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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0004.PDF
FLIGHT, 2 January 1953 FROM ALL QUARTERS Civil Super-priorities ON Monday last the Minister of Supply, Mr. Duncan Sandys, announced that super-priority had been accorded to five more British aircraft. They are the Avro Vulcan and Handily Page H.P.80 medium bombers, and the de-Havilland Comet, Vickers-Armstrongs Viscount and Bristol Britannia airliners. Mr. Sandys added that the extension of the super-priority scheme to back up the export drive emphasized the Government's determina tion to take the fullest advantage of Britain's remarkable technical lead in the civil transport field over all other countries. "We must be quick off the mark," he said. The Minister concluded his announcement with the statement that super-priority had proved its worth in many ways, particularly in respect of the supply of special alloys, which were being received by designated manufacturers six to twelve months earlier than would otherwise have been the case. The H.P.80 Flies ON Christmas Eve the great new Handley Page bomber, type-numbered H.P.80 and provisionally named Victor, made a successful first flight at Boscombe Down. At the controls was Handley Page's chief test pilot, S/L. H. G. Hazelden, and with him was Mr. I. K. Bennett, the company's chief flight test observer. S/L. Hazelden reported that the aircraft handled beautifully and did not give a moment's anxiety. The power plant consists of four Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire turbojets of undisclosed series and thrust. A production order was placed some months ago for the new bomber, which is characterized by a crescent-shaped wing, and is described by Mr. R. S. Stafford, Handley Page's chief designer, as "the complete and only answer to the demands of a most exacting specification." This called not only for operation at high sub-sonic speed at very great heights over long ranges, but also good control over the whole speed range, particularly at approach and landing. The two main undercarriages, each with four double-tyred wheels, spread the weight of the aircraft over a large ground area and permit operation from airfields with runways of normal strength. Sir Frederick Handley Page, whose company has been supplying heavy bombers to the British fighting Services since 1916, de scribed the maiden flight as "the climax of an inspired concept, brilliant research and years of very hard work." He hoped to see further proof of the new bomber's qualities when the new Handley Page intercontinental jetliner, the H.P.97, appeared. A. Cdre. A. V. Harvey, deputy chairman, paid a tribute to the Air Ministry and Ministry of Supply for their clear specification of very stringent requirements and for their encouragement of, and confidence in, the Handley Page Company's research and development ability. As we go to press, it is learned that the H.P.80 is likely to remain at Boscombe for a brief period before flying to the makers' air field at Radlett to continue its test programme. The main Radlett runway has recently been extended to over 2,100 yards. The Flying Schools: Unhappy New Year THE Government decision to close 16 basic flying-training, navigation and Reserve schools (as recorded on page 25) was the subject of a statement issued over the Christmas holiday by the British Air Line Pilots Association. After explaining the method by which the schools are operated by civil contractors, the statement goes on to say that the pilots are employed on a monthly basis at a salary ranging generally from £750 to £1,050. These figures were recently the subject of an award by the Industrial Disputes Tribunal following an applica tion by B.A.L.P.A.; they had previously been much lower. Almost all the pilots had served with the R.A.F. during the war on opera tional and instructional flying. The statement continues:— It is these men, who served their country in fair weather and in foul, for an average of some ten years, that the Nation is now, by a stroke of the pen, relegating to the ranks of the appointments boards and employment exchanges. It is relegating them with thanks, but not with pensions . . . What can be done about it ? This Association . . . knows that the Air Council was most reluctant to take the step it has taken. But in a case such as this sympathy is not enough. It was only a few months ago that the Air Council authorized the establishment of new schools; in order to staff them with instructors the operating companies persuaded men to leave secure and pensionable employment as teachers, civil ser vants, and so forth by inducements of a higher salary and the implied prospects of permanent employment. Here, clearly, the operating com panies were acting in good faith; the responsibility for such a complete reversal of policy must, therefore, lie at the feet of the Air Council and the Government . . . What answer can they give ? First of all, it is known that there is a shortage of instructors in the R.A.F. itself. Pilots with the required instructional qualifications could be offered some straightforward avenue back into the R.A.F. Others, who have no instructional qualifications, but who have been employed as staff pilots at navigational training schools, could similarly be absorbed back into the R.A.F., where they could be employed in communcations duties, so releasing the younger pilots for operational work. Of the 300 pilots affected, perhaps some 150 could be absorbed this way. Others, though fit for civil employment, may be regarded as unfit for the very different Service flying which they might be called on to undertake; moreover, some, at the age of forty upwards, may be unwilling to accept the domestic upheaval which re-enlisting usually entails. Yet to these older pilots, many of whom have given twenty years of their lives to serving their country, public responsibility is surely no less. Should SAPPHIRE-STUDDED SCIMITAR : The "scimitar" or "crescent" wing of the Handley Page H.P.80 (four Armstrong Siddeley Sapphires) has leading- edge flaps. Also seen is the multi-wheel Electro-Hydraulics undercarriage, the unusual horizontal tail surfaces, and the fins on the tail cone. ** ,M^p> c
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