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Aviation History
1935
1935 - 0748.PDF
358 FLIGHT. APRIL 4, 1935. building. Each of these ends is equipped with large sliding doors ex tending across their entire width. Just as the effective height of a hangar is determined by the doorway, so, to a smaller degree, is the effective > .dth determined by the door opening. Usually the ''door" consists of a series of steel frames, about 25ft. in width, mounted on wheels which run on tracks flush with the floor and with guided rollers at the top. The tracks run be yond the opening on either side so that the frames can be arranged one behind the other. There are several patented doors, such as the rolling shutter or canopy types. An example of the former is the Kinnear, manufactured by A. L. Gibson and Co., Ltd., of Twickenham. In any case the doors should be capable of being opened and closed by one or two men unless some form of power operation is provided. The floor of a hangar is usually of concrete, with a fall either to the centre or towards the apron, where a grating can dispose of water. The best form of lighting is provided by a form of flood light arranged in each corner or on the walls. Steel buildings are difficult to heat, but some attempt should be made, as the work on aircraft and air craft engines is usually of a delicate kind. The concrete or solid-walled hangar has a distinct advantage from this point of view. In connection with the protective and decorative painting of hangars and airport buildings in general, there are several types of finish. The synthetic gum in Cerrux, a product of Cellon, Ltd., of Kingston-on-Thames, makes this finish very tenacious, and it has been employed at a number of well- known airports and aerodromes. It is produced in a number of flat and satin colours, and can be applied by either brush or spray. Titanine-Emaillite, Ltd., of Hendon, have, too, a synthetic protective lacquer known as Lumilac. This finish can also be applied in any way and dries very quickly in comparison with ordinary paints and varnishes. John Hall and Sons, Ltd., of Bristol, have a special protective paint known as Brolac, which is available in white, aluminium, yellow, black, and thirty-six colours. For interior work Brolistic lacquer-bound water paint can also be used. Fuel Supplies For roofing Cellactite, which is an asbestos-protected metal produced by Cellactite and British Uralite, Ltd., is probably the best-known material The firm also produces special ventilators for hangars and other aerodrome buildings. There are a thousand and one details of hangar and work shop equipment which can hardly be covered in an article such as this, but the least ambitious project requires equipment for the storage and handling of fuel and oil. The days when mechanics carried petrol or oil cans across the tarmac to a waiting machine are definitely over, and pilots expect both liquids to be pumped into their machines in the quickest and cleanest manner. Dealing first with oil supply, the Vacuum Oil Company has a drum trolley in which the lubricant is pumped from the replaceable container to the tank while a metering device regis ters the quantity delivered. A quart is delivered for each working stroke through fifteen feet of fabric hose with a shut- off nozzle. Silvertown Lubricants, Ltd., have also supplied a portable oil carrier to a number of aerodromes. The petrol supply equipment of aerodromes is continually undergoing revision. Though in many cases the garage pump is the basis, the mobile unit gives greater flexibility. For immobile units the tendency to-day is to arrange the fuel and oil supply base as a separate island surrounded by tarmac, though the increased popularity of the low-wing monoplane may foster the design of the pit system. By means of long, swinging arms and hose a number of machines can be refuelled at once. Good examples of this system can be seen at Heston airport and at Hatfield. The pumps at the latter aerodrome were installed by the Wayne Tank and Pump Co., Ltd., of Newlands Park, London, S.E.26, While air-line development is in a state of flux, the Air Ministry is helping to equip airports, where necessary, with portable radio and direction-finding sets. This illustration is of the interior of the Marconi mobile unit. who have also supplied some seven aerodromes with electrically operated meter pumps. A specially interesting unit, instated about two years ago, is the Busco meter unit hi the main Imperial Airways pit at Croydon. This meter has passed something more than 900,000 gallons of petrol without trouble. Now that most aerodromes have electric power laid on the hand-operated pump is going out of use. At Hatfield, incidentally, there is also a Wayne oil fountain. The mobile type of equipment, which has been introduced during the last two years after much pioneering work by Shell- Mex and B.P., Ltd., consists of a tank, from which delivery is made by an engine-driven pump through a delivery meter— in the case of Shell equipment these are, respectively, of Zwicky and Kent manufacture—mounted on a normal lorry chassis with special fire-proofing and fighting equipment. The National Benzole Company have also developed six- A typical example of the latest type of boundary light which gives the pilot an idea of perspective. This particular design is produced by Chance Brothers.
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