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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 1584.PDF
FLIGHT, 15 September 1949 The new Mk. It Skeeter is a neat little all-metal side-by-side two-seater with dual control giving 95 m.p.h. on 145 h.p. THE FARNBOROUGH STORY... Helicopters " TN the light of the progress made by this country in. the •*• rotary-wing field of aviation during the past few years, it must be considered unfortunate that circumstances made it impossible for two of our more interesting designs to be seen at the display. In the case of both aircraft—the Bristol 171 and the Fairey Gyrodyne—development work is proceeding and there is little doubt that each will con- tinue in the future to demonstrate even more emphatically the excellence of its individual and specialist qualities. THE CIERVA AIR HORSE, which has now done nearly 30 hours' flying, evoked great interest; although, as was only to be expected, it was not disported by Alan Marsh with the fascinating agility displayed by the smaller types, it was by contrast exceedingly impressive in its manifest ability to lift bulky, heavy loads with ease- The aircraft shown was flying with enlarged fins, which, however, are not a final modification but merely a phase of the current test programme ; incidentally, the 41-mile flight from Eastleigh to Farnborough was done in 35 minutes. The Cierva Skeeter I was displayed by Basil Arkell in almost absurd contrast to the Air Horse, but it is to be superseded by the Mark II version which embodies a con- siderable amount of re-design. It is a delightfully neat all- metal aircraft providing dual control with side-by-side seat- ing in a compact, chubby little body which also houses the Gipsy Major 10 engine athwartships. A spur-and-bevel reduction gear gives drive to the main rotor shaft, and the swash-plate is housed inside the body with tie rods rising to the hub linkages. The main rotor blades have ply The Cierva Air Horse shows its characteristic long-travel undercarriage and the plan-form of its capacious fuselage. surfaces on a metal spar, but the blades of the tail rotor are of all-metal construction. Given the designation W. 11 T was another extremely interesting exhibit by the Cierva Company, albeit only in model form—an enlarged twin-engined variation on the Air Horse theme in which, however, some considerable altera- tion in layout is apparent. The twin rear rotors are carried on faired booms at right angles to the fuselage axis and the engines are at extremities of short, high-level, stub wings. Merlin 502 engines are specified and these would employ annular radiators and cooling fans, but an alternative possibility is the installation of a pair of the smaller turbo- props of equivalent power used, possibly, with subsidiary conventional airscrews. The empty weight is given as 15,350 lb and the disposable load as 9,650 lb; cabin volume is 1,200 cu ft as against the 800 cu ft provided in the Air' Horse, and on 320 gallons of fuel, the" range is given as 440 miles at 128 m.p.h. THE WESTLAND SIKORSKY S. 51 was handsomely flown by Lt. Reid and gave ample evidence of its versatility. The Royal Navy have ordered a batch -of these helicopters and one is already undergoing Naval handling trials- An order has also been received from the Egyptian Government. Altogether, the British-built S. 51s have now completed about 1,000 hours of flying. Two of these aircraft have been delivered to Pest Control Ltd., and the Mark II Spraycopter was also on view in the aircraft park. The first version of this machine em- ployed an auxiliary pumping engine for dispensing the insecticide, and had the spray bars mounted on each side of the nose; in the latest form, spray pressure is provided by a set of compressed air bottles carried on an outrigger in front of the nose, whilst the -spray bars have been moved farther aft and project on each side from the tail-boom root. The 85-gallon spray tanks are, as before, housed beneath the fuselage belly. Designed especially for crop-spraying, the Mk. II Pest Control Westland-Sikorsky S-51 is invoking interest among agriculturists.
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