Remember

It is Remembrance Day once again, and I would like to write about something that I find fascinating; aviation. Ever since I was a young boy I have had an interest in airplanes, mainly because my father was in the Royal Canadian Air Force. After he introduced me to his passion for airplanes, it was not difficult for me to also become passionate about the UnTHINKable objects in the sky that defy gravity.

Imagine the year is 1941 and you are a 21 year old man. You have never seen a television or a computer. It is likely you have never seen death, either. You have not been desensitized to death and war like most of us are today. You have just completed one or two years of flight training in a machine that could only be seen in flight magazines for enthusiasts, or falling from the skies over the North Atlantic ocean.

So now you find yourself taking off from a wet, muddy runway in Britain. It's foggy and cold. You have a radio that might not work, and a compass. You're sitting in a cockpit laden with British electronics that are not known for their quality or resilience to moisture. You are quite aware of the fact that a lot of fires killed young aviators and experienced aviators alike, usually as a result of moisture, wiring, or some other engineering error. All of these things would have been in the back of your mind as your aircraft began to lurch forward. Your throttle is not digital. Everything is operated by touch and feel. Some younger pilots would take longer than others to acquire a decent feel for their craft. Your chances of living a long life were not great either. The enemy was flying better machines at the time and in most cases, in better numbers. Nevertheless, people volunteered. They did so because they felt it was the right thing to do for their country and their loved ones. In most cases, pilots in the early years were a wild and rare bunch who were fascinated with the idea of unproven machines and technology that did not yet inspire confidence in the greater populous. 

The vibration, the smell of oil and the deafening sound from your Rolls Royce engine would be enough to strike fear into the hearts of most people today. But for pilots who flew planes like the British Spitfire, fear was replaced with a blend of courage and insanity, held together by training and discipline. As one of these pilots, you were taking to the skies with confidence in yourself and those around you as. 

On a cold cloudy day, navigation would be incredibly difficult. You start by relying on your training and your wing men, then hope for the best. You were almost always alone in the skies, with only the mechanical orchestra of moving parts in your plane to keep you company. 

You had probably never experienced "g" forces before, either.  "g" forces make you feel like you are made of cement. All your blood rushes to your head and turns into glue. You lose your sight and have to force your lungs to breath. These forces are caused by performing aerial maneuvers while trying to avoid being shot, or while you were placing yourself in a position to shoot.

Can you imagine what it was like to have hot molten rounds flying across your cockpit, or maybe even see some of them piercing and damaging your plane? The more damage your plane takes, the more difficult it is to control. And of course in some cases you might have to jump out of a burning plane. Imagine reaching up to the handle to release the glass cockpit cap, ejecting yourself out into the elements. You are then torn from your seat only to find yourself in a struggle to avoid being cut in half by the tail of your aircraft. 

If you somehow managed to avoid getting shot down, the effort and mental stamina required to deal with the "g" forces while sighting-up an enemy for the kill could cause you to crash into mountains, buildings, other planes, or even the ground. If at this point you still haven't died, you have to make sure your rounds leave the barrels of your guns to hit their target, which is nearly impossible because the enemy pilot is violently slicing the air with his wings in order to avoid you as well. The mental and physical requirements for fighter pilots are staggering and unthinkable.

If you were lucky and skillful enough to survive a battle, you still had to find your way back home while minding your fuel, other gauges and the ever existing threat of more enemy attacks. It was all in a day's work for the fighter pilots of WWII.

Have you ever heard the roar of a Rolls Royce Merlin aircraft engine? Have you ever seen a Spitfire take to the skies? If not, I urge you to look it up. The internet is a wonderful way to experience the thrill of flight and the machines that carry us to the skies. These machines are a beautiful part of history and originally born out of a peaceful purpose; to give us the freedom of flight. Aircraft has evolved into mechanical metallic artwork, perfected by engineering. The aircraft of the WWII era had smooth lines and soul which cannot be found in many machines of the time. However, this technology came at a cost; countless hours of manual labor, calculations and testing. In some cases , it also came at the cost of human lives. If the cost was so high, why did people continue to push the boundaries of flight? The answer is easy. People wanted to create unique and beautiful flying machines that would ultimately soar through the skies and push the human body to limits yet unseen.

Take the time to watch a video, read a biography and enjoy the history of aircraft. Try to understand and appreciate what they have given to us. In addition, on this November 11th, I feel it is important to remember that real men and woman did the UnTHINKable all those years ago, so that we can enjoy the liberties and freedoms which we have today. 

The Rolls Royce "Merlin" - Aircraft Engine 

General Facts

12 Cylinders

Production from 1933 to 1946 

Contribution to Flight Technology: 

Improved fuel consumption.

Use of the Supercharger for increased speed.

The use of inter-coolers for a more stable engine.

The vast improvement of aerial carburetors.

Horse Power: Ranging from 700Hp in the early days up to about 2000Hp in the Merlin 131 series. 

Featured Aircraft: Spitfire, Hurricane, Mosquito and early Mustangs.