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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 0888.PDF
FLIGHT, II May 1950 HERE and THERE London-Khartoum CUBJECT to confirmation, a Curtiss »J Commando of King Farouk's personal flight has set up a non-stop point-to- point record between London and Khar- toum. Piloted by A. Cdre. Hassan Akef, it covered the 3,073 miles at an average speed of 180 m.p.h. The Commando, which took off from London Airport on May 1st, carried a crew of six and 2,800 ' gallons of fuel (twice normal load). Westland v. Whale MR. JOHN FEARN of Westland Air-craft, Ltd., has recently returned from Lisbon, which he visited in con- nection with experiments in the spotting and killing of whales from a Westland S-51 helicopter. A Mr. Reis of Lisbon owns a whaling factory in Portugal and whaling-boats which operate off ths Portuguese coast, and the helicopter has been placed at his disposal for the tests. Those who have read Mr. John Grierson's book Air Whaler will recall that the author considered helicopters to be very nearly ideal craft for spotting and killing. Cometic Progress THE R.Ae.C. announces homologa-tion of the de Havilland Comet's London-Copenhagen record flights on March 21st at speeds of 730.60 km/hr (454.03 m.p.h.) and 671.04 km/hr (416.95 m.p.h.) for the outward and homeward journeys respectively. The pilot, of course, was Mr. John Cunningham. On April 30th, continuing its tropical trials, the Comet flew from Nairobi to Khartoum in 3 hr 10 min, this repre- senting a speed of 420 m.p.h. for the distance of about 1,300 miles. The air- craft is at present making, test flights from Khartoum, and is due to return to Hatfield this week-end. As reported on p. 578, experiments in flight-refuelling the Comet are to take place when the necessary equipment has been installed. " Flight " photograph. RESERVISTS' RALLY : Formation take-off by Chipmunks of No, 22 R.F.S. during the. Cambridge " At Home" reported on page 598 of this issue. Twenty-three of the new trainers are now in service at Cambridge with the R.F.S. and University Air Squadron. Group Executives ''THREE Group regional executives, for -L South and Central America, the Near East and Pakistan, and India and the Far East, have been appointed by tfi ykASjidte Grpug*, The^respec- Hawler Siddeley special overseas exe- cutives whose new appointments are mentioned on this page : Top left and right, W. Humble, M.B.E., H. P. Wills ; below, P. H. Davy. tive posts will be filled by Mr. W. Humble, M.B.E., previously sales manager for Hawker Aircraft; Mr. H. P. Wills, formerly sales manager of Armstrong Siddeley Motors; and Mr. P. H. Davy, who was Deputy Directorof Civil Aviation, India. Although the Group will maintain its existing sellingorganization all over the world, each of the new executives will be the seniorGroup official in his area. . The Garden Party the highlights of the aviation year •— -fe^e Royal Aeronautical Society's Gaedjen- Party—will occur next bunday at White Waltham. . A sttaried .flying programme has been arranged, and the French Fouga Cyclone jet-powered light aircraft—to name the most unconventional of the machines to be demonstrated — will form an ex- treme contrast to the historic Bleriot and Deperdussin machines also appearing. Admission to the Garden Party is by ticket only. More Powerful Stratojet ^jpHE type designation YB-56 has been -*- applied to a new four-jet version of the Boeing Stratojet bomber. The present, production Stratojet, the B-47, is powered by six General Electric J-47 units, eack of 5,200 lb thrust, installed in ifrwlifr|jfAg " pods." In the new ver- sion, four Allison J-35-A23 turbojets will give an output of 9,700 lb each. News also comes from America of a novel application for an earlier type of J-35, two of which have been installed in the Hughes XH-17 cargo helicopter. These units were modified by removal of a number of compressor stages and a FOURTH OF HER NAME: On May 3rd H.M.S. Ark Royal was launched at Cammell Laird's Birkenhead yard by Her Majesty i,,a vutcn. Described by the First Lord of the Admiralty as the most up-to-date aircraft carrier in the world, Ark Royal is the fourth ship of her name. She is seen afloat, with slipway shores massed in the foreground. A fly-past by Naval aircraft marked the occasion.
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