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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0135.PDF
FLIGHT, 30 January 1953 FROM ALL QUARTERS . . . application from B.A.L.P.A. for an interview over a month earlier, and whether that interview had yet taken place. Mr. Ward replied he had received and fully answered the letter; all the arguments advanced had been dealt with. Mr. Frank Beswick (Lab., Uxbridge) mentioned the three-year con tract, and asked if it was not a fact that in the case of Kirton Lindsey the school had only opened in 1952, and that it was closed "almost casually" just before Christmas. Mr. Arthur Henderson (Lab., Rowley Regis and Tipton) submitted that if the parties concerned had been approached in 1951 and told "We will be closing you down in 1952" it was doubtful whether one of them would have agreed to open a school. Mr. Ward said that at the time the schools were opened it was the policy to have a certain number of National Servicemen trained under civil contract, but that policy was changed when the National Service intake was reduced. The terms of the contracts were well known. Mr. Perkins—who sounded most annoyed indeed—gave notice of his intention to raise the matter on the adjournment. (His ability to do so would depend upon luck in the ballot.) A. Cdre. Harvey then asked for further details of the cuts, and for an outline of future policy. Mr. Ward regretted that he could not add to the previous statement, but said he hoped to deal fully with the matter in introducing the Air Estimates. He gave a similar reply, stressing "very many factors which entered into the decision and change of policy" when A. Cdre. Harvey commented that in the meantime the flying instructors and ground staffs at other flying training schools were very concerned. An early statement was desirable if it was intended to close down, and there was the further point as to whet was to happen to the surplus aircraft of the schools already under notice. Mr. Geoffrey de Freitas (Lab., Lincoln) spoke of many older in structors who were led to believe they had several years of steady employ ment in front of them. Mr. Ward: "Who led them to believe that ? Not the Air Ministry." Mr. Beswick suggested the schools could be used for the training of Regular and N.S. pilots, so enabling economies to be effected in uni formed manpower in Flying Training Command, but Mr. Ward dis sented, saying the Service flying training organization had been de veloped for the express purpose of training Regular pilots, and would continue to be so used. With smaller N.S. intakes, it was now possible to absorb N.S. pilots into Flying Training Command so that separate civilian schools were no longer justified. When Mr. Beswick pressed the point, Mr. Ward recalled his recent announcement on the Provost-Vampire training sequence, which could not take place at civilian-operated schools. Moreover, there was advan tage in a pupil absorbing the Service atmosphere during his training. He found it impossible to state how many of the civilian flying in structors, numbering approximately 300, and licensed engineers, would lose their employment. Some would undoubtedly be transferred to other employment under the same firm. On a different tack, Mr. Beswick asked what facilities would now be available for N.S. aircrew who had completed their flying training to maintain flying practice. Mr. Ward replied that such pilots would have been trained to fly modern jet aircraft, and it was hoped many of them would join the R.Aux.A.F. Facilities for flying piston-engined types would for the present continue at the 14 Reserve schools not affected by the recent decision. Mr. Beswick then asked if it would be possible to have training in the evenings and at the week-ends, as was possible with a number of civilian schools spread over the country. Mr. Ward here advocated a sense of proportion. It would be very pleasant for everybody to go on flying at the public expense; but what was wanted was to make the greatest possible use of the pilots who were going to stay in longer to become operational pilots, or Auxiliaries who were going to be of most use on the outbreak of any war, because they would have kept themselves refreshed in operational flying. Mr. Ward informed Mr. Charles Ian Orr-Ewing (Con., Hendon North) that four applications had been received from N.S. pilots under the pre-selection scheme for commercial aviation. Eighteen had been appointed on direct application to civil companies. Australia in a Day AT 083544 hours last Tuesday, January 27th, F/L. Dick - Whittington and his navigator-observer, F/L. J. A. Brown, took off from London Airport in an English Electric Canberra P.R.3 (two Rolls-Royce Avons) on a delivery flight to Australia. The ultimate destination of the aircraft is Woomera, and the flight was officially timed with the intention of setting up a new record of under 24 hours to Australia. The present best time, set up in 1946 by the R.A.F.'s Lancaster Aries I, is 45 hours 35 minutes. The Canberra was due to make landings at Fayid, Egypt (E.T.A. approx. 12.45); Mauripur, Karachi; according to weather, at Butterworth or Singapore after the Indian Ocean crossing; and then to Darwin. The distance is just over 8,600 miles. The four legs were expected to take just under six hours each, and turn- round periods on the ground of one hour were planned. Much of the preparation for the flight has been the work of G/C. G. A. V. Clayton, superintendent of flying at Boscombe Down, and of the crew of two. A. Cdre. Wheeler, Commandant at Boscombe, was present at the take-off. A Comet on the B.O.A.C. Far East service was to help with high-altitude en route weather reports, and London Airport s take-off forecast was fair to good weather all the way, with tail- winds as expected. As we closed for press the progress reported was : Arrival at Fayid, 1305; take-off for Mauripur, 1358. THE M.7 FLYING BOAT with its designer and test-pilot (James Donald) and, behind, "Doctor" Noel Willman. (See "Soro beware," below.) Saro Beware ! LAST night, January 29th, the premiere of a new British film •> with a strong aviation interest was due to take place at the Odeon, Leicester Square. Its title, The Net, alludes to the security restrictions which enmesh the characters concerned with the M.7, a delta-wing flying-boat project said to be capable, when its "nuclear units" are brought into action, of flying at Mach 3. The imagination of the film maker wishing to depict a futuristic aircraft can easily run riot, often with ludicrous results, but those responsible for The Net have avoided the major pitfalls. The M.7, "designed" by G/C. Peter Wykeham-Barnes, D.S.O., O.B.E., D.F.C., A.F.C., is a quite exciting and—apart from one or two details—credible aeroplane. Science-fiction pressure-suits, of Michelin-man appearance and including goldfish-bowl helmets, also play prominent parts. Appropriately, perhaps, they were designed by Frankenstein and Sons (Manchester), Ltd. The name of Stanley Grant appears among the credits : he is responsible for the aerial photography, which is both beautiful and convincing. Anthony Asquith was the director. Those 'Offshore' Hunters THE latest development in regard to a possible offshore-purchase order for Hawker Hunters—discussed in these columns a fort night ago—is that a group of U.S. procurement officers is now in this country with direct authority to negotiate a contract. It is said that 200 aircraft, plus the necessary spares may be ordered, at a cost of approximately $70111, but the difficulty still arises of the June, 1955, Congressional deadline—the date by which all offshore products must, under present policy, be delivered. The R.A.F. requires, and is scheduled to obtain, all Hunter output between now and that date, and some means will have to be found of over coming this apparent impasse if an offshore contract is to be placed. One possible solution is that the aircraft should be pur chased with Mutual Security Agency dollars and then allocated to the R.A.F., later production going to other NATO countries. Other views that have been expressed recently are that the Hunter could be manufactured under licence in Holland, and the Avon in Belgium, and that a contract for Swifts may yet be forth coming when certain modifications have been incorporated. About Titanium YESTERDAY, January 29th, Maj. P. L. Teed, A.R.S.M., M.I.M.M., F.R.Ae.S., was due to deliver a Royal Aero nautical Society lecture under the title Titanium—a Survey. Maj. Teed—who is Vickers-Armstrongs' deputy chief of aero nautical research and development—naturally made no attempt at a precise evaluation of the "new" material which formed his subject, but contented himself with surmises based on analogy with the development of other engineering metals. After reviewing the so-far brief history of titanium smd methods of extracting it, the lecturer went on to examine its properties. He said that the present physical mechanical and fabrication characteristics of commercially pure titanium were such that, neglecting price considerations, the aeronautical engineer could not fail to be interested; for some applications it was definitely superior to austenitic steels. A considerable number of known titanium alloys offered (at least at temperatures of up to 350 deg C) some specific properties superior to those of ferritic alloy steels. Turning to the debit side, Maj. Teed quoted some less attractive features of titanium—low specific Young's modulus, physical instability at slightly elevated temperatures, poor rubbing pro perties, disposition to chemical activity about 500 deg C, and difficulties in forging, heat treating, machining and fabrication. On past experience, these drawbacks were likely to be mitigated in varying degrees; but the most difficult problem was likely to be the improvement of the elastic moduli by an amount sufficient to attract the designer of supersonic aircraft.
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