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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 1968.PDF
54° FLIGHT NOVEMBER 13TH, 1947 Meteors in Malaya Lady Killearn, and Mrs. Malcolm Macdonald, wife of the Govejrnor- General. All expressed appreciation that here, indeed, was a worthy suc- cessor to the Spitfire and Hurricane. Great enthusiasm was expressed by the local population, thousands of whom witnessed the displays, at the Press announcement that in the near future a squadron of Meteor IVs was to be based at Singapore. "The trials," Mr. Bumstead re- ports, '' were a complete success and the serviceability excellent, the only failure experienced in some 70 hours' flying being an electric booster pump. The machines made 50 and 60 landings respectively without so much as a tyre being changed. It is remarkable, but neverthless a fact, that some twenty pilots •who were given the opportunity of flying the Meteors on conclusion of the trials, and who ranged from the ' Spit' boys of 28 and 60 Squadrons to pilots of ponderous Sunder- lands, were all passed off without incident, though some of these lads had previously no experience of ' twins' or 600-m.p.h. aircraft whatever. Agreement was unanimous that the jet was by far the easiest high-speed machine they had handled and all expressed particular enthusiasm for the ailerons and landing characteristics. " Temperature and extreme humidity appeared to have no effect at all on the aircraft, though the former certainly did seem to affect the pilots who, wearing only shorts, The Derwents of one of the Meteors are run up prior to a test flight at climbed into a machine that had been standing in the sun for a few minutes! '' Temperatures during the trials are reported to have varied between 80 and go and the rela- tive humidity between 80 and 100. This, without doubt, was " sticky," but personally Mr. Bumstead found the most trying of all experiences was a ride to town with a Chinese taxi driver. The manner in which these drivers pull away from traffic lights in top (not with La Salles and Buicks, but with Morris and Austin Eights and Tens) left him aghast. The cost of living he found to be at least twice as expensive as in this country—beer costs 8s 4d a bottle On behalf of W/C. Bird-Wilson, F/L. Wilson, Mr. Gerrard and himself, Mr. Bumstead expressed his thanks to Nos. 28 and 60 Squadrons for their hospitality. AERIAL DISARMAMENT A HIDDEN dump of arms has been brought to light as theresult of the dropping of 10,000 leaflets over the Kuala Lumpur area of Malaya by R.A.F. aircraft. SHORTENING THE ODDS? RESOLUTIONS were adopted at an extraordinary generalmeeting of Short and Harland, Ltd., Belfast (held in Lon- don on November 5th) to change the name of the firm intcShort Brothers and Harland, Ltd. The ordinary share capital is to be increased, for the purpose of acquiring part of theundertaking of Short Brothers (Rochester and Bedford), Ltd. The latter company is about to change its name to S.B.(Realisations), Ltd., and will shortly go into voluntary liqui- dation. It will be recollected that Harland and Wolff, Ltd., thefamous shipbuilders, were partners with Short Brothers (Rochester and Bedford), Ltd., in forming Short and Harlandin 1936. We believe the original proportion of shares was: Harland and Wolff 20 per cent, Short and Harland 20 per cent,and Short Brothers (Rochester and Bedford) 60 per cent. Pre- sumably, therefore, the shareholding in Short Brothers andHarland Ltd., will be approximately of the order of 20 per cent held by the company shareholders and 80 per cent by the Government. The exact ratio has not been announced. The board of directors of Short Brothers and Harland, Ltd., will include the present directors of the two firms now com- bined, with Mr. E. D. A. Herbert, O.B.E., M.A., as chairman. FORTHCOMING EVENTS Nov. 19th.—R.Ae.S. (Graduate and Student). " Aircraft Photography."John Yoxall. Nov. 19th.—Aircraft Recognition fociety : Talk by Mr. A. V. Cleaver,British Interplanetary Society. Nov. 29th.—Pathfinder Ball, Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane, London.Dec. 4th.—Royal Aeronautical Society : " Problems Facing Civil Airline Operators." N. £. Rowe, C.B.E., B.Sc, D.I.C., F.R.Ae.S.Dec. 6th.—Helicopter Association of Great Britain : " Some Aerodynamic Problems of the Helicopter." H. B. Squire. Dec. 7th.—Royal Institution of Gt. Britain : "The Advent of the AircraftGas Turbine." A. Cdre. F. Whittle, C.B.E., M.A., F.R.Ae.S., Hon. M.I.Mech.E.Dec. 12th.—R.Ae.S. (Graduate and Student). " Aircraft Design from the Airline Point of View." Christopher Dykes, A.F.R.Ae.S.Dec. 18th.—Royal Aeronautical Society : "The Work of the High-Speed Tunnel." Prof. A. Thorn, M.A., D.Sc, and W. G. A. Perring,F.R.Ae.S. Jan. 7th.—British Interplanetary Society: "The Man-Carrying Rocket."K. A, Smith. Feb. 14th.—British Interplanetary Society: M.O.S. film, "Development of Rocket Flight."Feb. 28th.—Helicopter Association of Gt. Britain : " Description of the Bristol Type 171 " Raoul Hafner.Mar. 5th.—British Interplanetary Society : Brains Trust. April 3rd.—Helicopter Association of Gt. Britain :% " Problems in theDesign of Multi-Rotor Helicopters. J. S. Shapiro, A.F.R.Ae.S ALL ABOARD ; Five men climb into a Piasecki transport helicopterwhile it hovers 40ft above ground level. The aircraft belongs to the U.S. Navy.
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