Happy 100th birthday to the Royal Air Force

Keeping aviators alive

In addition to its strictly technological work, the RAF has directly contributed to very important medical and physiological work in aviation medicine. The Air Force’s Second World War-era Physiological Laboratory, commanded by then-Group Captain Bill Stewart, investigated everything from the effects of extreme cold (and heat), altitude, oxygen supply, pressure and the lack of at high altitude, and many more things.

Following the war and the permanent establishment of the RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine, the service directly and indirectly contributed to inventions such as: the G-suit (which stops blood from pooling in the legs during high-energy manoeuvres, causing the pilot to black out); oxygen masks and delivery systems for high altitude flight; and other survival clothing for military aircrews, who normally operate in cramped environments at the extremes of human endurance.

Dr Graham Rood’s paper “A brief history of flying clothing” (PDF, 52 pages, complete with illustrations) contains much more information on that topic.

In addition, the RAF also pioneered the treatment of burns. Dr Archibald McIndoe, an RAF plastic surgeon, noticed that badly burnt pilots who had crashed in the sea tended to recover faster than similarly burnt aircrews who crashed on land. From this he deduced that salt water – saline – had a healing effect. Dr McIndoe went on to treat about 650 wounded airmen, who formed the Guinea Pig Club. He also pioneered the rehabilitation of those with facial burns, encouraging the town of East Grinstead, where his clinic was based, to accept the grievously injured aviators as their own, instead of singling them out for their horrific and obvious disfigurements.

Speed and height

Again, in the pioneering days of early aviation, the RAF was at the forefront of innovation. The service’s High Speed Flight poured time and effort into winning the Schneider Trophy, awarded to seaplane pilots who raced around a pre-set course. With government backing, Britain won it twice, and under the rules of the competition, a third win would guarantee it for all time.

Helpfully, all the competing nations (most notably including Italy) pulled out of the third race, but for form’s sake the RAF turned up anyway and broke the 400mph speed record in the process. The aircraft design techniques used by Supermarine, makers of the S.6b floatplane flown by Flight Lieutenant George Stainforth, helped pave the way for the famous Spitfire fighter of the Battle of Britain. In addition, Rolls-Royce’s engine design work in the quest for ever more speed led to the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, which powered Britain to victory in WWII after being fitted to the Spitfire, Hurricane and Mustang fighters, and the Lancaster and Mosquito bombers.

Old and new: A WWII-era Hawker Hurricane, powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, seen flying alongside a modern Eurofighter Typhoon. Crown copyright

RAF officers captured and held a variety of speed and altitude records, including Wing Commander Walter Frame Gibb, who took the world altitude record by climbing to 65,000ft over Bristol in an English Electric Canberra, and, more recently, Wg Cdr Andy Green, driver of the Bloodhound Supersonic Car (SSC), as was tested in Cornwall late last year.

All in all, the RAF has been an aeronautical force for good, with the service developing the basics for many things that commercial passengers today take for granted. Its technological developments and innovations have contributed to making the world both safer and smaller, as aircraft fly ever faster, building upon the principles established and researched by the Air Force. Even those with grievous injuries have been benefited by the RAF, thanks to the pioneering work of the RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine.

Let’s just hope it manages to shrug off the problem of having its birthday on the same day as April Fool’s Day... ®