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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 1306.PDF
FLIGHT JULY 2IST, 1949 4 itwi II:M» CEREMONY Presentation of Diplomas at the College of Aeronautics WITH Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Tedder, G.C.B.,heading a gathering of most distinguished guests, the second Annual Presentation of Diplomas to students of theCollege of Aeronautics, Cranfield, took place last Thursday. In his opening address, the Principal of the College, Mr.E. F. Relf, C.B.E., stated that, of the students ending their courses, 41 had gained diplomas, ten of them with distinction.In addition to the diplomas, there were also two prizes, the Governors' Prize, awarded to the best all-round student forthe two-year course, and the Principal's Prize, awarded for the best piece of original work done during the second yearof the course. The Governors' Prize was to the value of twenty guineas, and took the form of books, selected by the recipient,in this case Mr. Alfred Neil Byron, ex-Flight Lieutenant engineering officer, who had specialized in aircraft design.•The Principal's Prize, which could be either books or instru- ments, according to the desires of the winner, was awarded toMr. Richard Stanton Jones, B.A., who had specialized in aerodynamics. The work for which he had been awarded theprize was the evolution of an empirical formula for quickly calculating the load distribution on swept-back wings. Having presented the diplomas to the 41 successful students,Lord Tedder made one, of his characteristically quiet and humour-salted speeches. The theme of his address was thatscientists should also be humanists; he stressed the over-riding importance of keeping constantly in mind the value of thehuman factor, for without it all the wonders and all the achieve- ments of science were dead. Dr. H. Roxbee Cox, who is a member of the College Boardof Governors, proposed a vote of thanks to Lord Tedder, and stated that the business of aeronautics was nowhere taughtso completely as at Cranfield. Research could not be divorced from engineering and, at the College, they were closely wedded.The intention waa that Cranfield should not merely produce the super-specialist form of technician, but would, rather, tryto keep the human touch, so that its men would be seasoned with those no-less-important aesthetic values and so becomethe better scientists. The Chairman of the Board of Governors, Air Chief MarshalSir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt, G.C.B., stated that, during the past 12 months, a new Chair had been established as the Depart-ment of Aircraft Economics and Production, under Professor J. V. Connolly, B.E., F.R.Ae.S. The Board were convincedthat teaching in this subject was needed in this country, and that the establishment of the new Department would be amplyjustified. The year had been largely one of consolidation and development, and this was a process which was by no meansfinished, for the College had opened its doors literally within a few months from the start of collecting the necessary equip-ment for its establishment. In his concluding address, the Principal amplified this matterin some measure. In the Department of Aircraft Design, he said, there had been a gradual and satisfactory augmentationof equipment. In addition, and for the aerodynamicists, there were now two high-speed tunnels running, whilst a gin squaretunnel, both for sub- and supersonic velocities, was at present in course of construction. Whereas with the first-year entry of students, they had alltaken the full course, this system had been found to place far too much of a strain on students, and it was now the practiceto ask each man on entry what broad branph of specialization he wished to follow. The inauguration of short courses hadbeen found very successful, and in addition to the four such courses held during the past year, an additional four wouldbe inaugurated next year. An important announcement was made by Mr. Relf regardingthe letters of distinction to be used by ex-Cranfield men; it had been decided by the Senate that the award of a diplomashould entitle a student to use the letters D.C.Ae. after his name. It was originally estimated that reasonable entry for the two-year course, having regard to subsequent employment, was about 50. Forty-four students were now ending their secondyear, and 58 were ending their first year; there were indications that the 1949-51 entry would tend to be higher still. Thepercentage of applicants rejected was falling, suggesting that the College and its standards were becoming better known,and that men were not applying unless reasonably up to entry qualifications. Growth had been very rapid and it would havebeen surprising if considerable difficulties had not been met. That these had been overcome and the College brought to itspresent state in so short a time was a great tribute to the efforts of the staff, and to the whole-hearted support the staff hadreceived from the Governors, the Ministry of Education, and the aircraft industry and the Services. AWARDS Diploma with Distinction.—E. M. Dowlen, R. S. Jones, B. W. B.Shaw, D. A. Treadgold (aerodynamics); A. N. Byron, W. R: Heald, K. L. C. Legg, C. B. Lewis (aircraft design); J. j. Bukovsky, G. E.Thirhvall (aircraft propulsion). Diploma—T. B. Booth, T. B. A. Boughton, E. G. Cane, L. J. W.Hall, P. A. Hearne, J. E. Rossiter, H. D. Ruben, J. M. L. Thomas, K. J. Turner (aerodynamics); A. Clegg, L. Ellerd-Styles, R. B. L.Foster, I. D. H. Gibbins, J. W. Hitchcock, S. Pallis, J. Speechley, W. Taylor, R. W. Trail, V. D. Trimm (aircraft design); S. Buck,VV. R. Cushing, L. S. Davey, E. N. Grantham, P. C. Gupta, T. G. F. Hardy, D. E. Parish, P. Ramsden, I). J. N. Wakeling (aircraftpropulsion). Second year only: K. E. Aiming, G. E. Gadd, VV. F. Wiles (aerodynamics). — _:. . GATWIGK NEXT SATURDAY NEXT Saturday's Daily Express Air Display at Gatwickpromises to have a strong and weli-varied international flavour. B-29S and F-80 Shooting Stars of the U.S.A.F. willfly past in formation; Ladislav Marmol is bringing over a new- glider, the Lunak, from the Continent; Capt. Sondermann,Fokker chief pilot and personal pilot to Prince Bernhardt, will represent Dutch manufacturers in a demonstration of the S.ntrainer; the Patrouille d'Etampes of the French Air Force will give a display; and Miss Betty Skelton, from America, willdemonstrate her particular brand of aerobatics. For the British manufacturers, S/L. R. Porteous will demonstrate the Austerwith the Goodyear undercarriage and H. A. Marsh will fly "the Skeeter helicopter. The closing item will be an attack upon an imaginary enemytarget at Gorse Hill at the west end of the airfield. The attack will start with-ground-strafing by Meteors and a drop by the16th Airborne Division (T.A.), while the R.A.F. "Paramedical" team will also take part by making individual drops and, also,landings in Horsa gliders. For spectators impelled to become airborne themselves therewill be joy-riding facilities provided by charter companies from 10.30 a.m. to 1.45 p.m. and from 6 p.m. until dusk. They willtake the form of 4O-45min South Coast trips (fare 30s) flown by Dakotas of Kearsley Airways, Ltd., and Hornton Airways,Ltd. Special trains arp being run from London, and visitors are warned not to alight at the Racecourse Station but to carryon to Gatwick Airport Station. The airfield will be open to the public at 10 a.m., and themorning programme will consist of static exhibition and of demonstrations by R.A.F. police dogs, P.T. instructors, andgun teams of the R.A.F. Regiment. The main flying pro- gramme will begin at 2.30 p.m. Admission will be 2s 6d, pay-able at the turnstiles, and seats can be reserved in advance for 5s. LADY DE HAVILLANDW ITH deep regret we record the death of Lady de Havil-land, wife of Sir Geoffrey de Havilland. It will be recalled that two of her three sons—Geoffrey and John—bothlost their lives in air accidents. Although Lady de Havilland accepted these tragedies as the price—terribly high though itwas—of continuing the flying activities of this famous family, she did not, in fact, recover from the shock and had been ailingfor some time. In the early days of the de Havilland Aircraft Co., whenthe D.H. Moth was first produced, Lady de Havilland accom- panied the Hon. Lady Bailey in a successful attempt to estab-lish a world's height record for two-seater light aircraft. They reached 17,283ft. A year later, in 1928, she accompanied SirGeoffrey in a further attempt on the same record. This was again successful, a height of 21,000ft being reached. In the official announcement of her passing, it was requestedthat no flowers 01 letters should be sent. R 16
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