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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 1525.PDF
SEPTEMKE.K HIM, X947 FLIGHT «73 The Anglo-American Conference Icing of Gas Turbines : Large and Small Aircraft THE Aeronautical Conference convened jointly by the Royal Aeronautical Society and theAmerican Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences was officially opened by Sir FrederickHandley Page on September 3rd. He recalled that the suggestion to hold such meetings came from the Secretary of the R.Ae.S., Capt. J. Laurence Pritchard, many years ago, but that not until now had it been possible to realize that ambition. The link between the two societies was a long one, with some 36 Wilbur Wright Memorial Lectures already delivered in this country, while in America the number of Wright Brothers Lectures had reached a dozen or so. Sir Frederick welcomed the American lecturers not only as technicians but as very good friends ; in particular he welcomed Mr. P. R. Bassett, president of the I.A.S., and Mr. S. Paul Johnston, vice-president. Mr. Bassett, replying on behalf of the American visitors, referred to the excellent organization of the meeting, which was such as to make it easy for the visitors to find their way about. The I.A.S., as the junior partner, had long aspired to a joint conference, and now it had been realized. The Americans had not come here to say that all the British lecturers said was right. They had come to argue, and there was no one solution to any problem ; they hoped to find several. Co-operation between American and Britain during the war had shown, in connection with American day bombing and British night bombing, that neither side was necessarily right, but that the combination was better than either singly. He hoped the same would be the case with the conference. * . Personal Aircraft By T. P. Wright CIVIL Aeronautics Administrator isthe official title of Mr. T. P.Wright, whose subject, "PersonalAircraft," was thus very well chosen since he is in a better position than mostto evaluate the market, present and potential, for what we should call private-owner types. Mr. Wright began by explaining thereasons for attaching great importance to this field. A relatively small numberof transports could carry the long and short-haul air traffic in the U.S.A. ;further uses were of a commercial nature, and yet another was the executive trans-port. Military aircraft would probably continue to be an important part of the' aircraft industry, but the personal air- craft was the only class for which analmost unlimited market was available, provided certain conditions were fulfilled.At present the personal aircraft types Sectioned view of C.A.A. Goodyear Cross- wind Landing Gear. I, single-disc brake ; 2, vee strut; 3, axle ; 4, attaching bolts, will fit any standard axle ; 5, roller bear- ings ; 6, king pin ; 7, compensating cam ; 8, compensat'mg-cam follower; 9, shimmy- damper brake; 10, wheel; II, canering hub ; 12, return spring. were not considered to have sufficientoverall merit. The economics of private ownershipwere surveyed next under the headings: demand, supply, and utility. Mr. Wrightthought the wish to fly did exist, but that to increase the numbers who wouldsatisfy that desire the utility of the air- craft must be increased. Due to thefact that maximum interest in piloting' was in the 25 age group while the maxi-mum wage earnings were in the 45 group, there was a disparity of 2* years whichmust be given full consideration. He expressed the view that the ability topay would only be satisfied with a con- siderable reduction in present prices, andthought the price of a four-seater would have to come down to a figure between4,400 dollars and 5,400 dollars, compared with the present 7,900 dollars. Two methods could lead to a reductionof manufacturing costs: designing for low production costs, and increase inproduction quantities. Much progress had already been made in the former, andMr. Wright foresaw the possibility of a reduction of some 12 per cent. It wasassumed that the output of personal air- craft would increase five-fold betweennow and 1955, and in that case it should be possible to achieve a cost reduction,due to quantity manufacture, of about 30 per cent. Thus eight years hence thefinal price should be about 62 per cent of the present, and with a great deal ofutility added. Mr. Wright foresaw reductions inoperating costs under four heads: 1. Depreciation, forming some 26 per* cent of the total, would drop by virtue of •reduction in initial sales price and im-proved design, making for longer life. 2. Insurance costs, of about the samemagnitude, would also drop due to the lower first cost, improved safety recordsand other factors. 3. Hangar rent, some 13 per cent ofthe total, would be lowered by innova- tions such as folding or removable wings. 4. Maintenance and repairs, about 15per cent, would be reduced by design improvements.As for the type of aircraft that was wanted, Mr. Wright emphasized the be-lief that the four-seater was the type on which effort should be concentrated.There was a trend awav from the tvvo- Firestone " Superflex" cross-wind under- carriage torsional restraint. seater type and towards the four-seater.Perhaps the most interesting part ot Mr. Wright's paper was that which dealtwith methods of increasing the utility of private-owner aircraft. He thought acruising speed of 150 m.p.h. necessary and sufficient, any speed above thatbeing sacrificed to other features such as decreased take-off distance, increased rateof climb, and lower landing speeds. Considerable space was devoted to thesubject of cross-wind landing gear. Some weeks ago Mr. Wright contributed aletter to our Correspondence pages, out- lining the great interest taken in this inAmerica, and giving full credit to the British originator, Mr. Maclaren. In thepaper he explained that, after discussions in England with Mr. Maclaren, C.A.A.decided to embark on a programme of development which, it was hoped, wouldprove to the industry the importance of universal adoption of a landing gear thatwould permit safe cross-wind landings under any conditions. It was decidedthat thi burden of another control should not be added to complicate the alreadyarduous task of the pilot*, and develop- ment was therefore based on a castering' gear with suitable centring and anti- shimmy devices. The programme included the develop-ment of six models, diversified as to size of aircraft, shock-absorber design andundercarriage arrangement (conventional and tricycle) In the case of the Fair- •The oricrtnal Maclaren scheme was for a pre-set undercarriage angle, adjusted to the existing drift. —Ed.
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