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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 2227.PDF
584 PLIGHT PUSHING THE BOAT OUT . . . that transmits, in the normal manner, the pilot's movementsof his controls to power units which, in turn, produce the required movement of the control surfaces. As there is no direct con-nection between the pilot's controls and the surfaces, it is necessary to provide "feel" artificially. To vary the forces according to thespeed of the aircraft, a travelling fulcum is incorporated. The control surfaces are of the plain type, without either aero-dynamic or static balancing. Extensive bench-testing of the control system has given satisfactory results and a Sunderlandflying-boat with similar equipment has done well over 200 hours in the hands of Saunders-Roe pilots Geoffrey Tyson and JohnBooth. Incidentally, the flaps, of the slotted type, are electrically operated. Anti-icing is provided for all surfaces, through the medium ofthermal ducts in the leading edges. For the mainplanes the heat is taken from heat-exchangers around the jet pipes of the outerengines, while for the tail unit self-contained kerosene combustion burners, with their own separate fuel supply, will be used. Theair intake for the tail heaters, which are ignited electrically from the cockpit, can be seen in the dorsal fin. Fuel for the Princess is carried in four integral tanks positionedbetween the engines and bounded fore and aft by the wing spars. Total capacity is 14,500 gallons. There are no rivets in the tanks,and the nuts and bolts involved are sealed with Bostik. The wing-tip floats retract outwards to the now-familiar tip-tankposition; this arrangement is subject to a Saunders-Roe patent. At present there is no intention to paint the Princesses, andcertainly both the cost and weight of the paint which would be needed would be formidable. To keep the interior cool at tropicalmoorings two ideas are being considered: the first, to erect awnings; the second, periodically to spray the aircraft with waterThe men particularly concerned with the Princess are • Sir Arthur Gouge, B.Sc, F.R.Ae.S., M.I.Mech.E. (vice-chairmanand chief executive); Capt. E. D. Clarke, M.C. (manage director); W. Browning, F.R.Ae.S., A.M.I.Mech.E. (generalmanager); Henry Knowler, A.M.I.C.E., F.R.Ae.S. (chief design-ri • G. A. V. Tyson (chief test pilot). ;' DATA SUMMARY FOR THE SAUNDERS-ROE S.R/45 PRINCESS Span (floats down) 210ft 6in Span (floats up) 219ft 6in Length 148ft Height ... 55ft 9in Wing chord at root 30ft Wing chord at tip ; 11ft Wing thickness at root 5.4ft Wing thickness at tip 1.3ft Aspect ratio 9.5 Wing area 5,000 sq ft (approx.) Wing loading (max.) 63 Ib/sq ft (approx.) Hull height 24ft 3in Hull beam 16ft 8in Hull draught 8ft Fin and rudder height above top of hull 31ft 6in Fin and rudder area 600 sq ft (approx.) Tailplane span 77ft Tailplane chord at root 22ft Tailplane chord at tip 6ft 9in Tailplane area 1,000 sq ft (approx) Cruising speed 380 m.p.h. (330 knots) Payload ... 40,000 Ib All-up weight •. 315,0001b Empty weight (fully equipped) 190,0001b Range, still air with full tanks 4,800 naut. miles THE NEW MINISTERS Lord Dej-'klfTond Dudley USUALLY well-informedpeople in aviation who had been confidently tipping this or that member of the new Govern- ment (one in particular was quoted as a "dead cert") for the post of Secretary of State for Air, found themselves backing losers when the chosen name was revealed on October 31st as being that of Lord De L'Isle and Dudley, V.C. The new Minister, who is 42 years of age and was educated at Eton and at Magdalene College, Cambridge, has a distinguished war record as an officer of the Grenadier Guards, with whom he served in France and, later, Italy. (It was in an action on the Anzio Beachhead that he gained his V.C., for "superb courage and utter disregard of danger.") He had held a commission for some years before the war, and was a captain in 1939; he was promoted to major in 1943. In 1940 he married the elder daughter of the late Field-Marshal Viscount Gort of Hamsterley. The sixth Baron, Lord De L'Isle and Dudley succeeded to the title in 1945 shortly after entering the Commons as member for Chelsea. In that year, also, he was Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions. He is an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. So far as we are aware, he has so far had no close connection with aviation; but surprisingly often, and in spite of the cynics, political history has produced Ministers who have made a success of their jobs through personal ability and character rather than through technical experience. The new S. of S., too, has youth on his side. We are sure the flying Services and the aircraft industry will wish this gallant soldier success in his responsible new office. The implications of the appointment of the Hon. John Scott Maclay, C.M.G., M.P., as "Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation," will escape nobody, for speculation about the future of the M.C.A. was rife even before the General Election. (As we go to press, there are rumours of the imminent appointment of one of the permanent Civil Servants of the Ministry to a post of Director-General of Civil Aviation.) Mr. Maclay, who is a National Liberal, was Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Production in Mr. Churchill's "caretaker" Government in 1945. Now 46 years of age, he was educated at Winchester and Trinity College, Cambridge, and has interests in shipping; during the war he was a member of the British Merchant Shipping Mission to U.S.A., and in 1944 became its head. "Supply" goes to the Rt. Hon. Duncan Sandys, P.C., M.P. (43 years old, Eton and Magdalen), a son-in-law of Mr. Winston Mr. J. S. Maclay Mr. Duncan Sandys Churchill. This is not his first experience of the M.o.S., for he was its Parliamentary Secretary from 1943 to 1944, two years after he had suffered disablement during a distinguished Army career. In view of the Ministry's very apparent preoccupation with guided missiles, it is not without interest to recall that Mr. Sandys was chairman, from 1943 to 1945, of the War Cabinet committee formed to study, and combat, German secret weapons. Lord Cherwell, the Paymaster-General, with a seat in the Cabinet, will be specially charged with the supervision of atomic- energy research and production, 'and with the direction of the Prime Minister's statistical branch. The distinguished career of this versatile scientist dates from the time when he was an experimental pilot at Farnborough during the First World War and subsequently director of the physical laboratory there. As to other new Ministerial appointments, the fighting Services will welcome Mr. J. P. L. Thomas as First Lord of the Admiralty and Brig. Antony Head as War M nister. Aviation, too, finds an old friend back in office—Lord Swintoi, now Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancasrer; all but the youngest will remember him as Air Minister from 1935 to 1938 and Minister of Civil Aviat'on in 044-45. He is still Honorary Air Commodore of No 608 (North Riding) Squadron, R.Aux.A.F. Among further appointments, announced last week-end, are those of Lt. Cdr. J. G. Braithwaite as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation and Mr. Nigel Birch as Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Air Ministry. An Air Ministry statement says that Lord De L'Isle ind Dudley has appointed Mr. T. C. G. James and Mr. D. C. Humphreys as his private secretary and assistant private secretary respectively.
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