FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1951
1951 - 1142.PDF
FLIGHT, 15 June 1951 PRELUDE TO PARIS... Short, "borne by the war-time Stirling, has again been associatedwith a new bomber, and it may be assumed that the company's enthusiasm for large flying boats is being maintained. Short products have been exported to : South Africa, Norway,New Zealand, Australia and the U.S.A. Address: Queens Island, Belfast, Northern Ireland.At Paris: Representative: M. Stern, Avio Star, 27 Avenue de la Grand Annie. SCOTTISH AVIATION, LTD. A COMPANY with many interests, Scottish Aviation has overa period developed the Leonides-powered Prestwick Pioneer, which is capable of operating from very confined spaces. Itsspecialized qualities, conferred chiefly by the large-area, much- flapped-and-slotted wings, may enable it to tackle work among thesmall rocky islands off the Scottish coast. Three Pioneers have been ordered by the British Ministry of Supply for observationand communications on the Australian Woomera rocket range. Scottish Aviation specializes also in conversion and repair work,and is at present engaged on B.E.A.'s Pionair Dakota conversions. Exports have been averaging a figure of £400,000 annually.The countries eoncerned are: U.S.A., Holland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal, Iceland, India,South Africa, France, Syria, .Cyprus, Australia, Ceylon, Greece, Eire. ' Address: Prestwick Airport, Ayrshire, Scotland. SLINGSBY SAILPLANES, LTD. GREAT interest has been aroused by the newly introducedSlingsby T.34 or Sky high-performance sailplane, examples of which are now being prepared for the British National GlidingCompetitions at Camphill, Derbyshire. Dimensions and perform- ance figures are given on page 722. A full blind panel is standardequipment, and provision is made for oxygen. Another important product of this company, known to theR.A.F. as the Sedbergh, is the T.21B dual trainer. . Slingsby have been exporting at the rate of £10,000 each year. 7" Receiving countries are : Sweden, Portugal, Pakistan, India, New Zealand, Australia, S. Rhodesia, South Africa and Holland. Address-.Kirbymoorside, Yorkshire. VICKERS, LTD. VICKERS-ARMSTRONGS, LTD., have in current pro-duction the Viscount 700 airliner (powered with four Rolls- Royce Dart turboprops and already famed for its exceptionalstandard of passenger comfort), the Valetta military transport, and Varsity crew trainer. Latest product, now ordered for R.A.F.re-equipment, is the Type 660 bomber, powered by four Rolls- Royce Avon turbojets buried in the inboard wing sections. Thisis altogether a most impressive aircraft, and is probably the most effective four-jet bomber in the air today. Incidental items inwhich the company specializes include seats and fuel accessories. The Vickers-Supermarine branch has lately received a pro-duction order on behalf of the R.A.F. for its Swift fighter, a development of the very fast experimental swept-wing type 535.The 535 was itself developed from the straight-wing Attacker, now being delivered to the Royal Navy and to Pakistan. Vickers have exported to the following countries : Argentine,Australia, Belgium, British West Indies, Denmark, Eire, Egypt, France, French Indo China, Holland, India, Iraq, Pakistan,Rhodesia, Siam, South Africa, and Sweden. Address: Aircraft Division, Weybridge, Surrey.At Paris: Stand No. 34 Grande Nef. Representative: Marcel Lourde 36 Avenue Hoche, Paris 8. WESTLAND AIRCRAFT, LTD. ELICOPTERS (S-51 and S-55) and the Wyvern strikefighter are the primary products of this West of England company. The S-55 has a normal gross weight of 6,800 lb, adisposable load of 2,405 lb, and a normal operational range in excess of 400 nautical miles. Varied military and civil applica-tions are foreseen, including anti-submarine duties. The Wyvern is a large deck-landing torpedo-carrying, high-performance,single-seater, powered by an Armstrong Siddeley Python turbo- prop. Since the war Westland products have been exported toEgypt, the Belgian Congo, Italy and Thailand. Address: Yeovil, Somerset. At Paris-^Lt.-Col. Gaussauh, 48 Avenue Raymond Poincare,\Paris 16. ENGINEERING IN AVIATION Four Aeronautical Papers read at Joint Conference of three Learned Societies OPENED on June 4th by. Mr. Richard Stokes, LordPrivy Seal, the Joint Engineering Conference of theInstitutions of Civil Engineersj Mechanical Engineers and Electrical Engineers embraced the presentation of a notable variety of papers covering many aspects of the specialized engineering interests of the three learned bodies concerned. Aviation matters were first discussed in the paper, The Application of Power to Aircraft, presented at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on June 8th by Mr. F. M. Owner, C.B.E., M.Sc, chief engineer, Engine Division, Bristol Aeroplane Co., Ltd. MR. OWNER opened his paper with an historical survey ofpropulsion and accessory power requirements, and then went on to dilate upon current practice. Of the choice of propulsivesystem, he stated that the airscrew was accepted as the best mode of propulsion for speeds up to 500 m.p.h. and altitudes up to atleast 40,000ft, but that, beyond these values, the turbojet had as yet no competitor. However, the piston engine continued tobe accepted as suitable for transport aircraft (civil or military) having speeds up to 300 m.p.h. and at altitudes up to 20,000ft.For very long duration, compounding would come into use, but the improved fuel consumption now achieved by the largeraxial-flow turbojets considerably lengthened the duration and range available. Present trends showed no sign of any practicallimit to the size of turbojets comparable with the cooling problem which limited the cylinder size of a reciprocating engine.Nevertheless, an economic limit would be reached as soon as increase of power could be obtained only by direct scaling ofevery component and dimension, for specific weight would then start to increase. The size at which this limitation would occurhad not, however, yet been determined. After giving brief descriptions of various representative powerinstallations, the lecturer went on to consider accessory power. For large aircraft, the counterbalancing of control surfaces hadnow reached its limit, and the use of mechanical power for moving the control surfaces was thus encouraged. The power requiredwas appreciable (say, 50 h.p.) for a large aircraft, and although intermittent, was needed several times a minute from take-offto touch-down. The long runs now required for engine and airscrew controls also made power actuation necessary to maintainprecision of operation under all conditions. In connection with the mechanical actuation of landing gearjMr. Owner stated that the power requirement was about 1 h.p. per 10,000 lb of aircraft weight, and went on to say that, althoughthe flying boat had no undercarriage, it only partly escaped the additional power requirement, in that present-day speeds demandedretraction of wing-tip floats : these, however, needed only a fraction of the power required for the landplane's undercarriage.The enormous advances in the field of radio and navigational aids had increased the power requirement to a point where2-4 kW were essential for long-distance all-weather aircraft. Alternating current was needed at a controlled frequency, andunless auxiliary power units were carried, a rotary converter or variable-speed hydraulic transmission was necessary. Of engine de-icing, the lecturer stated that there was muchargument over the relative merits of the solutions now applicable to gas turbines. Both power and heat were available in largequantities under normal conditions, but de-icing had to be possible when engine output was low, as in prolonged glides.Continuous electrical heating was convenient but wasteful, as its efficiency was appreciably lower than the thermal efficiency ofthe engine, which wasted more than two-thirds of the fuel heat. It was therefore less extravagant to heat the intake walls and, ifnecessary, the first few blade rows by bleeding air from the compressor delivery or gas from the jet-pipe. In the turbopropengine, the jet-pipe pressure might be insufficient when the output was low, but this difficulty could be obviated in the freeturbine by tapping gas between the compressor-driving and power sections of the turbine. A much larger quantity of heatwas required for wing de-icing, and although this could be obtained from the engine in the same way, heat exchangers had
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
