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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 1329.PDF
and AIRCRAFT ENGINEER First Aeronautical Weekly in the World Founded 1909 No. 2168. Vol. LVIII. THURSDAY, 13 |ULY 1950 EDITORIAL DIRECTOR G. GEOFFREY SMITH, M.B.E. EDITOR MAURICE A. SMITH, D.F.C. ASSISTANT ED/TOR H. F. KING, M.B.E. TECHNICAL EDITOR C. B. BAILEY-WATSON, B.A. ART EDITOR JOHN YOXALL Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices : DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.I. Telegrams : fiightpres, Sedist, London. Telephone : Waterloo 3333 (60 lines). Branch Offices : COVENTRY B-10, Corporation Street. Telegrams : Autocar, Coventry. Telephone : Coventry 5210. BIRMINGHAM, 2. King Edward House, New Street. Telegrams : Autopress, Birminghom. Telephone : Midland 7191 (7 lines). MANCHESTER, 3. 260, Deansgate. Telegrams : Ilifie, Manchester. Telephone : Blackfriors 4412 (3 lines). Deansgate 3595 (2 lines). GLASGOW, C.2. 26b. Renfield Street. Telegrams : Iliffe, Glasgow. Telephone : Central 4857. SUBSCRIPTION RATES Home and Overseas : Twelve months £3 Is. Od. Six months, £1 10s. 6d. U.S.A. and Canada, SI0.00. BY AIR : To any country in Europe (except Poland). Twelve months, £5 Is Od. Six months, £2 10s. 6d. Canada.and UJS.A. Six months, 116. In this isswe: The R.A.F. Display - - Presentation en Vol - - At Home and Abroad - R.A.F. on Farade - - - Conditioning for Profit - 1,000 Hours Between Overhauls - - - - The 100-km Closed-circuit Record - - - - - Meteors for Reconnais- sance ------ 66 71 74 76 78 80 84 85 A Display to Remember HOW dull life would be if all opinions were standardized and a particular spectacleproduced the same reaction in everyone! Fortunately the nearest approachio such a state is the uniform absence of praise or criticism which may deser- vedly follow a boring affair. Whatever the views expressed upon the relative merits of individual items seen in the R.A.F. Display—and anyone who attended daily from the dress rehearsal to the final Saturday must surely have heard a greater variety of preferences—all will agree that, as a whole, this was a magnificent and memorable performance and an outstanding achievement on the part of the organizers and participants. In spite of the remark of one schoolboy to his chum : " P.T.'s t bind— we came to see jets! " we believe that the remarkable precision of the colourful massed P.T. demonstration by recruits, and the stately march of the massed bands, were among the favourites, at least with the older folk. The threats and fears of bad weather proved to be unfounded on both the Friday and Saturday, and bright sunshine provided a mellowing warmth, while patches of woolly cumulus cloud formed a backdrop free from dazzle for the thousands of pairs of eyes which were directed skywards. Most people, regardless of age or sex, seem to have found the deadly accurate attack by rocket-firing Vampires the most startling event. The performance of the Canberra—especially its steep climb after take-off—was a close second, particularly with those who have, flying experience. * Paradoxically, as aircraft get faster, flying displays get slower, for the reaibn that the machines need twice as long and four times as much sky to turn, loop, or roll off the top. Formation keeping and precision of manoeuvre on the part of the jet fighter pilots was fully up to the standard set in the biplane days by other pilots, many of whom, like the Chief of the Air Staff and the Controller of Supplies (Air), are the senior officers of the R.A.F. to-day. If we may be permitted to comment here upon one more event, we would odd that great credit is due to all who devised and so vigorously took part in the set-piece, and more particularly to the Dakota and glider pilots who under circumstances as- exacting, if not so hazardous as wartime operations, had to snatch and be snatched. One could not help but feel disappointed that arrangements were made for Their Majesties the King and Queen to arrive by car through crowded roads for This great Air Force occasion. What could have been more appropriate and impressive than a royal arrival in Vikings of the King's Flight escorted by squadrons of Royal Air Force fighters? Equipped for Peace or War? 'T'HAT the R.A.F. %as aircrew and aircraft of a quality second to none was made -*- apparent at Farnborough last week. Moreover, an encouraging indication of the capabilities of the next generation of equipment was gained from the spectacular demonstrations of such aircraft as the Canberra bomber and the Venom and P.TCKI fighters. No longer are we without so much as a prototype for night defence or a fully "swept" tighter. In peace, however, one is apt to extol qualities appropriate to the time. A few weeks ago we had occasion to remark upon the risk of operational shortcomings being manifest only after an emergency had arisen. Speed, climb, and manceuvr- ability are essentials, "but they can all be rendered worthless if armament or other vital military equipment falls short of requirements. No amount of testing or opera- tional trials at home and abroad, within the bounds of reason, should be deemed either extravagant or too strenuous in our striving towards the right first-line aircraft to meet any eventuality. To place too much reliance upon a pretty "peacetime ' fighter or bomber, insufficiently tested under realistic operational conditions, expect- ing it to "shake down " when the time came (and this has happened more than once in the past) would be no better than attempting to revive a hot-house bloom with a blast of arctic air.
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