Annie I spotted the deliberate error! It should be either Royal Flying Corps or Royal Air Force, though the same would apply to the Royal Naval Air Service and the Australian Flying Corps. Gareth
Although parachutes had been tried and tested they were not issued to RFC / RNAS / RAF pilots, but they were issued to balloon observers
I'm so happy you read my posts Gareth !!!!!!!!!!!!! The answer is ........... that they were issued to pilots in the German Airforce - French Army Airforce and the United States Air Service - but not the British Royal Flying Corps ! The official reason given was that parachutes were not 100% safe - it was too bulky to be stored by the pilot and its weight would affect the performance of the aeroplane .... unofficially the reason was given in a report that was not published at the time - "It is the opinion of the board that the presence of such an apparatus might impair the fighting spirit of pilots and cause them to abandon machines which might otherwise be capable of returning to base for repair." R. E. Calthrop a retired British engineer had in fact developed the Guardian Angel - a parachute for aircraft pilots before the war Pressure was applied on Calthrop to keep quiet about his invention
I think it's my turn isn't it ?? ( Easy Peasy for a change !! ) After serving in the First Peking Relief Expedition and the Boxer Rebellion, I commanded in various capacities until my appointment as Commander-in-Chief of the British Grand Fleet on August 4, 1914. Who am I ?
Well .... it was supposed to be Andy's turn ... but ..... So I'll do another one .... Who said .... that the war began when ' Archie Duke shot an ostrich because he was hungry ' ??
they're only hard if you don't know the answer! Anyway - I can't think of anything (apart from asking what Baldrick's first name actually was), so have another go..
Well he thought his name was "Sodoff " because everytime he was introduced to someone ... they said Sod off Baldrick !!!!!!!!!!!!
OOPS! Sorry I forgot about my question! Anyway,here goes, What was the Devil's Paintbrush? Cheers, Andy
