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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 2271.PDF
632 FLIGHT, 28 December 1950 FROM ALL QUARTERS Sabre versus Mig : More Continental-built British Equipment : Sir Guy Garrod on Preparedness : News from the Industry THE SABRE BLOODED npWICE within three days North American F-86 Sabre jet A fighters of the U.S.A.F. have fought with Communist Mig-15s over Northern Korea, and on both occasions, accord- ing to General MacArthur's headquarters, have got the better of their opponents. In the first engagement one Mig was destroyed, and in the second, Lt. Col. Glen T. Eagleston, of Alhambra, California, scored hits on the port wing and port fuselage side of a similar machine—one of twelve encountered over die border town of Sinuiju. It is presumed that the F-86s operating in Korea are of the " A " series, powered with a General Electric J-47 turbojet. This model is armed with six 0.5in guns, and is capable of 660-670 m.p.h. The loaded weight is believed to be well in excess of 16,000 lb, and the span is 37ft lin. U.S. Naval pilots, flying Grumman Panthers, have found that the Mig-15 is not only much faster than their own aircraft, but that it can turn in a shorter radius. According to Lt. Cdr. Malcolm W. Cagle, recently returned from a month's observa- tion in Korea, the Panthers are, nevertheless, managing to beat the Migs by superior tactics and teamwork. This officer also avers that the Panther is a stronger aircraft than the Mig, though no evidence is adduced in support of this opinion. ITALIAN VENOMS AND GHOSTS T>ROGRESS during 1950 in tooling for the manufacture inA Italy of the de Havilland Vampire has been "unexpectedly rapid," and an agreement has now been signed for the Italianproduction of the Venom fighter and Ghost turbojet. It is further announced that the Italian government has just placeda second order for Vampires, to follow those which have been flight-delivered from England during the past nine months.The imported Vampires are preparing the way for Italian-built machines of the same type, and for the later Venoms, in thecreation of an Italian Air Force of modern jet fighters. The agreement for the supply of Vampires and for the Italianmanufacture of these aircraft and their Goblin turbojets was announced on November 29th, 1949. Manufacturing data forthe Vampire were completed only in September, but already Italian-made jigs and tools are in readiness and will enablequantity production of the Vampire to start almost immediately. The merit of this achievement is the greater because the projectwas complicated by the need to transpose British dimensions into their metric equivalents. Meanwhile, preparations for building the Ghost turbojet inItaly have gone ahead more swiftly than was expected, so that the time has come to complete details of the licence for the Venomairframe to take this larger unit. The arrangement brings together the resources of famous Italian concerns. The Fiat The Italian air attache, Lt. Col. D. Fanali, installs himself in the Vampire in which he led one of the delivery flights of these aircraft to Italy. and Alfa Romeo companies are building the Ghost, whilst Fiat,Macchi and Ambrosini will build the Venom airframes, assembly of which will take place at the Fiat and Macchi works. Adminis-tration of the whole organization is being co-ordinated by the Sicmar company, especially formed to acquire the licences andmaterials. The degree of co-operation achieved not only in Italy, butwith the British and French industries, is most gratifying. The Vampire is, of course, being built in France by the SocieteNationale de Constructions Aeronautiques Sud-Est, at Marignane, near Marseilles, and the French have assisted theItalians in the conversion to metric dimensioning. British, French and Italian jigs are checked to a uniform standard underD.H. auspices and, notwithstanding the translation of measure- merits, complete interchangeability of major components ismaintained between the three countries. Time has further been saved by the co-operation of the Swedish builders of de Havillandturbojets (Svenska Flygrnotor) in providing metric data. So quickly does the list of Vampire-equipped countries growthat brief recapitulation may be timely. The list as it now stands is: Great Britain, Australia, South Africa, India, Canada, NewZealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Egypt and Venezuela, as well as France and Italy. The Venom has been selected bycertain of these countries and is likely to be taken up by others. AIR LEAGUE'S WARNING ANXIETY concerning various aspects of air defence, fre- •£*• quently expressed in this journal in recent months, was voiced once again by Air Chief Marshal Sir Guy Garrod, chair- man of the Air League of the British Empire, at the annual general meeting of that organization on December 19th. The British public, said Sir Guy, must be warned of the menace of the Russian Air Force. The Russians had some excellent designers, and they possessed the advantage of having been presented with 55 specimens of the Nene and Derwent. IN A NUTSHELL : To acquaint servicing crews of Far East Air Force with the Dowty undercarriage hydraulic system, de Havilland Ghost turbojet and other components of the D.H. Vampire 5 fighter- bomber, these three mobile instruc- tional units will shortly be flown to Singapore, accompanied by three senior-N.C.O. instructors. For ease of transport, the units fold into convenient packing-case form. Vam- pires are now being delivered by air to the Far East; the arrival of the first six was reported in "Flight" of December 14th.
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