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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 1920.PDF
FLIGHT NOVEMBER 6TH, 1947 Nathan has but recently returned 5-om a long air tour of the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. If, there- fore, his reply lacked the ring of authority, the fault is scarcely his. With engaging frankness he admitted : "That is the information with which I am furnished, but I am bound to tell the noble Lord that in some respects it is beyond my technical comprehension." The "information " to which Lord Nathan referred, and which he had just given in reply to Lord Newall, was to the effect we are no longer proceeding gradually by short steps but are looking very far ahead. The centri- fugal jet engine developed from the Whittle design is being supplemented by axial-flow jets and compound engines, which will represent an enormous advantage over the older types. The italics are ours. Lord Nathan also said, again obviously from "the informa- tion with which he had been furnished," that there are now on the stocks new Servic aircraft, both fighters and bombers, which employ the most advanced aero- dynamic conceptions and the use of these engines, and which, when they come into service will, in the view of the Government, ensure that the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy will remain ahead of the air forces of the world. The operative sentence is "when they come into service." America is forging ahead and is rapidly over- taking us in the matter of jet-propelled aircraft, large and small, and there is certainly no room for com- placency in spite of the certainty that in any future war the two nations would again be joined. Club Flying — 1 \ FTER a post-war period of struggles against almost /-\ overwhelming odds, the flying-club movement has received a serious set-back by the delayed publi- cation of the Whitney Straight report at a time which could scarcely have been less propitious. The Whitney Straight Committee, the Informal Light Aircraft Com- mittee under Mr. Peter Masefield's chairmanship, and the Ultra Light Aircraft Association are not to blame. Their reports were submitted some time a^o, but the Minister of Civil Aviation, to whom the reo^nrnendations CONTENTS Outlook - - ,- - - - A New British Radio Compass • - - "Functional" Trainer - Here and There Private Flying - - - - - Looking to the East - Civil Aviation News - - Aircraft and the Airways - Operation " New Horizon " - - . - Correspondence - - . - *•' - - - - Service Aviation - Forthcoming Events, page 514 £09 511 513 515 517 521 526 530 - 532 - 534 535 whom the retaJnrnendations nofinvalic were submitted, was away for several weeks on a t to Australia and New Zealand and had no opportunity to study them before his departure. It almost seems as if the fates were determined to put every possible obstacle in the way of British light plane progress. The title given to the Whitney Straight Committee (The Special Advisory Committee on Private Flying) was not, as things are turning out, the most helpful. Certain sections of the community will probably jump to the conclusion that to subsidize private flying means that the taxpayer is being asked to foot the bill for the benefit of individuals who could well pay for their pleasure, whereas the whole scheme is visualized as a co-operative effort to enable enthusiasts to learn to fly at a cost of not more than £1 per hour. Club Flying might have been a better title. Lord Nathan is known to be sympathetic, but it re- mains to be seen whether he can convince the Govern- ment and the Treasury of the national importance of the movement. The Memorandum submitted by the Society of British Aircraft Constructors convincingly shows the great effect which the pre-war club movement had on the fortunes of a number of aircraft firms, and how important is a home market for the development of a healthy export trade. Even the present crisis should not-invalidate that argument. ARGENTINA WAY: The Annual Argentine " Semana de Aeronautica " was inaugurated on September 22nd, and was inspected, as our picture shows, by General J. D. Peron. The aircraft on the left is a DL22 (Cheetah 25); in the centre is the Derwent-powered Pulque, on the right the Calquin (two Pratt and Whitney) and in the foreground the Colibri (Cirrus Major II). All are national products.
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