round flying. It was so light and well surfaced that after a little practice one could almost land it on a tennis court. However, the Pup was also longitudinally unstable, at the peak of its operational deployment, the Pup equipped only four RNAS squadrons, and three RFC squadrons
Sopwith Pup
–
Sopwith Pup
Sopwith Pup
–
Sopwith Pup in flight (1917)
Sopwith Pup
–
Sopwith Pup side view
Sopwith Pup
–
Sqn Cdr E. H. Dunning attempting a landing on HMS Furious in a Sopwith Pup (August 1917)
9.
World War I
–
World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
World War I
–
Clockwise from the top: The aftermath of shelling during the
Battle of the Somme,
Mark V tanks cross the
Hindenburg Line,
HMS Irresistible sinks after hitting a
mine in the
Dardanelles, a British
Vickers machine gun crew wears
gas masks during the Battle of the Somme,
Albatros D.III fighters of
Jagdstaffel 11
World War I
–
Sarajevo citizens reading a poster with the proclamation of the
Austrian annexation in 1908.
World War I
–
This picture is usually associated with the arrest of
Gavrilo Princip, although some believe it depicts Ferdinand Behr, a bystander.
World War I
–
Serbian Army
Blériot XI "Oluj", 1915.
10.
Western Front (World War I)
–
The Western Front or Western Theater was the main theatre of war during World War I. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by invading Luxembourg and Belgium, the tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne. Following the Race to the Sea, both sides dug in along a line of fortified trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France. This line remained unchanged for most of the war. Between 1915 and 1917 there were several major offensives along this front, the attacks employed massive artillery bombardments and massed infantry advances. However, a combination of entrenchments, machine gun emplacements, barbed wire, as a result, no significant advances were made. In an effort to break the deadlock, this front saw the introduction of new technology, including poison gas, aircraft. But it was only after the adoption of improved tactics that some degree of mobility was restored, the German Armys Spring Offensive of 1918 was made possible by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that marked the end of the conflict on the Eastern Front. In spite of the stagnant nature of this front, this theatre would prove decisive. The terms of peace were agreed upon with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, belgiums neutrality was guaranteed by Britain under the 1839 Treaty of London, this caused Britain to join the war at the expiration of its ultimatum at 11 pm GMT on 4 August. Armies under German generals Alexander von Kluck and Karl von Bülow attacked Belgium on 4 August 1914, Luxembourg had been occupied without opposition on 2 August. The first battle in Belgium was the Siege of Liège, which lasted from 5–16 August, Liège was well fortified and surprised the German Army under von Bülow with its level of resistance. German heavy artillery was able to demolish the main forts within a few days. Following the fall of Liège, most of the Belgian field army retreated to Antwerp, leaving the garrison of Namur isolated, with the Belgian capital, Brussels, although the German army bypassed Antwerp, it remained a threat to their flank. Another siege followed at Namur, lasting from about 20–23 August, for their part, the French had five armies deployed on their borders. The pre-war French offensive plan, Plan XVII, was intended to capture Alsace-Lorraine following the outbreak of hostilities, on 7 August the VII Corps attacked Alsace with its objectives being to capture Mulhouse and Colmar. The main offensive was launched on 14 August with 1st and 2nd Armies attacking toward Sarrebourg-Morhange in Lorraine, in keeping with the Schlieffen Plan, the Germans withdrew slowly while inflicting severe losses upon the French. The French advanced the 3rd and 4th Armies toward the Saar River and attempted to capture Saarburg, attacking Briey and Neufchateau, before being driven back
Western Front (World War I)
–
A German trench occupied by
British troops near the Albert-Bapaume road at
Ovillers-La Boisselle, July 1916 during the
Battle of the Somme. The men are from A Company, 11th (Service) Battalion,
Cheshire Regiment. Photo by
Ernest Brooks.
Western Front (World War I)
–
French
bayonet charge
Western Front (World War I)
–
German infantry on the battlefield, 7 August 1914
Western Front (World War I)
–
Map of the Western Front, 1915–16
11.
Rotary engine
–
Its main application was in aviation, although it also saw use before its primary aviation role, in a few early motorcycles and automobiles. This type of engine was used as an alternative to conventional inline engines during World War I. It has been described as an efficient solution to the problems of power output, weight. The rotating mass of the engine also caused significant gyroscopic precession, depending on the type of aircraft, in the most common form, the crankshaft was fixed solidly to the airframe, and the propeller was simply bolted to the front of the crankcase. Improved cooling, when the engine was running the rotating crankcase/cylinder assembly created its own fast-moving cooling airflow, weight advantage, many conventional engines had to have heavy flywheels added to smooth out power impulses and reduce vibration. Rotary engines gained a substantial power-to-weight ratio advantage by having no need for an added flywheel, like radial engines, rotaries were generally built with an odd number of cylinders, so that a consistent every-other-piston firing order could be maintained, to provide smooth running. Rotary engines with an number of cylinders were mostly of the two row type. Rotary and radial engines look strikingly similar when they are not running and can easily be confused, unlike the rotary engine, however, radial engines use a conventional rotating crankshaft in a fixed engine block. The Musee de lAir in Paris has on display a special and it alternates between rotary and radial modes to demonstrate the difference between the internal motions of the two types of engine. It is often asserted that rotary engines had no carburetor and hence power could only be reduced by cutting the ignition using a blip switch. This was almost literally true of the Monosoupape type, which took most of the air into the cylinder through the exhaust valve, thus the richness of the mixture in the cylinder could not be controlled via the crankcase intake. The throttle of a monosoupape provided only a limited degree of speed regulation, as opening it made the mixture too rich. Early models featured a form of variable valve timing in an attempt to give greater control. Most rotaries however, had normal inlet valves, so that the fuel was taken into the already mixed with air - as in a normal four-stroke engine. The pilot needed to set the throttle to the desired setting, after starting the engine with a known setting that allowed it to idle, the air valve was opened until maximum engine speed was obtained. Throttling a running back to reduce revs was possible by closing off the fuel valve to the required position while re-adjusting the fuel/air mixture to suit. This process was also tricky, so that throttling back, especially when landing, was accomplished by intermittently cutting the ignition using the blip switch. Cutting cylinders using ignition switches had the drawback of letting fuel continue to pass through the engine, oiling up the spark plugs, also, the raw oil-fuel mix could collect in the cowling
Rotary engine
–
An 80 horsepower (60 kW) rated Le Rhône 9C, a typical rotary engine of WWI. The copper pipes carry the fuel-air mixture from the crankcase to the cylinder heads acting collectively as an
intake manifold.
Rotary engine
–
A Le Rhône 9C engine installed on a
Sopwith Pup fighter aircraft at the
Fleet Air Arm Museum. Note the narrowness of the mounting pedestal to the fixed crankshaft (2013)
Rotary engine
–
An 1897 Félix Millet motorcycle.
Rotary engine
–
An Adams-Farwell five cylinder rotary adapted for helicopter experimentation
12.
Synchronization gear
–
The idea presupposes a fixed armament directed by aiming the aircraft in which it is fitted at the target, rather than aiming the gun independently. However, the first practical gear to enter service was that fitted to the Eindecker monoplane fighters. The success of the Eindecker led to numerous gun synchronization devices, from 1918 to the mid-1930s the standard armament for a fighter aircraft remained two synchronized rifle calibre machine guns, firing forward through the propeller. During the late 1930s, however, the role of the fighter was increasingly seen as the destruction of large, all-metal bombers. There were in fact some advantages in dispensing with centrally mounted guns altogether, nevertheless, the conclusive redundancy of synchronization gears did not finally come until the introduction of jet propulsion and the absence of a propeller for guns to be synchronized with. From the beginnings of practical flight possible military uses for aircraft were considered, thus aerial combat was by no means entirely unanticipated, and the machine gun was from the first seen as the most likely weapon to be used. It is likely that an aircraft which is capable of shooting at a machine will have the advantage. The most suitable weapon is a light, air-cooled machine-gun, the idea of coupling the firing mechanism to the propellers rotation is an affectation. The objection is the same as to any gun position which is fixed along the axis of the aircraft. Under certain circumstances this is highly undesirable, a mechanism to enable an automatic weapon to fire between the blades of a whirling propeller is usually called an interrupter or synchronizer gear. Both these terms are more or less misleading, at least in so far as explaining what happens when the gear functions. The term interrupter implies that the gear pauses, or interrupts the fire of the gun at the point where one of the blades of the passes in front of its muzzle. The difficulty is that even the relatively slowly revolving propellers of First World War aircraft typically turned twice or even three times for each shot a contemporary machine gun could fire. A two-bladed propeller would therefore obstruct the gun six times every firing cycle of the gun, a four-bladed one twelve times. Another way of putting this is that a gun would have been blocked more than forty times every second. And yet, synchronization, in the sense of the word. Even if it were feasible to pick a point on an aircraft engines tachometer at which a machine guns cyclic rate would permit it to fire through the propeller – this would be very limiting. In practice it was found that it was necessary for the gun to be fired in semi-automatic mode, at each revolution of the propeller a firing impulse was transmitted to the gun, which effectively pulled the trigger, to fire a single shot
Synchronization gear
–
The synchronization gear of a
Messerschmitt Bf 109 E is adjusted (January 1941). A wooden disk attached to the propeller is used to indicate where each round passes through the propeller arc.
Synchronization gear
–
Drawing from Euler's 1910 patent for a fixed forward-firing machine gun
Synchronization gear
Synchronization gear
13.
Aircraft carrier
–
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the ship of a fleet, as it allows a naval force to project air power worldwide without depending on local bases for staging aircraft operations. Aircraft carriers are expensive to build and are critical assets, there is no single definition of an aircraft carrier, and modern navies use several variants of the type. These variants are sometimes categorized as sub-types of aircraft carriers, Aircraft carriers may be classified according to the type of aircraft they carry and their operational assignments. Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, former head of the Royal Navy, has said, To put it simply, as of April 2017, there are 37 active aircraft carriers in the world within twelve navies. The United States Navy has 10 large nuclear-powered fleet carriers, the largest carriers in the world, the Royal Navy of Great Britain is building two 280-m / 920-ft carriers, the Queen Elizabeth, and the Prince of Wales scheduled to go into service in 2020-2023. These are the largest carriers capable of fast speeds, by comparison, escort carriers were developed to provide defense for convoys of ships. They were smaller and slower with lower numbers of aircraft carried, most were built from mercantile hulls or, in the case of merchant aircraft carriers, were bulk cargo ships with a flight deck added on top. Light aircraft carriers were fast enough to operate with the main fleet, three nations currently operate carriers of this type, ten by the United States, and one each by France and Brazil for a total of twelve in service. Short take-off but arrested-recovery, these carriers are generally limited to carrying lighter fixed-wing aircraft with more limited payloads, currently, Russia, China, and India possess commissioned carriers of this type. Short take-off vertical-landing, limited to carrying STOVL aircraft and this type of aircraft carrier is currently in service with Italy. Some also count the nine US amphibious assault ships in their secondary light carrier role boosting the total to thirteen. Helicopter carrier, Helicopter carriers have an appearance to other aircraft carriers. Some are designed for addition of, or may include, a ski jump ramp allowing for STOVL operations or may have a ski jump installed before retirement of STOVL aircraft. In the past, some conventional carriers were converted and called commando carriers by the Royal Navy, some helicopter carriers with a resistant flight surface can operate STOVL jets. Currently the majority of carriers, but not all, are classified as amphibious assault ships. The US has nine of this type, France and Japan three, Australia two, the UK one, the Republic of Korea one and Spain one, the US and Spains amphibious assault ships operate STOVL jets in normal deployment. Supercarrier Fleet carrier Light aircraft carrier Escort carrier Several systems of identification symbol for aircraft carriers, two months later, on 18 January 1911, Ely landed his Curtiss pusher airplane on a platform on the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania anchored in San Francisco Bay
Aircraft carrier
–
Four modern aircraft carriers of various types—
USS John C. Stennis,
Charles de Gaulle,
USS John F. Kennedy, helicopter carrier
HMS Ocean —and escort vessels.
Aircraft carrier
–
From bottom to top: Spanish light
V/STOL carrier
Príncipe de Asturias,
amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, fleet carrier
USS Forrestal, and light V/STOL carrier
HMS Invincible, showing size differences of late 20th century carriers
Aircraft carrier
–
Brazilian aircraft carrier
NAe São Paulo, foreground, and U.S. Navy carrier
USS Ronald Reagan during a combined training exercise
Aircraft carrier
–
USS Enterprise a
supercarrier of the
US Navy (left), sails alongside
Charles de Gaulle, a
fleet carrier of the
French Navy (right) both of which have the
CATOBAR configuration.
14.
Harry Cobby
–
Air Commodore Arthur Henry Cobby, CBE, DSO, DFC & Two Bars, GM was an Australian military aviator. He was the fighter ace of the Australian Flying Corps during World War I, with 29 victories. Born and educated in Melbourne, Cobby was a clerk when war broke out. After completing flight training in England, he served on the Western Front with No.4 Squadron AFC and his achievements as a fighter pilot were recognised with the Distinguished Service Order, the Distinguished Flying Cross and two bars, and a mention in despatches. Acclaimed a national hero, Cobby transferred to the newly formed Royal Australian Air Force in 1921 and he left the Permanent Air Force in 1936 to join the Civil Aviation Board, but remained in the RAAF reserve. Re-joining the PAF at the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Cobby held senior posts including Director of Recruiting, in 1943, he was awarded the George Medal for rescuing fellow survivors of an aircraft crash. He was appointed Air Officer Commanding No.10 Operational Group the following year, retiring from the Air Force in 1946, Cobby served with the Department of Civil Aviation until his death on Armistice Day in 1955. Arthur Henry Cobby was born in the Melbourne suburb of Prahran to Arthur Edward Stanley Cobby, a tram conductor, and his wife Alice. Known as Harry, the young Cobby completed his education at University College, Armadale, before being commissioned into the 46th Infantry. He later transferred to the 47th Infantry and he eventually managed to join the Australian Flying Corps on 23 December 1916, despite a professed lack of interest in flying. He became a member of No.4 Squadron AFC. No.4 Squadron arrived in England in March 1917 to undergo training in preparation for service on the Western Front, equipped with Sopwith Camels, the unit was sent to France in December. Cobby later admitted to being so nervous about the prospect of going into battle that if anything could have been done by me to delay that hour, when he did see combat against the German Luftstreitkräfte for the first time, he had only twelve hours solo flying experience. Cobby claimed a victory, over a DFW reconnaissance plane, in February 1918. Based in the Pas-de-Calais area, No.4 Squadron supported Allied forces during the German Spring Offensive that commenced the following month, Cobbys aerial opponents included members of Baron von Richthofens Flying Circus. On 21 March he shot two of the formations Albatros D. Vs, which were confirmed as his first official victories. Having proved himself a talented and aggressive pilot, Cobbys leadership abilities were recognised with his appointment as a commander on 14 May 1918. Described as an imp of mischief, he personalised his Sopwith Camel by fitting it with aluminium cutouts of comic actor Charlie Chaplin
Harry Cobby
–
Captain Harry Cobby in 1919
Harry Cobby
–
Captain Cobby (centre) with officers of A Flight, No. 4 Squadron AFC, and their Sopwith Camels on the Western Front, June 1918
Harry Cobby
–
View of an AFC Camel through the cockpit of another Camel on the Western Front, June 1918
Harry Cobby
–
Cobby in his Sopwith Camel while instructing in England, c. 1918–19. He organised the high-visibility check paint pattern himself, "not for conceit, but for safety".
15.
Albatros D.III
–
The Albatros D. III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service during World War I. A modified licence model was built by Oeffag for the Austro-Hungarian Air Service and it was the preeminent fighter during the period of German aerial dominance known as Bloody April 1917. Development of the prototype D. III started in late July or early August 1916, the date of the maiden flight is unknown, but is believed to have occurred in late August or early September. Following the successful Albatros D. I and D. II series, however, at the request of the Idflieg, the D. III adopted a sesquiplane wing arrangement broadly similar to the French Nieuport 11. The upper wingspan was extended, while the wing was redesigned with reduced chord. V shaped interplane struts replaced the previous parallel struts, for this reason, British aircrews commonly referred to the D. III as the V-strutter. After a Typenprüfung on 26 September 1916, Albatros received an order for 400 D. III aircraft, Idflieg placed additional orders for 50 aircraft in February and March 1917. The D. III entered squadron service in December 1916, and was acclaimed by German aircrews for its maneuverability. Two faults with the new aircraft were soon identified, like the D. II, early D. IIIs featured a Teves und Braun airfoil-shaped radiator in the center of the upper wing, where it tended to scald the pilot if punctured. From the 290th D. III onward, the radiator was offset to the right on production machines while others were moved to the right as a field modification. Aircraft deployed in Palestine used two wing radiators, to cope with the warmer climate, more seriously, the new aircraft immediately began experiencing failures of the lower wing ribs and leading edge, a defect shared with the Nieuport 17. On 23 January 1917, a Jasta 6 pilot suffered a failure of the right wing spar. On the following day, Manfred von Richthofen suffered a crack in the wing of his new D. III. On 27 January, the Kogenluft issued an order grounding all D. IIIs pending resolution of the wing failure problem, on 19 February, after Albatros introduced a reinforced lower wing, the Kogenluft rescinded the grounding order. At the time, the wing failures were attributed to poor workmanship. In fact, the cause of the failures lay in the sesquiplane arrangement taken from the Nieuport. While the lower wing had sufficient strength in static tests, it was determined that the main spar was located too far aft. Pilots were therefore advised not to perform steep or prolonged dives in the D. III and this design flaw persisted despite attempts to rectify the problem in the D. III and succeeding D. V
Albatros D.III
–
Albatros D.III
Albatros D.III
–
Ernst Udet in front of his Albatros D.III (serial D.1941/16)
Albatros D.III
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Albatros D.III fighters of Jasta 11 at Douai, France. The second closest aircraft was one of several flown by
Manfred von Richthofen
Albatros D.III
–
Albatros D.III (Oeffag) series 153, with spinner removed
16.
Nieuport 17
–
The Nieuport 17 C.1 was a World War I French sesquiplane fighter designed by the Nieuport company. The Nieuport 17 was a larger development of the earlier Nieuport 11, trimmed for the heavier powerplant used by the Nieuport 16 and with a larger wings. It was at first fitted with a 110 hp Le Rhône 9J engine, some aircraft, particularly French, were fitted with both guns but a single machine gun was most common. Rear spar packing pieces were also redesigned, in service use, they were operated by both French and British squadrons alongside Nieuport 17s until replaced by Nieuport 24s. Two triplanes based on the Nieuport 17 were built, one for testing by the French, the narrow chord wings were staggered in an unusual manner, with the middle wing furthest forward and the top wing furthest aft. No orders resulted, although Nieuport trialed the same layout on a Nieuport 17bis which was tested by the British as well, both types had good climbing characteristics but were tail heavy. The narrow, single-spar lower wing which made the Nieuport 17 a sesquiplane, several Nieuport fighters did indeed suffer catastrophic lower wings failure, especially during recovery from a prolonged dive. Several Berliner Helicopters were built around Nieuport 23 fuselages including the 1922 and 1923 versions, the new type reached the French front in March 1916 and quickly replaced the earlier Nieuport 11 and 16 fighters in French service that had been instrumental in ending the Fokker Scourge of 1915. The Nieuport 17 entered service with Escadrille N.57 on May 2,1916, the type was also used by American volunteers of the Escadrille Lafayette when they replaced their earlier Nieuport 11s and 16s. During the latter part of 1916 and into 1917 the Nieuport 17 equipped every fighter squadron of the Aéronautique Militaire, charles Nungesser scored most of his victories while flying Nieuports. It was also ordered by the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service, the RFC in particular still had large numbers of obsolete Airco DH. 2s in service nearly a year later when it incurred severe losses during Bloody April. While the majority of aircraft lost were obsolete aircraft such as the Royal Aircraft Factory B. E.2. British squadrons that used the type include Nos 1,29,32,40 and 60 of the Royal Flying Corps, during the Battle of Arras much use was made of British Nieuports in balloon-busting attacks to prevent enemy artillery spotting. By mid-1917, the Nieuport was losing its superiority over German types such as the new Albatros D. III, the British retained their Nieuports until early 1918. Mick Mannock VC flew Nieuports early in his career with No 40 Squadron and his VC award reflected his whole combat career - including his time on Nieuports. The top-scoring Nieuport ace was Captain Phillip Fletcher Fullard of No.1 Squadron RFC, italian aces such as Francesco Baracca, Silvio Scaroni and Pier Piccio all achieved victories while flying Nieuport fighters. In Belgium the 1st and 5th Belgian escadrilles were equipped with the Nieuport 17, Belgian aces flying the type included Andre de Meulemeester, Edmond Thieffry and Jan Olieslagers. Imperial Russian forces operated large numbers of Nieuports of all types including the Nieuport 17,21 and 23, Russian Nieuport aces include Alexander Kazakov
Nieuport 17
–
Nieuport 17
Nieuport 17
–
Alkan-Hamy gear in Nieuport 17
Nieuport 17
–
Russian Nieuport 21 equipped with non-standard
Hotchkiss M1909 machine gun
Nieuport 17
–
Nieuport 17 triplane undergoing evaluation
17.
Aircraft fairing
–
An aircraft fairing is a structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline and reduce drag. These structures are covers for gaps and spaces between parts of an aircraft to form drag and interference drag, and to improve appearance. On aircraft, fairings are commonly found on, Cockpit fairing Also called a cockpit pod, commonly made from fiberglass, it may also incorporate a windshield. Elevator and horizontal stabilizer tips Elevator and stabilizer tips fairings smooth out airflow at the tips, the inlet and the nozzle in combination lead to an isotropic speed reduction around the cooling fins and due to the speed-squared law to a reduction in cooling drag. Fin and rudder tips fairings reduce drag at low angles of attack, fillets smooth the airflow at the junction between two components like fuselage and wing, or fuselage and fin. Fixed landing gear junctions Landing gear fairings reduce drag at these junctions, flap track fairings Most jet airliners have a cruising speed between Mach 0.8 and 0.85. For aircraft operating in the regime, wave drag can be minimized by having a cross-sectional area which changes smoothly along the length of the aircraft. This is known as the area rule, on subsonic aircraft such as jet airliners, this can be achieved by the addition of smooth pods on the trailing edges of the wings. These pods are known as anti-shock bodies, Küchemann Carrots, or flap track fairings, spinner To cover and streamline the propeller hub. Strut-to-wing and strut-to-fuselage junctions Strut end fairings reduce drag at these junctions, Tail cones Tail cones reduce the form drag of the fuselage, by recovering the pressure behind it. For the design speed they add no friction drag, Wing root Wing roots are often faired to reduce interference drag between the wing and the fuselage. On top and below the wing it consists of small rounded edge to reduce the surface, Wing tips Wing tips are often formed as complex shapes to reduce vortex generation and so also drag, especially at low speed. Wheels on fixed gear aircraft Wheel fairings are often called wheel pants, speed fairings or, in the UK and they also have the important function of preventing mud and stones from being thrown upwards against the wings or fuselage, or into the propeller on a pusher craft. Bicycle fairing Motorcycle fairing Payload fairing
Aircraft fairing
–
The wing root of a simple aircraft, an
American Aviation AA-1 Yankee, showing a wing root fairing.
Aircraft fairing
–
A cockpit fairing or "pod" with a windshield on a
P&M GT450 ultralight trike.
Aircraft fairing
–
Spats on a
Cessna Skylane 182T
Aircraft fairing
–
Dorsal fillets between fuselage and fin on Fokker Fk.28s
18.
Harry Hawker
–
Harry George Hawker MBE, AFC was an Australian aviation pioneer. He was the chief test pilot for Sopwith and was involved in the design of many of their aircraft. After World War One he co-founded Hawker Aircraft, the firm that would later be responsible for a series of successful military aircraft. He died on 12 July 1921 when the aircraft he was to fly in the Aerial Derby crashed at Hendon Aerodrome, Hawker was born on 22 January 1889 at Moorabbin, Victoria in Australia, the second son of George Hawker, a blacksmith, and Mary Ann Gilliard Anderson. In 1907, he moved again to become the chauffeur and mechanic for Ernest De Little in Caramut, on 14 November 1917 Hawker married Muriel Alice Peaty at St Peters Church, Ealing. In England Hawker obtained a job with the Commer Car Company, moving to the Mercedes company in January 1912 and then to Austro Daimler. During this time he spent much of his time at Brooklands, then the hub of British aviation. He soon persuaded Sopwith to teach him to fly, and succeeded in making his first solo flight after only three lessons. He was awarded his pilots licence, No.297, in September 1912 and shortly afterwards, on 24 October and he also appears to have been the first person to perform an intentional spin and recovery. In 1914 demonstrating one method to return to level flight from this unusual attitude, because spins had killed several pilots, this was a major advance in aviation safety. Having established his name as an aviator, he became chief test pilot for Tom Sopwith, at Sopwiths in 1916, Hawker had the personal use of a small aircraft, the Sopwith Bee. He was also a competitor in motor car and motorcycle races at Brooklands before. Among his competitive achievements were winning the and an altitude record and he also won a £1,000 consolation prize in the Daily Mail Circuit of Britain Waterplane Race on 25 August 1913. In 1914, Harry Hawker returned to Australia to demonstrate the advanced Sopwith Tabloid, a wild crowd nearly wrecked the plane on one occasion, and he further damaged it during stunt flying. On his return to England he continued designing and testing aircraft with Sopwith throughout the First World War. After the war, together with navigator Kenneth Mackenzie Grieve, he attempted to win the Daily Mail £10,000 prize for the first flight across the Atlantic in 72 consecutive hours. On 18 May 1919, they set off from Mount Pearl, Newfoundland, the Mary did not have a functioning radio, so that it was not until six days later, when the steamer reached Butt of Lewis, Scotland, that word was received that they were safe. Hawker and Grieve were awarded a prize of £5,000 by the Daily Mail
Harry Hawker
–
Hawker in May 1919
19.
Brooklands
–
Brooklands was a 2. 75-mile motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the worlds first purpose-built motor racing circuit as well as one of Britains first airfields, the Brooklands motor circuit was the brainchild of Hugh F. Locke King, and was the first purpose-built banked motor race circuit in the world. Apparently drawing inspiration from the development at Brooklands, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was built soon afterwards, requirements of speed and spectator visibility led to the Brooklands track being built as a 100 ft wide,2.75 miles long, banked oval. The banking was nearly 30 feet high in places, in addition to the oval, a bisecting Finishing Straight was built, increasing the track length to 3.25 miles, of which 1.25 miles was banked. It could host up to 287,000 spectators in its heyday, owing to the complications of laying tarmacadam on banking, and the expense of laying asphalt, the track was built in uncoated concrete. This led in later years to a bumpy ride, as the surface suffered differential settlement over time. Along the centre of the track ran a black line. By driving over the line, a driver could take the banked corners without having to use the steering wheel. The Brooklands Mountain Circuit was a section of the track giving a lap 1¼ miles long, running from the Fork to the rear of Members Hill. It was created in 1930 using movable barriers, on 28–29 June 1907, eleven days after the circuit opened, it played host to the worlds first 24-hour motor event, with Selwyn Edge leading three specially converted Napier cars around the circuit. A statement of intent had been made in 1906, and Selwyn Edge entered into a training program to prepare for the event. His car,804 was extensively modified, having a fuel tank, bodywork removed. Over 300 red railway lamps were used to light the track during the night, flares were used to mark the upper boundary of the track. Edge drove his car for the duration, with the drivers of the other two cars taking the more familiar shift approach. During the event Edge covered a distance of 1,581.74 mi at an speed of 65.91 mph. Women were not allowed to compete for several years, edges leading driver, was refused entry despite having been the first English-woman to compete in a motor race in 1903, and holding the Ladies World Land Speed Record. Edge completed 2,545 km at an average 106.06 km/h, the first standard race meeting would be held the next week, on 6 July. George E. Stanley broke the record at Brooklands race track on a Singer motorcycle in 1912
Brooklands
–
A 1937 poster.
Brooklands
–
Brooklands
Brooklands
–
Count Zborowski with
Chitty Bang Bang 1 at Brooklands, 1921.
Brooklands
–
Brooklands Aero-Club car badge
20.
Weybridge
–
Weybridge /ˈweɪbrɪdʒ/ is a town by the River Wey in the Elmbridge district of Surrey. It is bounded to the north by the River Thames at the mouth of the Wey and it is an outlying suburban town within the Greater London Urban Area, situated 7 miles northeast of Woking and 16 miles southwest of central London. Real estate prices are well above the average, as of 2008. Within the post town, rather than Weybridges other boundaries is Oatlands or Oatlands Village, Weybridge lay within the Elmbridge hundred. Its domesday assets were,6 hides, 1½ ploughs,32 acres of meadow and it rendered £4 per year to it feudal system overlords. It was much smaller than todays post town, and about one quarter of the size of neighbouring Walton. The earliest monuments on the wall of St Jamess C of E Church are 15th century plaques. When it was demolished in 1650, bricks from its walls helped to line the then new Wey Navigation canal, in 1571 commissioners were appointed to report on the condition of the bridge across the Wey. It was accordingly ordered that a new bridge – a horse-bridge like the last – should be built, wood being used for its construction, the expense was to be borne by the queen, as the land on either side belonged to her. St. Georges Hill was the site of the Diggers Commune in the 1640s, the Duchess is buried in St. Jamess Churchyard. In the 19th century Oatlands broke away from the parish of Walton on Thames to become a village in its own right, influenced by the secondary manor of Weybridge, the forerunner of Oatlands Palace, the post town adopted Oatlands as its only village in the 19th century. The entomologist, Horace Donisthorpe, visited Weybridge Heath to investigate the ant colony, Weybridge grew into a commuter town with the advent of the fast train link into London Waterloo and a lot of new houses have been built around the Oatlands Park and Broadwater Lake area. Weybridge railway station was opened by the London and Southampton Railway in 1838, after the station was opened, development of what was until then only a village began and gradually Weybridge became a town. Large houses were built on St Georges Hill from 1911 by local builder and developer Walter George Tarrant of Byfleet, in Weybridge Heath, many rare species of insects, rare birds and insectivorous plant have been recorded. The heath was allowed to become overgrown in recent years. Weybridge is the British headquarters of Alliance Boots, CHEP UK, Sony Corporation, Procter & Gamble, JTI, Abbey Business Centres also have a presence in the town. Eurotax Glass, owners and publishers of Glasss Guide, pricing bible to the motor industry, in addition, retailing also forms part of the local economy, and a range of retailers are represented in the town centre. In H. G. Wells classic novel The War of the Worlds, the title of chapter 12 of the book is, What I saw of the destruction of Weybridge and Shepperton
Weybridge
–
Georgian Weybridge
Weybridge
–
Weybridge Heath, showing scrub clearance area
Weybridge
–
High Street, Weybridge. Edwardian terrace (1904) of flats and offices above street level shops. The busy street funnels traffic to the bridge across the Wey. In the distance is the spire of the parish church, St James.
Weybridge
–
St Georges College
21.
Surrey
–
Surrey is a county in the south east of England. It shares borders with Kent to the east, East Sussex to the south-east, West Sussex to the south, Hampshire to the west and south-west, Surrey County Council sits extraterritorially at Kingston upon Thames, administered as part of Greater London since 1965. With a resident population of 1.1 million, Surrey is the most densely populated and third most populated county in the South East region, after Kent, the London boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth, and parts of Lewisham and Bromley were in Surrey until 1889. The boroughs of Croydon, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Sutton and Richmond upon Thames south of the River Thames were part of Surrey until 1965, when they too were absorbed into Greater London. In the same year, the county was extended north of the Thames by the addition of Spelthorne, due to this expansion, modern Surrey also borders on the London boroughs of Hounslow and Hillingdon. It has the highest GDP per capita of any English county, Surrey is divided in two by the chalk ridge of the North Downs, running east-west. To the north of the Downs the land is mostly flat, the geology of this area is dominated by London Clay in the east, Bagshot Sands in the west and alluvial deposits along the rivers. Much of Surrey is in the Metropolitan Green Belt and it contains a good deal of mature woodland. Among its many notable beauty spots are Box Hill, Leith Hill, Frensham Ponds, Newlands Corner and Puttenham & Crooksbury Commons. Surrey is the most wooded county in England, with 22. 4% coverage compared to an average of 11. 8%. Box Hill has the oldest untouched area of woodland in the UK. Surrey also contains Englands principal concentration of lowland heath, on soils in the west of the county. Agriculture not being intensive, there are many commons and access lands, together with a network of footpaths and bridleways including the North Downs Way. Accordingly, Surrey provides much in the way of leisure activities. The highest elevation in Surrey is Leith Hill near Dorking and it is either 293,294 or 295 metres above sea level and is the second highest point in southeastern England after Walbury Hill 297 metres in West Berkshire. Surrey has a population of approximately 1.1 million people and its largest town is Guildford, with a population of 66,773, Woking comes a close second with 62,796. They are followed by Ewell with 39,994 people and Camberley with 30,155, towns of between 25,000 and 30,000 inhabitants are Ashford, Epsom, Farnham, Staines and Redhill. Guildford is the county town, although the county administration was moved to Newington in 1791
Surrey
–
Box Hill
Surrey
–
Flag
Surrey
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Leith Hill Tower
Surrey
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The Roman
Stane or Stone Street runs through Surrey
22.
War Office
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The name War Office is also given to the former home of the department, the War Office building located at the junction of Horse Guards Avenue and Whitehall in central London. During August 2013 it was announced that the former War Office building would be sold on the open market. The War Office developed from the Council of War, an ad hoc grouping of the King and his military commanders which managed the Kingdom of Englands frequent wars. It was equivalent to the Admiralty, responsible for the Royal Navy, and the Air Ministry, the department had several London homes until it settled at Horse Guards in Whitehall during 1722, where it was to remain until 1858. The first War Office Secretary at War is usually said to have been William Blathwayt and it was, however, a fairly minor government job which dealt with the minutiae of administration rather than grand strategy. Issues of strategic policy during wartime were managed by the Northern and Southern Departments, from 1704 to 1855, the job of Secretary was possessed by a minister of the second rank, although he was occasionally part of the Cabinet. Many of his responsibilities were transferred to the Secretary of State for War after the creation of more senior post during 1794. The job of Secretary at War was merged with that of the Secretary of State for War during 1855, during 1855 the Board of Ordnance was abolished as a result of its perceived poor performance during the Crimean War. This powerful independent body, dating from the 15th century, had directed by the Master-General of the Ordnance. The disastrous campaigns of the Crimean War resulted in the consolidation of all duties during 1855 as subordinate to the Secretary of State for War. He was not, however, solely responsible for the Army and this was reduced in theory by the reforms introduced by Edward Cardwell during 1870, which subordinated the Commander-in-Chief to the Secretary for War. His resistance to reform caused military efficiency to lag well behind that of Britains rivals, the management of the War Office was hampered by persistent disputes between the civilian and military parts of the organisation. The government of H. H. Asquith attempted to resolve this during the First World War by appointing Lord Kitchener as Secretary for War, making him the first, however, this was thought unsatisfactory, during his tenure, the Imperial General Staff was virtually dismantled. Its role was replaced effectively by the Committee of Imperial Defence, the War Office decreased greatly in importance after the First World War, a fact illustrated by the drastic reductions of its staff numbers during the inter-war period. On 1 April 1920, it employed 7,434 civilian staff and its responsibilities and funding were also reduced. During 1936, the government of Stanley Baldwin appointed a Minister for Co-ordination of Defence, when Winston Churchill became Prime Minister during 1940, he bypassed the War Office altogether and appointed himself Minister of Defence. Clement Attlee continued this arrangement when he came to power during 1945, during 1964, the present form of the Ministry of Defence was established, unifying the War Office, Admiralty, and Air Ministry. The records of the War Office are kept by The National Archives with the code WO and it contains about 1,000 rooms across seven floors, linked by 2½ miles of corridors
War Office
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The former War Office building pictured from
Whitehall.
War Office
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View of the former War Office building looking south along Whitehall
23.
0.303 British
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The.303 British or 7. 7×56mmR, is a. 303-inch calibre rimmed rifle cartridge first developed in Britain as a black-powder round put into service in December 1888 for the Lee–Metford rifle. In 1891 the cartridge was adapted to use smokeless powder and it was the standard British and Commonwealth military cartridge from 1889 until the 1950s when it was replaced by the 7. 62×51mm NATO. The.303 British has 3.64 ml cartridge case capacity, americans would define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 ≈17 degrees. The common rifling twist rate for this cartridge is 254 mm,5 grooves, Ø lands =7.70 millimetres, Ø grooves =7.92 millimetres, land width =2.12 millimetres and the primer type is Berdan or Boxer. Rulings the.303 British can handle up to 365.00 MPa Pmax piezo pressure, regulated countries every rifle cartridge combo has to be proofed at 125% of this maximum C. I. P. pressure to certify for sale to consumers. This means that.303 British chambered arms in C. I. P, regulated countries are currently proof tested at 456.00 MPa PE piezo pressure. The SAAMI Maximum Average Pressure for this cartridge is 49,000 psi piezo pressure, the measurement. 303-inch is the nominal size of the bore measured between the lands which follows the older black powder nomenclature. Measured between the grooves, the size of the bore is. 311-inch. Bores for many.303 military surplus rifles are found ranging from around. 309-inch up to. 318-inch. Recommended bullet diameter for standard.303 British cartridges is. 312-inch, the bolt thrust of the.303 British is relatively low compared to many other service rounds used in the early 20th century. The original.303 British service cartridge employed black powder as a propellant, and was adopted for the Lee–Metford rifle, ballistite was a stick-type smokeless powder composed of soluble nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine. Unlike Cordite, Riflelite was a powder, and contained no nitroglycerine. After extensive testing, the Committee on Explosives selected Cordite for use in the Mark II.303 British service cartridge, the initial.303 Mark I and Mk II service cartridges employed a 215-grain, round-nosed, copper-nickel full-metal-jacketed bullet with a lead core. After tests determined that the bullet had too thin a jacket when used with cordite. This led to the introduction of the Cartridge S. A. Ball.303 inch Cordite Mark III, similar hollow-point bullets were used in the Mk IV and Mk V loadings, which were put into mass production. The design of the Mk IV hollow-point bullet shifted bullet weight rearwards, improving stability, the remaining stocks were used for target practice. The concern about expanding bullets was brought up at the 1899 Hague Convention by Swiss, the British and American defense was that they should not focus on specific bullet designs, like hollow-points, but instead on rounds that caused superfluous injury. The parties in the end agreed to abstain from using expanding bullets, as a result, the Mark III and other expanding versions of the.303 were not issued during the Second Boer War
0.303 British
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Left to right:.303 British,
6.5×50mmSR Arisaka and
.30-06 Springfield soft point ammunition
0.303 British
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.303 British (7.7×56mm Rimmed)
0.303 British
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Longitudinal section of Mk VI ammunition 1904, showing the round nose bullet
0.303 British
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Longitudinal section of Mk VII ammunition circa 1915, showing the "tail heavy" design
24.
Vickers machine gun
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The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a name primarily used to refer to the water-cooled.303 British machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The machine gun typically required a six to eight-man team to operate, one fired, one fed the ammunition and it was in service from before the First World War until the 1960s, with air-cooled versions of it on many Allied World War I fighter aircraft. The weapon had a reputation for solidity and reliability. Using 100 barrels, they fired a million rounds without a failure and it was this absolute foolproof reliability which endeared the Vickers to every British soldier who ever fired one. The Vickers machine gun was based on the successful Maxim gun of the late 19th century, a muzzle booster was also added. The British Army formally adopted the Vickers gun as its machine gun on 26 November 1912. There were still great shortages when the First World War began, Vickers was, in fact, threatened with prosecution for war profiteering, due to the exorbitant price it was demanding for each gun. As a result, the price was slashed, as the war progressed, and numbers increased, it became the British Armys primary machine gun, and served on all fronts during the conflict. After the First World War, the Machine Gun Corps was disbanded, however, the Vickers remained in service with the British Army until 30 March 1968. Its last operational use was in the Radfan during the Aden Emergency and its successor in UK service is the L7 GPMG. In 1913, a Vickers machine gun was mounted on the experimental Vickers E. F. B.1 biplane, which was probably the worlds first purpose-built combat aeroplane. However, by the time the version, the Vickers F. B.5, had entered service the following year. During World War I, the Vickers gun became a weapon on British and French military aircraft. Although heavier than the Lewis, its closed bolt firing cycle made it easier to synchronize to allow it to fire through aircraft propellers. The belt feed was enclosed right up to the guns feed-way to inhibit effects from wind, steel disintegrating-link ammunition belts were perfected in the UK by William de Courcy Prideaux in mid-war and became standard for aircraft guns thereafter. The famous Sopwith Camel and the SPAD XIII types used twin synchronized Vickers, as did most British and French fighters between 1918 and the mid-1930s. Several sets of louvred slots were cut into the jacket to aid air cooling. The Gloster Gladiator was the last RAF fighter to be armed with the Vickers, the Fairey Swordfish continued to be fitted with the weapon until production ended in August 1944
Vickers machine gun
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A Vickers machine gun crew in action at the
Battle of the Menin Road Ridge, September 1917
Vickers machine gun
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The cockpit of a
Bristol Scout biplane in 1916, showing a Vickers machine gun synchronised to fire through the propeller by an early Vickers-Challenger
interrupter gear.
Vickers machine gun
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Rimmed, centrefire Mk 7
.303 inch cartridge from World War II.
Vickers machine gun
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Clinometer for Vickers.303 machine gun
25.
Machine gun
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A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm designed to fire bullets in quick succession from an ammunition belt or magazine, typically at a rate of 300 to 1800 rounds per minute. Note that not all fully automatic firearms are machine guns, submachine guns, rifles, assault rifles, shotguns, pistols or cannons may be capable of fully automatic fire, but are not designed for sustained fire. Many machine guns also use belt feeding and open bolt operation, unlike semi-automatic firearms, which require one trigger pull per round fired, a machine gun is designed to fire for as long as the trigger is held down. Nowadays the term is restricted to heavy weapons, able to provide continuous or frequent bursts of automatic fire for as long as ammunition lasts. Machine guns are used against personnel, aircraft and light vehicles, or to provide suppressive fire. Some machine guns have in practice sustained fire almost continuously for hours, because they become very hot, practically all machine guns fire from an open bolt, to permit air cooling from the breech between bursts. They also usually have either a barrel cooling system, slow-heating heavyweight barrel, although subdivided into light, medium, heavy or general-purpose, even the lightest machine guns tend to be substantially larger and heavier than standard infantry arms. Medium and heavy guns are either mounted on a tripod or on a vehicle, when carried on foot. Medium machine guns use full-sized rifle rounds and are designed to be used from fixed positions mounted on a tripod. 50in, the M249 automatic rifle is operated by an automatic rifleman, but its ammunition may be carried by other Soldiers within the squad or unit. The M249 machine gun is a crew-served weapon, Machine guns usually have simple iron sights, though the use of optics is becoming more common. Many heavy machine guns, such as the Browning M2.50 caliber machine gun, are enough to engage targets at great distances. During the Vietnam War, Carlos Hathcock set the record for a shot at 7382 ft with a.50 caliber heavy machine gun he had equipped with a telescopic sight. This led to the introduction of.50 caliber anti-materiel sniper rifles, selective fire rifles firing a full-power rifle cartridge from a closed bolt are called automatic rifles or battle rifles, while rifles that fire an intermediate cartridge are called assault rifles. Unlocking and removing the spent case from the chamber and ejecting it out of the weapon as bolt is moving rearward Loading the next round into the firing chamber. Usually the recoil spring tension pushes bolt back into battery and a cam strips the new round from a feeding device, cycle is repeated as long as the trigger is activated by operator. Releasing the trigger resets the trigger mechanism by engaging a sear so the weapon stops firing with bolt carrier fully at the rear, the operation is basically the same for all autoloading firearms, regardless of the means of activating these mechanisms. Most modern machine guns use gas-operated reloading, a recoil actuated machine gun uses the recoil to first unlock and then operate the action. Machine guns such as the M2 Browning and MG42, are of this type, a cam, lever or actuator demultiplicates the energy of the recoil to operate the bolt
Machine gun
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A
.50 caliber M2 machine gun:
John Browning 's design has been one of the longest serving and most successful machine gun designs
Machine gun
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Top:
IMI Negev (light machine gun). Bottom:
FN MAG (general purpose machine gun).
Machine gun
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Czechoslovak 7.62 mm
Universal Machine gun Model 1959.
Machine gun
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A
Mitsubishi Type 73 Light Truck Shīn with a
Sumitomo M2 heavy machine gun mounted at the rear with foliage used to camouflage the vehicle from sight. This was on public display at Camp Narashino.
26.
Aerial bomb
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An aerial bomb is a type of explosive weapon intended to travel through the air with predictable trajectories, usually designed to be dropped from an aircraft. The act is termed aerial bombing, the first bombs delivered to their targets by air were launched on unmanned balloons, carrying a single bomb, by the Austrians against Venice in 1849. The first bombs dropped from an aircraft were grenades or grenade-like devices. Historically, the first use was by Giulio Gavotti on 1 November 1911, 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, after a number of tests, Petrov created the final design, with improved aerodynamics, an X-shaped tail, and an impact detonator. This version was used by the Bulgarian Air Force during the siege of Edirne. A copy of the plans was later sold to Germany and the bomb, codenamed Chataldzha, the weight of one of these bombs was 6 kilograms. On impact it created a crater 4-5 meters wide and about 1 meter deep, aerial bombs typically use a contact fuze to detonate the bomb upon impact. Aerial bombing of cities Area bombardment Bomber Explosive weapons Strategic bombing Tactical bombing Types of aerial bomb
Aerial bomb
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A British Cooper 20
pound bomb used during
WWI
Aerial bomb
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German
WWII bombs:
explosive to left, rest
concrete practice bombs (250
kg and 50 kg)
Aerial bomb
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Albatros F-2, the first aircraft used as a bomber
Aerial bomb
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Royal Air Force "
Grand Slam " bomb, early 1945
27.
Dihedral (aircraft)
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Dihedral angle is the upward angle from horizontal of the wings or tailplane of a fixed-wing aircraft. Anhedral angle is the given to negative dihedral angle, that is. Dihedral angle has an influence on dihedral effect, which is named after it. Dihedral effect is the amount of roll moment produced per degree of sideslip, dihedral effect is a critical factor in the stability of an aircraft about the roll axis. It is also pertinent to the nature of an aircrafts Dutch roll oscillation, longitudinal dihedral is a comparatively obscure term related to the pitch axis of an airplane. It is the angle between the zero axis of the wing and horizontal tail. Longitudinal dihedral can influence the nature of controllability about the pitch axis, when the term dihedral is used by itself it is usually intended to mean dihedral angle. However, context may otherwise indicate that dihedral effect is the intended meaning, dihedral Angle is the upward angle from horizontal of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft, or of any paired nominally-horizontal surfaces on any aircraft. The term can apply to the wings of a bird. Dihedral Angle is also used in some types of such as box kites. Wings with more than one Angle change along the span are said to be polyhedral. Dihedral Angle has important stabilizing effects on flying bodies because it has an influence on the dihedral effect. Dihedral effect of an aircraft is a rolling moment resulting from the vehicle having an angle of sideslip. Increasing the dihedral angle of an aircraft increases the effect on it. However, many other parameters also have a strong influence on dihedral effect. Some of these important factors are, wing sweep, vertical center of gravity, dihedral angle on an aircraft almost always implies the angle between two paired surfaces, one on each side of the aircraft. Even then, it is almost always between the left and right wings, however, mathematically dihedral means the angle between any two planes. Longitudinal dihedral can also mean the angle between the zero axis of the wing and tail instead of between the root chords of the two surfaces
Dihedral (aircraft)
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The upward tilt of the wings and tailplane of an aircraft, as seen on this
Boeing 737, is called dihedral angle
Dihedral (aircraft)
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The
CG of a
paraglider is very low, making a strong contribution to dihedral effect.
Dihedral (aircraft)
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Anhedral on the wings and tailplane of an
RAF Harrier GR7A
Dihedral (aircraft)
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McDonnell Douglas
F-4 Phantom II showing polyhedral wing and anhedral tail
28.
Fred Sigrist
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Reid and Sigrist was an English engineering company based at New Malden in Surrey. It later acquired sites at Desford and Braunstone in Leicestershire, initially it developed and manufactured aircraft instrumentation and pilot selection aids but later diversified into flying training and aircraft design. During World War II the company was part of the Civilian Repair Organisation repairing, rebuilding and converting warplanes at the Desford site, post-war it continued to manufacture aviation instruments and guidance systems but also diversified further to produce cameras and optical instruments. In 1954 the company was purchased and taken-over by the Decca Record Company, Reid and Sigrist Ltd was formed in February 1928 as a private company with £4000 capital. The company was set up by Squadron-Leader George Hancock Reid DFC and Frederick Sigrist, Hawker Engineering Ltd, that would later become Hawker Siddeley Aircraft Ltd. As the company expanded and diversified further sites were acquired at Desford Aerodrome, the company ceased to exist as a separate entity when it was bought by the Decca Record Company at the end of 1954. Initially the main focus for the company was the development. An important product was a type of turn and slip indicator invented and developed by George Reid. A later version of this device was incorporated into the standard blind-flying panel adopted by the Royal Air Force in 1937, a further development was the Gyorizon which combined the functions of a turn indicator and artificial horizon in one instrument. As well as flying instrumentation the company developed a pilot selection tool. The Reid Reaction Apparatus was a device which recorded the times of trainee pilots when centralizing the a set of controls in a mock-up cockpit. Depending upon the trainees were then graded as good, average or inferior. This device was in use during the 1930s at some RAF flying schools, in 1935, Reid and Sigrist successfully applied to run one of the new Civilian Flying Training Schools, being created as part of the RAF Expansion Scheme to train new service pilots. At time the company did not possess an airfield and so a rapid countrywide search for a site was undertaken. Rapid negotiations enabled the company to purchase the airfield and also some surrounding farmland, development of the aerodrome was carried out by En-Tout-Cas Ltd, of Syston, whilst new building work was undertaken by Fairby Construction Company Ltd. A mere three months later, on 13 December 1935, the new Flying Training School was officially opened by the Minister of State for Air, Viscount Swinton of Masham. The aircraft chosen for use at the school was the De Havilland D. H. 82A Tiger Moth of which there were initially 17, later increased to 21. In 1937 the school was expanded to training of RAF Volunteer Reserve pilots and was renamed No.7 Elementary
Fred Sigrist
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R.S.3 Desford
29.
Bentley BR1
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The Bentley BR.1 was a British rotary aircraft engine of the First World War. Designed by the car engine designer W. O. Bentley. Bentley came up with his idea of an engine - fitted with aluminium cylinders with cast iron liners, dual ignition was introduced to improve reliability, and the stroke increased to 6.7 inches which allowed power to be increased to 150 horsepower. The cost of the engine was reduced, falling to £605 per engine. The resulting engine, initially known as the A. R.1 for Admiralty Rotary, but later called the BR.1 was manufactured in quantity, although initially against Admiralty orders. The BR.1 was developed as the BR.2, a heavier, more powerful engine, which powered, among other types or aircraft, the Camels eventual replacement, the Sopwith Snipe
Bentley BR1
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BR1
30.
Bottleneck (production)
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In production and project management, a bottleneck is one process in a chain of processes, such that its limited capacity reduces the capacity of the whole chain. The result of having a bottleneck are stalls in production, supply overstock, pressure from customers, there are both short and long-term bottlenecks. Short-term bottlenecks are temporary and are not normally a significant problem, an example of a short-term bottleneck would be a skilled employee taking a few days off. Long-term bottlenecks occur all the time and can significantly slow down production. An example of a bottleneck is when a machine is not efficient enough. An example is the lack of smelter and refinery supply which cause bottlenecks upstream, another example is in a surface-mount technology board assembly line with several pieces of equipment aligned. Almost every system has a bottleneck, even if it is a one, if every system was running at full capacity. Identifying bottlenecks are critical for improving efficiency in the line because it allows you to determine the area where accumulation occurs. The machine or process that accumulates the longest queue is usually a bottleneck, when input comes in faster than the speed of the process, accumulation starts to occur. This means that the machine either does not have capacity, is not being fully utilized or has an under-qualified operator. This method is not effective at identifying bottlenecks where the queues are at several process steps, since the production line is directly linked to the output of the machines, it allows for the identifying of the main bottleneck in the manufacturing process. In changing each machines throughput, it will be possible to assess which machine affects the output the most. By using the utilization percentage of production unit, it is possible to determine the machine which uses the highest percentage of its capacity. This machine is bottlenecking the other machines by forcing them to operate at a lower capacity, in the case where several production units are already running at full capacity, tracking the down time of machines will allow you to identify which machine is being bottlenecked. Usually the machine prior the machine with the highest wait or down time in the chain of processes is a bottleneck, the result of this is a machine being under utilized. A fishbone diagram is a means for finding possible problems in a chain of processes. By collecting the different data related to the problem, and inputting them into the diagram, it becomes easier to analyze the data in the order it used and hence determine the root of the problem. This is commonly used to find the bottleneck in a chain of processes due to being able to pinpoint the machine precisely responsible for the delay in production
Bottleneck (production)
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Cycle of identifying, managing and preventing bottlenecks in production
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Media related to Sopwith Camel museum aircraft at Wikimedia Commons
