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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 0874.PDF
508 FLIGHT, 4 May 1950 CORRESPONDENCE The Editor of " Flight" does not hold himself responsible for the views expressed by correspondents in these columns. The names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters. Light Twins I WAS interested in your leader of March 9th: '' Wanted—a Light Twin." I have felt for some time that there is scope for a light twin with this specification: — (1) Airframe all-metal (fabric-covered frame will do). (2) Metal airscrews. (3) Economical cruising speed, 150 m.p.h. (4) Minimum range, 800 miles (distances out here are great). (5) Seating capacity four, with, if possible, space for a limited amount of luggage. I0>) Price, ^1,500. Refinements might include a retractable hydraulic under- carriage (no electrics on any account, as the monsoon plays Old Harry with these) and V.P. constant-speed airscrews. I expect it is pretty well impossible to produce an aircraft for this price with such a specification, but even if the price is allowed to reach /2,50c a metal twin should be a success. Speed and range and plenty of power are, to my mind, the main essentials. " M. R. C. THOMAS Calcutta, India. (Sometime F/L., R.A.F.V.R.). B.E.A. Names I CAN think of nothing less appropriate than to call a fleetof elderly American Dakotas operated by B.E.A. afterBritish aviation pioneers (see page 532, Flight, April 27th). I seem to remember that a fair time ago you published an article in which aviation pioneers' names were suggested for a fleet of new aircraft. This is a commendable idea, but has certain drawbacks. While passengers—that is, the public—find a certain amount of glamour in such names as North Star and China Clipper, and there is dignity in the Queens and Mauretanias of the shipping lines, with all due respect one would hardly feel like saying "I am flying east by Alcock to-night," or " I am browned-off with the Brown, it's always turning back with engine trouble." Even so, great names are well worth commemorating, and suitable among them are kings, pioneers, and knights of old. Other suggestions, by no means all original, but nevertheless worth considering, especially for the smaller and faster types of aircraft, are the mythical gods and goddesses, fleet-of-foot animals in the antelope and hound classes, sea birds and birds of prey, winds, and weapons of the javelin and arrow kind; any of these could be prefixed with a class name, as were the "Star" types for B.S.A.A.: Golden-, Crystal-, Fleet- come to mind in this connection. For portly transports such as the Stratocruiser type, some- thing rather more substantial seem"5 to be required, and here counties and historical cities are good names which have the advantage of getting the aircraft unofficially adopted by the people living in the areas concerned. I always think the Americans and Canadians have wonderful opportunities available with the colourful names of Indian tribes and the names the Indians themselves have given to places, rivers and mountains. A. JACKSON. Coventry. Universal Tenders ? is interested to see Flight, April 27th) that a British firm has produced mobile air-conditioning equipment for use by aircraft on the ground, for although the requirement has been obvious for some time, especially in tropical and arctic countries, it was difficult to see how an airliner could be kept properly heated or cooled when its main engines were stopped. I am glad, too, by the way, to note that the equipment referred to rates a special eight-cylinder Rolls-Royce engine. The question now is, what is the next stage? Jet airliners will need several sorts of service at airports, and will prob- ably have to be towed to their take-off point to save fuel and reduce noise and blast near buildings and parked aircraft. It seems that a universal tender is called for with a standard form of coupling and, perhaps, carrying a driver and engineer. The driver would, no doubt, be placed in a sort of cupola on top with a clear view in all directions, so that he could tow a large aircraftsafely in restricted areas, and the engineer would serye as a look-out when not operating the tender's controls and minister-ing to the requirements of the airliner. The tender, with quick- release couplings to the aircraft, would provide conditionedcabin air, high-pressure air for brakes, etc., and electrical power for lighting and starting to save the aircraft batteries. Thiswould be in addition to its towing capacity, and some of the "feeding" would be done while actually towing. For night work it would carry headlights, adjustable spot-lights to pick out the aircraft wing-tips, and plenty of coloured recognition and obstruction lights. It would have telephoneconnection with the aircraft, and radio-telephone communica- tion with the control tower, possibly on a special frequency. With practice, a great deal of taxying and parking time andtrouble could be saved, apart from the fuel and power econo- mies for the aircraft. As runway systems become more andmore complex—take Idlewild, for example—pilots have their work cut out at night or during poor visibility to find theirway around before and after landing, and mistakes are a potential danger. A tender driver completely familiar withthe layout would need fewer instructions and would do the job more quickly. All the usual after-landing drills and checkscould be carried out while being towed, the aircraft crew giving their full attention to the job rather than trying to help thecaptain find the tarmac: A minute or two might also be saved for the passengers if the usual pre-embarkation instruc-tions could be broadcast to them via the tender by R/T during the towing-in process. - . J. G. BLACK. London, W.i. Breezy Broadcast '"PHE paragraph in "Gliding News" in Flight of April -*- 20th, concerning the broadcast from Dunstable on Easter Monday, calls for comment. The London Club's two-seater is not a T.21B but the T.21 prototype, so there was no question of replacing its windshields—it never had any, except for an experimental pair which lasted about a day and, apparently, made the airflow round the cockpit worse rather than better. The whole nose of the T.21 is shallower than that of the T.21B, so that very large screens would be needed to protect the crew, and no satisfactory design has so far been evolved. The lack of windscreens is no great disadvantage in normal conditions and at normal speeds, but on Easter Monday the air was very rough, especially at the time of the broadcast, when a front was still passing through, and it was necessary to fly fast—in the case of the two-seater, at about one and a half times normal speed—to avoid being blown behind the ridge and being stalled by a down-current. I was flying the Prefect at the same time, and found condi- tions quite terrifying, with severe gusts, lift and sink inextric- ably mixed, and the high wind speed making wariness of being blown back very necessary. My barograph recorded one "down" of 400ft in 14 sec! Incidentally, I believe we were the only major club operating on that day, and in those conditions a broadcast from any glider, even with screens or a full canopy, would have given the lay public the impression that gliding is a pretty hectic affair/ PETER RIVERS. London, N.W.3. An artist's conception of the appear- ance of the airport " universal tender " suggested by J. G. Black. DRIVER
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