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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0289.PDF
6 March 1953 287 boards airliners which will set the standard of world air transporta tion for many years to come—for present evidence indicates that each design will not only be built but will be built in numbers. The first of these types is the de Havilland Comet 4. We give it this title for want of a better, although it is reported that de Havilland's successor to the Comet 3 will be so different as to merit a new name. Powered by four Rolls-Royce Conway by pass engines, it is likely generally to resemble the Comet but will differ, in having a wing of lower thickness/chord ratio and perhaps a little more sweep; the all-up weight may be in the neighbour hood of 200,000 lb. Sketches of the other three designs appear on the opposite page. It should be emphasized that these drawings are purely conjectural, but they are believed to be indicative of current thinking. At the top is an impression of a possible civil develop ment of the Avro Vulcan delta-wing bomber. Sir Roy Dobson has declared that this aircraft, carrying 150 passengers (and he did not mean troops) would be able to cross the Atlantic between England and New York three times in a 24-hr period, allowing two to three hours between flights. This would imply a still-air range of at least 5,100 miles when the usual allowances are taken into account. It may be assumed that fuselage length will be considerably over 100ft—i.e., greater than the Vulcan wing-span. Power plants may remain as four Bristol Olympus two-spool turbojets. If the all-up weight works out at 180,000 lb, the wing loading will be no more than 60 lb/sq ft; whether a tail parachute will be employed, as in the bomber, is uncertain. It is used on the bomber to reduce tyre and brake wear, but it is not regarded as essential. The aircraft represented by the centre sketch is the Vickers V.C.7. It may be recalled that the Secretary of State for Airs speaking of the military Vickers-Armstrongs Type 1000, said recently that it would be capable of ferrying 150 troops 2,000 miles in 4 hr, cruising at between 45 and 50,000ft. There is no reason why the civil V.C.7 should have an inferior performance, and its impressive 146ft fuselage, coupled with the economy of four Conway by-pass engines, promises to make it a most attractive proposition for long-distance operators. It is likely to be a single- deck aircraft, of conventional layout and extremely graceful appearance. Double-decker The massive double-decker shown in the bottom drawing is Handley Page's H.P.97, whose existence was revealed at the last S.B.A.C. Show. According to the manufacturers, it will have a capacity-payload of 50,000 lb, seating "96 in luxury or 150 tourist." On the lower deck will be entrance foyers, lounges, a small cabin and a bar, together with two freight holds of 400 and 600 cu ft. The upper deck will, it appears, be provided with no fewer than 25 square windows each side for the benefit of the passengers. Flying a non-stop route between London and New York, the aircraft has been pronounced capable of a west-bound trip in 7^ hr with 117 passengers, and an eastward trip, with 122 passengers, taking 1 hr less. Between Cairo and Karachi (2,210 statute miles) 148 passengers and 8,500 lb of freight could be taken, the journey time being 4! hr and the specific cost o.7d per passenger-mile. All these airliners are likely to embody advanced features such as non-skid brakes and, perhaps, reverse-thrust power units, and all could be in scheduled service before i960. Moreover, they will benefit from being developments of established types already flying. Considerable attention should be paid to the rotary-wing family. Just how much helicopters can offer has, until fairly recently, been known only to a few. Even with the present elementary and uneconomic aircraft almost every country has some sort of helicopter service, and when any great national disaster occurs— the recent flooding, for example—rotary-wing aircraft, alone capable of certain kinds of rescue and supply operations, are seen in a most valuable and unique role. Illustrated on this page is a somewhat futuristic aircraft which may appear to be a strange cross between the Bristol 173 and the familiar Freighter by the same concern. The sketch is intended to show the sort of thing which we may expect to see from a com pany such as Bristols by i960, if development continues along the present lines. The drawing postulates the provision of two Proteus turboprops, one powering each rotor with suitable inter-linking transmission to cater for the event of engine failure. Assuming an all-up weight of 48,000 lb and a rotor diameter of 90ft, the disc loading works out to 3.75 lb/sq ft in the hovering case. The aircraft is shown to adopt the vital feature of fixed lifting surfaces which, by unloading the rotors at cruising speed, permit smaller blade incidence and, consequently, much enhanced cruising speed. At present this is the only published method of increasing the economic cruising speed of a helicopter beyond about 120 m.p.h. In this project the cruising speed should be about 200 m.p.h., which has been considered high enough to warrant a retractable This conception is intended to show the monner in which British helicopter thought is progressing. In this case, Bristol might be the company. undercarriage. The fuselage should be capable of carrying over 70 passengers, and for freight work large nose-loading doors are shown. All rotary-wing aircraft cruise at low altitude, so the cabin is unpressurized and has large square windows. Faireys, on the other hand, are devoting a great deal of effort to the development of tip-drive rotors, and their Rotodyne principle consists of a tip-drive rotor for lift, assisted by a fixed wing upon which are mounted turbine-driven airscrews for forward propulsion. This arrangement may perhaps offer a cruising speed even higher than that just mentioned and, assuming successful solution of the many design problems posed, the layout has very much to commend it. The Westland company have for a considerable time borne in mind the possibilities offered by really large helicopters. Of their published studies, that for the largest aircraft features a single main rotor of 196ft diameter, driven by a Sapphire turbojet at the tip of each of the three blades. With an all-up weight of 206,000 lb, the aircraft would, in a military role, be capable of transporting 450 troops—a figure to which no fixed-wing aircraft has yet aspired. Despite the obvious problems involved in its building, the whole design appears so essentially logical and straightforward that there is every reason to believe that something like it will really take the air in the foreseeable future. The other British helicopter manufacturers are Saunders-Roe and Percival, but of the long-term projects of these companies we can say nothing at the present time, beyond the fact that both are actively developing small helicopters, the latter company specifying tip-drive. Finally, a review of this nature would be incomplete without reference to flying-boats. Marine aircraft can now offer efficiency at least equal to that of corresponding landplanes, particularly as the all-up weight increases. British flying-boat studies are known to include the six-jet swept-wing Duchess of Saunders-Roe which, even with elementary turbojets, has been proclaimed the most economical transport design of its time (1951). Of even more advanced conception are the studies described by Mr. H. Knowler in his Bleriot Lecture to the British Association last year. This journal published an illustration of one of these showing a "triple- bubble" pressurized hull of fine aerodynamic form; the wing appeared to be of aero-isoclinic design, and a power installation of six turbojets was mounted at the roots of the tailplane. Mr. Knowler dealt at length with the optimum sizes and characteristics of flying-boats required for given stage-lengths, assuming power by each of five basic families of gas turbine. On the U.K. to New York route, with 85 per cent winter frequency, a 300,000-lb aircraft powered with by-pass engines would be able to carry some 150 passengers, taking 8 hr westbound and 7 hr on the return flight. Under these conditions the direct operating cost worked out at about i.07d per passenger mile. Certainly Britain will be foolish if she neglects entirely the marine airliner. W. T. G. BRISTOL FREIGHTERS FOR T.C.A. T RANS-CANADA AIRLINES believe that they will be the first scheduled operators to put into service aircraft specifically designed for cargo carriage. Delivery of three Bristol 170 Freighters (two Hercules 734s) is planned for September/October, and they are to be introduced without delay on the Montreal- Winnipeg-Toronto route. In addition, they may on occasions supplement other services. T.C.A.'s director of cargo sales, Mr. Hugh Johnson, believes that last year's record total of £14,206,000 of domestic cargo carried by his company will be exceeded in 1953. The 170, with its payload of almost six tons, is well known in Canada, examples being operated by the R.C.A.F. and by Associated Airways. Over one hundred 170s are in use throughout the world. The T.C.A. order was placed by Mr. Gordon McGregor, president, with the Bristol Aeroplane Co. of Canada, Ltd.
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