UNIVERSITY AVIATORS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19832, 30 December 1927, Page 9

UNIVERSITY AVIATORS.

THE CAMBRIDGE SQUADRON.

SIUDY OF RESEARCH PROBLEMS

RESULTS OF FIRST TWO YEARS. * Tlie .work of the Cambridge University Air Squadron, which has been two years in existence, was recently reviewed in the Morning Post by an undergraduate-pilot. The fact that at the commencement, of the academic year it was.decided to raise the membership to 70, and there .were about three applicants for every vacant place, proves conclusively, he wrote, that tha Air Squadron is rapidly achieving one of the purposes for which it has taken its position in the university, i.e., "to stimulate interest in air matters and to maintain at the university a community of thought in technical and research problems affecting aviation." Another of its aims is "to assist those who wish to take up aeronautics as a pro-, fession in a civilian capacity, and also to promote the How of suitable candidates for commissions in thci Royal Air Force." Only half a dozen members of the squadron have obtained commissions, some with six months' or a year's priority according to whether they held, a B.A. degree and a certificate of competency. The certificate is issued to those who have flown three hours solo, completed a height test of 6000 ft. with a barograph on board, and satisfactorily answered questions on engines, rigging, and rules of the air.

The Air Force Reserve. The more popular branch in connection with civilian flying is the R.A.F. Reserve, to which the squadron has contributed 20 of its members, who, for the sake of the flying and monetary attraction, are prepared to give up a large portion of their vacations to gain more experience and to become more proficient. The reserve only entails work during the vacations, and is concerned entirely with the practical side of aviation. Pupils have 12 hours' flying to complete every year, and the writer has many a time blessed the fact that he still had some more training to do when the financial state of his accounts showed a negative balance. The hangar m the grounds belonging to the squadron in Cambridge itself is being extended in order that extra aeronautical appliances may be installed. These include a bomb-throwing apparatus (not, fortunately, one which • drops live bombs), and a wind tunnel, in which conditions can be applied to model aeroplanes similar to- those experienced by full-Scale machines in actual flight. It is one of the most useful research instruments, and no aeronautical workshop is complete without it. Another portion of the hangar is devoted to a complete Bristol Fighter, used solely for rigging purposes and elementary instruction. A Sopwith Snipe aiso fulfils the same function, although this aeroplane is almost obsolete now.

The Practical Side. In the engine workshop, there are many of the modern types of aeroplane power unit installed, and with the expert assistance of the sergeant mechanic, members practise dismantling, repairing, tuning, assembling,, and a 'multitude of other things closely connected with engine-running and rjiaintenance. In the same building is an instrument-room, dealing with air-speed indicators,* coarse setting, bomb sight, and various other dials one encounters in the cockpit of an aeroplane. Adjoining this room _ .there is a similar one devoted to wireless, including two transmitting sets, a direc-tion-finding outfit, and two receiving sets, one high-wave, the other low. In a short time operators will be able to communicate with the squadron Bristol Fighter flying overhead, as this machine carries both a receiver and a transmitter. The actual mess room of the squadron is situated in the same grounds, and run on very similar lines to an R.A.F. mess. Training in the Air.

A member on first joining would undergo the following routine as regards actual flying while in the squadron. His first flight is entirely an air aptitude test, the reason being that the air, like the sea, does not agree with everyone. Next comes his first dual instruction, in the hands of a competent and patient ■ man, who, after demonstrating the use of the controls, which is to be rather unpleasant if done roughly, lets the pupil take complete command of the 'plane; but not for long, as the aeroplane is apt to perform the most weird contortions. The difficulty of control at first is to become accustomed to three dimensions instead of our every-day two, since the aeroplane is able to rise or fall, tip to one side or the other, and also , to swivel in eitlaer direction. Every movement of the controls is instinctive, and when once one has become accustomed to manoeuvring in the air, it is less strain and less effort than driving • a car. Throughout the three terms the pupil is restricted to dual, all the time becoming more competent to taxi and fly tlie machine himself, until the arrival of the Annual Attachment, when he will lie able to proceed into the air by hitnuelf with perfect safety.