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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 1906.PDF
FLIGHT, 21 September 1951 383 FARNBOROUGH 1951 . ... the Nomad is large, is designed for extremely long-range opera-tion, and is abstemious in its consumption of fuel, the Snarler is small, is designed for short-term operation, and its consumptionof fuel is enormous. The Snarler actually shown on the Armstrong Siddeley section of the Hawker Siddeley Group stand was accom-panied by an animated diagram illustrating the operation of the motor. The diagram was, however, schematic and beyond indicat-ing that the fuel and oxidant pumps were of centrifugal type, gave no hint as to the intrinsic design of the other components. From examination of the unit itself—resplendent in its blackand cream paint and glittering with chromium plate—it could be seen that the Snarler comprises three main elements : the wheel-case and fuel pumps, the valve gear, and the combustion chamber. On the front of the wheelcase is the drive-face for an input-shaft,and the two fuel pumps (which as already stated are of centrifugal type) are mounted below this, and also on the front face of thecasing. Delivery pipes from the fuel pumps are approximately iin o.d. and feed into the battery of igniter and throttle valves whichcomprise the central section of the unit. From here, the fuels— water/methanol and liquid oxygen—are fed to the combustionchamber (again through iin o.d. pipes) and the water/methanol is circulated in a cooling jacket around the combusion chamber priorto injection. The designed endurance of the Snarler is three minutes at full thrust, but this figure is virtually a direct function of fuel tankage. The specific impulse of the unit is not available for publication, but the fuel volume emptied in even so short a time (relatively) as three minutes is likely to be considerable. Again, this is directly affected by the fuel used, and in this connection, the Snarler offers a break-away from accepted rocket practice in that it is designed to use readily available fuels; it is, in fact, hoped that petrol or standard aviation turbine fuel might eventually be used in place of the present water/methanol. Liquid oxygen—a non- toxic, non-explosive and non-corrosive fluid—will almost certainly continue to be used as the oxidant. Sunday's Record Crowd NOTHING could have been more encouraging to the organ-izers and exhibitors than the vast crowds which thronged the airfield, not to mention" the surrounding countryside, onSunday, the final public day. Some 140,000 were admitted, and many thousands more were to be seen in the roads and fieldsround about. No doubt many who had expected a "wash-out" on the previous day (though actually almost toe whole programmehad been carried through in appalling conditions) helped to swell the crowd. The weather was only mediocre after a bright morning, butno one seemed to be discouraged and the pilots put on one of the best displays of the week—every manoeuvre was well practisedand the stagecraft had become almost perfect. It is practically impossible to single out individuals for special mention, but thecrowd made it clear that they particularly enjoyed the large- aircraft circus, the many-turn spin of the Provost, and the close-upaerobatics of the Aiglet. The Pioneer's emulation of helicopter antics did not go unappreciated, and the droning Wyvern'sfast fly-past and prolonged climb evoked an admiring "ooh!" Among the individual efforts "Zura's" determination to findsufficient ceiling for his cartwheel delighted everyone, and the vicious whip stalls of his R.P.-laden Meteor—made in each casefrom the cloud fringes—were in themselves most spectacular. We have it on the authority of S/L. Zurakowski himself that in avertical full-power climb he loses speed to 60-70 kt I.A.S., shuts down one Derwent and cartwheels under asymmetric power.After three-quarters of a turn he shuts down the second Derwent, and the Meteor, having unusually high inertia due to the rocketson its wings, carries on to complete one and a half cartwheels, finishing nose-down. Thereupon it starts a spin, but after aquarter to half a turn, at 90-100 kt, control begins to be restored. "Zura" emphasizes that one engine is not opened up, for whereasthrust can be lost, by throttling, in ij to 2 sec, full power is not forthcoming from a turbojet in under about 6 sec. For such amanoeuvre it is necessary to have two power units fairly widely spaced. "Zura" considers a cartwheel to be possible on a Hornet,though he has never tried it. The reheat-Venom lighting up with a bang like a gas oven,and then turning its twinkling purple-gold jet to the crowd as it roared heavenwards, warmed the hearts of every enthusiast.Neville Duke's transonic water-chute impression was once again breathtaking, and in spite of the increasingly fancy performanceof the new 508 and the lively displays of the deltas, it remained the main subject for discussion several hours later as the trafficjams slowly unravelled themselves. PARTICIPATING AIRCRAFT Airspeed Ambassador G-ALZP 2nd Production Armstrong Whitworth (Gloster) Meteor N.F.11 WD604 Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire-Meteor ... WA820 Auster Aiglet G-AMKF Auster Model S WJ316 Auster Model B.4 G-AMKL Avro Shackleton M.R.1 WB822 Avro Ashton 2 WB491 Avro707A WD280 Avro707B VX790 Blackburn and General Aircraft G.A.L.60 WF320 Boulton Paul P.111 VT935 Bristol Brabazon I G-AGPW Bristol 170 Mk 31 G-AINO Bristol 171 Mk 3 G-ALTC Bristol 171 Mk 3 G-ALSX Bristol Proteus-Lineoln SX972 de Havilland Dove 2 G-ALBM de Havilland Comet Series 1 G-ALYS de Havilland Venom F.B.1 (Reheat) ... VV612 de Havilland Sea Venom N.F.20 WK376 de Havilland Heron ... G-ALZL de Haviiland Vampire Trainer ... ... G-5-7 de Havilland Chipmunk G-ALWB English Electric Sapphire-Canberra ... WD933 English Electric Canberra P.R.3 ... VX181 English Electric Canberra B.S VX185 Fairey Firefly A.S.7 WJ216 Fairey Gannet WE488 Gloster P.V. Meteor G-7-1 Handley Page Hermes V G-ALEV Handley Page (Reading) Marathon I ... G-AMEO Handley Page (Reading) Marathon II ... VX231 Hawker P.1052 (Naval) VX272 Hawker P.1067 ... WB188 Hawker P.1072 VP401 Napier Nomad-Lincoln SX973 Percival Provost WG503 Percival Prince G-AMMB Percival Sea Prince WF120 Scottish Aviation Pioneer 2 G-AKBF Short S.A./4 VX158 Short Sealand G-AKLV Vickers-Armstrongs Varsity T.1 ... WF33O Vickers-Armstrongs Valiant WB210 Vickers-Armstrongs Viscount 700 ... G-AMAV Vickers-Supermarine Attacker ... ... G-15-110 Vickers-Supermarine Type 508 VX133 Vickers-Supermarine Type 535 VV119 Westland Wyvern T.F.4 VW870 Westland-Sikorsky S-51 G-ALIK Production Production Mk 8 airfrtme Production 1st Prototype 1st Prototype Production 2nd Ashton prototype 3rd Prototype 707 2nd Prototype 707 1st Prototype Prototype Prototype Production Production (in Bristol 170) Production Proteus test-bed Production 2nd Production (5thairframe) 1st Prototype airframe 1st Production 1st Prototype 1st Prototype Production 5th Production airframe 1st Prototype 1st Prototype 1st Production 3rd Prototype 1st PrototypeG-AMGI) 2nd Prototype Production 1st Prototype G-AHXU) 1st Prototype airframe 1st Prototype 1st Prototype (formerly 1st prototype P.1040) Nomad test-bed 1st Leonides prototype (for- merly G-23-1) Production 1st Prototype Prototype 1st Prototype Production Production 1st Prototype 1st Prototype Prototype 1st Prototype 1st Prototype Mk 2 modified to Mk 4 Demonstration model (formerly (formerly A Spotter's View NEyER before have the machine parks displayed such a profu-sion of colour. The Avro 707A and B were finished in a salmon pink-cum-orange and bright blue respectively, while theP. 1067 and P. 1072 appeared in a delightful shade of pale green or "duck-egg blue." Shorts provided contrast on their S.A./4 witha battleship-grey top surface and black underside, broken by a maroon "cheat-line." One or two changes were apparent in Service markings. Thelatest aircraft were without the yellow P in a circle which has hitherto branded a prototype and, in the case of the Vickers-Supermarine 508 and the Valiant, the narrow yellow circle round the circumference of the roundels recalled the Kaiser's war.Camouflage on the Meteor N.F.n was a reminder that this useful form of decoration has not been forgotten; in fact, several differenttypes now coming off the assembly lines are resplendent in green and grey camouflage. Two shades of green and the omission ofa fin-flash has become standard Naval styling. A few of the aircraft were reappearing either with new markingsor with a different designation. For example, the private-venture Meteor made its debut in the static park last year with the civilregistration G-AMCJ, whereas this year it flew with G-7-1 stand- ing out boldly on its silver finish. This registration has beenallocated under the S.B.A.C. system, G-7 being the index number allotted to Glosters and the 1 signifying the first aircraft at presentflying under this allocation. Should the P.V. Meteor be accepted for the R.A.F. it would be given a Service serial, and the numberG-7-1 would become vacant for allotment to any later private venture. Thereby more than one aircraft can have the same regis-tration—but obviously not at the same time. An example of this is provided by Percivals, who hold the symbol G-23 and, in thecourse of the last three or four years, have given the registration G-23-1 to a Prentice for the Argentinian Air Force, the firstprototype Prince (later G-ALCM) and, more recently, the P.56 Provost (now WG503). The first prototype Venom I (W612) and the first prototypeHawker P. 1052 (VX272) both appeared with modifications, while VP401, which was the original Hawker P. 1040, was also in thepicture as the P. 1072. These facts show how firms are getting as much life as possible out of every available airframe—a practiceinitiated during the war and which has brought the term "flying test-bed" into the aeronautical dictionary.
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