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Aviation History
1936
1936 - 0210.PDF
96 FLIGHT. JANUARY 23, 1936. THE INDUSTRY Accuracy in Aluminium THE illustration on this page is par ticularly interesting, for it shows an aspect of aircraft-component manu facture with which many people, even in the industry, are not very familiar— namely, the production of sheet-metal pressings and spinnings, which, of course, play a most important part in modern aeroplane construction. The photograph was taken in the Westwood Koad, Birmingham, works of the London Aluminium Co,, Ltd., aluminium specialists, where there is scarcely a single job demanding the employment of sheet metal that cannot be tackled and completed successfully. Pressings and spinnings of very many descriptions and sizes are produced, and the degree of accuracy obtained is, in many cases, remarkable for this class of work, overall limits as close as three thousandths of an inch presenting no difficulties. Vcnturi tubes are among the most accurate items turned out in single spin nings, while the bigger jobs include nose and other cowlings, and tube mandrils for aircraft whet Is. Some large presses are being installed, and an indication of the work that can be done may be gained from the fact that sheet aluminium one inch in thickness is handled. In order to secure greater uniformity in repetition work, all small hand presses are being replaced by pneumatic presses. A large extension is being added to the factory, and tile anodising plant is being almost doubled. Other activities are spot welding and chromium plating of aluminium. Desford Aerodrome THE En-Tout-Cas Co. (Syston), Ltd., wish it to be emphasised that, as reported in Flight of December 19, they were responsible for the surfacing of Desford Aerodrome. Ultra-short Waves IT now appears that among the work to be undertaken by the recently formed company, Aeronautical and General Instru ments, Ltd., will be the development of ultra-short wave radio and its utilisation for aircraft control purposes. A Record Year C C. WAKEFIELD & CO., LTD., the makers of the famous • Castrsl lubricants, report a record year of sales follow ing, the introduction of "Patent Castrol." Apart from the intrinsic quality of their products, they attribute much of this success to their vigorous Press advertising campaign. Carburetter Company's Appointment THE firm of H. M. Hobson (Aircraft and Motor) Components, Ltd., announces the appointment of three additional direc tors. They are Mr. Stanley Walter Hughes (sales director), Mr. James Montgomerie (works director), and Capt. Edward Dodson (technical director), who have been actively engaged with Hobson concern for 32, 25 and 15 years respectively. A New Post IT is announced that Fit. Lt. N. M. S. Russell has been ap pointed aviation representative to the Vacuum Oil Co., Ltd. He will be in charge of sales of the new range of Aero Mobiloil. Fit. Lt. Russell has extensive flying experience, dating from the war days and covering almost the whole of Europe and the Near East. Since his retirement from the Service in 1928 he has been with Imperial Airways, has been test pilot and general manager to the Redwing Aircraft Company, chief instructor to the Surrey Aero Club and air superintendent to 1 lie Scottish Motor Traction Company; when that company closed down its aviation department he ran his own flving school, which eventually became the Edinburgh Flying Club. NOSE PIECES : One of the many sheet-aluminium components manufactured, as related on this page, by the London Aluminium Co., Ltd., of Birmingham. The Hillson Praga ALL correspondence regarding the Hillson Praga monoplane (described in Flight last week) should be addressed to F. Hills and Sons, Trafford Park, Manchester, who are now in a position to appoint agents. Reading Appointments IT is announced that Wing-Cdr. F. W. Stent, M.C., who has just retired, at his own request, after nearly twenty-one years' service in the Royal Air Force, has joined the sales department of Phillips and Powis Aircraft, Ltd. Mr. L. Hackett has also been transferred to the sales de partment ; he was originally responsible for the very efficient ground organisation of the Phillips and Powis Reserve School, Specialised Bearings FROM the war days onwards the Ransome and Maries Bear ing Co., Ltd., have supplied special types of ball bearings to the aircraft industry, and their range is remarkable. To deal briefly with the types of interest to the industry. there is, first of all, a series of crankshaft ball and roller bearings in which every endeavour has been made to secure the lowest weight compatible with efficiency; whenever pos sible, in addition to reduction in the section of the bearing, the cages are made of duralumin. Next there is a double-purpose ball bearing for rocker shafts and reduction gears, while a needle-type roller bearing has proved particularly suitable for camshafts, cam followers, etc. Then there are special high-speed ball bearings for super chargers, made in light sections and manufactured to ultra- fine limits of accuracy, the duralumin cages being specially balanced. Probably the outstanding application is where a 2J;in. bearing is run at a speed of from 25,000 to 30,000 r.p.m. For resisting airscrew thrust there are single-row and double- row ball races of an extremely compact design. A special roller thrust bearing has also been developed for the blades of controllable-pitch airscrews. In addition to their standard small ball races for use in con trol-surface hinges, etc., an especially light series has been developed, in which the section of the bearing is kept at P absolute minimum, thereby providing extreme freedom ol movement at points where the speeds and loads are not: abnormal, and with a considerable saving in weight and space. All control bearings are supplied in stainless steel or cadmium plated, while for particularly exposed positions, the tearing5 can be fitted with self-contained lubricant seals. Another development which is shortly to take place is the supply of control pulleys, either die cast or made from Cure and fitted with single row bearings.
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