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Aviation History
1946
1946 - 0405.PDF
FEBRUARY 28TH, 1946 FLIGHT Type Airspeed AS—57 Ambassador Avro2l Tudor II ... ' Bristol 167 ) Cunliffe-Owen Con- cordta Handley Page Hermes Miles M. 60 Marathon Percival Merganser Portsmouth Aviation Aerocar Major '*• Power Units Two Bristol Centaurus 57 Four Rolls- Royce Merlin I02A Eight Bristol Centaurus Two Alvis Leonides Four Bristol Hercules 120 Four D.H. Gipsy Queen 71 Two D.H. Gipsy Queen 51 Two Cirrus Major III or D.H. Gipsy Major 31 Span ft. 115 120 230 57 113 65 47.8 42 All-up weight Ib. 45,000 77,000 250,000 11,000 75,000 15,900 6,532 3,950 TYPES IN PREPARATION Max. Wing loading Ib., sq.ft. 37.5 54.2 47.0 2S.4 53.27^ 31.8 20.5 15.5 Max. speed m.p.h.* " 300 (18,000) 319 (18,500) 300+ (25,000) — 337 (22,700) — 194 (5,000) 167 (s.l.) Cruis- ing speed m.p.h. 175 to 285 221 262 273 250 215 212190 284 254 194 210 175 152 170 153 141 Per cent. - Max. power 25 to 50 MWM MWM MWM 50 40 78 60 MWM Econ. Econ. — — 79 65 Height ft. 10,000 to 20,000 S.I. 13,500 23,000 25,000 25,000 8,00.0 7,000 22,700 25,000 10,000 7,000 7,000 S.I. 8,000 S.I. 5.1. Total Pay- load Ib. 6,000 6,700 9,600 11,000 8,480 9,800 14,200 13,480 Approx. 20,000 1,700 2,100 15,950 2.000 8,760 6,270 3,600 4,540 1,150 972 742 416 Range ml. 2,000 1,800 1,000 600 2,625 2,475 1,850 1,925 4,500 1.000 750 1,500 2,150 2,690 3.080 500 500 830 223 557 1.003 Speedm.p.h. 240 240 240 240 230 230 230 230 215—250 190 190 254 254 254 254 175 175 !70 136 136 136 No. pas- sen- gers 24 28 40 34 40 34 60 72 810 34 34 34 34 18 5 5 4 2 Remarks '' Brabazon "type 2a Provisional figures only in last four columns Engines arranged in pairs, each driving six-bladed contra-airscrews. Second prototype likely to have jet-turbines. " Brabazon " type 1. Tankage available for 1,200 miles —~ Maximum still air range 1,000 miles with 13 passengers - Minor and Junior models also to be available ' Height (ft.) in brackets. of cruising speed, none of our present civil aircraft is as homely as all that. The York's economical cruising speed is 200 m.p.h.—quite a deal faster than most people imagine—while its maximum operational cruis- ing is as high as 275 m.p.h. The figures in the table above and opposite are the latest available, and have been chosen so that a maximum amount of information can be given. They will be use- ful for guidance, information and comparison. The table itself is intended, too, as a record of achievement so far—and as a reminder of the work still to be done. There is not nearly enough '' talent'' yet to be found amongst the newcomers in the second section of the table. Next time we hope that this section will include, for instance, turbine-powered aircraft types for which de- finite orders have been placed. Pious hopes cannot be tabulated. Starting at the beginning of the table we have three Avro types which have been well tested in service— the 19, Lancastrian and York, and the Tudor I, the first production example of which has now been handed over to B.O.A.C. for development testing. A new type can- not, unfortunately, be put straight into service, and it will be many months before the first of the Tudors can be put on the regular Atlantic run. Furthermore, pres- ^urisation and air conditioning are not quite the straight- forwardly devised luxuries often so casually expected. The prototype Bristol 170 has almost completed its development tests and the first passenger version will soon be in the air. This aircraft was designed solely as a freighter and its secondary appearance in passenger form has been dictated largely by demand. First of the genuine " Brabazon " types to appear, the D.H. Dove is also well advanced in its tests and should be as useful a feeder-line and service-try-out aircraft as the Rapide has been. Though the last is described aboveas a "civil version of the Dominie," it would be just as true to reverse the sentence, since, after the earlyda ys of the Dragon, the Rapide has done, and is still dping, more to make a paying proposition of short-haula 'riine work than any other aircraft. In much the same category, though, like the Bristol 170, designed in the first place for freighter work, is the Miles Aerovan. Although the Short Sandringham and Solents are usually described as " civil versions" of the Sunderland, the latter was originally a military version of the Empire or " C" class boats which made history in pre-war days —so their genealogy is truly civil. Fortunately, the ' Government is taking a renewed interest in civil flying- boat development, so we may yet see Shetlands and still larger boats on the Empire routes. Before the end of this year the Vickers Viking will have become the "standard " type for British, European and internal services. On the Way Three more " Brabazon " types are among the aircraft on which work is proceeding—the Bristol 167 (familiarly known as the " Brabazon I"), the Airspeed AS-57, and the Miles Marathon. The 167 is something very unusual and interesting both in size and layout, and is intended for the direct London-New York service. It will Kave an all-up weight of no tons and is expected to cruise at 250 m.p.h. while carrying 72 passengers on this cross- ing. The Ambassador prototype is due out some time during the winter months and is a very modernised ver- sion of the twin-engined transport formula. The Tudor II, the prototype of which should be flying at any moment, is really a shorter-range heavier-load version of the Tudor I, and is intended for the Empire routes. The Handley-Page Hermes is another ^in- terim '' type which should soon be flying. In the table we should have preferred, when giving power percentages for different cruising speeds, to have used the more 1 odern "Maximum Except Take-off," or METO, figures as a basis, but there was a certain lack of standardisation in J" e figures available. Except where MWM (maximum weak mixture power), RM (rich mix- ture power), or Econ. (best economical weak mixture power) have been used, the take-off figure has been used as a basis for the percentages.
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