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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 1992.PDF
FLIGHT, 15 December TO;3 HERE AND THERE. .. aircraft. The Constitutions have madeseveral notable flights, carrying U.S.N. personnel, and—on occasions—pressmenand other guests of the Navy, and were claimed to be the largest " commercial-type " aircraft in use. Italian Radar Chain ' I 'HE Italian Government is reported-*- to have begun preparations for in- stalling a radar early-warning systemaround the Italian coast and the North- ern plains. The programme is hamperedby lack of trained personnel and equip- ment : only one training centre is beingoperated (near Ostia, on the coast west of Rome), but experimental stationshave been set up at Ferrara, in the northern plain near Bologna, in theSouthern Puglia region, and in Sardinia, At these points, sites will be tested forpermanent installations. Equipment now being used was assembled from sur-plus Allied war material. Negotiations, it is said, are being conducted for thepurchase of British, U.S. and French equipment, but no definite arrangementshave been announced. Mach One Plus SINCE America is probably theworld's most publicity-conscious nation, it is surprising that some of hermost outstanding achievements in the realm of high-speed flight have receivedcomparatively little attention. The majority of people in this country, forexample, have never heaid the name of Captain Charles Yeager, U.S.A.F., whowas the first man to iiy faster than sound. Capt. Yeager recently made some briefobservations on his experiences in an interview with the local daily newspaperat his home town, Dayton, Ohio. He stated that he had flown the Bell X-irocket-powered research aircraft at "much more than 100 m.p.h. faster"than the speed of sound—some 760 m.p.h. at sea level. Commenting on thephysical effects of supersonic flight, he observed that it was no different from"sitting in your armchair at home." Expensive Oversight AT Bromley Magistrates' Court onDecember 2nd, Francis Gonsalves, a private pilot, was fined ^20 and 5 REINCARNATION :Many local residents may well find some-thing familiar in the appearance of this35 m.p.h. all-eiectric car, now running inthe Bristol area. Credit for a particu-larly ingenious adapta- tion cf "war surplus"roes to Mr. Ralph Nelson, who designedthe car around the nose of a BristolBlenheim. guineas costs forcontravening article 16 of the Air Navi-gation Act 1949, in that he; while incommand of an air- craft, failed tosatisfy himself be- fore a flight thatsufficient fuel was being carried. Hepleaded guilty. It was stated in evi-dence that on July 15th he flew from Croydon to WoodVale, Lanes, and was forced down by lack of fuel in Duke's Meadows, Chis-wick, while returning to London. - — A Hatfield Tradition ALL five founder-directors of the deHavilland Enterprise were present at the tenth annual meeting of theTwenty-year Club at Hatfield on Decem- ber 2nd. As its name implies, the clubis for members of the company who have completed 20 years' service, andthis year there were 27 new members. According to custom, each was pre-sented with a ^20 cheque and a certifi- cate. The certificate always depicts someevent of twenty years ago, and, foi 1949, takes the form of a Wootton oilpainting. On each certificate is a re- production, showing Moth G-EBTD fly-ing over the Stag Lane factory; in the summer of 1929, a Gipsy I flew 600 hoursunder seal in that aircraft, a fact which Sir Geoffrey paralleled with the recentlyapproved fifjo-hr Goblin overhaul period. Presentation of one of the certificates isillustrated below. NEWS IN BRIEF THE Aero Club of Uganda has sent adonation of £45 to the R.A.F. Benevolent Fund in London. The moneywas forwarded by R.A.F. headquarters in East Africa. .. • - . •• . . ••'•-. ("ul. Charles Lindbergh, the first pilotto fly the Atlantic solo, has been awarded the annual Wright BrothersMemorial Trophy for '' signifies nt public services of enduring value to aviation inthe United States." Col. Lindbergh is at present a special consultant to theU.S.A.F. Chief of Staff. The Ryan Aeronautical Company hasproduced a "Super" version of the Navion, powered by a 260 h.p. Lycomingengine instead of the 205 h.p. Con- tinental installed in the standard ver-sion. External differences are few, but performance is improved considerably;the Super Navion cruises at 170 m.p.h. and has an initial rate of climb of1,250 ft/min. INITIATE: (Right) Sir Geoffrey de Havilland presents the customarycertificate to Mr. S. H. Courtney, a " new boy " of the D.H. Twenty-year Club, mentioned above.BUSINESS TRIP; (Below) Canadian-born S/L. Bill Waterton, chief test pilot of the Gloster Aircraft Company, flew home recently tomake the first test flights of the Avro Canada XC-100 jet fighter. He made the trip in a T.C.A. North Star, piloted by Capt. JoeCrispin (left).
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