Letters To The Editor

I enjoyed reading the wide variety of articles in AADR ranging from General Aviation right through to the complexities of future generation fighter aircraft. Your article on the Shorts 330 was most interesting as it is the first time I have ever seen this aircraft concept directly compared with the DC-3. Certainly, if Australia should become involved, the design and assembly of such an aircraft could open many doors to regional _export sales and local job creation. I did note one flaw in the article though – regarding the “large front freight door from which life rafts, etc can be ejected” – perhaps it would be more appropriate in the Search & Rescue role to eject life rafts from aft of the propellers!

Looking forward to future editions in which you might also become involved in book reviews, etc.

Michael Hennesy

Angaston, 5353.

Colour the editor’s face red, true it would hardly seem to be the point of a rescue mission, once having located your half-drowned survivors, to throw the life rafts into the props! We have ·commenced a Book Review column with this edition. Ed.

Lessons of history

Dear Sir,

Thank you for the article on DACT. As a common layman, it was the first time I had read an article on the subject without getting weighed down by technical aspects that only a dedicated fighter pilot comprehends.

The fact that history has proven time and _ time again that by and large medium to long-range radar-guided air-to-air missiles are basically unreliable was well illustrated by your article. Indeed the evolution of fighter aircraft since Korea has once again proven that great technological advances gained without the constant benefit of actual (real-life) combat are largely theoretical.

The performance of the early model Phantoms of early Vietnam against cheap and nasty M1G-17s proved once again that military strategists must not always denigrate proven systems and lessons learnt in past wars. Look at what happened when the Germans committed the JU-87 Stuka against English targets in 1940 – yet today we have an aircraft called the A-10 which might well become the “Stuka” of the 80s if actual combat should arise under a European sky saturated with MiGs!

The development of aircraft such as the F-16 and the F-SG, if it should become a firm project, are examples of technology learning from real-life experiences. As relatively inexpensive, highly capable fighter aircraft that can be afforded in reasonable numbers by most of the developed nations these two aircraft embody concepts that will take them well into the 21st century.

Ian Henderson

Cremorne, 2090.

Hydrogen fuel

interest

Dear Sir,

I enjoy reading your s u p e r b magazine immensely. It is by far the best Australian aviation magazine I’ve

read for quite a while. But I am writing to ask a favour of you.

Back in the first edition of AADR (1977 Annual), you ran an article on Mr Yull Brown and his experiments with hydrogen as a fuel for the future. It

caught my imagination as a real solution applicable to today’s internal combustion engines. However, the fuel crisis was not hitting as hard as it is now

and I merely procrastinated.

However, I am now very interested in contacting Mr Yull Brown as I wish to approach him about something relating to his work. Would you be able to

supply me with his address? Keep up the good work.

N. J. Hutchin

Tenterfield, 2372.

Of all the articles we have published since! 1977 the one topic that generated more requests for information than any other is Yul/ Brown’s research into hydrogen power. You may contact Mr Brown at Water Fuel Holdings Pty Ltd, PO Box 306, Auburn, 2144. Ed.

RAAF efficiency

Dear Sir,

If Australia possesses a natural resource in abundant supply then it is a

conditioned lethargy that culminates in our media generally having an obsession with defence “knocking”.

Your excellent article by Wing Commander John Staal (June AADR) on the daring and imaginative recovery of the downed Caribou made me feel proud to have been a member of the defence force. The operational echelons of Defence, in all three services, are very efficiently run. Indeed they have to be owing to the perennial lack of cash in fact from my dealings with supposedly eff1c1ent private industry I feel that in many cases we could teach the civvy managers lessons in budgeting and personnel management.

It is refreshing to read intelligent and factual articles on what amounts to one of the most operationally competent defence forces in the world – keep up the good work, we’re all behind you.

Bruce Kinnealy

Richmond, 2753.

Avgas alternatives

Dear Sir,

For years everybody has been whispering the impending doom of an energy shortage and I, like most other pilots have largely flown on using 75 per cent power without a care in the world.

Today I not only get by at 55 to 65 per cent cruise power on my Skyhawk but indeed am lucky at times if I can even refuel at my rural destinations. To this end it will be interesting to see what develops, both here and abroad in the coming year in seeking a short-term alternative to avgas for light aircraft operation.

According to DOT and other reputable sources, the use of super-grade _ motor _fuel is provisionally acceptable in engines currently using 80/87 avgas. I say provisionally as the use of motor spirit will in the long term lead to carbon and lead deposits in the combustion chambers in addition to creating excessive wear on valve gear. There could also be vapour lock problems particularly where the aircraft is operated in a hot climate. In the long term, all these problems could be overcome by some dedicated professional research into the problem.

One bet for the future is that there will be a lot of people particularly those living m rural areas who will be forced to resort to mogas in the coming year. Let us hope that sufficient intelligent

DOT and dealer assistance will ensure that this desperate move does not become a potential death trap for the ignorant.

I. K. Roberts

Benalla, 3672.