FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1946
1946 - 1860.PDF
fjoo FLIGHT SEPTEMBER IQTH 1946 * 4 SEVENTH S.B.A.C. DISPLAY Radlett Exhibition Outclasses All Previous Shows : Quests Jmprpiis^^hx British Qenius ^__^g**-* ~ - ——..—^^^^ \^nlustrated by "Flight" Photographs and Sketches 1 Representatives from some 50 countries attended the two-day display and exhibition staged at the Handley Page airfield at Radlett last week. The products of firms in the Society of British Aircraft Constructors impressed the guests by their range and variety no less then by their high qualities of design and workmanship. As Mr. Verdon Smith, president of the S.B.A.C., pointed out in his welcoming address, there is scarcely a science or industry which does not contribute to the creation of modern aircraft, its power plant and equipment. It is an indication of the virility of the British aircraft industry that it should have been able to assemble such a magnificent display so soon after the end of the war. No fewer than 194 firms were represented in the static exhibition while 55 aircraft types (22 of them civil) were available for inspection, and many of them took part in the flying display. The guests were particularly impressed by the proof of British progress in gas turbine development afforded by the power plants shown and the performance of the aircraft in which they were installed. Our lead in that field is now unquestioned, but it will certainly not remain unchallenged. THE Radlett Display and Exhibition was no meretrade fair; a preponderance of military machines—in some cases fresh from the Secret List—gave it a deeper, though certainly unintended, significance. Few visitors could have sworn that their interest was entirely commercial, nor even recreational, for it is an inescap- able fact that the quality of British Service aircraft is a universal concern. An inspection of the machines in the flying display and exhibition park was firmly reassuring and aesthetically satisfying. To that many-faced character the "student of military aircraft design'' the display was probably the most significant to date, if only because three distinct types of jet fighter were present in addition to one sumi- jet heavy aircraft developed from a bomber. The Supermarine E.10/44 is news, even to readers of Flight, and attracted a large proportion of the visitors. When Mr. Jeffrey Quill parked this latest prototype jet fighter at Radlett, on Wednesday, the machine gave an instant impression of solidity. Liberal use of heavy- gauge material with a remarkably smooth surface, com- bined with the general proportions of the machine, sug- gest one of those "near-solid" supersonic aircraft lately described by aerodynamic visionaries. The fine-limit workmanship is not only superficial; internal surfaces of the "elephant-ear" intake ducts are subtly formed to give the most efficient airflow to the Rolls-Royce Nene snugly installed aft of the tank bay. The nose is of massive construction to provide pilot-protection and there are heavy strips of metal round the beautifully formed enclosure over the pressurized cockpit. Other points noticed were the dihedral tailplane; double tail wheel (permitting complete retraction beneath the jet pipe); filled rivet heads; wooden end-caps on tail sur- faces ; and above all, the amazingly clean fuselage, with the cockpit enclosure and jet intakes as the only excre- scences of any consequence. The ejector jack for the pilot's seat is cordite-operated. A speed of 600 m.p.h. is claimed for the E.10/44. Rivalling the E.10/44 m modernity of line (and sur-
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
