FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1947
1947 - 2060.PDF
598 Czechoslovak Twins FLIGHT NOVEMBER 27TH, to lold upwards. A compre- hensive selection of instru- ments is installed, including lull blind-flying equipment. Optional equipment includes electric starters, radio receiv- ing and transmitting appara- tus, cabin heating, and vari- able-pitch airscrews. Power, as with the E.211, is supplied by the 105 h.p. Walter Minor 4-111 engine. Maximum speed is 180 m.p.h. at sea level, cruising speed is 155 m.p.h. at 75 per cent rated power, landing speed—with flaps—is 53 m.p.h., and range at cruising speed is 560-620 miles. A much smaller aircraft than the two previously men- tioned types is the Hodek HK-101 twin-engined two-seat cantilever monoplane built by the only remaining un- nationalized aircraft manufacturer in Czechoslovakia—V. Hodek of Prague. The HK-IOI, which recently commenced flight trials, is of all-metal construction. The wing is constructed in three sections, the centre section being built integral with the semi-monoccque fuselage. All control sur- faces are of metal, with fabric covering. The undercarriage is of tail-down type, and the main wheels are manually retractable, the steerable tail-wheel being fixed. The cock- pit seats two persons in tandem, and the complete canopy hinges to the starboard side in two sections for access. The two Walter Minor 4-111 motors afford a maximum speed of 219 m.p.h., a cruising speed of 187 m.p.h. at 65 per cent The Hodek HK-IQI twin-engined, two-seater, sporting monopla* A maximum speed of 219 m.p.h. is claimed. rated power, a landing speed—with flaps—of 69 m.p.h., and a range at cruising speed of 562 miles. The HK-101 can climb to 3,280 feet in 3 minutes. Dual stick and rudder bar type controls are installed, those in the front cockpit being disengageable. The aircraft is very small, the wing span being only 25 ft 3 in, and the cockpits are naturally somewhat cramped. However, the HK-101 should prove popular with the sport- ing pilot who requires performance rather than superlative comfort, and its appearance at future International meet- ings should create considerable interest. The manufacturers state that plans exist for the production of a single-seat version, and that the two-seat version will also be available with a wing of increased area. RIDING THE RANGES By "BIG DIPPER " ONE of my first thoughts as I touched down at Bovingdonairfield (having flown over 7,000 miles to New York andback in 97 hours) was how rapidly such an unusual pas- senger trip will become out of date. The time may not be very far distant when the piston engine will give way to the airscrew turbine for such Atlantic travel as I undertook. Although the journey was tiring, 1 was able to spend two pleasant days in New York, and to study the procedure under which charter aircrews negotiate their journeys. The aircraft was a Handley PageHalton ; it was flown for the Lancashire Aircraft Corporation by Captain Tony Kimmins and his crew of four. It was the third charter flight undertaken by the Corporation to repatriate United States sailors who had delivered tankers to shipping firms in this country. American sailors are highly paid by any standards, and it has been found more economical to move them by air charter than for the employers to continue to pay wages while the seamen await a long delayed sea passage before being paid off in New York Owing to bad weather around Iceland, the route Liverpool- Azores-Gander-New York-Gander-Bovingdon was taken. No doubt, in a few years' time, airscrew turbine aircraft will defeat the weather with their speed and altitude, and will complete such a journey as this in one-third of the time. But the " sloth- ful" travel of 1947 had its compensations. My flight com- menced at Speke on a foggy Saturday afternoon, and Kimmins and First Officer Douglas Evans rode over beautiful cloudbanks on the route to the Azores, on a warm Atlantic evening. There were plenty of bumps to be had a little lower,"but Kimmins found a helpful beam wind at 10,000 feet arid provided me, and his passengers (some 19 American sailors who were retdrrv- ing home) with a sight of the grandeur of Atlantic cloud forma- tion. The sailors, although out of their element/took well to the air, but the miles of sun-touched cloud must have con- trasted strangely with their more usual vision of sea and white- topped waves. Santa Maria in the Azores is a pleasant little island. The airfield was built by the Americans and taken over by the Portuguese Government. Here the aircraft was efficiently ser- viced by British South American Airways. W/C. Fountain, late of Transport Command, has recently Seen appointed B.S.A.A. Station Manager here. His hospitality and help, andthat of his wife, make a pleasant recollection, and so does the humour of Chief Engineer Jock Neish. The stay was all too short. A careful meteorological analysisshowed that a flight plan of nine hours would enable the journey to Gander to be completed. A noticeable feature of the entiretrip was the accuracy and careful study of all meteorological matters. Bona Vista Bay presented a beautiful picture as itwas unfolded by the dawn en Sunday morning. At Gander we were in the hands of British Overseas Airways Corporation.Friends Wheatley* and Moore lived up to their reputation for care and thoughtfulness for all during my stops in Newfound-land. Arrival in New York Then for the radio ranges down the coast, across the St. Lawrence River, Nova Scotia and the North American States. I took advantage of listening, to all the R.T. oonversations-2* we were handed over from one range to another, and it was interesting to discern the voices of Canadians, Englishmen and Americans as we travelled down the 1,000 miles of coastline. An undelayed landing at La Guardia was the pilot's reward for giving and keeping to an accurate E.T.A. Runway 22, our destination, required only one left-hand turn over the Hudson River, and we were down at New York 26 hours after leaving Liverpool. The American sailors were paid off by their com- pany that afternoon. The return journey from New York, which commenced on Tuesday afternoon, was a repetition of the efficiency experi- enced on the way in—the same radio ranges and a similar reception at Gander. Then, for the last leg carrying freight back to England. In the meteorological office we studied one of the usual deep depressions which cover the Atlantic at this time of the year, but winds ranging from 75 to 40 knots were ' to be found around the Southern curve of it. The Halton, with its four 1,600 h.p. Hercules engines, had its cruising stepped up proportionately, and a clear glimpse of what future speeds hold in store was afforded by an achieved flight pl'"i of nine hours direct from Gander to Bovingdon, a distance of 2,335 miles, B.4
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
