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Aviation History
1948
1948 - 0341.PDF
MARCH IITH, 1948 FLIGHT as; More About Tudors . . . are to modify the de-icing shoes on the airscrews, shortening them to conform with those on the existing Mk IV. Improved fuel-tank dip- sticks, and dials for the Smith's fuel gauges, are also called for. Calculation of the total cost of a Tudor of any mark is going to be a very difficult task in view of the amount of development and modi- fication that has been required. No ^fril fi td h C Proposed layout of the Tudor IVb for b.U.A.C. The crew section is the same as for the existing Mk I and the cabin as for the B.S.A.A. IV. qfigure as quoted to the Corporations is likely to be announced, as it is considered undesirable where exportorders may be concerned. However, at one time a round figure price of ^140,000 was given for the Tudor I, and itmay be assumed that the conversion to Mk. IV will cost something between /io.ooo and ^20,000 more per aircraft.As a cross check, an aircraft of 80,000 lb A.U.W. might be expected to cost /i6o,ooo minimum and ^200,000 maxi-mum if the accepted production cost figure of £2 to £2 10s per pound weight is used.Star Leopard, the fourth B.S.A.A. Tudor IV, is in fact the first conversion of a Tudor I to be completed, but thishas nothing to do with the B.O.A.C. conversion plans. The first Mk. IVB cannot be ready for several months. News of other Tudors now at Woodford is that G-AJKC and G-AIYA, the two V.V.I.P. Mk Ills, are being brought up to full modification standard. We examined their lay- out and furnishing—the work of the Armstrong Whitworth company—and decided it was both luxurious and practical. The Mk VII (Mk II with Hercules engines) is doing a good deal of development flying, but no announcement has been made about its future. Another Tudor II is now flying, having been completed very recently. The future for Tudor Us (Type 689) and the version ordered by F.A.M.A. (known as the Mk VI) is obscure. Finally, progress with the Tudor VIII is disappointingly slow. The bare airframe has been ready for some time, but the two twin-Nene installations will not be delivered for many weeks. GRIFFITH BREWER Death of First Englishman to Fly in Heavier-than-air Craft WITH the passing of Griffith Brewer on March 1st, inhis 81st year, aviation has lost its last personal linkwith the earliest days of flying. Not only was he the lirst Englishman to be taken up in a heavier-than-air craft (by Wilbur Wright at Pau, France, in 1908), but he made his first balloon ascent as a passenger in 1891. In neither sport was he content to remain a passenger; his first balloon " solo " was made in 1892, and in 1914 he got his aircraft pilot's 'ticket" at the Wright school at Dayton, Ohio. When the Autogiro came along he learned to fly that, and later piloted his own Moth. From Griffith Brewer's meeting with Wilbur Wright in 1908 sprang many things. First of all, he introduced the Wright brothers to the Short brothers, who had been famous makers of balloons for many years. The result was an order placed with them for six Wright biplanes, thus making Shorts the first aircraft manufacturers in I^taiand. Another was a close personal f.iendship between Brewer and the Wrights. He first visited them in 1910, and from then onwards was an annual guest at Dayton, with a few exceptions caused by the two wars, liven in the last war Mr. Brewer man- aged to visit his friends on more than one occasion, once returning from America in a Liberator. Griffith Brewer's unceasing efforts succeeded in establishing :ht- Wrights' claim to being the first men to fly, and the laim made by the Smithsonian Institute for the Langley "Aerodrome" was disproved and, be it said, finally retracted with great frankness. It was Griffith Brewer who founded the Wilbur Wright Memorial Lecture which has been read every year, the war years included, and the fourth of which he delivered himself. The title of that was " The Life and Work of Wilbur Wright." Later Brewer was to become president of the Royal Aero- nautical Society. We have known Griffith Brewer since the foundation of our journal by the late Stanley Spooner in 1909, and have fol- lowed his work with interest and admiration. During the last War we were privileged to publish several articles from him on his trips to America and Bermuda. When his old friend Orvilie Wright died quite recently, we hoped to get Griffith Brewer to write an appreciation of the famous pioneer. Mrs. Brewer informed us that he had just had a bad fall and was The late Airy Griffith Brewer. not able to write. And now he himself has passed away. Never again shall we hear his wise counsel in that soft-spoken voice of his. We on Flight have lost a dear friend, and aviation has lost one of its founders. Griffith Brewer, in 1895, married Beatrice, daughter of Clement Tudway Swanston, Q.C., and the Hon. Mrs. Swan- ston. She became the first woman to fly across the Channel, in a balloon, in 1906. They have two children, a daughter who is married to Capt. G. F. Meager, of airship prominence, and a son, Cyril Brewer, who is a schoolmaster. To Mr. Brewer's wife and children we offer our sincere sym- pathy in their bereavement. On March 5th a memorial service foi Griffith Brewer was held in Christ Church, Down Street, London, W.i. The Rev. Howard G. Marshall offi- ciated. In addition to relatives and friends, those who attended the service included Lord Brabazon of Tara, Lt.-Col. Sir Francis McClean, and Col. Harry Delacombe, all of whom were associated with Mr. Brewer in the earliest flying days, and Professor G. T. R. Hill. The Royal Aeronautical Society was represented by Dr. Rox- bee Cox, Capt. Pritchard and Miss Barwood; the Royal Aero Club by Col. Preston. ' ••••""*" The memorial service was simple and dignified, in keeping with the life that has just closed. SIR OLIVER SWANN TT7E regret to announce the death, on March 7th, at the VV age of 69, of Air Vice-Marshal Sir Oliver Swann, K.C.B., C.B.E. Oliver Swann was one of the pioneers of British flying. As a Commander, R.N., he bought an Avro biplane with 35 h.p. Green engine. He fitted it with twin floats and, in November, 1911, managed to coax it into the air for a short hop over Cavendish Dock, Barrow-in-Furness, but a gust caught it and it was damaged in alighting. On the formation of the Royal Naval Air Service, Com- mander Swann became its first Assistant Director, and in 1915 he was given command of the Campania, a Cunarder converted into a carrier. Later he transferred from the Navy to the R.A.F. After serving with distinction, he retired in 1920. but rejoined to serve throughout the 1939-45 war-
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