February
1939
Volume
7 Number 11 (83 of 88)
This issue of Popular Flying magazine features NO
“Biggles” story. The last “Biggles”
story was published in the May 1934 issue
Contents
This issue runs from page 529 to page 576 (48 pages)
Inside front cover – A striking advert for Lockheed “Airdraulic” Undercarriage
Struts
Page 529 – A striking advert for Rolls-Royce Engines
Page 530 – Contents Page
(The contents page is by an advert for
Wills’s Gold Flake cigarettes)
Page
532 – A photograph of three Bi-Planes headed “Sunset Patrol”
Page
533 – The Editor’s Cockpit – W. E. Johns
(Not
Subtitled – In the middle of the page is a box which says “To all those readers
at home and abroad who so kindly
sent
me Christmas Greeting cards, my sincere thanks and reciprocation”. Johns said that for the Christmas holidays
he went
to Wales in a motor-car, as, with the
exception of the Soviet Union, that was the one country in Europe he had not
visited.
The conditions were terrible due to snow and
ice and it took him two days to get to Deganwy.
Page
534 – Plastic ‘Plane are on their Way – George Good
(“For
a long time scientists, and especially the aircraft engineers, have been
striving to find the perfect constructional material, light in weight, as
strong as steel, non-rusting and transparent or coloured as desired. In the development of plastics, they believe
that they are on the right road)
Page 536 – The Trend of American Military Aviation – Arch Whitehouse
(“It
is impossible to detect a trend, one way or the other, because there are so
many Bureaus, Organisations and Headquarters handling Military Flying in the
United States – but are they wrong?”.
This article discusses how everything seems to be done differently with
United States aviation)
Page
540 – Penny Wise – by “Atlas”
(“The
standard rate of income-tax in this country to-day is 5s 6d in the pound”. (This is 66 pence in a pound consisting of
240 pence or 27.5%). “Only once before
has it reached this figure, during the four years immediately after the last
war, when we had to save and scrape to pay for the spoils of victory”. This article talks about the millions of
pound of the tax-payer’s money being spent on air armaments, air defence and
training)
Page
542 – Flying Through a Thunderstorm – Oliver K. Whiting
(The
author talks about a flight between New York and Florida – and what a
terrifying experience it was to fly through lightning)
Page 544 – Ice in the Air – Nigel Tangye
(“Ice is still among the greatest dangers of
the air”. This article says that “In
the old days the air was potentially just as full of ice as it is now, but
airmen rarely came across it because of their inability to fly for long periods
“blind”. Icing-up was, therefore,
rarely heard about”)
Page 547 – Flying on Rails –Exciting Episode on the Syrian and Palestine
Deserts – John A. Caseby
(An account of how a damaged and deserted
German aeroplane was used on the Turkish narrow gauge railway
to traverse the desert from Haifa to Damascus,
via the Yarmuk Valley)
Page 548 – Flying Wires – Air News from all Points of the Compass
(One particularly interesting item of news
is that “An R.A.F. base may be established at Ceylon shortly”.
Page 550 – Direction Finding – Wing Commander G. W. Williamson, O.B.E.,
M.C.
(“The
whole principle of wireless direction finding depends upon the directional
properties of certain
shapes
of aerial when cut at varying angles by a series of wireless waves ……………….”)
Pages
552 and 553 – The Centre Pages – A.R.P. in Barcelona – Photographs showing how
the Spanish Government is tackling the air raid question
Page 554 – Introduction to a Fury – K. M. Sclanders
(The author tells of how he got to fly
Hawker Fury aircraft)
Page 556 – A Grave Affair – Douglas Ross
(The author tells of how he flew to Limo to
report on the excavation of an Indian grave)
Page 558- Over Darkest Hollywood – Malcolm Logan (Sketches by George Lane)
(A highly amusing account of the author’s
“Uncle” telling him what it was like in the old days ………)
Page 560 – Mistakes We Made – by An “Old-Timer”
(A humorous account of old pilots discussing
their past aerial errors)
Page 561 – The Link Trainer in Service
(An account of what is in effect a ground
based flight simulator used for training pilots)
Page 562 – War Clouds Over Egypt – By our Special Correspondent on the Spot
(An account of tensions between the British
and Italians in Egypt in 1935)
Page 504 – Matt Berry – Super Pilot – Edward Green
(A stirring account of the adventures of
Canadian pilot, Matt Berry)
Page 566 – ‘Planes and Personalities – A Monthly Causerie of Men and
Machines – by “Observer”
(Over a page is dedicated to information on
the “Ark Royal” – Britain’s latest aircraft carrier)
Page 570 – The Aviation Bookshelf –
Books of the Month Reviewed by Denis Desoutter
(Two books are reviewed)
Page 576 – The Buyers’ Log
(This carries the same Royal Air Force
advert for vacancies for air observers as set out in previous months)
Inside Back Cover – Adverts for Gatwick Airport and the British Aviation
Insurance Co. Ltd
Back Page – An Advert for the M.G.Midget Drophead Coupe
Click here
to see a much larger picture of the cover artwork – the artist is uncredited
but presumably Howard Leigh
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