AIRCRAFT PARTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 October 1943, Page 2

AIRCRAFT PARTS

MOBILE INSTRUCTIONAL UNIT VISIT TO MASTERTON. AIR TRAINING CORPS RECRUITING DRIVE. The mobile instructional unit of the Air Training Corps, which is at present visiting Masterton, attracted a considerable number of the public to Fagan s Garage yesterday, where the display was opened in the afternoon. Much interest was shown by old and young alike and members of the unit explained the workings of the various aircraf parts on exhibition. The object of the display is to create interest in the Air Training Corps in furtherance of a recruiting drive. Yesterday, many recruits were enrolled. There was a particularly large attendance of the public last night, when lhe Wairarapa College and Mas ter ton units of the Air Training Corps paraded and inarched to the display point, headed by lhe Masterton Municipal and Salvation Army bands,

The great value of lhe training received 111 Hie Air Training Corps and Hie Air Force was emphasised by Flight Lieutenant D. C. Inglis, D.C.M., ollicer in command of Hie unit, who detailed to a •■Times-Age" representative various poinls of Hie display. Upon joining lhe Air Force, recruits tool', a technical course in which lhe efficiency, aptitude and capabilities ol Hie men were ascertained, examples ol the work turned out, some of it correct Io the 2000th part of mi inch, indicated the high standard of craftsmanship attained by some of the trainees. One hundred trades were represented in Air Force work. One vehicle of the unit contains a variety of aircraft motors, all sectionised in a manner which allows the layman to see what "makes them tick. The highlight of this display is a large seven cylinder radial motor, thoroughly scctionised, • and slowly "ticking over” to the power of an electric motor through a reduction gear. Other items in the display are carburetors from modern fighter and bomber aircraft. some of these components alone being comparable with the size of a large motor cycle engine. The second component of the convoy, a cross between an aircraft and a motor vehicle —consists of a large truck chasis on which is mounted the whole of a Harvard fighter trainer aircraft, less the wings and tail unit which would make it too bulky for road travel. Apart from these modifications, however, the aircraft is exactly the same as its flying counterparts in service with the R.N.Z.A.F. from its motor and propeller down to the last instrument and light in the dual cockpits. The Harvard’s hydraulic retractable undercarriage has been retained in the display, although its compressor is now operated by an electric motor owing to the technical impossibilities of motivating it in the original manner. Thus, it is possible for cadets to get into the cockpit and operate the controls causing the hefty undercarriage to go down and retract. Similarly, the hydraulically operated fuselage flaps can be worked from the cockpit.

Vehicle Number Three is the armament display. Ingeniously arranged, the rear of this vehicle draws out in telescopic fashion, a fully operational Bolton Paul gun turret from a Lockheed Hudson bomber aircraft being mounted on the end of the. telescopic section. On account of its size and its maze of electrical gear, the turret which mounts two Browing air mach-ine-guns, attracts wide interest. It is so arranged as to work exactly as it originally did on a bomber, and a moving model aircraft is incorporated in the unit which allows cadets to get in and operate the turret and line up the modern reflector sights on the model in the same manner as an air gunner cn active service. Other highlights in this vehicle include a 20 m.m. air cannon. sectionised bombs, air cameras, bomb sights, and, in fact, a representation of all the impedimenta of modern air warfare. The unit, which will conclude its Masterton display tonight, will bff at the Carterion Show tomorrow and on Thursday.