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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 1120.PDF
704 FLIGHT, 15 June 1950 CONTINENTAL WEEK-END Paris Sees a Big Flying Display and Brussels the Opening of Its Inter- national Aeronautical Exhibition If Mmmw Mm Illustrated by "Flight" Photographs General view of the Grand Palais du Centenaire, Brussels. Over 30 British manufacturers are re- presented in the current Salon International Aem- nautique, the opening of which is reported on the opposite page. $••"•.„.: LAST week-end the focus of aviation interest movedtemporarily to the Continent, where two major events,the Orly display and the opening of the Brussels Show, took place. A report on the former event, and a brief preliminary review of the latter, follow in these pages. Brilliant weather and an excellent flying programme com- bined to make the French F6te Nationale de l'Air, held on Sunday at Orly Airport, Paris, a shining success. The nine-hour display was organized by the French Public Works, Transport and Tourist Ministries. The departure of an Air-France Constellation, bound for Buenos Aires, was the first take-off on the programme; it signified a temporary suspension of airline operations. Shortly afterwards arrived a gaggle of high-performance sailplanes, produced by the Arsenal, Breguet, Fouga, Air and Nord concerns, and towed to the meeting by Gnome- Rhone powered Fieseler Storchs. Each sailplane was demonstrated with a liveliness which expressed well the enterprising spirit of the French national gliding move- ment. There was also a short succession of displays by light powered machines—attractively grouped under the class-term tourisme—of which the most interesting was the pencil-winged Hurel Dubois H.D.10. The interval remaining before lunch was filled by an exposition of aerial rescue work. First came a parachute- jumping display by a medical-aid team—both men and women—who descended from a Ju.52, and this was fol- lowed by practical demonstration of the Hiller 360's rescue capabilities. Another type of helicopter present was the Bell 47D employed to assist the police in crowd-control. Seven Gloster Meteor 4s of the Belgian Air Force opened the afternoon's flying. They performed in two vies—one of which made straight and level flights-past in the inter- vals between excellent formation aerobatics by the second —plus a dashing individualist, whose very fast, very low runway-skimming was greatly admired. Although—or perhaps because—the competing aircraft were identical (six four-seat Nord Norecrins) the Grand Prix de la Ville de Paris, for the Louis Hirschauer Cup and 500,000 francs, was a tense and closely contested speed event. The aircraft were never out of sight and chased each other noisily round the field for a total distance of 100 km. At least one Norecrin flew between two hangars, and tight, low pylon-turning, appeared "dicey" at times. Attractive in its Air France colours, the shapely S.E.2010 Armagnac 80-passenger airliner—France's largest aircraft flying—put in a stately appearance, and national pride was further stimulated by the Languedoc-Leduc '' composite,'' which took off for a steady, low-level run past the en- closures. The ramjet-powered little research machine, mounted pick-a-back on the airliner, could not be released at sufficiently low altitude for individual demonstration. Certainly the most original performance of the meeting, and one likely to be prominent at future displays, was the Helicopter Ballet, featuring three Hiller 360s. At the com- mand of M. Serge Lifar, these sprightly little machines pirouetted daintily. Although musical accompaniment was provided, their movements, one felt, were more reminiscent of circus performance than ballet. America's official contribution to the display consisted of two formations of F-80 Shooting Stars of the 36th Fighter Group, based in Germany. Air drill by four machines of the 53rd Squadron supplemented a magnificent aerobatic performance by the 22nd Squadron's "Skyblazers " team, led by Capt. Gordon. A dramatic entry by all eight F.8os was followed by a sustained show, including loops and rolls, in diamond and line astern formation, and neatly completed by a peel-off and stream landing. VV/C. Roland Beamont introduces the Canberra at Orly, where the British jet bomber was seen by a crowd estimated at 500,000.
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