Gaining an RAF pilots brevet etc.
Danny 42c
As I reflect on your posts I dont recall any mention of hydraulics and certainly I have no memory of any on Cornells or Harvards during that period of training in WW2 .
I think I am correct in thinking that the standard aircraft hydraulic fluid used throughout WW2, and indeed later, was "red oil" ,Mil H 5606 in US parlance. As an "oil' it was flammable and under pressure but one supposes a relatively minor danger during war.
Even after the war it seems that it wasnt until the 50,s when Douglas had some catastrophic DC cabin air compressor fires,using 5606 as the lubricant, that research took place in their labs in Santa Monica Ca.
There,a chemist developed a synthetic fluid which more or less duplicated the physical properties of 5606 and was fire resistant. It was important to descibe it as fire resistant rather than fire proof since under certain conditions it would combust.
A sidelight was that in that era at least some aircraft industry patent holders were given a share of the proceeds.This chemist was thus able to early retire with a continuing commision on every gallon sold!
Douglas adopted these fluids as standard for the DC8 hydraulics but Boeing resisted a change--that the fluid was a Douglas product probably didnt help!---then Boeing had a brake fire on the Dash 80, the 707 prototype, and they "joined the party"
BTW it was not just a case of draining 5606 and replacing it with this new fluid--seals,sealants and paints all were different to those used with 5606, so unless incorporated at the design stage the economics were at best difficult.This was confirmed when Boeing quoted astronomic figures when there was discussion of retrofitting B52,s with fire resistant fluid.
In Europe the BAC111 and VC10 were both designed with this fluid from the start---not so the Caravelle.
Around 1962 Swissair lost a Caravelle at Zurich. The pilot had backtracked down the runway with some thrust against his brakes to disperse fog. After take off the brakes exploded in the wheel wells and fire resulted. I believe the accident investigation blamed rupture of fuel lines in the wheel wells but hydraulic lines were also in this area