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Aviation History
1948
1948 - 1732.PDF
47° FLIGHT OCTOBER 14TH, 1948 GLOSTER AIRCRAFT, BEXTHAM rPHAT the Gloster Aircraft Co., Ltd.. has a very efficient -*• technical staff has been obvious to the world for a longtime. That this same staff also counts among its members men ol high ability when it comes to entertainment was shown atthe sixth annual dinner (the second since the war) of G.A.C., Bentham, held at the Queen's Hotel, Cheltenham, last Friday.The performers were all members of the staff, a fact difficult to surmise from the quality of the " turns." On the more serious side, Mr. R. VV. Walker, chief designer,recalled tiiat at last year's dinner it looked as if there might have to be a contraction of -the firm's activities. That had notproved to be the case, and "the Meteor and its variants were still going strong. A new 600 m.p.h. plus fighter had madesuccessful flights, and that was not the end. Mr. P. G. Crabbfi confirmed that the Meteor would be inproduction fox many years. Competition would grow, btft Glosters would ieep their place in front. They were confidentof the success of future types. Mr. W. G. Carter thanked his (Jesign team for their bardwork in the past and asked for just that little bit more which was so important in view of the short time available. Mr. It. H. Bounds deputizing for Mr. Dowty who was unableto be present, recalled that Mr. Dowty was an old Gloster man, aaad that the collaboration between the two firms was of longstanding. He was confident it would continue. Lt. Col. Donnet, chief of the Belgian Air Force, who hadcome over with a team to -.collect their first Meteor, expressed his plea-sure in being able to continue in this way the associa-tion whacto began many years aj»o with the Gladiator biplane fighter. Mi. Haagih Barjottgihes, pointing ©ait that the jpaoe «as .gettinghotter, oonmpetitaoH keener, aad the numbers in tfee =fl>ra"«r5a^g •office gseater, said 4&at the profotems associated vvitfc the designand production of new types were getting more complex, aa<3 it w.as necessary to took ahead. They had therefore decidedto make Mr. \Y. G. Carter a sort <of " high priest" i(£eokaaca3 directori) so that he could 'be thinking .ahead and not be ^woraaedt>y '(lay-to-day problems. His place as daaei desijgmer ibad baem taken by Mr. R. W. Walter. That was in conformity withthe practice of the group; Mr. Chadwick had been followed by .Mr. Da vies and recently Mx. Uoyd by Mr. Watson. Tfect wasthe group's way -of ensuring that they kept on top. Mr. Eric Greenwood paid tribute to the test team; it wasthe best Glosters ever had. He recommended the technical people to keep in close touch with the test pilots; they wouldfind them very helpful. SWEDISH VAMPIRES NOT GROUNDEDI N an article describing Sweden's air defences contained inFlight of July 22»d, 1948, attention was drawn to the very satisfactory record of Vampires in service with the.Swedish Air Force At that time, of the 70 supplied under an original contract, 69 were still airworthy. Since then moreVampires have been delivered and there have been two fatal accidents each due to a quite different cause. Oneunfortunately involved one of Sweden's foremost Service pilots, Colonel Naeslurtd. Following the most recent accident, the daily Press isportwSthat the Swedish Air Force had grounded all D.H. Vampires pending investigations. We are glad to say that this WAS nottrue, and the following official statement from the Swedish Air Ministry was issued on October 7th: — " It has been stated in the British Press that all SwedishVampires have been grounded following an accident. This is untrue. The pilot reported by radio after he had takenoff that the rear bearing of the jet engine was negastering a higher temperature than it should, and that be intended to SOME ECONOMIC FACTORS (Continued from page 465) make a forced landing. He lost speed in a turn during theapproach and crashed. The engine was running at the time but not at full speed. The aircraft "was one of three -whichhad been in the store for one year and this was its first flight after storage. The Swedish Air Force feav« grounded the'other two aircraft to see whether the storage affected the rear bearings of the engine, for instance, by corrosion." TheSwedish Air Ministry adds that it has full confidence in the Vampire aircraft and its Goblin engine and has no reasonto restrict flying in any way whatever. Protests made by the United States about the supply ofBritish de Havilland Vampires to Sweden have been with- drawn as a result of the British reply. The three pointsstressed in this reply were the importance of aircraft exports to Britain's economic recovery, that the Swedish Vampirecontract wiowld not interfere witti i?he projected supply -of British fegfaiters to Westers Union -countries, and that in anycase Sweden aiad other Scandinavian countries might eventu- ally be incorporated into the Western European HegionalDefence Pact. ,; . CIVIL AVIATION perhaps in a few good weather area* of low traffic density. Second, the plain jet aircraft to be effective in present con-ditions would have to be built much bigger than aa equiva- lent propeller type, in order to stow the extra fuel requiredfor a particular stage. The result would be more weight, more power to .maintain take-off requirements and hencehigher costs and less economy. Third, given improved air traffic control all types of aircraftwill become cheaper to operate but the greatest benefit will be enjoyed by the jet. Once the diversion aaod " stack np "problem is eliminated the plain jet, by virtue of its speed, can become almost as cheap to operate as propeller-powered aircraftat much higher speeds, although somewhat restricted in range. Fourth, in the meantime the propeller turbine offers advan-tages of speed over the orthodox engine at approximately the same cost per revenue mfle, aithoagh. tor a slightly narrowerband of effective ranges, being limited in economy over very short stages or over the longer stages of which the piston engineis capable. Fifth, in general, the propeller-taTbme powered aircraft willhave to be somewhat bigger than the piston powered aircraft to achieve the same flexibility of performance. Granted alarger aircraft, then the propeller turbine can be at least as economic, at Mgher speed. Sixth, the helicopter is more-expensive to operate per revenueton mile than any equivalent fixed wing aircraft and because of its low speed will be much more influenced by surface winds.Nevertheless the helicopter is the only possible form of air transport for short inter-city stages. For short stages higherrates may be contemplated to make the helicopter a commer- cial proposition. One thing stands out above all others. It is that the plainjet aircraft offers immense economic possibilities for the moderate ranges surveyed. At present they must remain onlv as possibilities because the jet is strangled at birth by limita-tion* ina,posed by .air traffic control. (To be continued.) £9Of TWIN MERLIN HELICOPTER: TWIN MERLIN TRANSPORT 1 2 3 4- .5 BLOCK HOURS - HOURS BETWEEN LANDtNGS Felated " U " curves of hourly operating cost per revenue ion oj payJaad B 26
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