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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 1064.PDF
and AIRCRAFT ENGINEER First Aeronautical Weekly in the World Founded 1909 No. 2211. Vol. LIX. FRIDAY, 8 JUNE 1951 EDITORIAL DIRECTOR G. GEOFFREY SMITH, M.B.E. EDITOR MAURICE A. SMITH, D.F.C ASSISTANT EDITOR 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, Flightpres, Sedist, London. Telephone, Waterloo 3333 (60 lines). Branch Offices: COVENTRY 8-10, Corporation Street. Telegrams, Autocar, Coventry. Telephone, Coventry 5210. BIRMINGHAM, 2 King Edward House, New Street. Telegrams, Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone, Midland 7191 (7 lines). MANCHESTER, 3 260, Deansgate. Telegrams, IlifTe, Manchester. Telephone, Blackfriars +412 (3 lines). Deansgate 359S (2 lines). GLASGOW, C.2 26b, Renfield Street. Telegrams, IlifTe, Glasgow. Telephone, Centra/ 1265 (2 lines). SUBSCRIPTION RATES Home and Overseas: Twelve months O 3s. Od. U.S.A. and Canada.SIO.OO BY AIR: To Canada and U.S.A., »ix months, $16. IN THIS ISSUE: "Theseus" Comes Home 662 Honouring the Jet Pioneers 665 Exercise Ombrelle . . 669 The Superb 660 - - - 674 In the Way of the Vikings - ... 676 More than Meets the Eye 680 Vandenberg on Russian JetsG ENERAL VANDENBERG, Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, must have made his audience sit up and take notice when he testified recently before the Senate committee charged with investigating the dismissal of General MacArthur. The Soviet Mig-15 jet fighter, he avowed, had greater speed and climbing power than U.S.A.F. fighters in Korea, though he did admit that the F-86 Sabre possessed "some slight advantage in range." Moreover, the technical superiority of the Mig was offset by American training and gunnery control, and this was why U.S. pilots were able to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy without suffering anything like the same losses themselves. But that the Mig should be credited with a higher speed than the Sabre is, to say the least, unpleasantly surprising, especially so as there is not the remotest prospect of the R.A.F. obtaining fighters capable of matching even the Sabre's speed before many perilous months have elapsed. Of the turbojet in the Mig-15 General Vandenberg is reported to have said : "The engine is a very marked improvement on the Nene which the British sold to them," adding: "It was made and developed in Russia, possibly with the help of German technicians; but any thought that it is due solely to those technicians is fallacious." The General's biggest bombshell, however, was the assertion that the power plant of the Mig was "superior to any jet unit we have today." Even though this has been interpreted in America as referring only to American turbojets used in Korea it is—if proven—most disquieting, for the F-86A Sabre is fitted with the axial-flow General Electric J-47 of 5,200 lb thrust, while the U.S. Navy has been operating carrier-borne Grumman Panthers powered with centrifugal-flow Pratt and Whitney J-42S, similar to the Rolls-Royce Tay and delivering 6,250 lb of thrust without afterburning. It is our own belief that, while General Vandenberg is to be commended for his timely and salutary observations, his opinions on the quality of Russian jet units should not be swallowed without a slight seasoning of salt. To be as frank as the General himself, we do not believe that the most capable Russo-Germanic team of technicians could have made a better job of developing the Nene than have the finest brains of Rolls-Royce and Pratt and Whitney; nor are we disposed to believe that the Russians can match the Avon, Orenda or Sapphire, or any of the very powerful turbojets now running in America. We do, however, firmly support the General in his endeavours to drive home a discomforting fact—that Russia possesses fine aircraft in large numbers. B.E.A. and L.A.C. FleetsB RITAIN'S civil aircraft fleets have been in the news during the last week or two as a result of B.E.A.'s difficulties arising from lack of aircraft and the changed owner- ship of a fleet of 23 Yorks. Both subjects are referred to on page 683. To comment on the second one first, we would express satisfaction that a British private company has been able to assemble such a sizeable and adaptable merchant air fleet—Yorks and Haltons—as is now to be operated by the Lancashire Aircraft Corporation. B.E.A.'s difficulties arise from delays in delivery of Ambassadors (Elizabethans), and, to a lesser extent, of the Pionairs. Latest information about the Ambassadors, of which there are now five, including prototypes, the flagship and Sir Francis Drake— the first production and principal trials aircraft—is more encouraging. The modified elevator is fitted and "flying with the desired result achieved. In particular, elevator control under such extreme conditions as a glide approach and landing at full forward e.g. and high landing weight is now satisfactory. Strangely enough, the minor deficiencies which have now been rectified in the Ambassador could not be detected in the prototype but only in the production aircraft. The authorized maximum a.u.w. is now 52,000 lb. If no more bad luck such as the two landing mishaps delays progress, there seems to be no reason why the first Ambassadors should not, after all, be delivered this summer with a C. of A. permitting immediate operation on most European routes and including a light-icing clearance. Full icing trials—of airframe, engines and airscrews—and tropical tests have still to be completed, and in this connection an Ambassador is expected soon to fly to Khartoum. Suitable conditions for icing trials may be sought in Scandinavia.
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