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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 1843.PDF
344 \.-Hf FLIGHT FARNBOROUGH: THE OPENING PHASES Tuesday's Brilliant Flying Display Sets the Pace for British Aviation's Great Week FLIGHT" PHOTOGRAPHS , AS this is written the Twelfth Flying Display and Exhi-bition of the Society of British Aircraft ConstructorsL is under way at Farnborough. All the omens foretell another great occasion which can bring nothing but credit on our aircraft industry. The influx of aircraft began on Sunday morning, September9th, which was wise, for the weather had given no promise of allying itself with the organizers. By noon on Monday, however,there were still very obvious gaps in the carefully disposed parks, and even when, well into the afternoon, we finally willed ourselvesto leave after our peep back-stage, some important performers had yet to book in. But everyone was in good heart, though there wasgeneral commiseration with Vickers-Supermarine that the Swift had force-landed near Chilbolton on Saturday, obliging them tosubstitute the closely-related, but previously shown, Type 535. One of the brighter moments of Monday afternoon was thearrival of the G.A.L. 60, whereupon the loading doors were swung back and the ramp lowered to allow withdrawal of the 20-ft caravanand Land Rover (see page 352). The caravan was opened up, and, without further ado, the B. and G.A. people made us at home intraditional Brough style. As we headed Farnboroughwards on the next day (which wasconsecrated to the technical fraternity) a mellow sun beamed over all; but a cloud carpet was spreading and the flying display openedbeneath it. There was hardly a breath of wind, so die take-offs had no natural aid; even so, the Viscount 700 was up and away indouble-quick time to lead the opening "circus." The Comet was absent and the Mamba-Marathon retired, but the Avro Ashton,Handley Page Hermes V, Bristol Proteus-Lincoln, Napier Nomad- Lincoln and Avro Shackleton made their respective bows withgrace and agility. The Viscount banked low, with the port Darts at rest, and the Shackleton's remarkable climbs almost suggestedthat this massive machine was designed to intercept its quarry at great heights rather than in the ocean depths. The slow-running,contra-rotating Rotol airscrews of the Nomad-Lincoln attracted attention, while the Ashton (now fully equipped and furnished)and the quiet, handsome Hermes V showed advanced turbojet and turboprop performances respectively. The Proteus-Lincoln flewswiftly and quietly with both its Merlins stopped. The Westland-Sikorsky S-51 was quickly off the mark to lowera passenger to the rescue of a comrade. Attached to the harness of No. 1, he was hauled aloft and both men were deposited in theallotted place. The Bristol Sycamore seemed livelier than ever and went astern with nonchalant precision. Four light machines—the Percival Provost, Auster Aiglet,Auster Model S and Scottish Aviation Pioneer—were next in the air together. The Provost climbed sharply after running for a veryfew yards and temporarily vanished skyward, leaving the stage free for the Austers, which leaped, spun and generally diverted andimpressed the assembly. With its Cirrus Bombardier driving a variable-pitch airscrew, the Model S demonstrated a quite excep-tional getaway and initial climb. Then the Pioneer projected itself into the air, landed, and was away again with quite bewilderingspeed, after which the Provost came down from cloudland in a ten-turn spin before snapping into a first-rate aerobatic routine. The Sapphire-Canberra was just rearing up to unstick whensomething prompted the pilot to thrust the nosewheel back on to the runway and retire behind the scenes. Other non-starters inthe same circus were the Westland Wyvern and Fairey Firefly 7. The de Havilland Dove and Heron were, in a word, charming(from some angles, in its B.E.A. livery, the Heron looked for all the world like a baby Viscount), and the ivory-finished ShortSealand amphibian showed its paces with a Gipsy Queen shut down. Every line of the Avon-powered Hawker P.1067 intercepter is suggestive of speed. Not only was this borne out by its demonstrated performance, but, manoeuvrability proved to be of an extremely high order. ON this and the following page is a report of the opening stagesof the exhibition; and on the succeeding two pages are further photographs, taken at Farnborough, of the participating aircraft.Next week we shall publish a comprehensive illustrated story of the whole week's activities, with specific references to theperformances of individual pilots. Of juggernaut aspect, the Blackburn and General AircraftG.A.L.60 lifted its array of wheels off the runway with a complete absence of fuss and flew directly overhead to display its vast spreadof wing and breadth of fuselage before coming in for a landing. Those who had not been forewarned must have been astonishedwhen, under the action of eight wheel-brakes and four reversed airscrews, the huge freighter came to rest in little more than150 yd and proceeded to taxi backwards. The latest (three-cockpit) Fairey Gannet left the ground on halfof its Double Mamba power, with the rear airscrew stationary. It returned past the enclosures with both "fans" whining andproceeded to roll and otherwise disport itself with great vivacity before making a simulated deck-landing approach and folding itswings while taxying. Having been held down after take-off, the Canberra P.R.3accumulated a superabundance of speed for an upward roll. Its appearance and comportment in very tight turns and othermanoeuvres were equally admired. Then the very earth shook as four Avons accelerated the massive Short S.A./4 bomber up therunway for a sequence of very low passes, tight turns (with flaps lowered), and—particularly impressive—a very slow fly-past.Here, it would seem, is a fast, capacious and well-tempered load- carrier. Next, the Valiant surged forward to make its bow, and a splendid The Vickers-Supermarine Attacker (Type 538) was statically displayed with a 1,000 Ib bomb and two R.P.s under each wing, and with additional rockets and slipper-type auxiliary tanks in juxtaposition.
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