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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 0624.PDF
368 FLIGHT APRIL 24TH, 1947 AMERICAN NEWSLETTER of 135 m.p.h. at sea-level, 152 m.p.h. at 5,000 feet, and165 m.p.h. at 10,000 feet. Percentage power required for these speeds is not quoted. The range is said to be 657miles (why bother about the 7?) and the take-off run 708 feet at sea-level against a 10 m.p.h. wind. The priceis 9,980 dollars. Following what is now known as " Ercoupe practice" (a phrase which always strikes meas being rather hard on the Hordern-Richmond twin which I flew, rudderless, in 1938 or so) a two-control system isfitted, giving suitable non-stall, non-spin characteristics, probably achieved by restricting the control movement.On the whole it is not a pretty machine to look at, but the fact that it does try to give the customer both comfortand safety, and that the firm's reputation is still worth something, may make it popular. A NEW/OLD IDEAT ALKING of the Hordern-Richmond twin and its two-control system, brings to mind another pre-war British development which has suddenly been takenup here not only with gusto but also, apparently, with the bland assumption that it is just one more ail-Americaninvention. This is the castering undercarriage, which is now being pushed by the Goodyear Company as the answerto all cross-wind landing ills. Whether this particular undercarriage infringes any of the Maclaren patents (ifthere are such patents) one does not pretend to know, but just in case any of my American friends read these notes,I would like to say that we were doing cross-wind landings with a Maclaren castering undercarriage at Heston Airport,London, in 1939, and that I believe I am right in saying that considerable research work was done in England onthis idea during the early days of the war. Whether it will be developed here as a standard fitment, or even asa " customer request" item, remains to be seen, but credit for its original development should be given to Maclaren.—Or am I wrong, and was there some long-forgotten pioneer who developed something of the sort away back inthe very early days? ["Kibitzer" is tight in suspecting that some pioneer was the first to adopt the castering undercarriage. The pioneer was Louis Bleriot, and castering wheels were fitted to the mono- plane on which he made the first flight across the Channel in 1909. They were retained on all subsequent types until the design of Bleriot aircraft changed completely. The idea of the Maclaren undercarriage was, however, different in that it was designed to be preset to the landing angle of drift.—ED.] FREIGHT CARRIERS yi T the risk of being a bore on the subject of freightr\ and freight-carrying aircraft, I would like to quote A- *• some more figures as proof of my conviction thatair cargo is becoming a vitally important part of the air- craft industry. Estimated statistics show that in theUnited States during 1945 the eight largest non-certified carriers flew a total of 27,783,000 ton-miles, and the eightbiggest airline companies 18,318,000 ton-miles. Although the uncertified, that is to say the non-scheduled operators,carried more than the certified regular airlines, it must be remembered that the former were first in this type of busi-ness, and in some cases it was not until well into 1946 that the airlines really got going. Moreover, the statistical fore-casters (a race that should always be treated with cau- tion) estimate a total value of 15,000,000 dollars gross forthis business in 1947. Even if this figure is not realized there is no question that a huge potential industry is inthe making, and this won't be confined to the United States alone. The immediate question is what sort of aircraft is suitablefor this work. We have the WTayfarer, the Fairchild Packet, and the Northrop •Pioneer, all especially built tocarry freight. Now a new company, composed of ex-Curtiss Wright employees, are converting Curtiss Com-mandos (C-46AS) for cargo work. There are said to be some 600 machines of this type available from Army AirCorps disposal stocks, and this new company estimates that they can convert them to freighters at the rate of 10 permonth, and sell them for around $70,000. The all-up weight of this machine is 45,000 lb, and it is quoted ashaving a maximum range of 1,500 miles with a 9,000 1b payload. Esimated flying costs vary between 8-9 cents for1,000-mile trips, and 7.05 for short 200-mile hops, based on 100 per cent load factor. Cruising powers and speeds forthese operations are not given. The conversion of military wartime aircraft cannot go on indefinitely, however, andit seems reasonable to suppose that in the future we may expect various types of specialized freighters to be built.Certainly the slow '' tramp steamer '' will have its place. and at the other end of the scale may be a high-speed, high-altitude machine which would carry both perishable goods and mail. Quite why no one has considered this latter typeas yet is surprising, for surely such a machine, if only for mail, could now be justified? Maybe the postal authoritieshaven't supported the idea, but it does seem an inevitable, development of the freight-carrying business, and if themail was standardized and perhaps compressed it would - surely stow in a comparatively small space and permit aninteresting design of aircraft? BRITISH LECTURES IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA FOUR senior lecturers from the College of Aeronautics atCranfield have just returned from a visit to Czechoslovakia, which they visited at the invitation of the Czechoslovak Ministry of Education. The subjects and lecturers were: Development of Gas Turbines (Dr. A. W. Morley), Current Problems in the Theory of Aircraft Structures (W. S. Hemp), Aerodynamics of High-speed Flight (A. D. Young), and Flight Testing at High Speed (A. Hampden Yates). The party visited various departments of the university, the Czech " R.A.E. " at Letany, the Avia factory, the Walter air- craft engine factory, and the gliding club at Rana. The British visitors were given a great welcome, symbol of the desire of the Czechs for closer relations with British aeronautics. HYDROMATIC AIRSCREW DEVELOPMENTS IT has been announced that Douglas D.C.6s f<T United andNational Airlines, Sabena and others are to have specially developed three-bladed Hamilton hydromatic airscrews. In addition Canadian-built D.C.4M transports for the R.C.A.F. are also, it is stated, to be fitted with this D.C.6-type airscrew. Improvements include newly designed light-weight duralumin blades equipped with tuned vibration dampers in the hollow shank (other new models for the Martin 202 and 303, the Con- solidated 240 and the Lockheed 649 Constellation have hollow steel blades) ; an improved pitch-changing mechanism using higher oil pressure but giving more accurate constant-speed^operation; rapid reversing and feathering (three seconds); automatic synchronization of all airscrews with a master con-,trol in the cockpit and electric de-icing. FORTHCOMING EVENTS April 24th.—Royal Aeronautical Soc. : " The Risk of Fire, and Fire Pre- vention Methods," Dr. J. Drinkwater, B.Sc, D.Phil., and W. G. Gtendening. April 25ch.—R.Ae.S. (Bristol) : " Some Problems of High-speed Flight," S. C. Redshaw. F.R.Ae.S., 5.30 p.m. April 29th.—R.Ae.S. (Derby) : Conversazione, 6.30 p.m. May 2nd.—R.Ae.S. (Graduates and Students) : " Flight Testing of Air- craft," W. Humble. May 3rd.—British Interplanetary Soc. : " Nature and Distribution of Meteors." May 9th to 12th.—Royal Netherlands Aero Club. Aerial rally at Ypenburg, The Hague. May IOth.—Air League of the British Empire (Portsmouth) : Air Display at Portsmouth Airport. May 18th.—Southern Area Model Flying Championship A.S.T. airfield, Hamble, Hants, 2 p.m.—6 p.m. May 29th.—Royal Aeronautical Soc. : Thirty-fifth Wilbur Wright Memorial Lecture " The Development of AH-wing Aircraft." To be read by J. K. Northrop. June 21st.—Air League of British Empire. Flying display with R.A.F. support. Baginton airfield, Coventry. Ju|y 4th to 20th.—Brussels International Aero Show. July 9th to 30th.—Air League of British Empire. Blackpool (Squires Gate) Meeting. Flying displays with R.A.F. support on 9th, 16th and 23rd. Sept. 9th to 12th.—S.B.A.C, Exhibition and Display.
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