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Fog Investigation And Dispersal Operation (FIDO)
Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (FIDO) (which was sometimes referred to as "Fog Intense Dispersal Operation" or "Fog, Intense Dispersal Of") was a system used for dispersing fog and pea soup fog (dense smog) from an airfield so that aircraft could land safely. The device was developed by Arthur Hartley for British RAF bomber stations, allowing the landing of aircraft returning from raids over Germany in poor visibility by burning fuel in rows on either side of the runway. The FIDO system was developed at the department of chemical engineering of the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, during the Second World War. The invention of FIDO is formally attributed to Dr John David Main-Smith, an ex-Birmingham resident and principal scientific officer of the Chemistry Department of the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, Hampshire, and as a courtesy the joint-patent (595,907) held by the Ministry of Supply was shared by the department head Dr Ramsbottom as w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aviation Gasoline
Avgas (aviation gasoline, also known as aviation spirit in the UK) is an aviation fuel used in aircraft with spark-ignited internal combustion engines. ''Avgas'' is distinguished from conventional gasoline (petrol) used in motor vehicles, which is termed ''mogas'' (motor gasoline) in an aviation context. Unlike motor gasoline, which has been formulated since the 1970s to allow the use of platinum-content catalytic converters for pollution reduction, the most commonly used grades of avgas still contain tetraethyllead (TEL), a toxic substance used to prevent engine knocking (premature detonation). There are ongoing experiments aimed at eventually reducing or eliminating the use of TEL in aviation gasoline. Kerosene-based jet fuel is formulated to suit the requirements of turbine engines which have no octane requirement and operate over a much wider flight envelope than piston engines. Kerosene is also used by most diesel piston engines developed for aviation use, such as those b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Foulsham
Royal Air Force Foulsham, more commonly known as RAF Foulsham is a former Royal Air Force station, a military airfield, located 15 miles North-West of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia, from 1942 to 1945. History RAF Foulsham at Foulsham in Norfolk was built between 1941 and 1942 for No. 2 Group RAF Bomber Command and opened in May 1942 and declared operational on 26 June 1942. Foulsham was one of the few airfields to be fitted with FIDO in 1944, a fog dispersal system which used fires at the sides of the runways. The airfield was equipped with three tarmac and woodchip runways and 37 hardstandings. It also had 9 hangars, five of which were built for storing Airspeed Horsaglider aircraft ready for D Day. The first residents were No. 98 Squadron RAF and No. 180 Squadron RAF, flying North American Mitchell bombers. The station was then used by No. 3 Group RAF who used Short Stirling and Avro Lancaster bombers. No. 514 Squadron RAF was formed at Foulsha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Fiskerton
Royal Air Force Fiskerton or more simply RAF Fiskerton was a Royal Air Force station located north of the Lincolnshire village of Fiskerton, east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. The airfield closed at the end of the war in 1945 being a satellite to RAF Scampton and very little now exists. The station was home to some 2000 personnel during the war, and various technical sites were in what is now the village of Fiskerton. A small cluster of semi-derelict buildings still exist and are still in use at the end of the present village on the road out to short ferry. Drake's view is the entrance to these old buildings. History It was one of many new bomber airfields built in the early part of the Second World War. The airfield was situated north of the village. It was one of only 15 RAF airfields equipped with FIDO, a fog-clearing system utilising petrol pumped through pipes alongside the main runway and burned via a sequence of nozzles. No. 49 Squadron RAF and No. 576 Squadron ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Downham Market
RAF Downham Market was a Royal Air Force station in the west of the county of Norfolk, England which operated during the second half of the Second World War. History RAF Downham Market opened as a satellite station for RAF Marham in the Summer of 1942. The station was equipped with three concrete runways, one of 1,900 yards and two of 1,400 yards. Originally there were 36 hardstandings, although this dropped to 34 when an additional B1 hangar was added in the north west of the station. Six T2 hangars were built, three of which were for the storage of gliders. Accommodation was provided for 1,719 males and 326 females, with Bexwell Hall being used as the officer's mess. In October 1943 the station was equipped with the FIDO fog dispersal system. The first operational squadron at the station was 218 Squadron, operating Short Stirling aircraft, who arrived from Marham in July 1942. In August 1943, 623 Squadron formed at Downham, also operating Stirling aircraft. This Sq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Bradwell Bay
Royal Air Force Bradwell Bay or more simply RAF Bradwell Bay is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Maldon, Essex, England and south west of West Mersea, Essex. History The central area of the current airfield was first laid down before WW2 as a grass-surfaced landing ground for the nearby Dengie firing ranges off the coast before being rebuilt from 1940 onwards as an enlarged RAF station with concrete runways, hangars and ancillary buildings. The station is unique as it was the only fighter station where the Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (FIDO) was used. Based units ;Units: Current use An area of the northern part of the site is occupied by the remains of the Bradwell nuclear power station, the Magnox element of which is currently being decommissioned. Several of the hangars are still used as storage by the local farmers and the control tower is now a private house. Agricultural buildings, built in the '70s and '80s on runways one and two, are now ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Blackbushe
Royal Air Force Blackbushe or more simply RAF Blackbushe is a former Royal Air Force station in Hampshire, England, during the Second World War. It is now Blackbushe Airport. History The station was opened on 1 November 1942 as RAF Hartford Bridge and it was used throughout the remainder of Second World War for reconnaissance, defence and strike operations using Supermarine Spitfires, Douglas Bostons and de Havilland Mosquitoes. It was also the home of the Free French Squadron (Lorraine). During the construction of the airfield, the already built runways were used for glider testing, including the massive General Aircraft Hamilcar. A number of important people used the airfield including King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, Supreme Allied Commander U.S. General Dwight D Eisenhower and British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. Due to its geographical proximity to RAE Farnborough Royal Aircraft Establishment the airfield was used to develop the Fog Investigation and Dispersal Ope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Carnaby
Royal Air Force Carnaby or more simply RAF Carnaby is a former Royal Air Force emergency landing strip that offered crippled bombers a safe place to land near the English coast during the Second World War. It was situated south-west of Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire. History RAF Carnaby opened in March 1944 under the control of No. 4 Group Royal Air Force. Unlike most RAF airfields, there was a single runway, five times the width of a standard runway and long, lying approximately east-west to enable bombers crossing the coast an easier landing. Two similar airfields were either constructed or further developed along the east coast of England, at Manston and Woodbridge, all three providing an emergency option for wartime bomber crews. The three airfields were developed to the same pattern, Woodbridge being the first to open in November 1943. The runway at Manston was brought into operation in April 1944. These airfields were intended for use by returning bombers su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basil Robinson (RAF Officer)
Group Captain Basil Vernon Robinson DSO DFC & bar AFC (1912–1943) was a pilot with RAF Bomber Command during World War II. He is most notable for flying a Handley Page Halifax bomber over 500 miles back to England and safely landing it after the other six crew members had bailed out. Robinson was born in Gateshead, County Durham and was a keen rugby player. He was commissioned into the RAF in 1933 and joined No. 35 Squadron RAF in 1941 after completing a tour of duty as a pilot on Whitley bombers. On 18 December 1941 he was involved in an air raid on German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and was awarded the DFC for his actions. In March 1942 he was appointed commander of 35 Squadron which became a pathfinder unit. On the night of 18/19 November 1942 after a raid on Turin, Italy a target indicator flare left hanging in the 22 ft long bomb bay of Robinson's aircraft burst into flames whilst he was flying over the Alps. He ordered the crew to bail out and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RNZAF
The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zealand elements of the British Royal Air Force, becoming an independent force in 1923, although many RNZAF aircrew continued to serve in the Royal Air Force until the end of the 1940s. The RNZAF fought in World War II, Malaya, Korean War, Vietnam and the Gulf War as well as undertaking various United Nations peacekeeping missions. From a 1945 peak of over 1,000 combat aircraft the RNZAF has shrunk to a strength of around 48 aircraft in 2022, focusing on maritime patrol and transport duties in support of the Royal New Zealand Navy and the New Zealand Army. The RNZAF's air combat capability ended in 2001, under the Fifth Labour Government with the disbanding of the A-4 Skyhawk and Aermacchi MB-339 based squadrons. The Air Force is led by an Ai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
