I've just returned from the unveiling of a memorial to three US airmen who died in a wartime take-off accident in a field not far from here - part of the crew of a B24 Liberator that had taken off from Cheddington airfield.
I knew there was to be a fly by, by a WW2 fighter, but didn't know it was to be a Hurricane or expect such an aerobatic display - it flew by half a dozen times at least, including I think would be termed a victory roll and an inside loop, or most of one anyway. Pilot was Peter Teichman, and this was the aircraft -
www.flickr.com/photos/shuttleworthpix/4598931402/
If you were between North Weald and West Herts between 12.00 & 13.00 you could well have seen it en route.
The display was much appreciated by the 200-300 people gathered, including the small group of USAF veterans who came over.
Cheddington was the base of the USAF 36th Bomb Squadron Radar Counter Measure Unit (the "Gremlins").
The whole thing was quite moving.
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I go through Cheddington daily on the train but never realised it was once the site of an airfield.
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He owns a beautifull Spitfire pl-965 reconisance aircraft was fitted with cameras and no weapons.
Peter does the airshow circuit and does a fantastic display.
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Fighter aircraft are the most sporting of military vehicles and must be pure pleasure for a proper pilot, even old ones.
The Rolls-Royce Merlin was developed out of that Schneider Trophy racing seaplane's engine but was then called something else I think.
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The Schneider trophy planes were powered by a Rolls Royce Type R, 37 Litre Supercharged v12 producing a whopping 2,800 HP.
Surprisingly the Merlin was smaller capacity, starting life as a the Rolls Royce PV-12, 27 litre supercharged V12, which towards the end was tweaked to produce over 2000HP, reliably.
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Cheddington was requisitioned like scores of other areas of farmland in SE England for the RAF, who I think used it for training for a while, but it wasn't ideal for that purpose being low-lying and fog prone with low hills not far away on two sides, so they gave it to the Americans.
The Liberators that flew from there never dropped a bomb. They preceded Allied bombers (nightime RAF raids and daytime USAF ones) and used electronic counter measures, chaff etc to confuse German radar.
The B24 that crashed on 19 February1945 took off in very bad visibility. The surviving navigator who spoke this afternoon said they "lined up using torches, the fog was so thick". It crash landed about a mile away but caught fire. The crew got everybody out including the three who died.
Today is the anniversary of the signing of the surrender of all German forces in WW2.
The organiser said Peter Teichman did not charge a penny for today's flight. Thank you Peter, it was a sight to remember, and remember by.
Last edited by: Manatee on Sat 7 May 11 at 16:42
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Sounds like a great day! The Schneider Trophy aircraft were powered by a Rolls Royce R engine
tinyurl.com/5uxlnlm
which I think had carburettors, which gave problems in combat, Negative 'G' made it cut out and they could ice up. The R may,or may not, have deleveloped into the Merlin which had fuel injection for most of its life. FW 190 had fuel injection from first flight, I think.
Merlin images here, spot the difference!
tinyurl.com/68dxhlp
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Sorry PP, but the merlin also had carburettors for most of its life, initially causing problems in a negative G dive., It moved from Su carbs to bednix stromberg pressurised carbs.
The ME109 has a fuel injected Daimler Benz DB60x
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 7 May 11 at 17:14
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>> Sorry PP, but the merlin also had carburettors for most of its life, initially causing
>> problems in a negative G dive., It moved from Su carbs to bednix stromberg pressurised
>> carbs.
Only the 100 Series had a type of injection.
The neg G problems were reduced by an idea by Beatrice 'Tilly' Shilling who designed a type of valve for the float chamber.
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I too was puzzled by the injection Merlin. Z & Swiss posted while I was checking my references.
Very late Merlins including those civilianised for the Canadair North Star & Argonaut may have been injected but Spitfire versions were carburretor fed. Bob Tuck's biography gives an account of fly offs between a Spit & a captured 109 where the latter's FI is highlighted. He gos on to describe the RAE's work on the invertable carburretor.
The float contained a device known colloquially as Miss Shilling's orifice!!
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Sat 7 May 11 at 17:28
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You are correct Zero, I did think that a genuine injection injection system had been fitted, but it wasn't. The final development, which was fitted to the 100-series Merlins, was an S.U. injection carburettor that injected fuel into the supercharger using a fuel pump driven as a function of crankshaft speed and engine pressures. Clever it was, injection it wasn't!
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Hurricane fly by - Bromptonaut
