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Aviation History
1948
1948 - 2209.PDF
DECEMBER 30TH, 1948 FLIGHT 767 REVIEW 1948 The S.B.A.C. Exhibition and Display in September was the outstanding aeronautical event of the year. I N many ways this year of grace, 1948, now drawing to aquasi-peaceful end, has been particularly eventfulaeronautically. Much of the turbulent backwash of war which afflicted the industry during 1946 and 1947 has smoothed itself out, and there is now a rather more stable tempo to the aeronautical pulse. New aircraft in the military and civil fields have engaged world-wide interest, more particularly the beautiful Hawker P. 1040. the Vickers Nene-Viking, Viscount and the Avro Tudor VIII, these last three being the first gas turbine- powered research airliners of their type in the world to fly. In the whirling field, too, we have great and small achievements in the shapes of the Cierva Air Horse and Skeeter, aside from the Gyrodyne world's heli- copter speed record. '1|S»_ ^t H2H ' J#~" ^e new mih*ary trainers,^>>t*li*k ^dar tk 4p B^dliol ar)d Athena, hold —•* ~*^ H /! . -_TX forth a great deal of promise, and among the new engines our pre-emi- nent position established with the turbojet has been furthered with the medium-powered turbo- props, Mamba, Dart and Naiad. Operationally, con- siderable advances have been made as evidenced by but two, totally dis- similar, e\-ents—trie At- lantic flight by Vam- pires and the Berlin air lift; whilst, commer- cially, the orders placed on behalf of B.S.A.A. for the large Saro boat and for the attractive Sealand amphibian, to- gether with the inaugu- His Majesty presented col- ours to the R.A.F. College, Cranwell, in July. A Synoptic Retrospect of the Year's Highlights in British Aviation SJ H.M. the Queen, with Princess Margaret, took great interest in the Xictivities at the Northern Heights Gala in June. ration of Solents on B.O.A.C. routes, suggests that the web-footed section of British aviation is not so moribund as many would have us believe. In the research branch of commercial aviation, B.E.A. have contributed usefully with their exploration for clear air gusts and with the initiation of the mail-carrying helicopter trials. In making this survey of the year's activities in chrono- logical order, we intend here to touch briefly on some of the more interesting aspects, leaving the more detailed recollections to appear in their specific sections. January saw the first structural detail release on the Saunders-Roe S.R. 45 flying boat, and also the inception of flight trials on the AW 52 Flying Wing. The Swedish Air Force placed an order for de Havilland Vampires ; the magnificent Hodgson-Cuthbert collection of rare books, prints, drawings, etc., was presented to the Royal Aero- nautical Society by Sir Frederick Handley Page, and pre- liminary details were released on the A.V. Roe (Canada) Chinook turbojet. At the close of this month, the whole aeronautical world mourned the death of Orville Wright. In February we had first details of the Fairey Primer
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