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Aviation History
1946
1946 - 0058.PDF
FLIGHT JANUARY IOTH, 1940 which are the answer to the dammed-up demand of private owners of all sorts. This outlook is rather frightening. Many of the would-be* owners are wartime pilots of con- siderable ability; some are pilots of less ability; some are probably outright dangerous and some are only now learn- ing to fly. But whatever their classification, there are bound to be a great many of them who will be nothing more or less than a menace. One optimistic member of the Aero Insurance Underwriters predicted that if the pre- war accident curve was maintained, there might, in a few years, be 300,000 private flying deaths annually! At a recent Joint Private Flying Conference in Washington, con- siderable time was devoted to discussing methods for reduc- ing the expected accident rate. Amongst other sugges- tions, the following very sensible improvements were called for: — (a) Simplification in the methods of controlling the aircraftboth in the air and on the ground. (b) Introduction, so far as possible, of spinproof charac- teristics. (c) Better visibility at all fuel AMERICAN ence in position between the folded and extended positions —so much so that there must be a considerable change in e.g. travel, and, therefore, of trim. Another point which strikes an observer is the amount of keel surface aft. The fin and rudders, both above and below the fuselage, are quite large, and to these should be added the fin area of the propellors. Directional stability must have been quite a problem in the design stage and perhaps during the initial test flights.• • • The appointment of S.B.A.C. representatives to the various trade areas of the world, and to South America particularly, has created quite a lot of comment over here. The news that Mr. F. W. Ballantyne was to go to South America was of sufficient importance to warrant comment in the New York dailies, and some of the aviation papers have used it as a stick with which to have another whack at the State Department in Washington. Although those *> who have tried to sell British aircraft abroad will not always agree, the American manufacturer considers that (d) More accessiblestrainers. (e) Redesigned interiors, in-strument panels, controls, etc., to avoid injury to the occupants during a crash. • • • The Douglas '' Mixmaster''—the aircraft with contra - props in the tail—has been making news lately, both good and bad. It established a satisfactory record on a Los Angeles to Washington non-stop run, then crashed a few days later in circumstances which are, so far, unex- plained. The piJots reported trouble, and are alleged to have made an abortive approach and then to have baled out, having first jettisoned the propellors by means of the explosive bolts. Subsequently, the Allison Engine Company issued a statement that an examination showed there was nothing wrong with the engines. As published, and carried to its logical conclusion, their statement appeared to put the blame either on to the Army pilots or the airframe. At the time of writing, neither Douglas nor the U.S.A.A.F. have made any further comment, but it is rather a strange state of affairs when the engine manufacturers of a purely military aircraft get up and publicly say. " Please, it wasn't us." This situation arises largely because U.S. military aircraft are often used to establish domestic records, from which the manufacturers may make advertising capital. Although a similar situation has existed in England since 1920 in connection with world record events, the writer has always felt that, financial considerations notwithstand- ing, it is undignified for the air force of .any country to become a party to the purely commercial side of such flights. But it is probably good for trade. Nickname To get back to the '' Mixmaster,'' this machine is the military forerunner of the civil DC-8, and is so called be- cause, having two contra-rotating propellors behind the tail, it has some resemblance to a well-known domestic mixing machine which has two electrically driven contra-rotating fans that are guaranteed to mix anything from cocktails to chocolate milk-shakes. In actual practice, this aircraft is of great interest, and the piston-engined civil version may well prove to be the most efficient medium-weight (34,000 lb.) machine yet designed. It has a tricycle undercarriage and a beautifully smooth, laminar-flow wing, and "bug-eyes" are employed for the two pilots. (This latter feature isn't very popular and may be dropped.) The performance is high, and the fact that the two Allison engines are situated in the fuselage, with a shaft drive to the tail, makes the single-engine performance particularly good. An interesting point on the military version is the under- carriage and its method of retraction, which is designed to avoid housing the wheels in the thin wing. The widely splayed undercarriage legs and the wheels fold back and into the fuselage, and the wheels come to rest some distance pft of the trailing edge, so that there is a very great differ- NEWSLETTER the British authorities give far /"CONTINUED) more assistance to our sales• representatives abroad than the State Department does to theirs, and there is quite a discussion going on at the moment on this and kindred subjects. • + • American Airlines have announced their choice of a suc- cessor to the DC-3. This is to be the Consolidated-Vultee Model 240 (which is presumably a modification of then Model no). This is one of the most important things that has happened for some time in the domestic field of American aviation. To some it is certainly a surprise, but it is an order that may have far-reaching results. For some time now there has been much speculation on the outcome of the American Airlines '' competition '' for a replacement aircraft for their existing short-haul equipment. At one time those of us here with British interests at heart wondered whether the Airspeed Ambas- sador would not be a possible starter. Except for the fact that it was a little big for the 500-mile hops that constitute the majority of the internal routes of the American Airlines system, it appeared to have everything required. Opportunity However far-fetched the possibility of supplying British equipment to an American airline may seem, it is known that American Airlines are one of the smartest and most independent operators in the business, and that if they felt an aircraft was technically what they wanted, they might well buy it, even if it wasn't built on their own side of the Atlantic. In any case, for 800-mile hauls, the Ambas- sador looks one of the best aircraft yet, and it is to be hoped that Airspeeds will institute a really aggressive pro- gramme of sales promotion, not forgetting the North Ameri- can Continent. So far as the Consolidated 240 goes, it is not known yet whether this is identical with the Model no or not. It is apparently still in the design stage and is said to be selling for 180,000 dollars, as opposed to the 200,000 dollar price of the Martin 202. Published artists' impressions show a twin-engined, low-wing monoplane with some 38 seats, ,•> powered by Pratt and Whitney R-2800 engines. Exact performance, is not stated, but use is to be made of^the exhaust gases for auxiliary jet propulsion. A good deal of newspaper blurb is being tied around this feature, and an addition of 20 m.p.h. to the cruising speed is claimed. As this cruising speed is given as about 300 m.p.h., it seems hardly likely that this thrust can give such a big increase in a basic 280 m.p.h. The newspaper sketches show a wing that is very re- miniscent of that fitted to the B-24 and B-36, with what appears to be the same proportion of span to chord to taper. If this is so and it has the same sections, it is to be hoped that some of the troubles which were experienced on those aircraft and their variants will not appear on the 240.
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