Are Mickey and PeterW psychic?

[daveh]

Have you seen the photos and discussion on the competition thread in the last couple of days initiated by Mickey's photo of the Harvard trainer? Well, I looked in one of the British daily papers this morning and came across this article, which presumably Mickey and Peter, with their psychic powers knew was going to written.



(I hope the paper forgive me for scanning it - I tried to find it in the online version, but it doesn't seem to be there, as yet at least.)

[nikonbob]

Dave

Thanks for posting this. Unfortunately this small boy will never be able to fulfill that particular dream at that price. It is great that it is offered though.

Bob

[mickeyobe]

Dave,

The Royal Mickey Air Force is badly under funded. Someone will have to pay for my lessons.

That is a beautiful Airplane.

"1 hour ten minutes." "Forty minutes."
Now I know why commercial airlines post such precise schedules.
They never stick to them but they do post them.

Mickey

[PeterW]

...the same training exercises that pilots had before the Battle of Britain in 1940.

Someone is, how shall I put it, a little over-enthusiastic about this £5,400 two day flying course.

I know the RAF was desperately short of trained fighter pilots by the end of August 1940, but the times given here are ridiculous. 80 minutes is barely enough to teach someone who has never flown a plane before how to handle a Tiger Moth well enough to keep it flying straight and level, plus maybe a gentle bank and turn or two.

It would certainly not be long enough to include engine starting techniques, let alone take-off and landing, or "circuits and bumps"

When I was posted to a Primary Flying Training School in 1948, engine starting procedures were taught by senior ground crew because of the shortage of primary flying instructors. I would estimate that we spent at least two hours on starting procedures for Tiger Moths, and probably another two to two and a half hours on starting a Harvard.

I have no doubt that when they got to Scotland for conversion to Seafires they spent about the same amount of time on engine starting.

Trouble was that if the engine fired but didn't pick-up, novice pilots would insist on jiggling the throttle lever, a technique they probably learned on 1930s cars. All this did was flood the plugs. On the Tiger Moth, which was started by swinging the prop, there was a procedure known as blow-out whereby the magneto switches were kept off, the throttle open wide and the engine turned backwards to clear the combustion chambers. Usually the engine would start first time after this.

I don't know how many hours were spent on basic flying before they went on to take-off and landing before they were allowed to fly solo.

Then the whole thing was gone through again on Harvards, except that if a pupil buggered-up the starting and flooded the plugs there was a 10 minute wait for them to dry. Useless on an operational scramble where the average time to get a Spitfire or Hurricane in the air was two minutes.

At the height of the pilot shortage, pilots were sent on operations with only 7 or 8 hours solo on a Spitfire or Hurricane. They learned their fighting and evasive manoeuvres "on the job" - if they lasted that long.

This is why experienced pilots from the Commonwealth, from the United States and from France, Poand and other European countries who had managed to get to England were so valuable in 1940.

Women pilots were used to deliver new aircraft from the factories to the airfields, but they were forbidden to engage in combat.

As for a 30 minute lesson in a converted two-seater Spitfire,

including drills on how to avoid enemy fire and various complex flying manoeuvres

... All I can say is "Don't make me larf, it hurts my bruised chest!!"

BTW, someone commented that the Tiger Moth engine runs backwards. This was for the benefit of the ground crew member starting it. He could use his normal right hand to swing the prop. Don't ask me what left handed people did. I never met anyone on a ground crew who was left handed, though many were ambidextrous using tools.

PeterW