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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 0113.PDF
JANUARY II, 1940. THE INDUSTRY Seeing Your Way Clear IN a country such as ours where the •*• humidity of the atmosphere varies between sixty per cent, and saturation point, windscreen clarity is always diffi- cult to maintain. The problem can be a#«olved by admitting sufficient ventila- " tion to keep both sides of the glass (he same temperature, but this, while only a moderate discomfort to the motorist f assumes unbearable proportions to air- is cralt crews operating at high speeds with > the temperature well below zero mark. ;?, Another way of avoiding condensation i- ..is to heat the screen locally and also ^uthe air close to it. The patent electric J Screenclear demister and defroster has ^ been designed to this end. ?•••" From the illustration it will be seen ;. it is simply a small electric "fire," held in position by two suction discs, having -'a consumption of 3 amps at 12 volts. ; It is nicely and at the same time ; robustly made. The element is held at ; both ends but to avoid breakages due to vibration it is also steadied by a mica - support in the middle of the outer casing. The casing itself is chromium- plated against corrosion. The Air •-. Ministry has approved its use for air- ,^craft and this, in itself, bestows a sort • ,'of hall mark on any apparatus. The pfice is 17s. 6d. including switch -' and two-pin plugs. An adaptor costs a .^further 3s. The Screenclear is manu- factured and supplied by C. R. Hopkins, V135, Kilmarnock Rd., Glasgow, S.i. The Screenclear heater, the inexpensive windscreen demister referred to above. ASSEMBLED TIGHTENED Action of the Harris controlled bear- ing described below. Flexible Bearings TV/TEMBERS of design staffs should -*•*-*• make a point of obtaining from Howard Graham, Ltd., Tiddington Road, Stratford-on-Avon, the latest booklet dealing with operation, applica- tion and sizes of Harris controlled bearings and Torflex couplings. The former are rubber bushings com- pounded and cured by new methods and " controlled " by the clamping of the end plates squeezing the bushing both radially and axially to a predetermined extent. It is claimed that the range of movement can be as much as 70 deg. each way from the normal position before creep occurs, but 30 deg. is the normal design limit. Torflex couplings are for direct drives up ijin. diameter shafts, each shaft being gripped by a rubber bush enclosed in a threaded steel cap. Under load the tendency for these caps is to become screwed farther home on their opposite number. The fact that both shafts are, in effect, rubber-mounted, allows con- siderable inis-alignment. ~ Hair Drill " ~~ TN England we have a great regard ;: A for old-established businesses that :'" started in a small way and have become • world-famous. The booklet, " An In- ' ventor met a Miller," is a brief history "* of the firm of Muller and Co. (England). Ltd., who started life making small screws, turned parts and other watch ^ accessories sixty years ago at Soleure, in - Switzerland. That small workshop has ..'* now developed into four large factories % at Soleure, Selzach, St. Louis (France) -j and London. The growth makes a "' fascinating story. To-day Mullers hold in stock no fewer than 3,500 master threads up to |in. •j* diameter and manufacture small drills •f! ranging downward from o.2in. to '! o.ooT6in. The latter drill is finer than a '.Jft hair. *i The London address is Muller and Co. (England), LtcL, Sphinx Works, Chase Road, North Acton, N.W.10. Local representatives are also available all over thr rountrv. Nitriding THE case-hardening of special steelsby nitrogen is the subject matterdealt with in a booklet issued by and obtainable from Nitralloy, Ltd., Norris Deakin Buildings, King Street, Sheffield. 3. Nitriding, as most of our readers know, is the subjection of finish machined parts, made of special steels, to the action of ammonia gas in an elec- tric furnace at a temperature of 500 deg. Centrigrade for the time necessary to produce the required depth of case- hardening. The full period of ninety hours reaches a depth of 0.031m. The booklet covers most phases of the sub- iect Chapters are devoted to descrip- tion application, manufacturing methods and 'materials suppliers, the whole being profusely illustrated. Fairey Meeting THE chairman and managing direc-tor, Mr. C. R. Fairey, M.B.E., F.R.Ae.S., had some particularly in- teresting remarks to make at the eleventh ordinary general meeting of the Fairey Aviation Co., Ltd. Here are some extracts which do not require further comment since they are typical of the spirit and outlook of the British aircraft industry generally. "Our industry, always intensely com- petitive, both technically and commer- cially, is now co-operating in the national interest. Design rights, trade secrets, and so forth, which in the past have been jealously guarded, are now being shared. Although we ourselves have always pursued an intensive and individual technical policy, directly war became imminent we intimated to the authorities our willingness to co-operate in every possible way and to build machines of any type that might be re- quired, and are in fact about to build the products of another firm, while at the same time other companies are mak- ing aircraft to our designs. "The response of the whole industry to the national demand upon it has been excellent, and with the assistance and co- operation of the authorities has resulted in a very satisfactory output. In fact, I would suggest that our highly compe- titive private industry has shown itself superior in efficiency, in ability to ex- pand, and adaptability to any national- ised or semi-nationalised industry in the world. '' Despite present conditions we are still maintaining our foreign contacts, thereby keeping open some old connec- tions and even making new ones, the extent of which I am not, of course, in a position to divulge. "It is only left for me to say that whereas for the present the company is doing its utmost to meet the Air Ministry and national demands and will bend all its efforts to that end as long as the war persists, I can only express the hope that our next meeting will be held under dif- ferent conditions and that in accordance with our consistent policy and the steps we are now taking we shall be Successful in liquidating our present war commit- ments and facing a future in which our efforts, our technical experience, and equipment will be diverted to our proper work of the development of civil avia- tion, but that for as long as those same qualities are needed for national purposes they will be devoted to that end to the exclusion of every other." The balance sheet showed the com- pany to be in an extremely strong posi- tion. A further £100,000 transferred to general reserve increased that figure to £375,000 and £25,000 added to patents reserve brought that item to £145,000. Profit for the year ending September 30, 1939, amounted to £248,122 and a divi- dend of 12J per cent, free of tax, was declared. In view of the reduced profits and the necessity of increasing reserves the board did not recommend the payment of any bonus. Rolls-Royce Interim THE directors of Rolls-Royce, Ltd.,have decided, owing to the unavoid- able difficulty in arriving at the com- pany's current earning position on Government contracts, not to declare an interim dividend at the present time. It is hoped to deal with the matter ia the course of the early months of 1940.
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