On 2 Nov 1996, Graham Singleton wrote:
> >>A "universal aperture" in aeroplanes would be very useful.<<
>
> Do you remember Drift Gauges? A very simple device, you looked through the
> floor
> of your aeroplane at the ground, or sea, the direction the surface appeared to
> be moving with respect to the centre line of the aircraft told you the drift
> angle.
> Gr aham
>
Back in the days when I occasionally got to fly DC-3s and C-47s (Dakotas
to you Brits, of course) in Alaska, one of our aircraft still had a drift
meter. Since
this one had originally been a civilian ship, rather than a C-47, it
lacked the pukka navigator's position and drift meter mount. Instead,
our drift meter was mounted on a swinging arm back in the "blue room,"
where it could be locked into position peering straight down the karzy,
which in those days didn't bother with niceties like a holding tank.
Incidentally, we young copilots learned that if we were flying with a
particularly unpleasant captain, judicious application of right aileron
and left rudder to produce a forward slip could cause a local revesal of
airflow around the outlet from the WC. Timing was critical--about 30
seconds after the boss left the flight deck and headed back down the
aisle to use the facilities seemed about right.
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