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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 0184.PDF
FLIGHT FEBRUARY 6TH, T947 ating cold fronts and in detecting bad icing conditions, will be attended by representatives of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airways Corporations. With the inevitable reduction in the size of Transport Command the study of such aids may now be undertaken with greater thoroughness, and by fostering and proving new devices and techniques for application to British transport aircraft—Service and civil—the Command will assume an even greater importance and responsibility. That A. V-M. Collier—without whose work the Com- mand would never have achieved what it did—should now be at the Ministry of Civil Aviation is in itself a reason for satisfaction. Locked Controls A FTEK the Dakota accident at Copenhagen there has • f\ been a good deal of surprise at the fact that an old and experienced pilot like Geyssendorffer— —who was one of K.L.M.'s best, and that is saying a good deal—could have been so forgetful as to omit to test his controls before taking off. The explanation seems to be that with the elevator locks used in the Dakotas it is still possible to move the control column a certain amount. But, even so, the very regrettable accident has drawn attention to the need for the universal application of some form of control lock which will posi- tively prevent the aircraft being taken off until the controls are free. Several systems are already in use on different types of aircraft. The simple method of wedges or yokes which hold elevators and ailerons in the neutral posi- tion must be abandoned. In some aircraft the flapping of control surfaces when the machine is parked is restrained by locking the control column in the neutral position. The objection to this was that, especially il the aircraft was parked tail to wind, the force on the surfaces might be sufficient to enable them to "move by CONTENTS Outlook Flying-Boats ------ Royal Escort - Science is Measurement - Britain's Test Pilots - Here and There - - - - - The de Havilland Ghost (DGT/SO) Air Transport During the War - Civil Aviation News Correspondence - Service Aviation - - 129 - 131 - 136 - 137 - 138 - 140 - 142 - 146 - 148 - 151 - 152 stretching the control cables. Nowadays, long runs of control cables are the exception, and the question of* , cable stretch should not arise. Apart from this, however, there can be very consider- able loads on the control surfaces themselves, and on their hinges, and obviously the ideal method is one in which an internal locking device on the control surfaces is incorporated in the original design, so arranged that the control column and wheel cannot be moved until the locks have been released. In point of fact such an arrangement was recommended for new aircraft by the Joint Airworthiness Committee some months ago. One way of achieving an even more foolproof arrange- ment is the new Handley Page system incorporated in Hermes and Hastings aircraft. When the control sur- faces are locked in the neutral position, the pilpt is unable to open his throttles, and thus obviously all risk of a take-off with locked controls is eliminated. The Handley Page system probably does not lend itself to in- corporation in existing aircraft, but the simple locking of the control column in any of the many ways possible should be satisfactory in most cases, and should be made compulsory. NINTH OF HER LINE : H.M.S. Vanguard seen from a Sunderland as she sailed from Portsmouth last Saturday bearing theRoval Family to South Africa (see page 136). The Union Jack can be seen at the jackstaff, the Royal Standard at the main, a second Union Jack at the port yardarm and the Admiralty Flag at the starboard yardarm.
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