Book Reviews

Research, Experimentation and Modification 1939-1945

By B Norton

Fonthill Media Limited, Millview House, Toadsmoor Road, Stroud GL5 2TB, UK. 2019. 446pp. Illustrated. £45. ISBN 978-1-78155-725-9.

A captured Focke Wulf Fw190 in US markings over North Africa. RAeS (NAL).

By testing a North American XP-51B Mustang with cropped wings in the 16ft High-Speed Tunnel, researchers at Ames traced the source of a serious rumble to the location of the aircraft’s radiator cooling scoop below the fuselage. NASA.

As the latest in a series of books, following on from volumes on WW2 fighters, bombers, gliders and special types, this publication – as suggested by its title – deals with a far more diverse area, much of which has received little exposure elsewhere. The first chapter sets the scene by describing the existing structure of research facilities at the start of the war, including those of NACA, the Army Air Corps, US Navy and private industry. It also introduces some of the major personalities including Theodore von Karman, Hap Arnold and Jimmy Doolittle. One of the more familiar topics addressed is laminar flow, which was investigated in wind tunnels and by airborne testbeds, before being applied to production types, notably the North American Mustang, albeit with less than the anticipated success. However, many of the programmes described never saw full production, including such radical ideas as the Custer Channel Wing, tracked undercarriages and the launch and recovery of light aircraft from a suspended cable (The Brodie system). Other innovations, including pressurised cabins, jet engines, ejection seats and air-to-air refuelling, did not see full scale use until after the conflict.

One chapter is dedicated to the efforts to improve propulsion, including superchargers, methanol-water injection, high octane fuels and propeller design for piston engines and early efforts with turbojets. Another chapter deals with the development of both solid and liquid-fuelled rockets primarily to boost take-off performance but also, in the later stages, for primary propulsion. Moving on to the problems of near sonic speeds, the issue of conventional aircraft avoiding compressibility effects is addressed, before efforts to reach and exceed sonic velocities are described, including the initial designs for the Bell XS-1. More obscure, but often just as important subjects, include cockpit design, aircraft ditching (including full-scale tests), icing, casualty evacuation and others too numerous to mention.

One actual operation that is dealt with in some detail is the April 1942 Doolittle raid on Japan, concentrating on the improvements and modifications required to the aircraft involved. The preparations for the use of atomic bombs against Japan are also addressed.

One category of aircraft that is dealt with in some detail is army co-operation aircraft, which evolved from large dedicated designs to smaller aircraft adapted from commercially available types. The contributions of foreign nations, primarily the UK, are acknowledged, ranging from well-known areas, such as aerial refuelling and jet engines, to less recognised contributions, including the use of papier-mâché drop tanks. Considerable efforts were also expended on the test and evaluation of enemy aircraft and weapons and the US even produced substantial numbers of a copy of the German V-1 flying bomb.

The book contains many photographs and other illustrations, including those of little-known test and prototypes aircraft and the text contains liberal amounts of data on weights, performance and the costs of most of the projects. In summary this book presents tantalising glimpses into a vast range of topics, most of which have received little if any attention in previous publications.

Colin Frazer
AMRAeS 

The Evolution of Manned Airborne Reconnaissance

By T Morton

Naval Institute Press, 291 Wood Road, Annapolis, MD 21402, USA. 2019.xvii; 305pp. Illustrated. $49.95. ISBN 978-1-68247-465-5.

Left: Samuel Cody on horseback with one of his man-lifting kites in 1901. RAeS NAL. Right: USAF Lockheed Martin U-2 Dragon Lady high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. Lockheed Martin.

I was very impressed with this book. As one would expect from a Naval Institute Press publication it is well shaped to provide researchers, aficionados or just interested readers with what they require. There is a comprehensive introduction with a description of the story, as well as the author’s explanation of the scope and intention.

Conveniently divided into sections in a chronological order, the book covers a large and essential period in the story of airborne reconnaissance. It was commissioned as part of the History of Air Power series, also published by the Naval Institute Press and edited by Paul Springer. The book has thorough notes expanding on issues covered in the main narrative, as well as a comprehensive bibliography and a very good index. This makes it ideal as a reference book for military libraries, as well as for those wishing to research further the absorbing topic of airborne reconnaissance.

In handling such a far-reaching subject, the author keeps within his intended boundaries and does not stray elsewhere.

The book starts with man’s need to gain altitude to increase surveillance capability. It covers the important point that without adequate surveillance and the intelligence it provides, both defence and offence are largely ineffective. In the main narrative, Tyler Morton embraces the histories of kites, balloons and onwards to sophisticated manned aircraft. He points to the fact that in drawdowns after war, reconnaissance assets are often the first to go, and the last to be redeveloped, even when the contingencies of war demand such action. This lesson was not learned both before and after the two World Wars, and for that matter various conflicts since. Nevertheless, in his historical narrative, he covers well the development and the innovation and energy which engineers and operators gave to their projects. Particularly, he relates how fittingly British and US reconnaissance intelligence co-operated effectively to speed the process. Although, he writes more fully about advances within the US forces, the author doesn’t neglect the important historical roles played by the RAF, the French and the Germans.

The book concentrates on piloted reconnaissance systems and, for security reasons, only alludes briefly to satellite reconnaissance. However, as time progresses, more and more information is released from security caveats and constraints and it is to be hoped that space reconnaissance will soon be the subject of another book in this excellent airpower series.

If there is a minor criticism it is that, although the author provides comprehensive coverage of photo-reconnaissance, airborne SIGINT and ELINT, he does not, in my view, cover well the difficulties of integrating the intelligence from these assets. This was primarily caused by security compartmentation and it often had an adverse impact at national level during the Cold War. Nevertheless, this is a relatively small point in what is a very readable and a thoroughly enjoyable book which I commend to you.

Geoffrey Oxlee
OBE

Former Commanding Officer of The Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre

The Role of the Royal Aircraft Establishment

By G T Shanks

Published by the author, Bedford. 2018. 173pp. Illustrated. £20 plus £5 postage/packing (Available from the Bedford Aeronautical Heritage Group E bahg_gts@btinternet.com).

Short SC1, XG905, left, and Rolls-Royce Flying Bedstead experimental VTOL aircraft at RAE, Bedford. RAeS (NAL).

This account of the research into fly-by-wire (FBW) in the UK is a good historic and detailed record of the work that spans a generation. It mainly covers the work at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) Bedford and its collaboration with industry. Later, after privatisation, the scene continues at Boscombe Down. The author is authoritative, as he was part of the research teams for a number of these projects.

The book is self-published but is not, as one might fear, a self-indulgent account of the writer’s working life, but stands as a well-balanced, detailed and reliable account of each programme the RAE was involved with. It gives the details of what was actually done in each programme and the results obtained but given at a level that was informative but not soporific. Of importance is that the learning from each of the research programmes was used to inform the next and this is clearly shown. Thus it is easy to see the development route in FBW aircraft control.

DERA/QinetiQ VAAC (Vectored thrust Aircraft Advanced Control) two-seat Harrier. QinetiQ.

The pictures on the front cover of the book gives you an expectation of the contents of the book with pictures of the Rolls-Royce ‘Flying Bedstead’, Short SC1, Avro 707C, the ‘Green Hunter’, FBW Jaguar, the Experimental Aircraft Programme (EAP) and finally the VAAC (Vectored Thrust Aircraft Advanced Flight Control) Harrier. Each of these flying programmes is covered by chapters in the book. There are also pictures of the Tornado, F-35B STOVL (short take-off and vertical landing) variant and Typhoon but no chapters are included on these aircraft. This might be considered a cheat but we learn in this book how the research informed the development of these aircraft. This is the payback to industry.

FBW was necessary for the autostabilisation of the early experimental hover machines because of the high workload. The story starts with the Flying Bedstead and the electrical signalling for autostabilisation. Some purist might feel that this is not genuine FBW but it is the start. It had an analogue signalling systems as digital flight computer did not exist for some time after this programme.

The next programmes were the VTOL Short SC1 and followed by the Avro 707C. These were again stabilised through an analogue controller with analogue signalling to actuators. Throughout the book the author starts the discussion of each aircraft programme with a short description of the aircraft enough to situate the technical discussion on FBW. He concludes each chapter by collecting the summary of the outcomes of the experiments to show the positive results of the programme.

The digital era starts with the two-seater ‘Green Hunter’ rewired for digital control but retaining the mechanical control links for safety. Apart for the demonstrably improved flying performance of digital aircraft, this programme included research into different ‘inceptors’ or hand controllers (‘sticks’) for controlling the aircraft.

All these RAE aircraft retained the mechanical control links and the two seaters had a safety pilot who used the mechanical system.

In a similar vein a Jaguar was taken out of service, stripped down and rewired as a digitally-controlled aircraft. The leap forward on this aircraft was that there was no mechanical backup or safety pilot. Instead everything was quadruplex redundant and the work with this aircraft informed the great leap of faith to remove mechanical control system from future systems.

The FBW research moved on to the EAP aircraft with the statically unstable longitudinal axis. The programme de-risked the next generation highly manoeuvrable fighter that became the Typhoon.

The final programme was the VAAC Harrier which was a two-seater. It retained the safety pilot and mechanical control systems but was rewired by Cranfield for digital FBW flying. The main objective was to make flying the Harrier that much easier and particularly in the STOVL regime. Interestingly a dichotomy arose. Inexperienced pilots found the process difficult in the normal Harrier and a few got bent in training. Experienced pilots loved their Harriers with its three inceptor controls (for two hands!) and they did not want anything changed. Yet the inexperienced pilots loved the new two inceptor FBW system. This made test pilot assessment interesting. The research tried out various controlling regimes and the two inceptor winner informed the F-35B for STOVL operation.