FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1946
1946 - 2164.PDF
FLIGHT OCTOBER 31ST, 194O E-AND THE! Mustangs and Sweden / NINETY fully armed Mustang fightersare being purchased by Sweden irom the U.S. at the modest price of^875 each. The sale, approved by the U.S. State Department, is being handledby the Paris office of the U.S. Foreign Liquidation Commission. Memorial Prizes/ A /3,000 memorial to their son, Sgt.Louis Groves, who was killed 111 September, 1945, has been given to thsR.A.F. by Major and Mrs. K. Groves, of Maughold, Isle of Man. The memorial takes the form of threeannual prizes to encourage the problems of (he .sjifvty of aircraft., and to KUHIU-la,U ruwarch in mritcnrology and its application to aviation. Sgt. Groves was a meteoiological airobserver. He lost his life on a weather sortie, and the memorial has been givenin recognition of the meritorious work carried out by flyers engaged in theseexacting duties. 7 £1000,000 for Airmen OVER £1,000,000 have been spent bythe R.A.F. Benevolent Fund in help- ing nearly 100,000 cases of distress arisingout of the late war. Lord Kiverdale, chairman of the Fund,states that demands in 1946 have been at the highest rate since its foundation.In nine months 23,742 * cases— were assisted, costing £384,223. Of t»l sum£16,755 was spent in helping to educate 495 children of deceased airmen andofficers. The Fund was founded by Lord Tren-chard iu 1919, since when £1,341,058 has been spent in assisting 110,874 cases. Reappearance J '"THE initial talk of an attempt on tin.•*• British-held air speed record by a Lockheed Shooting Star subsided whenthe Republic Thunderjet's preparations ousted the P-80 from the immediatelimelight. Now that the Thunderjet has, for thetime being, gracefully withdrawn from the list of challengers to the GlosterMeteor, there comes more news of Shoot- ing Star aspirations. Important modifications have beenmade to the P-80; engine power has been boosted to increase the thrust by 7per cent, while another 27 per cent is claimed to have been added by the use ofwater injection. In addition the wing has been given a thinner section anddrag further reduced by a much lower cockpit cover and redesigned air-scoops. The record attempt, we learn, is tobe made "within the next few weeks." Super Flying-bombs/ A CCORDING to Air Force sources inH- Washington, the adaptation of B-29S as guided missiles is being seriously con-sidered by their technical experts. The suggestion is that a crewless radiocontrolled Superfortress, loaded with high explosive (or even atomic bombs)could be directed on to a target 80 miles away from the controlling aircraft.A maximum range of 10,000 miles has been mentioned. The robot aircraft, say the experts,is the" best guided missile to bridge the gap between present-day weapons andthe V.L.R. rocket. We can't help feeling that some meansof bridging the gap between present-day policies and world peace would be betterstill! Oi would you rather be a fission? You Can't /Go Wrong W E don't kno\Kif U.S. Navy pilotsare any more prone than most occasionally to pull the wrong lever and(foi instance) lower their whirling air- screws into the deck, but the Researchand Development Division of the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics decidedsome little time ago to see what could be done towards making such solecisms lesslikely. With the help of the Douglas engineer-ing division at El Segundo and some committee work by psychologists, pilotsand engineers, they finally hit upon the brilliantly simple idea of shaping controllevers like the components to which they are connected, making thejn move simi-larly and placing them in the cockpit in positions corresponding as nearly aspossible to those occupied on the aircraft by the respective components concerned. To give one example, the lever con- 'THE BAT" is the name given by ihe U.S. Navy to their radar-guided glider bomb, now described as "a fully fledged weapon." It can be launched from any suitably equipped aircraft and after release automatically keeps itself on target. It has a span of 10ft and carries a i,ooo-lb explo- sive charge in its 16ft fuselage. (Above) Mounting a "Bat" in the special wing rack of a Consolidated Privateer, and (left) a launch during trials at Chinocteague Aviation Ord- nance Test Station. Note that these examples o"f the missile have differently shaped fins and rudders. An earlier type was used against Jap shipping during the war and sent many thou- sands of tons to the bottom.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
