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Aviation History
1952
1952 - 2270.PDF
14 FLIGHT 22 AUGUST 1952 Nimble Gimbals BY BERNARD HOLLOWOOD THE control panel of the modern aircraft is not so much a panel these days as a mural or fresco. The night has a thousand eyes, and so have the Comet and birds of that ilk. Now I find it difficult enough to glance simultaneously at the seven dials on the dashboard of my faithless roadster (four shillings and how much is it a gallon ?) and it surprises me therefore to learn that aircraft pilots manage their multiplicity of meters quite easily. I asked one of them how it is done—a tall cool devil, he was, with a heavy black moustache but without any additional evidence of stubble trouble. " Oh, it's just practice," he said, turning to the co pilot and half-closing one eye. " Soon get used to it, don't we, old son ? " " That's right," said old son, lowering his right eye lid to half-mast, " you need plenty to read on a long journey." Would they please tell me something about the instruments ? Certainly. A pleasure. And in strange aeronautesque jargon they began to put me in the picture. Well—sort of. " That's the ' metronome,' they said, pointing, " and that's the ' egg-timer,' and that's the ' lie-dector,' and that's the ' frame-hold' and that's . . ." I had to laugh. Later, over the cup that cheers, they told me all about the nimble gjmbal, and this time their faces were per fectly serious and full of club sandwich. It seems that modern aircraft are equipped with certain instruments that enable them to fly blind—with mechanical eyes that can pierce eight-eighths cloud, pea- soup or London Particular fog and Stygian black-out. Even where there are no signposts a pilot can exhibit an excellent sense of direction and a good head for heights provided that his cabin is furnished with the necessary wall-charts. Now most of these instruments operate gyroscopically, and the gyroscopes are usually driven either pneumati cally or electrically at very high speeds, and they must attain their operating speed in double-quick time, and they must continue to " free-wheel," as it were, for as long as possible when the driving power is cut off, and all these things are immensely important because the safety of the aircraft may depend on them. And it follows, the co-pilot said, that the gimbal bearings must be pretty nimble and as free from friction as possible. Lubricants, old son. Esso. Yes, the bearings lubricant (it may be either grease or oil) must be of the highest possible quality and purity. No dirt, no drag. The lubricant must match the instru ments themselves in precision and reliability ; and the instrument manufacturers take infinite pains to supply the denizens of the control-cabin with first-rate reading matter. (The gyroscopes are assembled in air-conditioned chambers and undesirable alien particles of dust are rigidly excluded.) Very hygienic. So it's up to the boys in the air-conditioned small back rooms of the Esso outfit to brew a lubricant of super fine quality, consistency and performance. They do ff pays fo say FOR ALL PETROLEUM PRODUCTS ESSO PETROLEUM COMPANY, LIMITED, 36 QUEEN ANNE'S GATE, LONDON, S.W.I
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