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Aviation History
1946
1946 - 1323.PDF
andAIRCRAFT ENGINEER Editorial Director G. GEOFFREY SMITH, M.B.E. Editor . -CM. POULSEN Assistant Editor - MAURICE A. SMITH, D.F.C. (WING CDR., R.A.F.V.IQ An Editor - - JOHN YOXALL FIRST AERONAUTICAL WEEKLY ZV THE WORLD .• FOUNDED 1909 Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices: DORSET Telegrams : Flightpres, Sedist, London. COVENTRY! 8-10, CORPORATION ST. Telegrams : Autocar, Coventry, Telephone: Coventry 5210. BIRMINGHAM, 2: KING EDWARD HOUSE, NEW STREET. Telegrams .' Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone: Midland 7191 (7 lines). HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.I Telephone i Waterloo 3333 50 line*.) MANCHESTER, 3: 260, DEANSGATE. Telegrams : Iliffe, Manchester. Telephone: Blaekfriars 4412. GLASGOW, C.2: 26B, RENFIELD ST. Telegrams: Iliffe, Glasgow. Telephone: Central 4857. SUBSCRIPTION RATES : Home and Abroad : Year, £3 I 0. Registered at the G.P.O. as a Newspaper 6 months, £1 10 6. No. 1959. Vol. L. July 11th, 1946 Thursdays, One Shilling. cJhe Outlook Transonic Research by Rocket and Radar..T HE time may be near when diligent investigators of aerodynamic phenomena (those at least con- cerned with high-speed flight) will desert their wind tunnels and laboratories for a radar tracking room, for in radar-plotted research models, with rocket or athodyd propulsion, we may hold the key to practical flight at transonic and supersonic speeds. If this proves to be so—and there is every indication that it will—the key will have been delivered into our hands by German scientists ; it was they who developed the practical liquid- fuel rocket and applied its tremendous thrust to high- speed aircraft, research missiles and controlled weapons. The Vickers' transonic model described in this issue is virtually a scaled-down Miles M.52 without a pilot and with no annular air intake for the gas turbine. Propul- sion is by a bi-f uel rocket using '' T-Stoff'' and '' C- Stoff,'' the properties of which were demonstrated in the Walter rockets used in the Mei63 and destined for the supersonic DFS 346 and the air-launched DFS 228. At present both the Vickers' model and the full-scale M.52 have straight wings, but it is more than probable that sharp sweep-back will be tried, on the models at least. Already the American Bell concern has test-flown a machine with swept-back wings, after the German pattern, and has developed a rocket-propelled transonic aircraft, but whether the two have been wedded is uncertain. Other American manufacturers are interested in rocket- powered research aircraft and models, and we in Britain must look forward to the day when the roar of the rocket is once more heard in the land. This will symbolise our determination that airframe design, now of cardinal im- portance if our peerless turbine-jets are to be most profit- ably employed, shall benefit from the most modern methods of investigation. . . and Radio Research models having yielded basic data for the con- struction of supersonic aircraft the next step will be to build full-scale prototypes adapted for specific duties. These must undergo routine performance and handling tests and in the early stages of development at least, might take-off, manoeuvre and land under radio control. The immense possibilities of this form of control have been demonstrated by our own '' Queen'' series of target aircraft and more recently by U.S. Army and Navy " drones" used in the Bikini atom-bomb tests. Thus mastery of the three " R's "—rockets, radar and radio—may lead us to the Elysian fields beyond the sonic barrier. Transatlantic ServiceI N the matter of North Atlantic airline operation we might be described as veteran beginners. July 1st saw the opening of a regular British London-New York passenger service, and although for the present American Constellations are being used, Tudor ' • are ex- pected to be ready by November and should be in service early in the New Year. Our immediate post-war problem of obtaining suitable air liners to operate the service is thus satisfactorily solved for the time being, and all- important operational experience is being gained side by side with the airlines of other countries. But foT the war, this service, foreshadowed in Ottawa in 1935, would have been inaugurated much sooner. In fact, 1941 first saw two-way, all-the-year-round flights attempted and proved to be a practical undertaking, even without the advantage of high altitude, pressurized cabins. A second problem foreseen in pre-war days, the conquest of winter weather over the North Atlantic, has thus also proved capable of solution. Last week the question of costs was discussed in Flight and those convinced that fares by air would be prohibi- tive in competition with ocean liners now have figures in black and white to confound their arguments. This re- moves problem number three. There is no doubt that a flight to New York, of the
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