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Aviation History
1952
1952 - 1564.PDF
678 FLIGHT, 6 June 1952 FROM ALL QUARTERS Experts Round the B.B.C. Table THE B.B.C's "Taking Stock" discussion on Thursday evening of last week struck us as being one of the most successful of the series. It was devoted to a topical aircraft-production problem, military v. civil output, and the four experts were (unlike some experts in other fields) admirable broadcasters; and chairman Charles Gardner preserved the balance delicately. Lord Pakenham was doubtful whether the British aircraft industry was doing all it could to cash in on the civil market; it was naturally reluctant to stake capital beyond its order-book, so might not the Government underwrite courageous efforts to capture world markets ? And how about a Cabinet-level "pep" committee to free both civil and military production of red tape and to secure action in such matters as housing for aircraft workers ? His suggestion that our present leadership in civil jet develop ment was but a "fleeting opportunity" was challenged by Air Chief Marshal Sir Alec Cory ton (Bristols) and Mr. peorge Edwards (Vickers-Armstrongs): they felt that even the U.S. industry could not work miracles—"Ten hens sitting on one egg," said Mr. Edwards, "don't cut down the time needed to hatch the chick." Reverting to the main argument, military v. civil, Mr. Edwards said that Vickers were attacking the problem by extensively sub contracting the Valiant and assembling it in the main works, while concentrating Viscount production (54 are on order) in a factory elsewhere. They were confident of being able to put out four, or even six, Viscounts a month by 1954. A. Cdre. A. V. Harvey, M.P. (lately appointed Handley Page deputy chairman) warned against too much optimism about production capacity: the demand for British jet airliners might soon rise enormously. Sir Alec Coryton took a more conservative view, saying that the risk was unlikely to come until the aircraft—he instanced the Britannia, yet to fly—had proved themselves in service. Then there would be a large demand which might be difficult to meet. His answer (Mr. Edwards and A. Cdre. Harvey concurring) was that the industry must expand geographically. There was fairly general agreement that guaranteed stability of employment in the industry was a "must"; that over such matters as housing workers some local authorities were playing the game and some were not; and that there was at present too much frittering of effort on "unproductive" types of aircraft. There was support, too, for Sir Alec Coryton's observation that a big factor in our jet-airliner progress would be the jet's advantage over the piston-engined aircraft in operational economy (other speakers had referred to,America's well-entrenched position on the world market for piston types). Lord Pakenham mentioned the existence of a Government plan (which is apparently progressing only slowly) for building 11,000 houses for aircraft workers, with, if necessary, a subsidy of £200 per house. Though much of the argument was familiar—we recognized quotations from recent articles in this journal—the discussion was, altogether, a stimulating one. From The Bastille? THE following—evidently a real piece of inside' information— is quoted from our contemporary Aviation Week for May 26th: "In Paris, French insiders tell us that the Avro delta-wing bomber has made its first flight, powered by four Bristol Olympus engines developing 10,000-12,000 lb thrust each. It weighs about 190,000 lb." Avros and Bristols will be interested. Aircrew Tests at Sixteen BOYS of sixteen can now be tested for R.A.F. aircrew training under an extension of the pre-assessment scheme introduced in 1951 for boys of 17. Lads of good education, and with an ambition to fly, will now be able to find out whether they have the necessary physical and mental qualities. This facility will aid all types of potential R.A.F. aircrew : (a) the boy who intends to try for a cadetship at the R. A.F. College, Cranwell, at 17k with a view to obtaining a permanent commission in the General Duties (Flying) Branch; b) the boy who hopes later to join on the regular aircrew engagement of eight years; and (c) the National Service entrant who wishes either to train for aircrew duties during his two years' whole-time service or for the four-year special National Servict aircrew engagement. Boys of 16 who are educated to a standard broadly represented by a General Certificate of Education (though they may not hold the certificate at the time) are eligible for this pre-assessment. They can apply through their headmasters or through the nearest R.A.F. recruiting office. Communist Air Power In Korea MR. CHURCHILL'S statement to the Commons on May 28th regarding the military situation in Korea showed that Com munist air power had been considerably strengthened during the period of the truce talks. Despite U.N. air superiority over the immediate battle area, he said, the enemy had been able to build up large stocks of all types of supplies during the past ten months. There had been a marked increase in the size of the enemy air forces, which had about 1,800 aircraft compared with some 1,000 aircraft last July. About a thousand of these aircraft were jet fighters; mostly Mig-I5s. The Prime Minister, in his survey of military operations, said that while ground operations had only been on a small scale since last July—when the truce talks began—U.N. air forces were carrying out regular heavy attacks against enemy positions. They were playing a very important pan in limiting the enemy's chances of launching a successful offensive. Their chief task was to put out of action and keep unserviceable the major North Korean airfields capable of being used for jet-fighter operations. That this effort had proved successful was demonstrated by the fact that accurate night bombing had made the Communists abandon their attempt to base jet fighters on three new airfields, which they constructed in the Sinanju area last autumn, and on two other airfields, which they had enlarged to accommodate jet aircraft. The result of these operations had been that the United Nations had air superiority over the immediate battle area. A large pro portion of the Chinese aircraft were still stationed in Manchuria, and the lack of forward airfields would seriously handicap them if they attempted to carry out a sustained offensive. The other main objective of the attacks by U.N. air forces was to disrupt the flow of supplies to the enemy, to limit their troop movements, and to destroy their supply areas. The success of these attacks had severely restricted rail traffic and had limited vehicle movement almost entirely to the hours of darkness. As part of this campaign, the Royal Air Force Sunderland squadrons continued to take an active part in anti-submarine and shipping patrols which ensured the security of the sea lines of supply between Japan and Korea. A number of R.A.F. fighter pilots had been serving with American squadrons and had acquitted themselves with distinction. South African and Australian squadrons had also been playing their part. Mr. Churchill agreed with Mr. Emanuel Shinwell that his survey represented a "very grave" situation. Communist forces AWARDS AND MEDALS: AN R.Ae.S. OCCASION Before the Wilbur Wright Memorial Lecture, delivered on Thursday of last week, the Royal Aeronautical Society's medals and awards were presented, as is customary. Below, Mr. G. R. Edwards is seen receiving the British Gold Medal from Mr. G. H. Dowty, president of the Society. Among other recipients were, left to right: Prof. T. von Karman (the Society's Gold Medal—highest honour which the R.Ae.S. can confer, for "work of an outstanding nature in aeronautics"); Mr. H. H. Gardner (Simms Gold Medal); and Messrs. P. J. Palmer and S. C. Redshaw (Orville Wright Prize). A list of recipients of the ten R.Ae.S. awards appeared in "Flight" of May 2nd, and the Wilbur Wright Lecture was reported last week. "Flight" photographs
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