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Summary - not yet available

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: ST10NW/41/32

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• MILITARY TRAINING SITE (World War II - 1939 AD to 1945 AD (Between))

Full description

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV104591.

Francis, p. /blackdown hills airfield survey/(1995)/dunkeswell: 35.

Francis, P., 1995, Blackdown Hills Airfield Survey. Dunkeswell and Upottery., 34 (Report - Survey). SDV312951.

Link trainer hut. Construction: rendered 4.5ins brick walls with piers spaced at 10ft. Centres supporting steel trusses carrying corrugated asbestos sheeting. Function: the link trainer was an american synthetic training device for teaching instrument flying and was used on operational stations as a means of maintaining pilots at a high standard. The trainer comprised a fuselage approximately seven feet long, of timber frame construction and covered with plywood or canvas. Powerful bellows enabled the device to simulate basic flying movements similar to the pitching, banking and turning of a real aircraft. Wartime machines had wings, tailplane and fin with corresponding control surfaces. The cockpit closely resembled a typical single-engined aircraft of the period, with the usual six basic instruments plus compass, radio, rudder pedals and control column. Any changes in flight attitude were indicated by the instruments and the relevant control surfaces. Connections led from the trainer to an instructor's desk where a small three-wheeled trolley called a "tracking crab" (automatic recorder) reacted to time and rate of movement of the "aeroplane". One of the wheels, known as an idler wheel, functioned as an ink pen and traced an accurate course onto a map of the countryside over which the "pilot" was supposed to be flying. The instructor's desk also had a duplicate set of instruments which enabled him to assess the "pilot's" flying ability. This two bay building was constructed to allow two trainers to be aligned north-south for correct instrumentation reading. The front elevation appears to have been extended. The occupier has recently removed a partition separating the two bays and revealed timber studwork. Written on a piece of timber was - "a. Smith carpenter and joiner, seaton, devon, march 9th 1943". This clearly dates the building to march 1943. Building used by an electronic circuit board company. Other details: Fig 7.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4948 - Blackdown Hills Airfield Survey

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