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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 1170.PDF
FLIGHT. APRIL 28, 1938. Commercial Aviation D.H. METAL CONSTRUCTION New Plant Installed at Hatfield FROM the time, somewhere in 1909, when first he began tobuild aeroplanes, Capt. Geoffrey de Havilland hasfavoured wood as his structural material. Even theAlbatross, that most modern of designs, is built almost entirely of wood. But "the firm is not committed to wood construction for all time; so much was disclosed during a recent inspection of the Hatfield factories, when it was discovered that numbers of metal-working tools had been installed, chiefly for the pro- duction of the new D.H.95 twin-engined passenger machine, but doubtless to be employed later on other types. It is not that the De Havilland firm has changed its mind about .the' relative merits of wood and metal. - Plastic materials have been explored ami developed, and some day we shall doubtless see Flight" photograph The large Brett drop hammer recently installed at the De Havilland works at Hatfield. With the lead punch, the tup of the hammer weighs about one and a half tons. " Flight" photograph. - A metal • elevator for the De Havilland Albatross being assembled. some interesting forms of construction. In the meantime, those who want De Havillaud metal aeroplanes will be able to obtain them. It is not intended here to give a description of the particular form of construction used in the D.H.95. That is reserved for a later occasion. But as an instance of the way in which the company has decided to equip itself for metal construction it may be mentioned that a drop hammer larger than any found in any other British aircraft factory has been installed and is already hard at work. Use is made in this Brett drop hammer of zinc and lead dies, the die being of zinc and used as the mould for casting the lead punch. The lead casting shrinks on cooling, thus automatically leaving a gap of approximately the right gauge between the zinc die and the lead punch. Some idea of the size of this drop hammer may be formed from the fact that the tup weighs, with the lead punch, something like ii tons. The drop hammer is used for the rapid manufacture of parts which incorporate deep depressions with double curvature, such as tho ends of petrol tanks. The Brett drop hammer is driven by an electric motor of 30 h.p., and gas furnaces have been installed for melting the zinc and lead dies on the spot. "Fourteens" for British Airways SOME time during the month of August British Airwaysexpect to have the first of their recently ordered Lockheed 14s, or Super Electras, ready for service. Four of these machines have been ordered, primarily for use on the recently surveyed route to West Africa and, eventually, to South America. As far as this latter project is concerned, discussions are now taking place with the Portuguese Government in order to ai range for test flights to Lisbon as soon as the new machines are available. The British Airways' 14s, which will be fitted with Wright Cyclone F.62 engines giving 900 h.p. for take-off, have a number of interesting non-standard features. As in the case of the Electras, the forward section of the passenger compart- ment has been modified in order to permit the machine to carry, if necessary, a full crew of four, consisting of the first and second pilots, a radio operator, and a navigator or assistant radio operator. .In-service, form- there will be space for ten chairs and the machines will be treated as ten-seateis when they are being used for passenger-carrying.- The radio equipment, Which is, of course, arranged in front of the bulkhead which divides the navigational department from the passenger or mail compart- ment, will be of the combined medium- and short-wave type with D/F facilities for each waveband. In addition, Lorenz blind-approach leceiving equipment will be fitted, as well as a Sperry automatic pilot and full Goodrich de-icing equipment. In its Cyclone version the 14 has a maximum speed of 255 m.p.h. and a cruising speed of 230 m.p.h. at 14,000ft., and as the machine is intended to operate normally at such comparatively high altitudes, oxygen equipment will be carried for the crew and the passengers, who will, in normal service, be attended by a steward in charge of the usual supply of refreshments. Incidentally, the seats are of a type which has not previously been seen in Europe. Not only are they fully adjustable in the usual directions, but they ate also rotatable. so that on long journeys the passengers may converse com- fortably with one another. These 14s will be fitted with the new Hamilton hydromatic full-feathering airscrews, which permit a single-engined ceiling of as much as 12,000ft. In common with the standard machines, these 14s are fitted with Fowler flaps, which, in addition to the normal flap function of approach steepeners, also improve the take-off to a marked extent. In the circumstances, with the British aircraft industry busy on the rearmament programme and with the only com- parable transport type unlikely to be ready for production before 1939, British Airways had no option but to place their orders, once again, abroad. Some prestige may be lost through the fact that the company is using foreign aircraft, but prestige would have been lost to an even greater degree in another sphere if they had found it necessary to postpone their West African and South American project for another twelve months or more. The New Deputy Under-Secretary THE Secretary of State for Air, with the approval of thePrime Minister, has appointed Mr. Arthur William Street, C.B., C.M.G., C.I.E., M.C., Second Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, to be First Deputy Under Secre- tary of State, Air Ministry, with effect from April 27, in suc- cession to Sir James Stirling Ross, K.B.E., C.B., who retired on that date. Mr. A. W. Street comes to the Air Ministry from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries with a reputation for exceptional ability and a record of very good work accomplished. Outside his work in that department he was appointed a few years ago as Secretary to the Royal Commission on the Superior Civil Services in India. Thus he is an authority on civil service organisation, and his experience in that respect may be of great value to the Air Ministry.
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