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Aviation History
1948
1948 - 1480.PDF
FLIGHT SEPTEMBER O,TH, 1948 Viscount on View in a speech, the decision not to order thetype in quantity came as a great shock to the technical team at Weybridge. That passenger carrying is, for the timebeing, prohibited, was another disappoint- ment to Mr. Edwards, who was anxious thatwe should experience the extraordinary quiet of the cabin and the almost total absence ofvibration. The low-frequency noise level is 78-85 decibels and the high-frequency level,62 decibels, the corresponding figures for the Viking being 101 and 73. Concerning theDarts, Mr. Edwards is enthusiastic; "You can pour a bucket of stones through thesecentrifugals," he observed. Experience was gained prior to the first flight of the Viscountwith a Dart-powered Wellington. Eventually Napier Naiad axials of greater power will beinstalled in the second prototype, but there will be no Mamba version as originallyplanned. The Darts are propelling the Vis- count for 1.25 nautical air miles per gallonof paraffin, cruising at 240 kt at 20,000ft, the corresponding figure for the Viking (10,000ft,183 kt) is 2.0. The many unusual technical features of theViscount, which with its excellent take-ofl and landing characteristics, paraffin fuel, crash-proof tanks, multiple emergency exits and duplicated undercarriage wheels, is probablythe safest transport in the air to-day, must be the subject of a future detailed study. One may here remark, however, on thevery long overhanging nacelles (which have displayed no tendency to " nod " in flight) ; high-efficiency double-split flaps ;unusually large elliptical cabin windows and the complete thermal de-icing and air conditioning and pressurizing systems. For the mainplanes, tailplane and fin, de-icing is effected bya mixture of exhaust gases, from all four engines, and of air, led through profile ducts beneath the skin of the leading edges.The inboard pair of Darts supplies the inner mainplanes, tail- plane and fin while the outboard units feed the outer mainwing panels. Should one power unit fail, the whole supply from the operative unit on that side is switched to the main-plane, the supply to the tail being correspondingly reduced. The air conditioning system centres round three constant-delivery superchargers, one driven by the inner port power plant and one each by the two starboard units, supplyingair under pressure to the cabin at the rate of 54 lb/min. Con- sidering a load of 32 passengers and a crew of four, this givesan individual supply to ij lb per minute per person. Delivery volume being high, no recirculation is necessary. The capacityof the superchargers is such that any one will maintain 8,000ft conditions up to a height of 30,000 ft. Equipped to B.E.A. standards, the passenger cabin is dividedinto two separate saloons, separated by the steward's pantry and connected by a curtained gangway passing through thepantry. The front saloon seats 12, and the rear, 20 passengers in seats constructed of steel tube and upholstered in moquetteand vynide. Each of the unusually large elliptical windows is designed for use as an emergency exit. To release a windowan adjacent handle is operated and the pane may then be pushed inward or outward as necessary. One interesting pointnoted during a necessarily brief inspection was that the steward's pantry is provisioned through a hatch in the floorwhich leads to an outer hatch in the fuselage skin. A power- driven servicing lift to the hatch is another innovation. Having invited a number of guests to inspect the Viscount,the manufacturers took the opportunity at Weybridge of show- ing them the massive stratosphere chamber (see Flight of June10th), construction of which is well advanced, and of arranging a talk by its designer, Mr. B. N. Wallis, whose engineeringversatility must be without parallel in any aircraft industry. A tour was made of the shops in which the Valetta is in pro-duction for Transport Command as a replacement for the Dakota (and a very efficient one it promises to be) and, inaddition, details were made available of a special V.I.P. ver- sion designed to carry from nine to 15 passengers with a highdegree of comfort without, as the manufacturers put it, any pretensions to lavishness. One of the most significant featuresof this aircraft is the arrangement of the 25-g seats to face rear- wards. The range has been increased by the addition of two58-gallon crashproof tanks, one in each nacelle, bringing the total fuel capacity up to 840 gallons. The V.I.P. Valetta isthus capable of a still air range of 1,347 miles plus a 20 per cent reserve at normal cruising speed On the Viscount's take-off, spectators were able to see the highly efficient double-split flaps. The Minister of Supply, who was warmly received by theWeybridge workers, congratulated the Vickers-Armstrongs staff, and later, at a luncheon, spoke of the work of his Ministryand the products of the company. He added congratulations to Capt. Summers on his fast flights to and from Paris in theNene-Viking. Speaking of the Valetta, the Minister disclosed that of the large order placed on behalf of the Air Ministry, afair proportion will have been executed by the end of the year, which means that with the Hastings, Devon and York,Transport Command will be all-British in the not-too-distant future. Mr. Strauss felt quite confident that the decision toproceed with two prototypes of the Viscount was a wise one, as much valuable information—in fact almost indispensable data—would be obtained from it for the planning of future projects. There was no doubt, he continued, that we were closing up onthe lead in civil aircraft which our friendly rivals, the Ameri- cans, secured during the war, and when we were in full pro-duction with our new types in the early 1950s he was confident that we should lead the world and our policy would be morethan vindicated. This pronouncement, incidentally, suggests an appropriate name for the next type of airliner to be builtat Weybridge—what better than Vickers Vindicator ? BRITISH MODEL SUCCESS AT a recent meeting in America, a member of the BritishTeam, R. B. Chesterton, of Northampton, succeeded in • winning the Wakefield International Trophy for model aircraft. ^fThis creditable result was achieved in the face of keen com- petition from six countries. The contest is held in the countrywhose team won the trophy the previous year and this year's contest—the first since the war—was held at Akron, Ohio, onAugust 27th. The trophy, presented by the late Viscount Wakefield to the Society of Model Aeronautical Engineers in1927 for competition by national teams has now been won by Great Britain six times, the U.S.A. five and France once. The British Team was selected by means of preliminaryelimination trials held throughout the country and final trials were held at Fairlop Aerodrome, Essex. A photographappears on page 291. In view of the present currency diffi- culties the American controlling body undertook to sponsorthe chartering of a transatlantic air liner to convey the European teams to the venue of the contest; unfortunatelythis arrangement broke down at the last moment and the S.M.A.E. found itself with a team but no means of gettingit to the U.S.> . Nothing daunted, they set about the formid- able task of raising the ^1,000 necessary in the extremely shortperiod remaining ard thanks to the generous and prompt sup- port of the members ci the aircraft industry, the model aircrafttrade, the clubs, and irdividual enthusiasts, sufficient funds were raised in time to se.id the team. The results must bemost gratifying to the team and to those who so generously gave their support. -
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