AERIAL PATROLS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXI, Issue 130, 3 May 1941, Page 7

AERIAL PATROLS

ARD-UOUS SERVICE. : GREAT DISTANCE FLOWN. (United Press Association—Copvrigiit) ! (British Official Wireless.) (Rec. 10.32 a.m.) RUGBY, May 2. j Discussing the work of the j Coastal Command in a broadcast ; address. Air-Commodore Goddard (said that, working' for the Navy j from the Bay of Biscay and beyond", far out into the Atlantic, land up to the Arctic Ocean, it had a million square miles of salt | water to look after. j A large part of its effort was used lin searching for submarines and a larger part was spent in escorting ! convoys. Nearly 3500 convoys had been ! escorted by the Coastal Command, not counting North Sea and Channel convoys, which were also looked alter by the Coastal Command. "Those air-escorted Atlantic convoys have been almost entirely immune from attack while our escort has been on the job. but it is not always possible for them to keep with the convoy in foul weather. ''Coastal Command aircraft have, in all. engaged in about 50.CKX) air flights and in nearly 450 aerial combats, in which 271 enemy aircraft have been certainly damaged or destroyed. Seventy-one have been brought down on the spot." DAMAGE TO CRUISERS.

Referring to the offensive side of the Air I'orcc action for mastery ot the Atlantic, Air-Commander Goddard assured his listeners that the results of the attacks at enemy naval bases had been substantial. It was sometimes asked why the Scharnhorst and Gniesonau were still sitting calmly at Brest. He preferred to put the question the other way: Why have they not been out in the Atlantic'' The obvious answer was that they had "bomb disease." But these vessels were built to be unsinkable by bombs, and they were lying in an intenselydefended position. "To get a bomb to penetrate tbtupper decks, and through the thick armoured deck into the magazines and machinery requires great speod in the bomb and unless the magazine blows up you do net know whether the armour-piercing bomb, which makes a very small hole in the upper deck, has really gone into the ship, while the bomb which misses and goes into the water is just a wash-out. So we use blast bombs as well.''

He added : “1 think these ships have both been decidedly damaged. “As to an answer to the night bombers,” he said, "L do not ask you to he patient till some day something may happen. I say very definitely that something important lias happened each blitz night; we have brought down planes by various means. The monthly percentage oi kills by night fighters has gone up substantially. That shows a tendency. It does not show anything decisive, hut that tendency is very important." CLASSIC JO URN EY IN PERIL OVER ATLANTIC. (British Official Wireless.) at GUV, .May 1. | A remarkable lent ot Hying by Lieuj tenant J. 0. Fleming, D.F.C.. and Flying-Officer J. J. Meikle. two Canadians who joined the Royal Air Force, in bringing one of the famous Catalina P.B.Y. flying-boats from Bermuda to Britain is revealed. The flying-boat carried a crew of six. comprising two pilots, two flight engineers lent by the Fleet Air Arm, ami two radio operators, Canadian civilians." The journey started in perfect weathei conditions. Suddenly, when flying at a height of 18..3<X)ft, the automatic, pilot jambed. At this critical moment the right starboard aileron was full down. The effect was to throw the machine into a spiral dive. Immediately the ailerons began to flutter because of the steep angle at which they were meeting the flow of air. The machine spun from 18,500 ft to only 800 ft above sea-level.

During this staggering dive the pilots did their utmost to regain the stability ot the aircraft. Pressure on the ailerons due to the high speed, however, was so great that one of them broke away completely. This was the worst moment- for the pilots. When the second aileron also broke away they found -it helped to restore the balance of the ship. A flutter started and Lieutenant Fleming told the radio operator to send out an SOS. This, however, was not received because, as it subsequently turned out. the fixed wireless aerial had been carried away with the aileron. The plight of Lieutenant Fleming and his heroic crewseemed desperate. In efforts to regain control they found it necessary to jettison smoke flares, spares, and the tool-kit. CONTROL SECURED. Just when everyone believed the Catalina must hit the water the pilots recovered control. Though six hours' distant from home, the captain was confident ol the ship’s ability now to reach the coast and refused to send out another SOS. Instead, from the trailing aerial, he simply signalled: “Both ailerons gone.” The signal was received but no one believed it. It seemed impossible that a groat machine like a Catalina, weighing about 15 tons, could still be flying without any lateral control. The machine was now flying due south. To remain air-borne it was necessary to keep going straight ahead, as to use the rudder without ailerons was liable to put the machine in a fatal flat spin. Lieutenant Fleming and Flying-Officer Meilde were compelled to sit side by side exerting all their strength on the controls to keep the machine in the air. They dared not remove their hands to look at the map. Fortunately, Lieutenant Fleming had memorised the course and with Flying-Officer lUoikle's aid he managed to turn the machine very gently till it was on the correct course again. To add to their troubles, as they approached the British coast they fiew into a storm. Despite this, however, they succeeded in safely landing on the' water in a British harbour. But they had still some miles to taxi and the' sea was rough. This pair, feeling that taxi-ing on the waves would make themselves and the rest of the crewseasick, actually took off again and Hew, skimming just above the surface, three miles nearer to the moorings. Since this flight Lieutenant Fleming lias flown the Atlantic on.ee again and Flying-Officer Meikle twice.