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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0394.PDF
392 FLIGHT, 27 March 1953 FROM ALL QUARTERS Marshal Tito Sees the R.A.F. ON Wednesday of last week Marshal Tito paid a visit to the R.A.F. station at Duxford, Cambridge, where he was greeted on arrival by the Secretary of State for Air, the Minister of Supply, Marshals of the R.A.F. Lord Tedder and Sir John Slessor, and Sir Lionel Whitby, Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University. A flying display, arranged in honour of the Marshal, was unfortunately marred by a mid-air collision between two Meteors following a series of formation aerobatics. Both pilots lost their lives and the subsequent flying programme was slightly curtailed. Before the display began, Marshal Tito had indicated that he was quite prepared for it to be cancelled in view of the low cloud ceiling, but he was assured that it was considered safe to continue. As the visitor was leaving the stand from which he had watched the display, a triple supersonic bang was heard, made by a Hawker Hunter flown by Neville Duke. It was later stated that a Super- marine Swift, piloted by Mike Lithgow, had also exceeded the speed of sound, but the resulting bang was not heard at Duxford. This Year's Major Air Races SUPPLEMENTING the information given in our issue of January 9th, the Royal Aero Club has now issued further details of the major British air races planned for the coming summer. The first such meeting will be the Goodyear Challenge Trophy Race, which will be held, as usual, at the Municipal Aerodrome, Wolverhampton, on Saturday, May 16th. On the 30th of the same month—three days before the Coronation—the Welsh Aerial Derby will be flown from Fairwood Common, near Swansea. This will be a revival of a popular pre-war event. The National Air Races (consisting of the Grosvenor Challenge Cup, the Norton-Griffiths Challenge Trophy and the Kemsley Challenge Trophy, for aircraft of different weight classes) will be flown from Southend-on-Sea Municipal Airport on Saturday, June 20th. These contests will be flown over three laps of a ten- mile circuit shaped like a flat parallelogram running east-west. At each end of the course—at Mucking Hall and Flemings—there will be a pair of turning points spaced about half a mile apart, to provide sufficient radius for the turn on to the reciprocal. The airfield lies approximately in the centre, with the long sides of the course passing over its northern and southern boundaries. Successful British entries in these three races will qualify for the King's Cup Race, flown during the same meeting. Entry forms for the "Nationals" are now available, and it is of interest to note that they make provision for turbojet and turboprop aircraft with methanol/water injection and re-heat! The final major race of the season will be the Siddeley Challenge Trophy race to be held at Baginton, Coventry, on Saturday, August 22nd. Like all the above entries, the results of this race will influence the choice of British Air Racing Champion for I 953- To be eligible for the championship a pilot must enter in at least two races, but may fly a different machine on each occasion. Nottingham TJ.A.S. Dines THE annual dinner of the Nottingham University Air Squadron was held on Tuesday of last week at R.A.F. Station Newton. The N.U.A.S. has its very comprehensively equipped head quarters at Beeston, within half a mile of the University, and flying is carried out from the excellent grass airfield at Newton, 14 miles away. Establishment is for up to 60 students, some of whom come from the neighbouring Technical College at Loughborough. A non-flying technical course has recently been added to the College curriculum, and 11 students are taking it. Commanding the unit—which flies four Chipmunks and one Harvard—is S/L. R. P. Elliott, D.S.O., D.F.C., and he has four instructors and an adjutant under him. After last week's dinner, the toast of "The Guests" was proposed by S/L. Elliott, who gave a brief outline of the squadron's activities during the past year, mentioning in particular the success of the camp held in the summer at Silloth, when 900 hours were flown without accident. The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Mr. B. L. Hallward, M.A., replied on behalf of the guests, and stressed the importance in the modern world of air affairs, and the great need for scientists and technicians. Air Vice-Marshal C. A. Stephens, C.B., C.B.E., M.C., S.A.S.O., Home Command, next proposed "The Squadron," and spoke of, among other things, the vital role of Bomber Command in any future war. He then presented the two Kingsley Wood Auxiliary and Reserve Forces shooting trophies that had been won last year at Bisley, one by the unit team under P/O. Griffiths, the other individually by P/O. Towell. The proceedings were closed by P/O. Griffiths, who thanked the guests for their support. Dinner at Cranfield T HE fifth annual dinner of the Senior Common Room Society of the College of Aeronautics will certainly go down as one of the most successful and enjoyable. The opportunity these func tions provide for members of Senior Common Room and guests— who on this occasion represented all sections of the aeronautical world—to indulge in shop talk of mutual interest is in itself most valuable. The first toast after dinner was that of the College, proposed by Mr. K. W. M. Pickthorn, Parliamentary Secretary to Ministry of Education. He skilfully mixed humour with good advice. Having stated that the success of the college depended upon the respect in which the staff were held, upon its resources and, most of all, upon the quality of the entry, Mr. Pickthorn said that pressure should be put on those who could spare the best types of men to release them for teaching. If the country did not continue in greatness it could not continue in comfort. Air Marshal Sir Victor Goddard, the principal, thanked Mr. Pickthorn in reply, recalling their first meeting in 1925 at the formation of the Cambridge University Air Squadron. Cranfield had the same idea of basic excellence in the air. Not only the quality of men the College got, but also the time factor mattered, said Sir Victor. Several years would pass before the men could exert their influence. Reference was made to the College's continued housing problems and then Sir Victor went on to say how great an encouragement had been the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh. Sir Victor spoke of the loss to the College of Mr. Knight and Mr. Grundy, who, respectively, were taking up posts with English Electric and at the Aeronautical Research Association wind tunnel. Finally, Sir Victor said that the College's task was to get men of earning back to men of learning. The signs were good and this year twice as many entries had been received for the diploma course. Sir Ewart Smith, technical director of I.C.I., proposed the Senior Common Room Society. There was an overriding need in this country for trained technologists, he said. The college was unique in its combination of academic and administrative staff. Prof. J. V. Connolly, head of the Department of Economics and Production, who was in the chair, thanked Sir Ewart in reply and referred with regret to the departure of Messrs. Knight, Grundy, Judson, Gillmore, Lewis, Kellett and Huxley. He welcomed the new Warden, Mr. Palmer. The final toast, that of the Guests, was by Sir Harold Roxbee Cox, Chief Scientist, Ministry of Fuel and Power. He did not think that the education of scientists was sufficiently broad and deep. Engineers needed two dimensions, breadth and height. The humanities should not be neglected. It was odd that at Cambridge today more were studying history than engineering. Mr. David Keith Lucas, director and Chief Designer of Short Bros, and Harland, Ltd., pleased everyone with his picture of the staff and departments, for most of which he had parodied a nursery rhyme. "What are aeroplanes made of? Strings and stresses and other men's guesses. . . ." "Civil Vulcan" Forecasts ADDRESSING Manchester Rotary Club last week, Sir Roy - Dobson, chairman and managing director of A. V. Roe and Co., Ltd., made some forecasts about the projected civil version of the Vulcan. It would, he thought, be capable of carrying passengers across the Atlantic at 620 m.p.h. and at a cost of a little more than a halfpenny per passenger-mile. The Atlantic might be crossed, from London to New York, in six hours westbound and less than five hours eastbound. The new airliner would cost over £300,000 and would carry about 20 tons. Its operating costs, including crew and insurance, would be about eightpence a ton-mile. Sir Roy forecast that in 20 years airliners with 200 people aboard would cross from London to New York in two and a half hours. He thought that by then military experiments with nuclear engines would be under way, but it would be a long time before they came to civil aircraft. Mr. Churchill on a "Wanton Attack" WHEN detailed information became available on the shooting-down of an R.A.F. Lincoln by Mig-i5s near the zonal frontier in Germany (as reported in our pages last week), Mr- Churchill made—on March 17th—a statement in the House of Commons. After expressing the sympathy of the Government and of the House to the relatives of the seven aircrew who had died, the Prime Minister went on to speak of the "cruel and wanton attack by Soviet fighter aircraft" on the unarmed Lincoln.
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