AIR SPEED RECORD

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 August 1946, Page 8

AIR SPEED RECORD

NEW ZEALANDER’S PART IN , PRODUCTION

JET-ENGINE DEVELOPMENT

[N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent.] LONDON, August 8. One of the men most interested in the attempt of high speed flight to establish a fresh world speed record With Meteor aircraft, at Littlehampton is Group Captain G. E. Watt, of Auckland, who is deputydirector of turbine engines at the Ministry of Supply. He has worked for five years on jet and turbine engines, first on the research and development side and then on the production.

Group Captain Watt was responsible for the jet engines used when the record was established at Herne Bay last November. He hopes that a speed of 625 miles an hour will not only be attained during the forthcoming attempt but exceeded. Group Captain Watt was formerly at Auckland University College, and left New Zealand in 1933 to join the Royal Air Force. He works in the Ministry of Supply in London, but is paying frequent visits to the flight at Tangmere. The Pilots. The pilots of’ the high speed development flight are Group Captain E. M. Donaldson, D. 5.0., D.F.C., Squadron Leader W. Waterton, and Flight Lieutenant. N. Duke, D. 5.0., D.F.C. and two bars. They have been flying over the course at Littlehampton twice daily when weather conditions allow. When they . attempt the record they will be timed ovex* a stretch of three kilometres and will fly at a height of about 120 ft. Two special aircraft with new engines are expected to be delivered at Tangmere on August 14, and the record attempt will then be made when the weather is suitable. The pilots will judge their speed by a Machmeter, which automatically divides the speed of sound (760 miles an hour) into the true airspeed of the aircraft. Timing will be done by pairs of cameras, cine and still, and by equipment, linked with the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington. ’it will take from six to eight hours to work out the times established. What it is like to fly a Meteor at high speed was described by Flight Lieutenant Duke.' He said there was far less strain than when flying fighters on operations. High Speed Flying. “We are'allowed to dive towards the course from 1100 ft. at full throttle and to level off at 500 metres from the measured stretch,” said Flight Lieutenant Duke. “We judge oui’ height by balloons which are at 230 ft, and go below them. We keep looking ahead and glance at the Mach meter, but we do not get much feeling of speed, except to notice the ground being covered rather rapidly.

’ “At more than 500 miles an hour it gets hot in the cockpit. This is caused by .the friction of the all’ flowing ' round the hood and the fuselage. When we have covered the course we ease back the throttle and then begin a slow turn to get in position again. “We have now been over the course about 110 times and know it and the markers pretty well. So faxwe have done about 600 miles an hour.”

Everybody is now hoping for fine weather, and there is general confidence that a new record will be established. If a speed of more than 630 miles an hour is achieved it is stated that this will be about, as fast as a Meteor aircraft will fly. For future attempts to establish higher records a new type of aircraft will have to be designed.