The Quick & The Dead.
Posted: 30 Apr 2011, 11:01
I have just finished reading 'The Quick & The Dead - The story of a Chief Test Pilot' by Sqdn Ldr Bill Waterton G.M, A.F.C. and bar.
I haven't put this post the book recommendations thread because it is virtually unobtainable as it was published in 1956 - I got my copy from New Zealand. What prompted me to search it out was the several references to it in the book 'Empire of the Clouds' that was published last year.
The book covers the post war period from being selected for the RAF's High Speed Flight, based at Tangmere, that raised the world speed record in 1946 with some Meteor specials to his resignation from Gloster's in 1954. Some say he was pushed, others say he jumped.
I found it an interesting book that covers the trials & tribulations of developing the Meteor and the Javelin and the 'alleged' reluctance of Gloster's to introduce mods that Waterton felt were necessary. He is highly critical of the UK aviation industry and it's reliance on Government contracts rather than going out into the big wide world and developing a plane to fill a gap in the market. He felt we didn't build enough prototypes resulting in a/c going into production not fully developed. He wonders why pre-war we built and sold large numbers of light aircraft but post war we built virtually nothing.
The book mentions things like
The CO of the High Speed flight being sucked into a Meteor's engine and only the quick reaction of the man in the cockpit shutting the engine down and another officers grabbing his legs saved him.
The Mark VIII Meteor as originally built, was fitted with Mark IV's tails which were not suitable for the extra length & C of G change, due to an extra 95 gallon fuel tank, of the Mk VIII, but the one fitted to the E1/44 corrected these problems. However Gloster said the first hundred Mark VIII's would be fitted with the original tail units because they had already signed a contract with a sub-contractor to build a hundred! Waterton objected strongly so Gloster's said let Boscombe decide. The Boscombe pilots agreed with Waterton so the MOS at Boscombe ducked out and said let's see what the RAF's Central Fighter Establishment say. Now as it happened Waterton's had some contacts at the CFE and to cut the story short the Mk. VIII's never got the Mk. IV tails.
The Javelin prototype had 'open shrouded' controls, the same as the Meteor and the E1/44. These control surface heavy'd up at speed 'which made it beyond the pilots strength to manoeuvre the 'plane rapidly at anything above half speed'. He say's 'Again my remonstrance went unheeded'. Some time later he had to demonstrate the Javelin to some Ministry types. "carefully keeping the speed low in order to move the controls for aerobatics, I performed zooms, upward rolls, rolls off the top and reversed turns all in quick succession. I did not loop either then, or at the two Farnborough shows at which I flew the Javelin, for I should never had the strength to pull it out of a steep dive. After the display a senior member of the design office said to me acidly " Don't know what you are criticizing those controls about. If you can throw it around like that there's nothing wrong with them."
Landing the prototype Javelin at Boscombe, after the elevators at departed the a/c somewhere near Whitney, at 60 mph higher than landing speed, only to be caught out by a gust of wing just after touchdown that resulted in a series of bounces that ended in a flaming heap at the end of the runway. He was then stuck in the cockpit due to a jammed canopy that was slowly softening in the heat. He managed to get the canopy open in the end and escape. Apparently afterwards 'a flying control type said "By jove, you're a cool customer, sitting in there waiting for the fire tender to come and put the fire out"'. It was this incident where he won the GM for going back in to rescue the flight recorders.
The book at the time of publication was highly controversial and was the cause of him being fired from his post Gloster job as the Aviation Correspondent of the Daily Express. Apparently a number of the Expresses advertisers said he had to go.
All I can say is, look at the UK aircraft manufacturing base now.
If you aren't familiar with the E1/44 (as I wasn't) here it is.
I haven't put this post the book recommendations thread because it is virtually unobtainable as it was published in 1956 - I got my copy from New Zealand. What prompted me to search it out was the several references to it in the book 'Empire of the Clouds' that was published last year.
The book covers the post war period from being selected for the RAF's High Speed Flight, based at Tangmere, that raised the world speed record in 1946 with some Meteor specials to his resignation from Gloster's in 1954. Some say he was pushed, others say he jumped.
I found it an interesting book that covers the trials & tribulations of developing the Meteor and the Javelin and the 'alleged' reluctance of Gloster's to introduce mods that Waterton felt were necessary. He is highly critical of the UK aviation industry and it's reliance on Government contracts rather than going out into the big wide world and developing a plane to fill a gap in the market. He felt we didn't build enough prototypes resulting in a/c going into production not fully developed. He wonders why pre-war we built and sold large numbers of light aircraft but post war we built virtually nothing.
The book mentions things like
The CO of the High Speed flight being sucked into a Meteor's engine and only the quick reaction of the man in the cockpit shutting the engine down and another officers grabbing his legs saved him.
The Mark VIII Meteor as originally built, was fitted with Mark IV's tails which were not suitable for the extra length & C of G change, due to an extra 95 gallon fuel tank, of the Mk VIII, but the one fitted to the E1/44 corrected these problems. However Gloster said the first hundred Mark VIII's would be fitted with the original tail units because they had already signed a contract with a sub-contractor to build a hundred! Waterton objected strongly so Gloster's said let Boscombe decide. The Boscombe pilots agreed with Waterton so the MOS at Boscombe ducked out and said let's see what the RAF's Central Fighter Establishment say. Now as it happened Waterton's had some contacts at the CFE and to cut the story short the Mk. VIII's never got the Mk. IV tails.
The Javelin prototype had 'open shrouded' controls, the same as the Meteor and the E1/44. These control surface heavy'd up at speed 'which made it beyond the pilots strength to manoeuvre the 'plane rapidly at anything above half speed'. He say's 'Again my remonstrance went unheeded'. Some time later he had to demonstrate the Javelin to some Ministry types. "carefully keeping the speed low in order to move the controls for aerobatics, I performed zooms, upward rolls, rolls off the top and reversed turns all in quick succession. I did not loop either then, or at the two Farnborough shows at which I flew the Javelin, for I should never had the strength to pull it out of a steep dive. After the display a senior member of the design office said to me acidly " Don't know what you are criticizing those controls about. If you can throw it around like that there's nothing wrong with them."
Landing the prototype Javelin at Boscombe, after the elevators at departed the a/c somewhere near Whitney, at 60 mph higher than landing speed, only to be caught out by a gust of wing just after touchdown that resulted in a series of bounces that ended in a flaming heap at the end of the runway. He was then stuck in the cockpit due to a jammed canopy that was slowly softening in the heat. He managed to get the canopy open in the end and escape. Apparently afterwards 'a flying control type said "By jove, you're a cool customer, sitting in there waiting for the fire tender to come and put the fire out"'. It was this incident where he won the GM for going back in to rescue the flight recorders.
The book at the time of publication was highly controversial and was the cause of him being fired from his post Gloster job as the Aviation Correspondent of the Daily Express. Apparently a number of the Expresses advertisers said he had to go.
All I can say is, look at the UK aircraft manufacturing base now.
If you aren't familiar with the E1/44 (as I wasn't) here it is.
