HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1943-09-16, Page 6T tJi7 S1.7AFORTT-1 NEWS
The Mos. uitott•ast, thin metal sheet requires ziurtt-
', eraus st±aface stiffeners.)
Hardwood inserts are placed bet -Two test pilots were jockeying
ween the two plywood layers in line
theirplanes into position to land, With the bulkheads and to form door
They saw each other at the same .and window frames. Holes for win -
time. Both planes were the newest dews and doors are simply cut out
of their type, each had been proudly of the finished shell, This outer
hailed in its own, country as"the she11,Qo3• half shell, is peeled off the
"fastest in the World. Each was ,:a, form, the inner mechanism
'twin motor` job. is installed and the two half -shells
The test pilots sized each other up
joined together to fete the fur
and as they raced along side by satin J g complete
elage. The special glue is made syn
toward the landing strip, each began thetically and when it has set, the
to let out the throttle. In a moment.
both throttles were full out, both joints are even stronger than the
plans turned away from the air -plywood itself,
field and the race was on. I By virtue of wood construction,
One of the planes was the famed the de Havillands were able to speed
up the production of the plane. Only
Mosquito, piloted by Geoffrey de 22 months elapsed between drawing
Bavilland, Jr:, chief test pilot for board and service on the war fronts,
the makers. He had come from Eng-
' Also, wood construction tapped new
land to fly the first Mosquito made m supplies of materials, realizing a
Canada, He had been invited to fly saving in strategic materials. And
the new plane several hundred miles finally, it made it possible for the
and demonstrate ,it for officials of an manufacturers to employ new types
allied government, He thought the of labor. Much of the sub -contracting
demonstration might as well begin is done by furniture companies and
right now. I piano makers. In Canada, the wing
The Mosquito and the rival plane assemblies are made by the big plant
(which shall be nameless) were of Massey -Harris. An equally im-
roaring ahead, neck and neck, The portant reason for the choice of
race seemed a complete tie -until de
wood is that wooden skin does not
Havilland reached over and flicked have protruding rivet heads to cut
on a secret power device on the Mos- lift and increase drag. The Mosquito
quite, The Mosquito passed the other is said to gain 15 to 25 miles per
plane with a whoosh, When de Hay -
hour through its wood construction.
illand glanced back a moment later In tact, it has been found that vary -
the other "world's fastest plane" ing degrees of finish can result in a
was only a speck on the horizon be difference of as much as seven wiles
hind, per hour between seemingly identical
Army men will long remember the airplanes. A coat of wax acids four
exhibition that the youthful deHavil utiles per hoar.
land put on for them recently ata. The Mosquito can reach an air
Canadian airfield. He swooped down
speed of seven miles a minute—that
from about 3,000 feet, then turned is a hundred yards in about half a
its nose up and sent the plane into a second by dipping her nose ever so
vertical climb which put it clean out slightly.
of sight in a cloudless sky in exactly All pilots pronounce her lovely to
13 seconds. fly, easy on the controls and easy to
Then after a series of beautifully throw about in the air. That's one
executed vertical banks, loops and reason why she can be flown at such
rolls, the young test pilot came immense speeds to her targets in
down to roof -top height, shut off one Germsny and hack again with Tela-
, motor, and performed a series of tive safety, Owing to the remarkable
slow roils 10 feet off the ground. lean with which she can be handled,
It was then that he spotted a well- she can be flown all the way at maxi-
known bomber overhead. Still using mum speed, hedge -hopping a few
but one engine, the Mosquito over- feet above the ground.
hauled the bomber and passed the There is reason to believe that
big fellow as if it were standing this low bombing is more accurate
still. Next, he saw a well-known Nor -
than dive bombing, because the
wegian high-speed plane. He flew bomb aimer doesn't have to worry
rings around that. All this on one about such things as drift, visibility
engine—a feat which the military and calculations required in bombing
men considered remarkable for most from high altitudes. At the same
pilots are satisfied if they can mere- time, low flying allows no time for
ly maintain operating speed when mistakes, only the fittest of the fit
one of their engines has been cut. ' A1e any good for the job.
Officials were asked if there was,
The Mosquito is flown by a two -
any truth to rumors that the Mos -than crew. When training is started
quite could do 425 miles an hoar. the instructors never know which
They merely grinned and said: man will turn out to be the pilot and
"Could be." Military censorship also which the navigator. They are taught
prevented an answer to queries as to to fly their course zig-zag so the
whether this unique plane makes use enemy won't know where they're
of some secret type of power. The going to strike. They learn to fly
photographs of the Mosquito show between obstacles, even between
that the exhaust manifold is shielded chimneys and church spires, bet -
by a tubular device, an ingenious ar-
rangement which—so some reports
say—traps the exhaust gases and
produces a form of jet -propulsion.
Although the device is officially des-
cribed as a flash -dampener, it bears
no similarity to flash dampeners on
other aircraft.
Newsmen asked if this mechanism
were not in fact a means of borrow-
ing a leaf from the rocket ship.
Again the officials smiled and said:
"We're sorry, but we'll have to call
them flash -dampeners for the pres-
ent."
Many believe, however, that the
real key to the aircraft's sped is its
amazingly light, wood construction.
The American technical magazine,
Air Trails, refers to it as a master-
piece of precision woodworking. It's
trade by a technique quite different
from other methods of molding plas-
tic plywood. Here are some details:
The Mosquito, when used as a
bomber !it also conies as a fighter,
fighter-bomber, intruder, reconnais-
sance and in several other forms) ▪ By John Batten in - "Britain."
carries a 2,000 pound bomb load and Thirty-five days at sea is a long
has a range that takes in most of time in the most up-to-date ship. On
Germany. a medium-size, medium -pace cargo
The power plants are Packard- ship it is an intolerably boring busi-
built Loll:' -Royce Merlin 21's of Hess, and there's nothing so disheart-
1.850 horsepower each, or a total of ening as looking at the chart and
2„700 horsepower. A big railway seeing how much ground you've still
locomotive develops about 2,500 got to cover to reach your first port
horsepower and can pull a dozen of call,
coaches at more than 60 miles an At home they went to great pains
hour. That will give you come idea to speed 00 tip. In dry clock, groups
of the power behind the tiny Mos- of peak -capped, overalled Hien scrap-
quito, ed and swept the bottom of the hull
As for maneuverability, it is note- clear of a year's accumulation of
worthy that the Mosquito is 2,400 weed and barnacles to lessen our re -
pounds lighter than the admittedly sistance through the sea, and by
maneuverable Baaufig'hter. Its spec- rights we should have been a knot or
ilcatiorrs are: span 54 feet; length, so faster, And still we churn on. Ev-
41 feet; normal gross weight, 18,540 ery now and again in the • daytime
pounds. thes'e's a burst o feteani from the
The outstanding feature of its safety valve up against the funnel,
construction is a light but strong The chief engineer invariably has -
shell over a concrete form, or mould. tens down the three iron ladders to
The shell is actually a 5-8 of an inch the engine room tosee why she's
thick sandwich, consisting of an in- blowing off, annoyed at the precious
ner and outer layer of thin birch waste of water. And we think how
plywood with a layer of balsa in bat- the steam escaping into the air might
Ween, The balsa spacing gives the be used to add to our speed, make
wall of the shell sufficient thickness us a faster carrier of the things that
to withstand large . compression will help to end the war.
forces without buckling. (By ten- Really, when fifty men are thrown
ween rows of trees. This prevents
enemy gunners from drawing a bead
on them and shakes off enemy•fight-
ers which might wish to chase them.
Anyway, no fighter can keep up with
thein.
On one occasion a pilot came
home with a clothes line wrapped
around his wings, and carrying some
Frenchwoman's complete washing.
That's how low the Mosquitos fly.
In the battle for North Africa,
swift Mosquitos put thirty-two'
freight trains out of action. Another
pilot destroyed six locomotives at a
single hop.
As military messengers between
allies, Mosquitos have frequently
flown non-stop to Russia for lunch
and back to Britain the same after-
noon.
That's the Mosquito.
Five Weeks At Sea
together for thirty-five days, twenty-
four hours e day, with nowhere they
can go for an evening alone or with
someone different, it's extraordinary
there aren't more complaints' and
differences, Shore folk don't realize
how much their break at home from
factory or office means, how it helps
them to adjust themselves, keeps
friendships, freshens their minds,
Small things cause most comment
in a tramp ship on a long voyage.
Sparks's beard, for instance, and the
unusual event of a clean collar or
complete uniform in the saloon are
subjects for animated discussion,
"Going ashore?" asks almost every-
one when somebody sports a white
shirt or is seen cleaning his shoes.
No wonder white men dress for din-
ner in the jungle to keep their wits
about them. It would be very easy
to get in the habit of always wearing
old flannel bags and a pullover and
never shaving bad for morale,
really, though these are things you
aren't so particular about when may-
be any moment you'll be lining up
for the boats.
How we relish our Thursdays, Sat-
urdays, and Sundays on these long
sea trips! They are the landmarks in
THURSDAY, SEPT, 16, 1943
our endless sea and canned food, sin
proper tramp style ,the cools bakes
calces on Tluu'sdays and we have
fruit and caesini for tea as well. It's
the same with Sundays, and on Sat-
urday night the alleyway to the
steward's renin is blocked by the
queue for the weekly rum ration and
a cigarette issue. Small things, but
welcome breaks in the monotony.
The albatrosses glide' astern all
day even down into the colder wea-
ther, feeding on galley scraps. Even
they are a change, and once more
the old man assures us that they're
the reincarnations of old skippers,
It's not hard to believe, the way
they stick to a ship,, Incidentally,
there's one big, blunt -hosed fellow
just like a skipper several of us
once knew.
There's our Sunday morning darts
tournament too, at a shilling a game,
very keen competition for this. EP
eryone gets as much practice as he
can in the week. The mate even
forgoes his usual afternoon sleep to
play, Then they all turn out to bar-
rack one another. Dart -playing
when there's wind and the ship is
rolling requires some unusual skill,
and a dozen critics shouting loudly
atlas another hazard, We play err
deck, the dartboard hung cal a crate
containing a vital part of our East-
ern war machine. Soon to be deliv-
ered,' we hope. And the scores are
kept by a sailor who used to be a
shop assistant and who chalks them
UP on the crate with a stick of
chalk begged from the chartroom.
The old man usually comes aft to
watch, sits on a bollard, cigar -smelt-
ing, and proves the soul of impar-
tiality, They fetch Sparks and the
fourth engineer ,and the third mate
off watch to take their turn at the
board, and the results are the saloon
gossip for a couple of days.
So the days pass, and in between
our two fruit -an -cream days we go
into the saloon and greet each other
with "Corned horse as usual," which
Is an impolite way of speaking of
oar daily corned beef. Cook does
his best with fritters and pastries
and pies, but corned meat takes a
good bit of disguising.
We grumble our way on, curse
the hot -plate in the pantry .that
doesn't work, and the. icebox that
melts away so soon .after we've left
port. Some owners, we say, act as if
refrigerators had never been invent --
ed, and we agree; with the second-
matte's wish to bring our eh'airznan
011 a five-week canned -food voyage.
We think we'd get a change all right
then,
Life is small and petty when there
are such long; gaps between new
places and fresh faces,. That's why
the cabin boy begs to be allowed to
take the wheel at nights when he
has locked up the pantry, and Why
the bos'n paints pictures of flowers,
and one of the Negro donkeymen
plays a clarinet. As for the ofd man,
he chain-smokes six -penny cigars,
and plays crib with the purser,
The mate is planning several can-
vas shopping bags for his wife from
left -overs and he has been putting
some wonderful splices on the little
swing he rigged for his three-year
old daughter to pass the time while
she and her mother were aboard in
port. The engineers fashion brass
paper weights in their watches and
some of the men just turn in as soon
as their watch below begins, Most
people can sleep when' boredom gets
the better of them. Some study in
their spare time, and most read fic-
tion,
"Porterettes" Join Railway War Workers
SNORTdc1; of man power due to en-
listmenis has compelled Canadian
National Railways Express to employ
women to perform duties previously
performed exclusively by men at the
Central Station in Montreal. These
women act as checkers, load and un-
load railway express cars. An experi-
mental squad of seven women having
proven satisfactory the number of
women workers is being increased. As
a general rule, express parcels are not
heavy, but occasionally an overweight
shipment is offered. Instructions to
these women are to attempt nothing
over fifty pounds, They work on eight
hour shifts, their working conditions
and wages being similar to those en-
joyed by men in the same occupations,
While some of these workers had
employment prior to joining the Can-
adian National Railways,the majority
of them gave their previous occupa-
tion as "housewife.' Occupations of
others ranged from office workers to
charwomen. The "porcerettes" now
working with the Canadian National
Express say they are well satisfied
with the new job. The platform trucks
on which the women load parcels in
the express roosts below the tracks
are hauled by tractor up a ramp to
the track level to be placed alongside
the railway cars into which the par-
cels are laden. In a similar manner,
platform trucks loaded from the cars
are aerie to the lower level by tractor
power. There are no hand -drawn
0
trucks in the Central Station, .na,l,
express and baggage each having its
own power units to haul the heavy
loads. Photographs show some of the
new wartime onrteret"t work.
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