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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 1696.PDF
and AIRCRAFT ENGINEER First Aeronautical Weekly in the World Founded 1909 No. 2224 Vcl. LX. FRIDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER 1951 ED/TOR MAURICE A. SMITH, D.F.C. ASSISTANT EDITOR H. F. KING, M.B.E. TECHNICAL EDITOR C. B. BAILEY-WATSON, B.A. ART ED/TOR JOHN YOXALL Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices: DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.1. 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 Unes). MANCHESTER, 3 260, Deansgate. Telegroms, Iliffe. Manchester. Telephone, Blackfriars 4412 (3 lines). Deansgote 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: Farnborough Stop-press 270 I.A.T.A. — Parliament of the World's Airlines - 278 The Anglo - American Conference - - - - 280 British Aircraft, 1951 - 283 British Aircraft to Scale 299 Comet Decor - ... 307 Power from Pistons and Jets 311 ->borough Spectators' 'lie 319 lodern Service Pilot 320 jiliary Services - - 321 [ciliary Industry - 327 Speculations Before FarnboroughW ITH the organizers themselves still perplexed by late-hour fears and deferred decisions it would be idle to speculate too deeply on participation in the great Farnborough Display next week; but it is obvious enough that, among the aircraft at least, the real novelties will be almost exclusively military, or of a wholly experimental nature, with obvious military applications. This, of course, is as it should be, for Defence is the national watchword, and as yet we in Britain have hardly begun to harvest, as it were, our matchless crop of post-war civil types. So far as can be seen at present (at this time of year, in deference to Security, we of Flight must pursue our business with one eye shut), there will be at Farnborough our first four-jet bombers (Vickers Valiant B.I and Short S.A./4); first axial-jet intercepters (Hawker P.1067 and Supermarine Swift F.i); and, in the Hawker P.1072, our first fighter with liquid-rocket boost. All have been long awaited, and their performances—even mere presence—at Farnborough should do much to relieve the present anxieties. But these fresh laurels are certainly not to be rested upon, for it cannot be said that the new types named have brought our technical development to a stage where equitable expansion of the flying Services is possible. It is true that vitally important carrier- borne anti-submarine machines and an excellent tactical bomber are in productior, but on the other hand it is well to remember that no multi-jet all-weather fighter, ultra- long-range penetration fighter, ramp-launched rocket-powered intercepter, or jet- propelled carrier-borne strike aircraft has yet been seen, even in prototype form. Moreover, we are in need of new classes of helicopter for all three Services—particularly an anti-submarine type for the Navy—not to mention economical jet trainers on the lines of the Boulton Paul P.119 (announced in Flight last week), a new long-range pure-jet military transport and—we say it again—an up-to-date flying-boat for anti-submarine work and patrol from overseas bases. So long as these and other outstanding deficiencies are kept in mind, however, we may justly take pride in the new fighters and bombers already scheduled for presentation next week. Other nations, of course, possess excellent fighters and jet bombers—and possess them in bigger numbers than we can at present contemplate; but this year's "Farn- borough," we believe, will signal our leading position in one profoundly important field. We have in mind the team of four delta-wing research aircraft of Avro, Fairey and Boulton Paul, to which craft, and to their pilots, falls the weighty responsibility of securing for this country undisputed leadership in aerodynamic and structural design— a leadership commensurate with that we already hold in respect of turbine power. Corporate Headway OFTEN enough the two British Airways Corporations have been counselled toput their house in order, and at last it seems that the new brooms are hard atwork. The 1950-51 annual reports and statements o» ->unts, recently pub- lished, show that a concerted effort has been made to tidy ,__ _^«ncrease working efficiency in all the many departments which today make up such complex organizations. On the credit side, it is instructive to observe the salutary effect of having nearly achieved the aim of "streamlined" fleets of suitable aircraft; and, of course, the equipment picture will continue to improve in a decisive manner with the introduction of the Comets and Ambassadors, and the Viscounts and Bristol 175s. In their reports, the Corporations make commendably little of several legitimate complaints, but the fact remains that, had everything been just so for them in the period under review, the story of continued deficits might have been very different. Examples of the factors which have increased the gradient of the uphill road to solvency—more particularly, perhaps, in the case of B.E.A.—are the relatively low rates paid by the Post Office for carriage of mail, the exceptionally heavy tax on petrol, and the M.CA.'s high landing fees. Strikes, go-slows and late delivery of aircraft have also contributed materially on the negative side. But even allowing for the recurrence of apparently inevitable imponderables, the prospects have never looked brighter.
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