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Aviation History
1952
1952 - 1759.PDF
and AIRCRAFT ENGINEER First Aeronautical Weekly in the World Founded 1909 No. 2266 Vol. LXI. FRIDAY, 27 JUNE 1952 EDITOR MAURICE A. SMITH, D.F.C. ASSISTANT EDITOR H. F. KING, M.B.E. TECHNICAL EDITOR C. B. BAILEY-WATSON. B.A. ART ED/TOR 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 71*1 (7 lines). MANCHESTER, 3 260, Deansgate. Telegrams, lliffe, Manchester. Telephone, Rlackfriars 4412 (3 lines). Deansgate 3595 (2 lines). GLASGOW, C2. 26b, Renfield Street. Telegrams, lliffe, 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 : Bridging the English Channel 760 Our American Corres pondent Reports . . . 766 Titanium 768 Winged Feet for the Troops 771 Sea Hawk 772 Design for Zero "G" - 744 World Gliding Championships 776 High-Speed Aerodynamics 778 Air-Transport Policy - 783 Modernizing Nato I NTO the jargon-ridden councils of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization the strange new shibboleth "off-shore procurement" has been insinuated. This new password to security—already applied to the dollar-purchase of aircraft spares—now takes on a far wider significance by the announcement last week that the U.S. Govern ment is considering the purchase, with Mutual Security funds, of complete aircraft from European member-nations of NATO. "Spicific recommendations" for "co-ordinated production of aircraft in Europe to help in meeting NATO requirements" have been called for; and not without justification the belief has gained currency that the British aircraft industry may be deeply concerned in the matters of licensing and production. Final decisions would be made only after "careful evaluation of the characteristics of European aircraft for operational requirements," but Mr. Fred Anderson, U.S. special representative for the Mutual Security Agency, is reported to have said in Paris that the U.S.A.F. would be free to choose any aircraft judged to be as good as, or better than, American types. He is further credited with the remark that the machines most likely to be selected were such day fighters as the Hawker Hunter and the Dassault Mystere, the night and all-weather Gloster G.A.5 delta, and the Vickers Valiant jet bomber, adding that the military possibilities of the de Havilland Comet would not be overlooked. Unofficially it is reported that the building of Avon-powered English Electric Canberras for Europe, under "off-shore" contracts, has been under discussion for some time. With the qualities of the purely military types mentioned the U.S.A.F. has already familiarized itself, and it would be surprising indeed if machines such as those named were not to be chosen on their demonstrated merits to play the leading part in this momentous project. Similarly, of course, British power units—the Rolls-Royce Avon, Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire and Bristol Olympus among them—command the most urgent consideration by the appointed authorities. Fuel in Emergency T HERE was a time, a few weeks ago, when the fuel supplies of the world's airlines were threatened, and those concerned with producing and supplying petrol realized how easily the whole air-transportation network might have been paralyzed. For tunately, reason and wise council seem to have prevailed, and such a calamitous stoppage was averted. Since the Abadan lunacy, which deprived many countries of their liquid fuels, many families of their livelihood, and Persia of a vital source of revenue—all to achieve nothing —the world's airlines (and particularly the European ones) seem to have been living on a hand-to-mouth basis. When we say it is intolerable that, as a result, the nations of the world can in effect be held up to ransom by a relatively small body of men who now produce the alternative supplies of petrol, we imply no criticism, or otherwise, of the oil men of California. Fortunately, the Middle East is fast making good the oil flow lost from Abadan, and the occasion may never again arise. Even so, it would be as well, we believe, to have a fair and acceptable rationing system worked out in readiness should restriction again become necessary for a short or long period. Last time, high-octane petrol was supplied to companies on the basis of a per centage of the previous month's consumption. The international operators mostly complained that this was unfair because consumptions were subject to marked seasonal fluctuation, one month's needs being quite different from those of the next. The private operators had even more justification for complaint—for their operations fluctuate widely from week to week—and rationing on the basis of a previous month might debar one or more of the companies from accepting their most important commissions of the year. Until the new Government works out ways of giving the "independents" some security in the services they are permitted to operate, they, in particular, must at least be saved from further serious difficulties in the form of unfair fuel-allocations.
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