Canberra Asymmetric
SE handling has had an airing and I thought it might be interesting to quote from EE's (Roneod foolscap) Provisional Pilot's Notes for the B6 and PR7. Safety speed was given as 160kt and you were informed that with an EFATO at weights below about 33000lb control could be maintained at 'as low as 135kt'. For the approach, 'after turning on to finals reduce speed to 125kt and lower the flaps'. Going round again 'can be done comfortably provided that the speed is at least 125kt. . . . In an emergency, and at light weights, going round is possible from speeds down to 110kt. . . . About 200ft of height will be lost during the period while the aircraft is accelerating to 120kt.' It helpfully added that 'The rolling motion due to yaw is pronounced.' Struth!
OCU margins were safer and we had all flown Meteors first, even if it was just 30 hours of knee-trembling on the Short Asymmetric Course at Worksop. When told at Bassingbourn to go round (no pre-flight briefing for it of course), I used the Meteor 'bunt-accelerate-climb' technique - wrong! 'Just use enough power to climb away, about 7000 will do.' Had Vmca been invented? All I remember were Safety Speed, which was in PN, and Crit Speed, which your instructor discovered on Ex 1 and seemed to depend largely on how well-adjusted your rudder-pedals were and how rigid was the sole of your boot. Beyond a certain point weren't you just twisting torque-tubes anyway?
And please don't be nasty about John Stanley! He was of his time and, if it was good enough for John, it really was good enough.