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Aviation History
1948
1948 - 1748.PDF
480 FLIGHT OCTOBER 2IST, 1948 On the Level consists of mercury liquid-level switches at the bottom of the gyro housing, which control erection torque motors on the roll and pitch axes. This system means that the erection datum is a liquid-level, and, as the instrument horizon is always erected truthfully to the natural horizon, there is thus no possibility of a pilot being presented with a false datum, as can be given by the conventional air- driven horizon. The gyro rotor assembly is supported in a gimbal ring which, in turn, is pivoted on the fore-and-aft axis in the case. Indication of the gyro vertical is given at the face of the instrument by a pointer bar and actuated by a sine- toggle linkage at the side of the gimbal ring. This is in halves, pivoted at the rear of the gimbal ring. A divided horizon bar is used to permit the bar to sweep over the sky plate without fouling the front gimbal ring bearing. For ease of installation, the movement is contained in a case identical in size to that of the standard air-operated instrument and, from the point of view of installation, is therefore interchangeable with the latter. The instrument' operates from a supply of 115V, three-phase, 400-cycle A.C., with a consumption of 15 vA. A considerable amount of flying experience with the H.L.3 horizon has been accumulated during the past year. Service trials have been done with a squadron of Meteors, and long-distance trials are now being undertaken with the instrument fitted to R.A.F. Transport Command York aircraft. Among the civil aircraft to use the H.L.3 are the Ambassador, Hermes IV, Viscount, Apollo and the G.A. Universal, whilst Sperrys are delivering the instru- ment to Canada for installation in the Canadair IV aircraft for use by B.O.A.C. SIDDELEY TROPHY RACE IX MIDLANDS BY the evening of Friday, October 15th, twenty-five com-petitors had arrived at Wolverhampton for the SiddeleyTrophy race, which was due to be run off on the following day. Two competitors had cancelled and another two were unable to get through owing to bad weather conditions en route. The meeting was due to start at 10 o'clock in the morning with one of the eliminating heats, and the second was due to start an hour later, with the final starting at 14.00 hours the same day. Saturday morning, however, presented a dismal picture with the cloud about 150 feet above the airfield and with visibility less than 1,000 yards. Everyone was bitterly disappointed as there was little prospect of an improvement, and the organizers decided to postpone the event until the following day, although weather prospects were little better. Fortu- nately, the forecasters were wrong, and tho weather on Sunday morning was comparatively good. Cloud base was high enough, the wind was 15 to 20 knots and visibility was good. During the morning the two heats were flown; they were won by Mr. A. L. Cole in a Comper Swift of the Luton Flying Club and Dr. L. H. Hamp in an Auster 5 of the Wolverhampton Aero Club. ; After a close finish the final was won in the afternoon by Mr. W. M. Morris of the Midland Aero Club in an Auster J.i at 124 m.p.h. Mr. A. L. Cole, winner of the first heat, was second at r22.5 m.p.h., and Dr. Hamp, winner of the second heat, was third at 115.5 m.p.h. The fastest time over the three-lap race of 66 miles was put up by Mr. R. R. Payne in aMiles Hawk Speed 6 at 179 m.p.h., and second fastest time was made by Mr. E. R. Pyatt in a Proctor 4. His speed was150 m.p.h. The Wolverhampton Aero Club offered a £10 prize for thebest performance by a Club member; this was won by Dr. Hamp. Owing to the poor weather conditions there were onlya few visitors from other clubs, but there were, nevertheless, some 500 spectators. Messrs. Rowarth and Dancy wereresponsible for the excellent handicapping which provided such an exciting finish to the final event. Mr. Mayne and Major-General Loughborough were the timekeeper and starter. The event was run under Royal Aero Club and F.A.I, rules andwas, of course, sponsored by the Wolverhampton Club. Prizes were distributed by Mrs. Oliver, wife of A. Cdre. J,Oliver, President of the Wolverhampton Club, who, incident- ally, averaged 146 m.p.h. in a Proctor I in the final. ColonelPreston, of the Royal Aero Club, was one of the Chief Stewards and after the race paid a very complimentary tribute to theorganizers for the success of the meeting. The winner started with a handicap of one minute, and the first aircraft off werethe Tiger Moths, one of which unfortunately met with an acci- dent right at the end of Heat 2. Mr. K. Moss, of the LondonAero Club, was passing the finishing line very near the ground which he touched with his wheels, causing him to bounce intothe air, his engine cut and he finished on his nose, luckily without injury to himself. OPERATION "FROGHOPPER" .-.-.,- AN experiment in the use of the helicopter for dusting sugarcane was recently made in Trinidad, British West Indies.The helicopter used was a Bell 47D operated by Irvin-Bell Helicopter Sales, Ltd., on behalf of Caroni, Ltd., a companywhich has, among other sugar growers in Trinidad, been trying to find a satisfactory method of dealing with the froghopper,an insect pest which feeds on sugar cane and in some areas causes considerable damage. Ground equipment has so farbeen found unsatisfactory, because of the expense involved and the difficulty of covering a large acreage. Preliminary experiments were carried out recently in orderto determine the best rate of application of the insecticide, the best height and speed at which to fly, etc., and, following thesetrials, dusting over an area of 3,000 acres was carried out. The froghopper is a night feeder and hides in the sugar cane duringthe day. It will only come out before dusk if the temperature drops, and it retires to the cane at about 7 a.m. The bestresults were, therefore, obtained at night, when the strength of the wind was usually less than 5 m.p.h. Moonlight flyingpresented little difficulty, especially when the pilot was familiar with the fields and obstructions. Without a headlight, dustingin complete darkness is not considered practicable, as difficulty is experienced in seeing the top of the cane and gauging thecorrect height above it. Flights to and from base were, how- ever, made in darkness without trouble. When dusting, the helicopter was flown at cane-top heightand at a speed of 20 m.p.h.; it was found that between 60 and 70 acres could be covered in one hour's flying. Reloadingwith insecticide took from half to one minute when the crew- were trained. In good conditions the froghopper could • beeliminated, but unfortunately, although the dust was forced right down through the cane by the downwash of the rotor, the residual effect of the insecticides used was most disappointingand apparently did no damage to the " nymph " or grub. This meant that, as the adult insect population would build upagain in three or four days, repeat dustings had to be made. Far better results could noydoubt be obtained if more effectiveinsecticides were used, wnich would eliminate the necessity of frequent redusting. Nevertheless the insect population musthave been considerably reduced. From the point of view of the Bell helicopter the experiment ,||'was most successful, as it showed the ability of the aircraft to apply insecticide evenly over a large area which could onlybe covered slowly, and with considerable difficulty and expense, by other methods. DEATH OF A.R.B's CHIEF TEST PILOT WHILE temporarily engaged on production testing ofBristol Brigands at Filton, Douglas Dennison Weightman, chief test pilot of the Air Registration Board, lost his life whena Brigand in which he was flying crashed on October 14th, from about 1,000 feet. Mr. Weightman, who was 36 years ofage, joined the R.A.F. in r938 with a short service commis- sion; he held an A licence since 1933. He completed two toursof operations with Coastal Command and in 1943 took the Empire Test Pilot's course. Later he was attached to theStructural and Mechanical Engineering Flight at the R.A.E., Farnborough, as a test pilot and was demobilized in 1946.After a period of charter flying he joined the A.R.B. in July, 1947 and became chief test pilot, associated with all test flyingof prototypes and particularly with tropical testing. With 3,500 hours' experience of flying about 80 different types Mr.Weightman had been loaned to Bristol's, whose staff was depleted by holidays and sickness, by permission of the M.o.S.whose approval is necessary for testing of military aircraft. B 6
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