Evening star., 1940-12-03
(Continued from Page BID

WINDSHIELD, ~ tllt pllOI odlu ~
wasn't much use and that the ships
we're very blind from the rear.
"Tail-Last- Charlie"
Because of this blindness, when
the fighters are in formation they
always fly with at least one plane
above and behind as rear guard.
It weaves back and forth, twisting
to look in every direction. The plane
that does this weaving and watching
Is called "Tail-Last-C Charlie" Peo-
pie watching British squadron fly
across the sky have been known to
get excited and think they see it
being pursued by a German plane
maneuvering for a gun shot. But
that is simply "Tail-Last-C Charlie" 4"
Pilots say it is very wearing be-
cause you have to keep throwing
yourself back and forth across the
rear of the formation at 300 or $50
miles and hour. Also, it is danger
Gus because if a Messerschmitt is out
of your sight and above you and
sees your squadron he will dive on
the rear to finish off "Tail-Last-
Charlie" first.
I asked what the difference was
between Hurricane and Spitflre
fighting wise. found out that the
Hurricane was more maneuverable,
fights best around 10000 feet. The
Spitfire goes both higher and faster,
but it is not quite so handy in dog
fight.
'If you can," they told me, "you
put your Spitflres at 10000 feet and
your Hurricanes at 10000 and then
everything's perfect. The Spitflres
knock them down and the Hurrl-
canes chew them up"
Nazi Morale Called Bad.
Here for the first time I heard
what I was to hear again and
again wherever I went-that the
morale of the German fighters had
turned definitely bad in the last
month. The Messerschmitts will no
longer stay and fight. What they
try to do now is to come over very
high, and spotting an English plane
go for it in one long steep dive.
NCU Ill a SlllSlC Jul Sls SOlloAiioS piAS
dive. Swoop out of it and go home.
The English pilots do not like
this, because in the first place it
means that they rarely get a crack
at the Messerschmitt and in the
second because when the Germans,
who don't get many planes, do get
on the back of one there is nothing
he can do about it because the
German has come down out of the
sun and from behind and so fast
that the English pilot does not see
him until it's too late. And the
burst is in and either cripples his
plane or does not cripple it-and
there is the German-away into the
distance.
Up until the italian planes came
over this last week losses on both
sides have been very low for
month. That is why There has
been no mass flying by the Ger
mans by day. No dog fighting.
When there is dog fighting the
Spitfres and the Hurricanes have it
all over the Messerschmitts, partly
because they can maneuver better
but principally because they have
eight guns to the Messerschmitt's
four, so that burst for burst the
chances of downing the German are
two to one in the Briton's favor.
Messerschmitts Well Equipped.
Moreover, they tell me the Messer-
schmitts have at least one bad fly
ing habit. When they are in deep
dive their aileron controls lock,
which means they cannot turn from
one side to the other. Then can
only get out of their dive by pulling
their nose up in straight line.
And it takes them several thousand
feet to do that. So that if an Eng
lish fighter sees a Messerschmitt
dive on him and can get out of the
way and get up speed himself, the
Messerschmitt is utterly helpless.
The Hun sits there, pilot told me,
tugging at his controls but nothing
happens. Wind is going by his aile-
rons so fast they can't be moved.
Even in Hurricane or Spitfire 1t
takes lot of strength to turn one
over in a dive.
1t was next day that I saw my
first Messerschmitt 100. Alongside
the Hurricanes and Spitflres, they
are easy to tell apart. The wing
tips of the English ships are tapered
and the tips of the German wings
are squared, giving them a sawed
off effect
I found the captured Messer-
schmitt extremely well equipped
with instruments. I talked with
many officers about this and each
told me there was nothing to the
legend that only the squadron leader
in German squadron had flying
instruments.
Nazi Pilots Experienced.
The plane itself did not seem to
me quite as substantially built as
the English planes, but the mar
gin of difference was narrow. The
idea that German fighter planes are
Jerry built is of course nonsense.
You cannot fly jerry built ship at
300 or 400 miles an hour, using it
as gun platform for machine guns.
Studying the design of the Messer-
schmitt for what it's worth, the tail
assembly seemed to me obsolete. It
used the same mechanics for trim
ming the ship that I had in little
sport Fairchild. The whole tail sur
face moves up and down. In all
modern ships, both in England and
America, fore and aft stability Is
adjusted by small tabs on the
fippers.
The stick in the German cockpit
Is very short, must hardly reach
above the pilots knees. Its handle
Is like the emergency brake handle
In an American car. The button
you press in at the top of an Amer
M