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Aviation History
1937
1937 - 0236.PDF
88 FLIGHT. JANUARY ;28, 1937. Flight photographs provided the decorative motij on our own stand. THE Cellon people are the kind of dope peddlers who are welcome in society, particularly aeronautical society, for not only do their wares make for brighter and better aeroplanes, but the roof of the Kingston factory is so marked as to receive the benedictions of erring airmen. They had some interesting facts to impart. For instance, the discovery of an entirely new basic material, viz., syn thetic resins, resulted in the evolution of new and improved types of decorative finishes, quite distinct from cellulose and fundamentally different, they explained, from the old types of'natural gum and oil paints and varnishes. * * * C OINCIDENTALLY forestalling the Maybury Committee Report, which turns down London Central Airport pro posals, the Cement and Concrete Asso ciation has been thinking of ways of bringing Croydon nearer London. On their stand was an artist's conception of an all-concrete elevated road from Croydon to Victoria, with new Thames bridge. The idea is, perhaps, not so far-fetched (Left) One of the most popular demon strations in the Show was of the " Magna - flux'' crack-detector on the stand of the Equipment and En gineering Co., Ltd. The ferrous part to be tested is coated with a special fluid and placed over the poles of an electro magnet, when the most minute cracks immediately become apparent. (Right) Mr. S. J. Gil bert of Airco, Ltd., among a few of the innumerable things —including paraffin floodlights — which the company handles. as it may seem, and the Association— which represents interested firms—has drawn up some sound schemes in the past. Application from responsible en quirers to 52, Grosvenor Gardens, Lon don, S.W.r, will bring " Concrete in Aerodrome Construction," a really not able brochure. * » » S INCE airport lighting is, to a large extent, standardised, it was good to find something out of the ordinary on Chance Bros.' stand. This was a new sound-absorbent, insulating and heat-re sisting material known, aptly enough, as glass silk. It can be produced either in the form of loosely woven cloth (to be handled with considerable care) or as stiffer finely woven sheets, and is made entirely of glass thread of unimaginably small diameter. The cloth can be used for cabin-silenc ing, pipe lagging and fire-resisting bulk head covering, while the sheets have a number of similar uses. Interesting, too, though not particularly in the air port world, was the heat-absorbing Calorex glass. This passes 70 per cent. of the available light, but only 3 per cent, of the usually resultant heat. Good for squash-court skylights and the like. * * # THE firm of V. L. Churchill and Co who had, inter alia, a display of box spanners smaller, larger and more numerous than we ever imagined existed obligingly refaced a valve for us (lei that not be misunderstood—it was iheii valve) in the Churchill valve re-face: This is a motor-driven tool which feeds the slowlv revolving valve up against a high-speed Aloxite wheel. A range of face-angle adjustments is provided, and the machine has a stem capacity of Jin. to |in. It is used by the Air Ministn- and leading aero-engine firms. Following recent personal experience with personal motor-car valves in an elderly lathe with a blunt re-facing tool, the demonstration made us genuinely en vious of anyone whose job it is to use the Churchill method. * * * UNINTERESTING at first glance, since it appeared to consist merely of show-cases of earth and bottles of a rather unpleasant-looking liquid, the dis play of Colas Products, Ltd., was actu ally of immense interest when their pro cess of earth stabilisation was explained. Roughly speaking, the Colas system involves the harrowing of any require! part of an aerodrome surface, mixing of the soil with a bituminous emulsion, and consolidation. This results in an im pervious, dustless and infinitely durable surface. Anyone who has seen the apron at Southampton airport will know how the result appears. One interesting possibility of the Colas process has been exploited at Kellv Field, U.S.A.. where the runways are top-dressed in alternate light and dark shades to give good visibility under diffi cult landing conditions. * * * ON Stand 38 we achieved an ambition by drilling a hole in a Jin. mild steel plate with one of Desoutter Brothers' really amazing little portable electric drills—jin. capacity, weight only 2| lb., and the finish, balance, and feel (this is no exaggeration) of a good automatic pistol. Then Mr. C. Desoutter, using all his strength, tried to "stall" the drill. It did not seem- to mind. We cannot resist mentioning the 1 c.c. two-stroke model aero engine which Mr.
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