News Letter 1941 Jul-Dec - Air Force Historical Studies Office

THE AIR FORCES NEil'S LETTER
CARlADIARla ••• (Continued Iro. Pa,e 27)
Americans maintained very load relations with
the British airmen, who were from all parts of the
Empire, No effort was made to selregate the various
Iroupa, and, as a matter of fact, I was quar,
tered with 14 Britishers from the Arlentine, all
of whom were three lenerations removed from Britain
but had been educated in !nIland.
Completinl six weeks' instruction I was rated a
Leadinl Aircraftsman, or student pilot, and was
sent to'Mt. Hope Elementary Traininl Flying School
at Hamilton, Ontario. These schools are civilian
owned and operated but are under air force regulations
and are commanded by air force officers.
There we "ere given 60 hours of flight and passed
final examinations in navigation, airmanship, theory
of fiight, wireless, air frames (structures),
engines and armament. Planes used were Fleet
Finches po~red with Kinner B-5, 125 h.p. radial
enlihes. It is an excellent little traininl cnft,
easy to maneuver and it reaUy "aits on a landing,"
I noticed, however, that on h~id days if one
didn't watch the manifold heat while practicing
forced landinls, the motor might cut out.
Instruction I received at Mt. Hope was virtually
identical to training I had as a flying cadet at
the Spartan Primary Flyinl School, Tulsa. The
three months' course of study "as just as thoroulh
and the percentale of .washouts" just as bad if
not worse. A student who "ashes out is usually
sent to an observer or gunnery school if he qualifies.
On Iraduatinl I was desianated a bomber pilot
and reported to No. 5 Servic.Tnininl Flyinl
School, Brant ford , Ontario, where pilots are liven
two and a half months' traininl on tWin-enline
Avro-Anson bombers, and advanced courses in meteorololY,
naviaation, airmanship, wireless and gunnery.
Avera.e flyinl time before the first solo
is two and a half hours.
A medium-sised bomber powered by two 500 h,p.
radial enline., the Avro-Anson i. still in use in
Africa and on quieter fronts.
A.ro.Ansons are called" flyinl Ireenhou ..... be.
cause of the large windows in the fuselage, which
i. eatra spacious, the British .acrificinl stream.
lininl in these planes for equipment space. Inside
is a larle table for the navilator who also
has his own air speed and R.P.M. indicators, altimeter
and P-4 campa... Remainder of the space is
for radio equipment, bomb and chute racks, and
back halfway to the t.il is a turret for the air
aunner. A duor leads to it and, stranlely enoulh,
the l'JIU1er'•• eat h an ordinary bicycle .addle.
After about 100 hour. in the bombers the ship
appear. to be very wuitable for traininl bomber
pilot.. It is equipped with hydraulic brakes
manually operated, retractable underearriale, which
Service flying school differs from our basic
flying school in that student pilots receive definite
status as twin-enline or sinlle-enaine flyers
and are trained as such. I IDilht mention here
that sinlle-enaine school. use Harvard and Vale
trainers manufactured by the North American Aircraft
Co. , and are practically the s.... as the U.S.
Atmf's basic trainers, the BT-14 and BT-19. It is
interestinl to note that the fir.t HarYards to arao
takes 109 turns by hand to wind up, and Fowlerflapa.
The British lay Ireat stress on the tarmac cheek
which on the Anson loe. like this: H-T-M-P; hy.
draulic's "O.K.; .. tab. (flap indicator), "O.K., ..
mixture control in takeoff pod tian and pitch "O.K. "
Avro-Ansons do not have pitch air screw nor do
they have carburetor heat. Following the tarmac
check you proceed with the instruments and check
from left to right. The An.on has a cruisinl .peed
of about 120 mile. per hour, climbs at about 90
miles and glides at the same speed. Initial landina
speed is about 60 m.p.h.
Instruction on the bomber is liven with the instructor
sittinlon the student's right. Sequences
in in.truction were takeoffs, landinls, circuit
flying, medium and steep turns. Instructors placed
great stress on sinlle engine forced landings and
the students practiced them constantly. Toulhest
job in flyinl the An.an is operatinl a.nually the
undercarriage. The .hip, however, is very stable
and responds remarkably well for its siae and
underpower,
My instructor on the bomber. was a 19-year-old
&lglishman, Squadron Leader Waterhouse, who had 13
Germans to his credit and wa. the holder of the
Distinguished Flying Cross. Rather frail and a
clerk in civilian life, he had been through the
Poli.h and Norwelian campaigns as well a. the
Flanders retreat, Waterhouse, who.e rank corre.
sponds to that of major in the United State. Army,
had been sent to Canada for a rest, Pilots remain
in service in &lgland for .ix month. and are th.n
shipped somewhere, usuaUy toCanada, to recuperate.
One day when .. were cominl in for a landinl one
engine cut out and we almOit hit some farm machinery
in a field. I thought it would be a nasty
landing, but we made it all right, After we lot
out he turned to me and said, "I say, De Rouen,
this £1yinl is a filthy. racket ...
After about 10 hours' flyinl on the An.ons,
.tudent •• tart .010 cross.country trips, one day
acting a. navilator and the next time as pilot,
Remainder of the cour.e included cros.-country
tripi, ni&ht flyinl and a Ireat deal of instrument
hood flyinl. The Link Trainer course of instruction
i. very complete, I had 18 hour. on the
"Link, ..much of which tilDe was spent practicinl
trianlUlar cro.s -country courses. The "Links" we
used were equipped with wheel control as we were
training to be bomber pilots,