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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 1455.PDF
The Lord Mayor of London, Sir Denys Lowson, seen arriving, was one of the most interested visitors on July 19th. Mr. Claude Grahame-White, the great pilot and organizer of the early Hendon days (seen with Mrs. Grahame-White), must have had a richer store of memories than anyone present. On the right is Sir Francis McClean, another illustrious pioneer. FIFTY YEARS AT HENDON . . . tail-down attitude owing to the fact that its D. H. Gipsy III engine was absent. Next to it was the Weir W.2 single-seat light autogiro of 1934. The twin-cylinder horizontally- opposed 45 h.p. Weir engine of this neat little aircraft is unusual in its use of individual induction systems with integ- ral carburetters. Both of these aircraft—which had been lent by the Science Museum—looked comparatively modern by contrast to the quite fantastic appearance of the Hafher R.2 which, never- theless, was built only in 1931. The Hafner, of course, was a helicopter as distinct from an autogiro, and although the placard before the machine stated that it was fitted with an 84 h.p. Pobjoy "Niagan" (sic) III engine, examination of the unit revealed that it was, in fact, a Salmson nine-cylinder radial. This aircraft also exhibited a somewhat extraordinary method of torque reaction in its use of a pair of sycamore seed-like "wings" extending rearward on each side of the "fuselage" with their chords in a substantially vertical plane. The leading edges of these "wings" were uppermost, and each surface had a pronounced camber, the concave side being to port. A simple system of cables and pulleys enabled the angle of attack of these surfaces in the rotor downwash to be changed by movement of the "rudder" pedals. Torque reaction was evidently achieved by variation of lift from each of these surfaces. Separated from the Hafner by the considerably more familiar Sikorsky R.4 was the Focke-Achgelis FA 330 man- lifting observation kite. This device employs a free-turning rotor, and was designed for towing behind surfaced U-boats. Looking surprisingly modern even in proximity to the svelte Bristol 171 Sycamore and the Westland-Sikorsky S-51, was the Cierva C-30A (1935). This aircraft is owned by a Mr. G. S. Baker of Ludlow, Salop, who uses it not only for pleasure The baker's van—the Westland-Sikorsky S-51—delivers the birthday cake which, we believe, was by no means as "heavy" as the derrick would suggest. but—we understood from Mr. Norman Hill, who was flyingit in the display—for business journeys as well. ; To give even a brief description of every aircraft on view would need a very great deal of space indeed and, therefore, we propose to refer only to those aircraft whose present rarity or unusual design features commanded attention. The extremely neat little Hawker Cygnet two-seat ultra-light biplane of 1924 is the only specimen extant, and has been lovingly reconstructed by its owners, the original builders. Of particular interest in view of the present design col- laboration between Professor Hill and Blackburn and General Aircraft, the Westland-Hill Pterodactyl (1926) presented even in these days of several tail-less types, an incongruous appearance between the Cygnet and the Cirrus Hermes Moth which flanked it. The 1928 Hawker Tom-Tit, which is so often seen at flying meetings in the hands of Neville Duke, glittered in the sun in its blazon of Sopwith blue and gold, whilst two places away from it stood the Warren-girder-strutted Parnall Elf (1929). Then there was the delightful little Heath Parasol single-seat ultra-light which, although built in 1929, exhibited the essential austerity of design and construction which was so widely featured by the immediate post-war ultra-lights shown at the 1946 Paris Salon. The Spartan Arrow (1931) employs an aileron control linkage which could scarcely be simpler, in employing cables, bell-cranks and push/pull rods, all exposed below the lower wing; next to it—surely one of the most unusual aircraft ever designed, both in appearance and performance—stood the 1929 Handley Page Gugnunc. This unique little biplane was built for the Guggenheim Safety Competition in America, and established for all time the safety qualities of slots and flaps. Hawker's famous Hart, G-ABMR, which was entered by Princess Margaret (to be flown by G/C. Peter Townsend) in the King's Cup air race, had the same dignified and attrac- tive colour scheme as Neville Duke's Tom-Tit, and was separated by a very smart Puss Moth of the same vintage (1930) from a three-seat cabin Desoutter 1 monoplane of the same year. A somewhat larger machine than the Puss Moth, the Desoutter is characteri ed by a straight-through wing, with something like what today we call a droop-snoot leading edge, and by an undercarriage structure faintly reminiscent of the Cierva Air Horse. Tony Cole's Comper Swift shone in its coat of glistening black, but was closely rivalled in smart- ness of appearance by the Redwing II (1931), unusual among light aircraft in its day in having side-by-side seating. This machine is the only one left in this country and has been entirely rebuilt by students of the College of Aeronautical and Automobile Engineers. An exceedingly smart Tiger Moth of the London Aero- plane Club stood next to an Avro Avian 4M which, although of the same date (1931), somehow looked curiously old- fashioned by comparison. Perhaps it is that the Tiger Moth has become so familiar, whereas one nowadays so rarely sees an Avian. With its metal fuselage unadorned by paint, and thus sharply contrasting with the cream dope of its wings and tail surfaces, the Blackburn B2 stood neatly at the end of its line, an extremely workmanlike and still very attractive little aircraft. Although the placard for the Hawk Major (1934) quiteaccurately stated that the aircraft was a two-seat light
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