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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 1570.PDF
FLIGHT. JUNE 2, 1938. That production could be accelerated in this manner we have not the slightest doubt, but it is rather a far cry from that to the " 5,000 planes a year" announced the other day by one enthusiastic daily. Lord Nuffield cannot pro- duce aeroplanes out of his hat any more than can any other aircraft organisation, and announcements of this nature do a disservice to a man who will, without doubt in time, make an extremely valuable contribution to the country's aircraft production. Fantastic speculations of this sort do a lot of harm. One need only recall the stories which gained currency some years ago when Lord Nuffield started aero engine development. The Morris aero engine, it was said, was to weigh no more than one pound per horse-power, and would cost £1 per horsepower. When the engine appeared its weight was comparable with that of other aero engines, and the cost was certainly not startlingly below the average. It should be realised that Lord Nuffield never made these claims himself; they were wished upon him by doubtless well-meaning but ill-advised enthusiasts. And so again now with the new factory and its alleged pro- duction capacity. Fortunately for the country something a good deal less ambitious will meet the requirements, and even 500 aero- planes a year from Lord Nuffield's Castle Bromwich fac- tory would be a welcome addition to the country's output of aircraft. StocktakingT HE 1938 Wilbur Wright Memorial Lecture will, with-out a doubt, go down to history as one of the most notable of the series. Never before, curiouslyenough, had a Wilbur Wright lecturer chosen as his sub- ject the materials used in building aeroplanes and engines,and it may well be that never again will there be an oppor- tunity like the present. Progress during the last levy years has been amazing, and, although certain new materials and processes are beginning to appear on the horizon, it seems unlikely that the present rate of pro- gress can be maintained. Consequently, Professor Gough had chosen a most opportune moment for his subject, and, in spite of modest disclaimers, he made the most of his opportunities. "Materials of Aircraft Construction" is an invaluable fund of information for the engineer and the student, and we should have liked to publish the paper in full. Unfor- tunately, it would have occupied something like two issues of Flight if they contained nothing but the paper, and we have had to be content with publishing a summary, the first part of which appears this week. Apart from the review of materials in use at the present time, Professor Gough's paper throws some valuable light on what we may expect in the not-too distant future in the way of new materials, notably from plastics and com- pressed and impregnated wood. Probably the "exhibit" which attracted the greatest attention was the De Havil- land hollow airscrew made of Bakelite with cord reinforce- ment. The run of the cords right out into the flange which holds the blade root in the metal hub should ensure great strength, and may be compared, as the lecturer pointed out, to the grain flow in metal forgings. The question of creep is still important, but can probably be taken care of more easily in an airscrew blade root than in most other components which might be made of this material. Another outstanding point made by the lecturer referred to the extensive use now being made of extruded light- metal sections. Much the same observations were made by Flight in a leading article some months ago. When, shortly, we publish a description of the Westland Lysander, many interesting uses of extrusions will be dis- closed. • . • AT THE M.A.E.E. : A Short Sunderland long-distance flying boat (four Pegasus) on test near the Marine Aircraft ExperimentalEstablishment, Felixstowe. Some notes on this formidable machine appear on page 554.
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