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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 0109.PDF
JANUARY 13, 1938. FLIGHT. 47 THE COMET EN N&GL1G&E- The D.H. Comet, shortly to be used by F/0. Clouston and Mr. Victor Ricketts for an attempt on the Australia record, photographed in the shopj of Essex Aero Ltd., while being reconditioned before Clouston's recent Cape flight. In the foreground are some of the parts — nose fairings, engine nacelles, wing fillets and so forth made of F. A. Hughes' Elektron AM. 503 alloy, which, it is stated, has stood up excellently to all kinds of weather in the many parts of the world traversed by the Comet on her various high-speed flights ; the mechanical reliability of these sheet parts has been equally good. THE INDUSTRY -."-:.-••;•;-.. D.H. Results r- - '- -: v-;; "PRELIMINARY results of the De Havilland Company for S- the year ended September 30 indicate the large amount of work now on hand. Net profit amounted to £122,184, which compares with £71,709 for 1935-36- It is proposed to pay a dividend of 10 per cent, and a bonus of z\ per cent, oa a capital of £600,000 Steel Properties - - AIRCRAFT MATERIALS, Ltd., of Midland Road, Lon-don, N.W.i, have drawn up a card which gives a concise analysis of mechanical tests on the full range of Air Ministry steel specifications. Copies of the card will be sent on appli- cation. ; Magneto History H .' • - A VERY informative brochure entitled Twenty-five Years ofMagneto Development has been produced by The British Thomson-Houston Co., Ltd., of Coventry. Historical facts concerning aero, car and motor cycle engine magnetos are given in a readable style, and several excellent photographs illustrate the various development stages and the latest appli- cations. A long list of records and achievements is included in the publication. A Lord at Avros AgainW ITH the exception of a break of a few years, there has always been a Lord connected with A. V. Roe and Co,., Ltd. First it was the late John Lord, who shared the good and bad fortunes of the firm during all its early years. And now one of his sons, Frank Lord, has joined, or should one say re-joined, the firm. Mr. Frank Lord resigned his post at Saunders-Roe, Ltd., a few weeks ago, and has now joined Avros as assistant to Mr. R. H. Dobson, the firm's general manager. All About Bearings "PHE latest enlarged catalogue of Hoffmann ball and roller * bearings has recently appeared. It is a most ambitious work which includes technical information not previously published and aiding towards correct bearing selection for given conditions. B.S.i data for all Hoffmann bearings are given, and there are sectioned diagrams of each type. Interested persons may obtain the catalogue on application to the Hoffmann Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Chelmsford, Essex. Industry in Denmark A NEW firm, Skandinavisk Aero Industri A/S, has been *• formed in Copenhagen to manufacture private-owner type machines designed by Mr. Zeuthen. These include a Gipsy- engined two-seater, which is credited with a range of 685 miles and a top speed of 119 m.p.h., and is to sell at the equiva- lent of £700. Import permits for ten Gipsy engines have been granted by the Currency Office. Meanwhile, it appears that Mr. Jack Hedegaard who, with Mr. Bohnstedt-Petersen, a Danish subsidiary of Taylor Aircraft, is being starved out by the Danish authorities. Mr. Bohnstedt-Petersen seems to have lost his patience and chosen a new factory site at Malmo, in South Sweden. ;;,/ " Steel As You Like It /"VUTSTANDING features which are at once noticeable dur- W ing a visit to the Standard Steel Works of W. T. Flather, Ltd., at Sheffield, are the systematic arrangement and general neatness of the departments. The sequence of operations can be simply followed on such a visit, which normally commences in the main store for material supplied to the firm's specifica- tions. One finds it hard to visualise a steel "shortage" when a single company can have so large a stock of billets, strip and bar, each batch having a neat coloured label denoting type and bearing identification numbers and letters. About 30 per cent, of the whole amount, we understood, was destined for the aircraft industry. The main operation at the works is bright drawing and about 400 tons of steel are dealt with weekly. To start with the strip or bar is " pickled " in hot sulphuric acid (10 per cent, solution) to remove impurities. One end of each piece is then tagged (i.e., reduced in diameter by a small amount) so that it can be passed through the die and clamped to the trolley on the draw-bench. Tagging is now usually car- ried out in one operation on special machines, but the old method of heating and hammering still has to be used for hard steels. Sizes dealt with on the benches are from -j^in. to 4m., finished diameters. All the smaller draw-benches are attended by girls. After drawing comes straightening, polishing and cutting to length. The diameter is correct to o.ooiin., and even rough commercial material has limits of + o.oo2in. Material to some specifications is passed through Churchill centreless grinders and is then true to within 0.0005m. Since the war showed the way, many jobs in such works as this have been undertaken by women, in particular the operation of the large travelling magnetic cranes, which re- quires great skill. Many of the machine tools in use were built in the works; the new type tagging machines were designed, built and patented by Flathers. In the heat-treatment department are six 15ft. furnaces with automatic control and a model plant has been laid down for producing case-hardening compound from special coke. Large billets are dealt with separately from bars and strip, and prior to treatment, impurities are chipped out with pneu- matic chisels: Billets up to 3m. square can be sheared to cor- rect lengths on one large machine. In the laboratory, besides research, some 300 tests per week are carried out to conform with Air Ministry regulations. Every aircraft bar must be Brinell-hardness tested and frac- ture tested. Finished material is copiously labelled and very neatly stored on shelves indexed on the grid system. The care taken over this storing and indexing of stocks is typical of Flather thoroughness. Titanine Expansion SATISFACTORY progress is being made in the expansion O scheme now in hand at the Colindale (Hendon) works of Titanine, Ltd. The new buildings, which will almost double the size of the factory, will be completed shortly. They have been erected to cope with the increased demands for aircraft dope and cellulose and synthetic industrial lacquers.
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