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Aviation History
1948
1948 - 1247.PDF
AUGUST I2TH, I948 FLIGHT Royal Visit to Glosters DURING his visit to the Gloster Air-craft Co., Ltd., on July 28th, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands spent about b$lf an hour flying the Meteor 7 Trainer with S/L. "Bill" Waterton. This, the Prince's first experience of handling a jet-propelled aircraft, took place at Per- shore airfield, now being used by Glosters during runway repairs at More- ton Valence. On his arrival there in a Dakota his Royal Highness was wel- comed by Mr. E. S. Greenwood, tech- nical sales manager, and Mr. R. Fitz-' Gibbon Carse, sales manager of the Gloster Company. Later, the Prince flew a Hawker Fury and, after lunch at the Brockworth factory as a guest of Mr. P. G. Crabbe, director and general manager, watched the construction of Meteor airframes similar to those ordered for the Netherlands Air Force. American Overseas Training THE first 12 Lockheed Shooting Starlighters of the 80 being sent to the U.K. for assembly and use by the U.S. Air Force as part of its overseas training programme, reached Glasgow on August 4th. Assembly and flight testing, prior to training flights to Germany, are in pro- gress at Renfrew airport. All the Ameri- can fighters are expected to be out of Britain within six weeks. Sixteen Ameri- can jet-fighters which reached Germany about two weeks ago were due to return to the U.S.A. on August 9th under the training scheme which calls for units to be accustomed to service in rotation in different countries. The personnel from the American fighter units will, during NORWAY'S CHOICE : A contract for a substantial number of de Havilland Vampires (Goblin) has been placed by the Norwegian Government. Scandinavian newspapers state— or conjecture—that the number is 36 ; a trial order of four would thus bring the total to 40. Norway, the sixth country to standardize the Vampire, will employ the type on interception and ground attack duties. The low wing loading of the Vampire and the accessibility of the . Goblin are characteristics which make a special appeal to our Norwegian friends. their stay in this country, be accommo-dated at 101 Reserve Centre, R.A.F., Bishopbriggs, Glasgow. Transatlantic Transport TNITIATION of the first regular peace- -»- time schedule of transatlantic train- ing flights by the R.C.A.F.'s Air Trans- port Command has been announced. Canadian-built North Stars of No. 426 Transport Squadron, based at Dorval, are being used, and present plans call for two or three trips each month. The English terminal is Lyneham, Wilts. Two routes are being used alternatively on eastern and Western flights: one via Goose Bay, Labrador-Keflavik (Meek's Field), Iceland-Lyneham, and the other via Gander, Newfoundland-Lagens, Azores-Lyneham. Eight days are allowed for each round trip. Four^ days in England are spent prepariHg for the return flight, and practising procedure and instrument landings at transport bases. Two crews are used on each trip. W/C. W.,.:G. Chapman, D.S.O., SNAKE CHARMING : The ground-crew hauling out the discharge pipe line from a Flight A Refuelling Lancastrian tanker at Gatow Airport, Berlin. As reported in "Flight," A-jgust •**• ->tn, petrol is being flown to Berlin by these aircraft which carry about 1,600 gallons each and discharge it into ground tanks at a rate of 100 gallons per minute. Commanding Officer of No. 426 Squad-ron, is a well-known R.C.A.F. pilot. During the war he commanded the No.162 Squadron of which F/L. D. E. Hornell, V.C., was a member. Swiss Air Rally :. •'<_.••T HE International Air Week to be held at Grenchen, Switzerland, by Farner Werke A.S.G. on August 21st until Augus 29th, as reported in Flight, Apri% 22nd, will begin with a rally open to' pilots of all nationalities. Classification will be based on marks awarded for the distance covered to Grenchen and on the differences between E.T.A.s and times of actual arrivals. Besides facilities for sales demonstrations of aircraft and accessories, visitors are invited to take part in an aerial tour of the Alps, call- ing in at Lausanne, Interlaken, Same- dan, Witterswil (Basle) and other air- ports. Chemical Works ExplosionA T the time of the big explosion at the v I.G. Farbenindustrie in Ludwigs-"-.jiafen on July 28th, an aircraft belong- ittg to S.A.S., on its way from Oslo to IT-1 Marseilles, chanced to be over Mannheim, about 3^ miles from Ludwigshafen. The aircraft was flying at 7,000ft when, according to the Norwegian captain, a huge mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke Sirose from the town, and from the air- craft it looked as if the whole city had been thrown into the air in a sea of liames and smoke. The blast from the i-xplosion severely buffeted the aircraft which, had it not been so high, would, the captain said, have been completely wrecked. Within 30 seconds the smoke cloud has ascended to 7,000ft. Captain Gram, in charge of the aircraft, said that a wartime raid in which he took part, during which 4,000 tons of bombs v\ere dropped, appeared but small com- pared with the effect of this explosion. He later spoke with people in Heidel- berg, nearly 40 miles away, and learned that even at that distance windows had been broken. Scandia Demonstrations S.A.A.B. Scandia is to begin its second demonstration tour on August 16th, starting with a visit to Dublin. On August 19th it will visit
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