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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 2048.PDF
and AIRCRAFT ENGINEER First Aeronautical Weekly in the World Founded 1909 No. 2229 Vol. LX. FRIDAY, 12 OCTOBER 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 EDITOR 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 fines). MANCHESTER, 3 260, Dcansjate. Telegrams, Ilifft, Manchester. Telephone, Blackfriars 4412 (3 lines). Deansgate 3595 (2 lines). GLASGOW, C.2. 26b, Renfield Street. Telejroms, 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 : Over Amazon and Andes 470 T.A.F. - . . .476 Air Transport in New Zealand - - - 478 Superrnarine 508 - - 482 Canada's Busiest Airport 485 Aircraft-Radio Trends - 486 Names and Fames . . . AT last the R.A.F. and Naval Aviation are leaving the depressing years'of "run- /\ down" and decimation behind them. The squadrons are reforming and new -£^- prototypes appear with gratifying frequency. Aroused by the spectacle of Farn- borough and set thinking afresh by a succession of important air exercises, the British public looks with renewed interest on its mounting air defences. Gradually the tax-payer is becoming aware that splendid new machines are being perfected and mass-produced to safeguard his home and his rights, and, even though he may not have had the good fortune to see them in the air, he will have noticed their striking new forms in his news- paper or winced as they have flashed across the cinema screen. Already he is becoming familiar with the barbed bullet which is the Swift, the close-knit masculinity of the Canberra, and the goddess-like beauty of the Valiant; and with these names he connects the duties of these key-types. But, unless he has been well coached by a spotter son, he is hardly competent to conjure with such cabalistic symbols as "P.1081" and "D.H.no," for only the magic of a name can breath life into mere images and numbers. There is much to be said for the current practice of authorizing a name for a Service aircraft only when the type has been ordered in quantity, for suitable names are becoming scarce; but in at least one important instance—that of the Hawker P. 1067—a name has been withheld even though production is under way. Surely, it is high time that this beautiful and deadly fighter was dubbed with some worthy title—"Hunter," perhaps— whereby its fame might more readily be spread abroad. Already an enterprising National Daily has run a contest for its readers and has proclaimed "Demon" as the winning suggestion; but, excellent a name as this is, it is merely a revival and not, like the aircraft itself, excitingly new; and in any case the Americans have lately conferred it upon their newest Navy fighter. Fearsome andJStirriiig Carlyle had it that giving a name was a poetic art—that all poetry was but a giving of names; and certainly there is a fascination about this important business of aircraft nomenclature. The right name may be the inspiration of a moment or it may be decided only after lengthy deliberation and research. But difficulties notwithstanding, the now- accepted practice of resurrecting family names seems to us a pity when brand-new tides, equally pulse-quickening, suggest themselves; nor does it yet appear necessary for one manufacturer to "borrow" a name from another, as is occasionally done. As we have said, good names are becoming scarce; but a few minutes' thought brings a string of new ones to mind; malevolent names like Fiend, Wraith, Scourge, Spectre and Terror; elemental, like Storm and Zephyr; noble, like Galahad, Champion, Strong- bow, Paladin, Conqueror and Excalibur; names of weapons—Falchion, Javelin, Stiletto; mighty names such as Cromwell and Marlborough; mythical ones like Unicorn and Centaur; and stirring British names like Sherwood and Stornoway. We in Great Britain are indeed fortunate in having inherited a wealth of splendid place-names, in the Lincoln/Lancaster tradition. These, of course, are particularly suited to the larger classes of military aircraft—bombers and transports—and their successive use is desirable not only because of their appropriateness, but for the friendly affiliations between the Service and the citizenry which always stem from such adoptions. It is only necessary to scan a map of these islands to hit upon a rich store of peculiarly British names, as resounding as those proclaimed by Shakespeare's Henry V before Agincourt. And the mere mention of Agincourt brings others to mind—those of the great battles wherein new glory has accrued to British arms. Of these Blenheim has already been worthily borne. Although, as we have suggested, such names are most appropriately applied to large aircraft, these in their turn, evoke yet others, for fighters and attack machines. Crecy, to take a single instance, calls to mind Longbow and Bowman. Indeed, there remain scores of great names with which to conjure.
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