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Description: | British-Australian officer served as Sopwith Camel pilot with Royal Naval Air Service on Western Front, 1916-1919
REEL 1 Background to recruitment as probationary flight officer into Royal Naval Air Service, 6/1917: deferment of conscription whilst completing year at Engineering College, London University, 6/1917; flying training at Chingford and Cranwell; training as scout pilot. Period flying Sopwith Camels with 10 Sqdn, RNAS in France and Belgium, 1/1918-8/1918: air situation; kite balloons and difficulty in shooting them down; German offensive in Portuguese sector, Ypres area,, 3/1918, including circumstance of subsequent retreat by RNAS units, success in shooting down German aircraft, story of close escape from being shot down by ground fire, opinion of Major Bell. Period at 204 Training Depot Sqdn at Shoreham, GB, 8/1918-11/1918: initial instructors course flying Avro 504K and method of side slipping in to land; instructing using special two-seater Sopwith Camels. Period flying Sopwith Camels with 10 Sqdn, RNAS in France and Belgium, 1/1918-8/1918: effects of formation of RAF including ban on special paint schemes for Camels and new ranks; question of superior aircraft and flying training of RNAS in comparison to Royal Flying Corps; problem with guns jamming in combat and failure to properly align them.
REEL 2 Continues: question of Major James McCudden's shooting accuracy; question of effects of physical fitness and drinking habits; stunting. Period at 204 Training Depot Sqdn at Shoreham, GB, 8/1918-3/1919: contact with Kingsford-Smith; story of two instructors landing Avro 504K by sharing controls; shooting game from air. Post-war career: period working for company giving joy rides with Kingsford-Smith and Maddock's; return to London University, 10/1919; question of cancellation of planned flight by Kingsford-Smith and Maddock's in Blackburn Kangaroos to Australia, 1919; subsequent achievements of Kingsford-Smith; subsequent engineering career, ca 1920-1924. Work as civilian scientific officer work on Supermarine Seaplane S5 for Schneider Trophy races with RAF at Farnborough and Felixstowe, 1924-1933: role; qualities of seaplanes and flying boats; question of technicalities of air friction, skin friction drag and streamlining. | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Coombes, Laurie | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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