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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 1472.PDF
and AIRCRAFT ENGINEER First Aeronautical Weekly in the World Founded 1909 No. 2219 Vol. LX. FRIDAY, 3 AUGUST 1951 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-I0, Corporation Street. Telegrams, Autocar, Coventry. Telephone, Coventry 5210. BIRMINGHAM, 2 King Edward House, New Street. Telegrams, Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone, Midland 7\9\ (7 lines). MANCHESTER, 3 260, Deansgate. Telegrams, Iliffe, Manchester. Telephone, Blackfriars 4412 (3 lines). Deansgate 3595 (2 lines). GLASGOW, C.2 26b, Renfield Street. Telegrams, Iliffe, Glasgow. Telephone, Central 1265 (2 lines). SUBSCRIPTION RATES Home and Overseas: Twelve months £3 3s. Od. U.S.A. and Canada,? 10.00 BY AIR: To Canada and U.S.A., six months, $16. IN THIS ISSUE: Heron in the Air - - - 128 Life of a Thoroughbred- 135 Evolution of the Guided Missile 140 Stress Analysis at Height 146 Airborne in the " Brab " 148 Wanted—A Brabazon DecisionL AST week saw the Brabazon I giving demonstration flights to a number of people j at London Airport, and those who expressed an opinion seemed, on the whole, to have been favourably impressed with their ride. Naturally enough, however, the question was asked: What next? It is accepted that much valuable research has been and will be done with this vast prototype, but that alone is not sufficient to justify its existence or the continuation of work on the developed, turboprop-powered, Mk II. Although it is over eight years since the Brabazon specification was worked out, the aim in producing such a mammoth is still unrealized in practice—no civil aircraft now flying, with the exception of the Brabazon, is capable of making a direct crossing from London to New York or return with a worth-while payload and with sufficient regu- larity to operate a schedule service. Certainly, requirements have changed in some respects, but for this one characteristic—the ability to make a direct crossing—the demand is now even greater than it was a few years ago. All passengers grumble when •they have to make intermediate stops and turn out, perhaps in bitterly cold weather, in the small hours of the morning. It is these unnecessary landings, too, which contribute to the habitual unpunctuality of aircraft on the Atlantic service. It is time that something definite was decided regarding the Brabazons and their future. The military requirement suggested cannot be regarded as a primary one in peace-time, and apparently the Princess flying boats are to be taken over for such Ser- vice duties as may be found for ultra-large aircraft. After his ride last week, Mr. Strauss reminded interviewers that Comets are being developed for the Atlantic service. But excellent and promising as these pure-jet machines have already shown themselves to be, we cannot help sharing, for the moment at any rate, some of the doubts expressed by Allen Gale on page 144. Only those in possession of confidential information regarding manpower and materials can say whether it would be wise or even possible at this time to build more than one Mk II Brabazon, but clearly the Bristol company is not alone in wishing to see these aircraft operated in the way that was originally intended. We also should like to see negotiations reopened between the Ministry of Supply and B.O.A.C. in order to dis- cover if a way can be found of operating Mk II Brabazons on passenger services. As for the possibility of war, should it come there is no doubt at all that large numbers of important people will need to be ferried between London and New York. Well Done, Mutt IO Mutt has finally handed over." Such words as these must have been spoken, with a tinge of regret, at well-nigh every airfield and aircraft factory in these islands when Vickers-Armstrongs announced last week that Capt. J. Summers —for 22 years their chief test pilot—had decided to retire from that position. Only those who have worked alongside him can fully appreciate his contribution to Britain's pres- tige in the air: prestige, that is, not only in the record-breaking sense, but in his further- ance of a tradition of grit and loyalty in a dangerous calling. For Mutt has extricated his sturdy frame from as many tight corners as he cares to remember. There was the flat spin down to 150ft in the first dual Grebe; structural failure in the Hawfinch at T.V. speed; a ride on a spinning Bulldog's centre-section and his subsequent regaining of control by pushing the stick with his foot—all this before he left the Service and joined Vickers in 1929. And his bowler hat was hardly a passport to security, if one remembers the windscreen collapse in the Vireo, the break-up of the M.130, and that most hair- raising of all his experiences, the structural failure of a Warwick, which put on full rudder and ended in a 2,oooft/min side-slip, concussion and a burn-up. But then there were moments which made up for all the spots of bother—the first flight in a Spitfire, the first in a civil jet transport, the first in a turboprop transport, and the first in a British four-jet bomber. Best of all, perhaps Mutt can tackle his new liaison job assured that he has set a manly example for the young fellows who now take over the controls.
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