FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0243.PDF
and AIRCRAFT ENGINEER First Aeronautical Weekly in the World Founded 1909 No. 2301 Vol. LXIII. FRIDAY, 27 FEBRUARY 1953 ED/TOR MAURICE A. SMITH, D.F.C. ASSISTANT EDITOR H. F. KING, M.B.E. ART EDITOR 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 7191 (7 lines). MANCHESTER, 3. 260 Deansgate. Telegrams, lliffe, Manchester. Telephone, Blackfriars 4412 (3 lines). Deansgate 3595 (2 lines). GLASGOW, C.2. 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: Defence White Paper - 242 The Tiger Comes of Age 247 Gliding Progress - - - 250 The Lords Discuss Production - - - 252 Handley Page 0/100 and 0/400 French Compound Engine - - - - - 254 263 Times Have Changed NEARLY forty years ago the forerunner of today's Valiants, Vulcans and Victors, the H.P. o/ioo heavy bomber, was specified, the design submitted to and approved by the Director of the Air Department of the Admiralty, and the first of a long series of machines built forthwith. The details of this achievement are recalled in the latest article (on pages 254-259) of our historical series. The 1914 proce dure, it seems, was remarkably similar to that employed today. But there was one striking difference: the twin-engined 0/100, with wing span of iooft, made its first flight in under twelve months from the time the specification was issued. Elsewhere in the same article is the remark that the alteration of tailplane incidence on the ground (this aircraft did not have a "flying tail") was a task not to be undertaken lightly—it entailed five or six hours' work ! Time being entirely relative, it is perhaps surprising that so much of it should nowa days have to be devoted to the precise estimation of how long and when, and that such important decisions should have to depend on the answers. Recendy there have been new debates on defence and production, both military and civil, in the Lords and Commons, and from these it is once again made apparent that correct timing is of paramount importance. The Lords debate, in particular, indicated that dangerous equipment-deficiencies may arise from inability broadly to foresee military aircraft requirements well in advance; from failure to place orders in good time; and, ultimately, from any indecision or lack of co-ordination which prevents a design from being frozen and production started. Were design and production facilities unlimited and expense no object, the job of providing aircraft and armament for R.A.F. and Navy Squadrons would perhaps be a little less difficult. Where there was doubt "insurance orders" might be placed for several types. But even this would no longer make for wholly plain sailing, because the most difficult job of all for the industry and the Government today is to decide what kind of aircraft to make. Once again it is the time element; by the time a selected bomber or fighter design has become a production-line it may not just be obsolescent, but actually unable to compete at all under the changed conditions. Indeed, there are many who believe that we have already seen the last of the intercepters and high-altitude bombers, and that when the fully developed Hunters, Swifts and Vulcans are replaced it will be with missiles. What is true of the aircraft is true of their weapons : guns, whatever their calibre and muzzle velocity, are certainly on the way out so far as fighter armament is concerned. Unprecedented scientific advances are thus forcing upon the governments of the world more difficult decisions in more difficult times than they have ever had to face before. While doubt remains as to the chances of peace being preserved certain fundamental questions will require answering. For example, to what extent will atomic power decide a war? or again, because excessive expense on armament may bring economic collapse, what can we do without? Can we depend upon the development of several kinds of guided missile to be rapid enough to begin to displace first-line aircraft within the next five to eight years ? If the answer to this third question is yes, new specifications for manned fighters and bombers are already a thing of the past. Who would not hesitate when confronted with such formidable and recurrent questions ? Yet to hesitate for long could prove fatal. Passages in the Defence White Paper (see page 242) which relate to such matters state that our objectives have not changed; it is the means of achieving them and the rate at which we can progress towards their achievement to which the Government has given close attention. We must avoid committing ourselves too deeply to equipment which will have to be replaced at heavy cost within a relatively short space of time, states the White Paper, and we must balance the need for greater defence strength against the risk that by overstraining ourselves we shall be faced with economic collapse. So far as R.A.F. production is concerned, aircraft still represent by far the largest item, while aircraft gun ammunition and bombs are main items under the 1953/4 explosives programme. On the other hand, the £100 million expenditure on research and development, 40 per cent more than last year, includes guided weapons among its "more expensive elements."
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
