FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1946
1946 - 1729.PDF
SEPTEMBER 5TH, 1946 FLIGHT 243 of the Normandie-Niemen Group " aces," completely stole the show. It is a beautifully constructed little single- seater with light Perspex canopy, usually fitted with a Salmson 45 h.p. or 60 h.p. motor. The choice of motor rests with the buyer, and depends on what is available at the time. The ailerons, which extend the full length of the wing, droop to act as flaps for take-ofi or landing. Fixed slots are built into the leading ^edge and it is said to be spinproof. A two-seater fitted with a 100 h.p. Aster Walter " Mikron" built under licence—is now in production. It is long enough after the Toussus exhibition to gauge its reaction on the average .French club member and prospective private owner. PRIVATE FLYIN The French flying clubs— , and there are about 150 (CON I I active ones in France a and plenty more in North if Africa—know exactly what type of machine they want, but they could not find it at Toussus. They are not interested in paying a great deal of money for a luxury machine with all the complicated modern inconveniences such as retractable tricycle undercarriages. I recently visited some of the French flying clubs fields in a light aircraft and I can vouch for the fact that they are not ..." ideal for untried tricycles. Anyway, the number of nose- '-'••' wheel failures during the week's exhibition at Toussus 'proved that. Neither do they want to waste quite a lot of money on out-of-date machines with doubtful engines. They want reliable aircraft, easy to maintain ; aircraft ••', which will fly all day and are suitable for school work, hire or private owners. They have seen the Cub and the • Auster, and they know what they want. But the French ' Government insists that they need tiny pop-bottle single- / seaters and high-performance touring aircraft. The French light aircraft industry is working under very difficult conditions. Considering that she has had to rebuild her industry almost from scratch, France has accomplished a great deal. Bottle-necks have been very serious, due to shortages of accessories and so on. The S.O. 6000 jet- . propelled machine was kept waiting almost a year for an undercarriage. Government Support However, in spite of all these difficulties, the industry, and private and sporting flying generally, seem to me to be in far better shape than in this country. The French Government is definitely trying to get private flying back on its feet. Recently the Government, through the Ser- vices des Sports Aeriens, decided to loan Bucker and Stampe SV.43 biplanes to the clubs on certain conditions. These conditions are that, for every 150 hours flown per machine, one pilot under 21 years of age, fit for Air Force service, must be turned out with an "A" licence. Other- wise the clubs are free to use the aircraft in any way they like, though priority must be given to converting sailplane pilots to airplanes. If these conditions are fulfilled then the Government will bear the cost of repairs in case of damage. Five hundred Piper Cubs have been obtained by the Government from the U.S. Foreign Liquidation Commission. These are certain to be distributed to the clubs and to private owners. The suppression of the Certificat Restreint de Navi- gabilite (C.N.R.A.), a restricted C. of A. granted to small aircraft upon completion of certain simple tests, does not seem to have curbed the enthusiasm of the amateur con- structors. Henri Mignet is back on the scene with a redesigned Pou, known as the H.M.290, in production. The "Flea" enthusiasts are — already busy at work in the C IN FRANCE workshops and garages. . New light types are being IN U t I) ) made, including a powered — sailplane, R.A.IOM, built by Airanantic, who also make the R.A.i4Tow-powered two-seater high-wing monoplane. One of the most promising of the new types is the Boisavia 50. This is a new departure for a French machine in that it employs welded steel-tube construction, hitherto disallowed by the " Services Techniques." It is a side-by- side two-seater high-wing monoplane, of the same basic formula as the Auster. Is this the machine the French fly- ing clubs axe waiting for? Engine Production There is large-scale production of engines of all sizes from a flat-twin G-2 of 40 h.p., to a 220 h.p. V-8. With the Mathis all cylinders are said to be interchangeable from one type of engine to another. Renault, also, are produc- ing in quantity. Apart from these two big engine com- panies, there are the Train, Regnier, Potez, Bloch, and Hochet-Mengin engines. The majority of the aircraft constructors, including the nationalized companies, produce sailplanes. For instance, the Caudron factory of S.N.C.A.N. produce the two-seater G.800 in quantity for " les Sports Aeriens." S.N.C.A.S.E. also make a very fine high-performance two-se'ater. There are signs that the Ministere de 1'Armament now knows what kind of machine the schools and clubs of France want. Maybe the questionnaires filled in by all and sundry at Toussus had some effect. Anyway, one of the biggest concerns, S.N.C.A.N., who realize that they have not touched the biggest market with their Nords 1201 and 1101, are considering putting into production the Potez 58, an old French favourite. I don't think that the average French club member or private owner has got much to worry about; so much more enthusiasm is.shown by the manufacturers, consumers and authorities. It is a change to see big concerns with time to build good quality light aircraft as well as jets, giant transports and so on, while the private pilots of this country have to content themselves with a very meagre diet of battered re-paints from the Kemble jumble sales. NEW A.W. WING CONSTRUCTION y' A NEW form of construction has been developed by. Arm- •**• strong-Whitworth for the laminar-flow wings of tail-less aircraft weighing about 3o,ooolb. This news is of particular interest as it follows an announcement by Sir Ben Lockspeiser that an Armstrong-Whitworth tail-less research aircraft with twin R-R Derwent jet units is under construction. To obtain—and retain—a smooth wing surface a thick skin (16 G) is used. This is stiffened by an inner corrugated skin which prevents "waving" and deflections due to air loads. Structural efficiency is maintained by making the skin and •• corrugations take the whole of the bending and shear loads. This method of building the wing is the reverse of the usual practice of building up from the ribs; the old method " added- up" errors cumulatively until the skin became the most inaccurate part of the structure. A new technique, has been evolved of building the wing in halves, each half being made in accurately contoured formers into which the skin and corru- gations are clamped. The half-ribs and half-webs are then placed and the two halves joined. A specimen wing using this type of construction has success- fully produced laminar flow in the N.P.L. high-speed tunnel, and a Hurricane fitted with a pair of wings made on the same principle is now undergoing flight trials at the R.A.E. HESTON AIRCRAFT " A.O.P.'V A NEW Artillery Observation Post aircraft is being developedby the Heston Aircraft Company, Ltd., for the Ministry of Supply. , Four machines have been ordered. The design features twin booms and a de Havilland Gipsy Queen 33 engine driving a pusher airscrew. Requirements in an A.OP. aircraft are good visibility, robustness, easy maintenance, and the ability to fly slowly and operate from emergency "strips." A model of the new machine will be exhibited at Radlett during the S.B.A.C. display.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
