FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1950
1950 - 2179.PDF
580 FLIGHT, 21 December 1950 NEWS of the WEEK R.Ae.S. Lecture : Blackbushe Ceremony : Iron Curtain News : a Club "Classic" : and a Good Film CLEAR-AIR TURBULENCE F a paper, Clear Air Turbulence over Europe, given beforethe Royal Aeronautical Society on Thursday, December 14th, Dr. G. S. Hislop, of British European Airways, made a notablesurvey of this intriguing topic. The lecturer, who was in charge of the B.E.A. Gust Research Unit (the early activities of whichwere reported in the July 15th, 1948, issue of Flight), gave in the main body of his paper an interpretation of the statisticalresults derived from the work of the Unit. A digest of Dr. Hislop's paper will be published in an early issue of Flight. CIVIL-CUM-SERVICE LAST Friday, December 15th, the inauguration ceremony ofthe first Royal Auxiliary Air Force Transport Squadron took place at Blackbushe airfield, when the Under-Secretary of Statefor Air, Mr. Aidan Crawley, M.B.E., M.P., handed over to S/L. R. H. Mclntosh, D.F.C., A.F.C. (chief pilot, Airwork, Ltd.), thelog-books of the first of the Valetta aircraft with which the squadron is to be equipped. The new squadron will recruit its personnel as far as possiblefrom the staff of Airwork, Ltd., Britain's largest independent air- transport concern, and under the designation No. 622 (Transport)Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, will be part of Home Com- mand, administered by Headquarters, No. 62 (Southern) Group.With an establishment of 57 officers and 107 other ranks, the squadron is the result of a scheme put forward some threeyears ago by Sir Archibald Hope and Mr. A. G. Miller, both of Airwork, Ltd., and both former group captains in the R.Aux.A.F. All the R.A.F. are providing are two Valettas, and suitableofficers' and other ranks' messes at Blackbushe. Everything else will be provided by Airwork. MORE ABOUT THE MIG '"THAT the Soviet Mig-15 single-jet fighter, now appearing in•*• appreciable numbers in the Korean battle, should easily exceed Mach 1 if correctly flown, is the opinion of U.S. Navalpilots, according to Aviation Week. The pilot of a Grumman Panther is said to have spotted a Mig about 2,000ft below him,looking like an easy kill. As the Panther lined up, however, the Mig emitted two white puffs and then a stream of whitesmoke from the tail pipe, leaving the Panther as if it were " standing still." No black smoke has been observed during theengagements. Pilots remark on the extremely sharp sweep-back, and a photo-graph scaled-up from a 16-mm gun-camera film shows excres- cences well outboard beneath each wing. Should these bedrop-tanks they would appear to be of unusually small capacity. On December 14th the biggest air battle of the Korean cam-paign took place near the mouth of the Yalu River. Four Shooting Stars engaged 24 Mig-15s but no losses were sustainedby either side. HERTS AND ESSEX DO IT AGAIN IF any viewed with alarm the choice of December 13th as thedate for the twelfth annual dinner and dance of the Herts and Essex Aero Club, they soon had cause to revise their viewson such superstitions, for the guests who filled the ballroom at the Park Lane Hotel, London, quite obviously enjoyed them-selves to the full; dinner, entertainment and dancing all matched the high standard of these happy occasions in previous years.Fortunately, the dreaded fog did not materialize to hamper guests on their homeward journey, although it is possible that a fewsuffered slight personal haziness. There were some brief speeches, " The Club " being proposedby A. Cdre. Vere Harvey, C.B.E., Mi1, who is president of the Lancashire Aero Club. The chairman, Mr. Geoffrey de Freitas,M.P., Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office, responded. Mr. F. E. Darlow, secretary of the Club, proposed "TheGuests," distinguished individuals and a large contingent from Fairoaks Aero Club being singled out for special mention. Thereply came from the Rt. Hon. Arthur Henderson, Secretary of State for Air, who quoted "In vain is the net spread in sightof the bird." Mr. G. H. M. Miles, chairman of the executive committee, Association of British Aero Clubs and Centres, con-cluded this more formal part of the programme. In the various speeches the Herts and Essex Club was de-servedly praised for its energy and enterprise, for the war record of its members, and for its perseverance in these times so difficultfor private flying. The A.T.C. flying scholarship scheme was considered good so far as it goes, and the results were reportedas " encouraging." Next year, it seems, there will again be 200 scholarships to award, and there is a possibility of an extensionof the scheme. An estimate of £90,000 was given as the cost of trebling its scope. Arrangements have been made for A.T.C.pilots to continue their training with the R.A.F.V.R. There was a mention of a new Air Ministry scheme for training somedozens of R.A.F. technical officers to fly at the flying clubs. The picture was not so encouraging for purely private flying.For example, it was revealed that part of the Herts and Essex aircraft fleet had had to be laid up, and both the number offlying hours and the number of private licences decreased last year. Dancing and games continued until 1 a.m. The dinner com-mittee for this successful occasion, under the chairmanship of Dr. V. A. Ercolani, comprised Messrs. Peter Ayles, F. E. Darlow,Roger Frogley, S. A. Perrin and A. R. Saward. DOCUMENTARY—AND SENSIBLEM EMBERS and guests of the Society of British Aircraft Con-structors last week attended a special screening of the film Spotlight on Britain's Wings, at the British Council Theatre, inLondon. Latest in the "Spotlight" series of documentaries made for20th Century-Fox by the British Rayant Picture Company, k sets a high standard of technical skill and accuracy. Typicalis the jet-fighter flight-refuelling sequence, for which a cine- camera was attached inside the canopy of the Meteor, " by thepilot's right ear," to show audiences how (apparently) easy it is to push a round peg into a funnel-shaped hole at the end of aflying hose-pipe. The film begins by explaining why British airlines now haveto use American equipment, and includes at this stage some in- formative shots of progress being made with the undergroundtunnels leading to the site of the future terminal buildings at London Airport. Then come views of the magnificent Princessflying boat under construction at Cowes and of the Hawker P.1081 being flight demonstrated by "Wimpy" Wade. After seeing the first air-to-air film of the Brabazon, audiencesare next "invited on board the Comet" for a test flight to 43,200ft. Well-written dialogue and careful photography makethis one of the most fascinating parts of the whole film and a tribute to the skill of Rayant's cameraman, for there is no jiggery-pokery. Shots of the altimeter registering 43,200ft, and of un- broken clouds far below the aircraft, really were filmed at thataltitude—the highest, incidentally, at which any commercial motion picture has ever been taken. Back to earth, the cameraman takes his equipment aboard anelecric train and, with the co-operation of British Railways, and a special camera shutter set to take only 2.4 exposures a secondinstead of the usual 24, proceeds to show what it would be like if " the 8.15 to Town " travelled at 500 m.p.h. like the CometThe result is truly terrifying. Finally, we are given glimpses of aircraft at the R.A.F. Displayat Farnborough, including the dear old Avro 504, the Canberra, helicopter " elephant circus " and the Meteor and Vampire aero-batic teams. It is easy to regret the omission of such superb aircraft as the Viscount and Supermarine 535, but one aircraftlooks very much like another to the average " cinemaddict," and a film such as this gives a better overall picture of British aviationachievement than would a mere catalogue of 60 aircraft types crammed into 18£ minutes' running time. Spotlight on Britain's Wings is now being shown on theGaumont and Odeon circuits, and well justifies a visit to your local cinema. CORNERCROFT PROGRESS nTHE fourteenth annual general meeting of Cornercroft. Ltd.•*• (specialists in presswork, tooling equipment and other re- quirements of the aircraft industry) was held on December 8th atAce works, Coventry. Mr. J. Alan Corner, chairman and managing director, in his presiding address, reported that theresults of the year had been very satisfactory. During that period, the company had acquired the whole of the issued sharecapital of James Beresford and Sons, Ltd., at a cost of £309,000. Mr. A. E. Hudson, secretary to Comercroft, Ltd, since 1945,was appointed a director of the company.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
