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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 2301.PDF
•jfio FLIGHT NOVEMBER 22ND, 1945 REFUELLING IN FLIGHT difficulty is likely to be experienced in the provision of tanker aircraft for the next few years. These notes have been written in an attempt to show, beyond all doubt, that refuelling in flight is not a palliative for certain weak features that may exist in present-day aircraft, nor may it be regarded as being anything in the nature of a " stunt." It is undeniably a sound fundamental principle that passengers, or goods, cannot be transported economically over long distances if, at the same time, vast quantities of fuel are also to be carried. The essence of flight is speed, while the unavoidable cost of speed is. high fuel consumption, and urrfu fuel, other than petrol and the like, weighing 7J Ib. per gallon, can be produced, the payload of aircraft cannot comprise more than- a negligible proportion of the all-up weight of a long-distance aircraft. The answer to the problem is simple: the fuel must be taken on board at-convenient intervals. The mechanical difficulties have been demonstrably solved ; the economics are indisputable, and the materials are at hand waiting to , he employed. It has been shown that the costs of flight refuelling are negligible when viewed in their proper perspective, and th scales are weighted still more heavily in favour of fligh refuelling •* by the economies effected by so many by products, the values of which are very real but difficul to evaluate. Several of the most important futures hav been dealt with in this study and include such items a assisted take-off, with its accompanying diminution c risks ; savirig of aerodrome space and reduction of wear an tear of engine and aircraft; the saving again of wear an< tear of engine and undercarriages, by virtue of each land ing rendered unnecessary by refuelling in the air, togethe with the elimination of landing risks, and the saving c time or increase in overall speed,; the avoidance of prema ture landings due to shortage of fuel; the operational flexi bility of aircraft conferred by the unlimited extension c range ; the equalisation of payload over all stages; an< the defeat of the adverse effects of wind on out-and-retur payload. ^ Finally, it should be mentioned that ^fe war has lef us with a great paucity of civil airliners, but with an abun dance of redundant bombers whichtcan be readily convertei to excellent tanker aircraft. Here there is-a golden oppoi tunity of solving our immediate problem, and, in ddin so, to lay the sure foundations for the future- of Britisl long-range civil airlines. I AVRO TUDOR 1 INSTALLATIONS (Above) Two views of the galley looking forward. The refrigerator, by Frigidaire Ltd., has a capacity of 5| cu. ft. and weighs less than 130 lb. Both the grill boiler and hot cupboard are made by G.E.C. and operate from the aircraft's 24-volt D.C. supply. The Jackson electric urn has a half-gallon capacity, which is supplied from two ten-gallon water tanks under the fuselage floor. (Right) The Tudor tail wheel unit is designed and built by Dowty Equipment Ltd It is fully retractable and the mechanical linkage for closing the doors behind the wheels can be seen in the photograph.
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