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Aviation History
1948
1948 - 0114.PDF
FLIGHT JANUARY 22ND, 194S A Way of Achievement operated by the Pathfinder force of Bomber Command, and three were operated by Rolls-Royce. By this means, by far the greater percentage of installation troubles were eradicated before the Lincoln arrived which, of course, was to the great advantage of that aircraft. These power plants, incidentally, were the military forerunners of the civil power plants used by Tudors and the Canadair IV. Another similar structures case was the fin modification to the Mustang, necessitated by the introduction of the Merlin in place of the Allison engine. Hucknall design department, apart from the structural development work, did all the drawings required for the entire production of Rolls-Royce power plants for Master, Wellington, Lancaster, Lincoln and Firefly aircraft, which were executed by sub-contractors. Before these power plants were issued to the sub-contractors, approxi- mately one hundred of each type were produced at Huck- nall on the pilot production line. The two most recent lines of development which have engaged attention at Hucknall are concerned with fire and ice. During the war, the question of fire in power plants was dealt with largely by the protection afforded by armour plating, but, necessarily, in peace conditions, lack of armour modified the approach. Additionally, the changed out- look from short-life war standards to the long-life expecta- tion in peace has necessitated a review of detail design in a number of power-plant components; further, civil author- ities such as I.C.A.O. have laid down test requirements to ensure satisfactory fire resistance. This has resulted in an intensive study of the fire prob- lem, and Hucknall now considers it safe to say that, if fire does occur in a power plant in spite of full compliance with civil requirements, (a) the fire can be detected and indicated to the pilot, and (b) the fire can be extinguished. So much has been learned about fire in power plants that it is thought possible that the amount of suppressing agent might be reducible from the amounts which have, up till now, been empirically decided. In addition, the latest development is toward the use of a 400 lb / sq in extinguish- ing system to replace the existing 100 lb/'sq in installation, and it is thought likely that this may make possible the suppression of flight fires in gas turbines. The ice problem to-day (so far as power units are con- cerned) is connected almost entirely with gas turbines, particularly those with axial compressors. Cdntrifugal blowers can accept quite a considerable volume of ice, but not so those of axial type. The problem is being tackled in two ways: (i) consideration in design for anti-ice accre- tion, i.e., prevention, and (ii) de-icing when ice accretion does occur, i.e., cure. .The ever-widening scope of activity centred upon Hu'.$\ nail is some measure of the complexity and comprehensive- ness of the modern power plant. It is by no means gener- ally realized that the amount of engineering time devoted to the '' other'' side of a power plant is equal to that required by the engine itself, but when a self-contained power installation can be shipped half-way across the world to an aircraft manufacturer who merely bolts it up to his airframe and makes the nepessary connections, a compelling argument for such standardization is established. The saving in design time afforded the aircraft manufacturer is, in any case, enormous, and the policy followed by Rolls- Royce in their evolution of the self-contained power plant must be given the cachet of success. (In this article the growth and scope oj Hucknall activity has been surveyed. Current work, particularly on the flight sids, will be discussed in our next issue.) MORE SWEDISH VAMPIRES Important Repeat Order Follows Service Tests CONGRATULATIONS are due to the de Havilland Enter-prise (and to the Swedish Air Force) on the placing ofan order by the Swedish Government for a further supply of Vampire jet fighters. The order must be the largest everplaced with the company from abroad and must, in fact, be one of the largest export orders in the history of the Britishaircraft industry. There is added satisfaction in the know- ledge that it emanates from a "hard currency" country. photograph. The latest empennage, with low-set tailpt'dfie."at,shgwn. Will be embodied in the Vampires now ordered for the Swedish Air Force. The first order from Sweden for Vampires was announcedearly in 1946. This was accompanied by a separate order for additional Goblin turbo-jets and a licence to manufacture tlieGoblin in Sweden. Later there followed the purchase of a number of de Havilland Ghost turbo-jets and a licence tomanufacture this larger unit for installation in projected Swedish aircraft. Within eighteen months all the Vampiresordered in 1946 had been delivered to Sweden without mishap or mechanical fault. The new order follows strenuous service-testing in temperate and arctic conditions. ^2$ The machines which are the subject of the new order vJmembody the " long-range, wing " and the latest tail unit, with low-set tailplane, as fitted to Vampires now going into servicewith the Royal Air Force under the designation Mark III. Provision will be made on the Swedish aircraft for under-wingrocket projectiles and bombs. The Goblin turbo-jets to be installed will be of a later and more powerful mark than thoseat present in service and will be manufactured in Sweden under th« licence agreement. At present the Vampire is standard equipment only in theair forces of Great Britain and Sweden, but during this year the type will appear in quantity in the air services of Canadaand Switzerland. "FLIGHT" HANDBOOK A Manual of Aeronautical 7s. M. Theory and Practice, 4th edition (By post 7s. KJd.) GAS TURBINES AND JET PROPULSION FOR AIRCRAFT by G. Geoffrey Smith, M.B.E., 4th edition, 3rd impression 12s. 6d. (By post 13s.) WALL DIAGRAMS : Rolls-Royce Derwent 1 De Havilland Goblin II [ 4s. each. Meti-oviek F/3 Gas Turbine ' (By post 4j. 44. each) TURBINES FOR AIRCRAFT (4-pa«e colour leafUt re- printed from "Flight") 6d. (By post 7\i.) HANDBOOK OF INDUSTRIAL ELECTRO PLATING E. A. Ollard, A.R.C.S., F.R.I.C. F.I.M.. and E. B. Smith 15s. (By post 15s. 8d.) from all leading booksellers or from Iliffe and Sons Lid., Dorset House, Stamford Street, London, SS.I.
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