May
1939
Volume
8 Number 2 (86 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 49 to page 92 (44 pages)

Inside front cover – An advert for Lockheed showing ‘Airdraulic’
Shock-Absorber Struts on the De Havilland ‘Famingo’
Page 50 – Contents Page
(The contents page is by an advert for Air
France)

Page
52 – A photograph of the “Ark Royal” Aircraft Carrier with a bi-plane overhead
Page
53 – The Editor’s Cockpit – W. E. Johns
(Not
Subtitled – In his last editorial for Popular Flying, Johns returns to his
favourite subject – the failure to invest in aircraft which lead to Hitler
having far more planes than Britain and as a result be able to dominant
Europe. Johns blames the Navy for
this. He was later sacked as editor)
Page
55 – How they Fared – Details of Air Victories Claimed by the Italian Squadrons
in Spain
(A
list of confirmed and unconfirmed “kills”)
Page 56 – The American Aircraft Invasion of Australia – A Survey of the
position since the abolition of the embargo – by Our Australian Correspondent
(“British
v American. Buy British! Where’s your patriotism? Why don’t you trade within the Empire? You don’t really believe all that tosh about
the wonderful performance and superiorty of American transports? It’s disloyal and all that!”)
Page 60 – World Records
(The rules governing aircraft records were
framed so long ago that, although they have been modified to suit changing
conditions, most people have forgotten the details. An entirely new set of rules cannot be long delayed. Here, briefly, are those still operative in
respect of “world” records. The rules
are governed by the “Federation Aeronautique Internationale” or F.A.I. founded
in Paris in 1905)
Page 63 – The Speed Limit – Norman H. Warren
(A look at the complex formulas relating to
horse power, speed and drag. The speed
of sound is 660 mph. “It would appear that
there is no way of increasing the speed of an aeroplane above about 600 miles
per hour, and that this figure represents the “all time” high speed
figure. In addition, the horse-power
required to attain this speed would be quite excessive and at the present time
the speed limit is well beyond our reach”)
Page 66 – Air Re-armament & American Supplies – J. M. Spaight
(How our monthly output of aircraft compares
with Germany’s is difficult to determine; no official figures are, naturally,
published.
…. It may now be approaching the 500
mark. Germany’s, however, is probably
somewhere between 500 and 600 per month”.
A search on Google tells me Britain produced 7940 aircraft in
1939 (an average of about 662 a month)
whereas
Germany produced 8295 aircraft in 1939 (averaging 692 a month) so the author
wasn’t far out in his estimations)
68 – Flying Wires – Air News from all Points of the Compass
(One particularly interesting item of news
is that “the 31,000 officers and men required for the R.A.F. by March 31st
of this year, were enlisted by March 4th. In 1939 another 20,000 men will be needed”)

Pages
70 and 71 – The Centre Pages – Fleet Air Operations – Exclusive Photos of
Torpedo Operations Carried Out Recently in the Mediterranean
Page 72 – At Last – The Helicopter – Nigel Tangye
(A history of the helicopter – from Leonardo
Da Vinci to the present time and noting “the possibilities of future
development are enormous”)
Page 74 – The De Havilland Flamingo
(Type D.H. 95 – A Medium Capacity All –
Metal Liner for World Markets)
Page 76 – The World Says –
(“This important feature will consist of
cogent excerpts from the world’s air press (regardless of political expression)
translated into English”)
Page 79 – Aircraft Shares in the City – A Survey of the Postion – A. S.
Wade
(A look at the market during the current
production rush. The article concludes
“that leading aircraft company shares are sound investments”)
Page 80 – Amateur Formation – C. Nepean Bishop
(“Club machines have never really made an
impression on the minds of the general public”.
The author sets out how he and his friends
fly from their club in early morning “Dawn Patrols” to alter this)
Page 83 – An advert for Shell – “Pioneers of Modern Aviation” – featuring
Claude Grahame-White
(who in 1910 won $10,000 for flying from Squantum to Boston Light and
back. He was the first airman to fly in
the dark)
Page 85 – The Aviation Bookshelf – Books of the Month Reviewed by Denis
Desoutter
(Two books are reviewed)
Page 92 – The Buyers’ Log
(This carries the same Royal Air Force
advert for vacancies for pilots and air observers as set out in previous
months.
There is also an advert “FOR SALE, “Popular
Flying” from No. 1 to date, unbound, perfect, clean – J. W. Griffiths, 45 Queen
Street, Chester”)
Inside Back Cover – Advert for Grey’s Cigarettes
Back Page – An Advert for the M.G. Midget
Click here
to see a much larger picture of the cover artwork – the artist is Howard Leigh
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