Flight-Lieutenant Cribb enumerated four methods of air navigation which the R.A.F. is at present using, i.e. :— (1) Dead reckoning. (2) Wireless telegraphy (W/T). (3) Directional finding (D/F). (4) Astro-fixing. Taking an imaginary raid from his aerodrome to Hamburg, he explained each method in detail. His talk on astro-fixing was particularly interesting, as he pointed out that until recently it was considered impossible to navigate an aircraft by means of the stars. Owing to the work of an American the method became possible and the R.A.F. adopted it while the Luftwaffe did not. The Germans, until recently, trained all their pilots to navigate by wireless alone, and thus, while they had only one method of navigation the R.A.F. had four possibles, a fact which, to a large extent, was responsible for our excellent results in night raids as compared with the Germans'. During the course of the lecture the course and speed . calculator (C.S.C.) and the intricacies of the bubble sextant were demonstrated and explained. Flight-Lieutenant Cribb, who has himself operated over enemy territory many times, showed some of the navigation charts and tables used, and also the logs of bombers written while in flight on raids on Berlin, Hamburg and Calais, which aroused great interest. The whole lecture was thoroughly enjoyed by all, and Flight-Lieutenant Cribb certainly earned the applause he gained at the end of the lecture.
THE NATIONAL SCIENCE SOCIETY. President : Dr. B. G. WHITMORE. Secretary : R. E. DODD. This term it was proposed that out of the Sixth Form members of the Scientific Society a senior section should be formed whose members should undertake to lecture, or prepare a demonstration, on varied scientific subjects generally of a type other, and possibly more advanced than those dealt with in normal class work. The outcome was the formation of a separate society under the above name, membership of which is not limited to the sixth form and does not imply obligation to lecture, 25
