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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 1497.PDF
SEPTEMBER IST, 1949' FLIGHT LONDON UNIVERSITY SUMMER CAMP Instructors Amalgamate : Visits by Distinguished Lecturers and Pilots OF course (writes one who took part), it started with regrets.There were those who sighed for the beach of Shoreham and for the South Coast Flying Club bar, so dehydrated in 1^47 and 194b; there were those intransigents who suspected peace-time airfields; and there were those who considered re- porting to Loughton Tube Station an indignity in any case. Hut North Weaki it was to be, and nobody deserted. Perhaps it had been decided that it would be a good thing to show the growing body of ca'dets what an K.A.F. airfield looks like, and that it would do no harm to the shrinking number of ex- K.A.F. pilots in the Squadron. Or were the permanent staff tired of tents? We shall never know—we can only speculate. All our eggs had been put into one basket, and our whole squadron strength was being assembled in one fortnight, in- stead of being spread over two camps as previously, which meant a shortage of instructors. Cambridge University Air Squadron did the same with their eggs the previous fortnight and by an amalgamation ot both permanent staffs for one month the situation was eased. Owing to the cheerful aggression of S/L. Eric Downey the London ex-Service men and the Cam- bridge instructors were soon acquainted. S/L. Hester super- intended the cadets and VV/C. K. J. Mellor, the Squadron Com- mander remained discreetly in the background, linking both sections of the flying programme. The ex-Service people renewed acquaintance with what seemed a completely different Harvard and the cadets ex- plored new territory, raising .astonished eyebrows at the pylons in the circuit. During the camp a number of distinguished figures in the aviation world were persuaded to lecture. VV/C. Mahaddie talked with grim humour about the techniques and policies of a bomber war, describing with apparent casualness the desper- ate decisions made behind the scenes. For our further enlight- enment a real Boffin was persuaded to lecture on high-speed flight and design, Duxford was visited and the Meteor 7 ad- mired in flight. G /C. Donaldson restored our faith in the piston engine with a Spitfire of fabulous mark and John Derry did incredible things in a Chipmunk. Both these distinguished visiting pilots caused acute discomfort to the Squadron's Anti- Aerobatic League, a nucleus of Rate 1 pilots, as did the A.O.C. in C, Sir Alan Lees, when he recalled the days when he flew a bomber one day and a fighter the next, both from the same airfield1, ft may well have been the same aircraft, the Leaguetheorized, but were visibly shaken. The flying proceeded in perfect weather, and the other artswere not negiccted. We emerged from tiie range with dirty tunics, paste-covered fingers and headaches, and the inevitablekitty was won by the inevitable member of the permanent staff. Meanwhile the mess became like a rush-hour tube, as theairfield was being used ;is a .base for the unloading at the Docks, while tents appeared overnight near the runways. Just as itlooked as if flying might have to be conducted in distinctly difficult conditions we' entered our final day. Those who had• had Grave Doubts realized that the fortnight had been as pleasant as those of previous years. For this our thanks mustgo to the Station Commander, VV/C. Bain, who remained most co-operative even when his airfield looked as if it would sinkunder a sea of canvas, and S/L. Downey and his Cambridge instructors. R. VV. AUSTINS ACQUIRE "STACATRUC"T HE Austin Motor Co., Ltd., and Crompton Parkinson,Ltd., announce that through their joint subsidiary com- pany, Austin Crompton Parkinson Electric Vehicles, Ltd.,they have acquired control of I.T.D., Ltd., of " Stacatruc House," 142, Sloane Street, London. S.VV.i. Mr.-L. P. Lord,chairman and managing director of the Austin Company, has been elected chairman. Col. Raymond T. Hartmann willcontinue as managing director of I.T.D., Ltd. f.T.D., Ltd., are the world distributors of "Stacatruc" and" Aerolift " industrial fork-lift trucks and ancilliary materials- handling equipment. COLD PRESSURE WELDING TNTEREST in the cold pressure-welding process for aluminium-»- and other materials, developed by the General Electric Co., Ltd., in its research laboratories, has been so great that theCompany feels that industry as a whole should have access to the process, so that the technique can be exploited anddeveloped in the widest possible way. Arrangements have accordingly been made for the issueof non-exclusive licences to all firms wishing to use the process (except for certain electrical u^e1-). at a low ro\ altv rate to besettled separately for each firm. HOTTER FASTER THESE two new experi-mental versions of the Meteor will make their first public appear- ance at Farnborough next month. Adapted by Rolls- Royce as a research instrument for "jet-pipe re-heat" (a British counterpart to the after- burning equipment em- ployed on the newer American intercepted), the upper aircraft is seen to have nacelles of modi- fied design. No perform- ance details are available for the Avon-Meteor below), but an astonish- ing rate of climb is known to result from the instal- lation of the very powerful Avon axial-flow turbojets.
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