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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0480.PDF
476 FLIGHT FROM ALL QUARTERS AIR FRANCE VISCOUNTS on the final assembly line at Weybridge. The second of the batch of 12 is fast ap proaching completion (left), the Darts have already been installed in the third, while the fuselage of the fourth (F-BGNM) is visible in the background. The Mig-15 bis FURTHER information concerning the March 5th flight to Bornholm Island of a Mig-15 bis of the Polish Air Force was given by the pilot, 2nd Lt. F. E. Jarecki, at a meeting in London last Monday, when he was awarded the Polish Silver Order of Merit. The flight to Bornholm, he claimed, had been made at a speed of 683 m.p.h. After making a circuit of the Roenne airfield at 1,300ft at about 470 m.p.h. he brought the aircraft in low, narrowly missing the barbed wire boundary-fence, and came to a stop at the far end of the small grass strip. Giving details of the equipment of the Polish Air Force, 2nd Lt. Jarecki stated that he himself had been trained on Ut-2, Yak-9, Yak-11 and Mig-15 machines in turn. The early Mig-i5s in Polish service, powered by RD-45F turbojers, had a top speed of 665 m.p.h., while the Mig-15 bis—as used for the flight to Bornholm—with WK-i turbojet of 5,950 lb thrust, could achieve 685 to 745 m.p.h. The endurance of the machine, fitted with drop tanks, he estimated at 2 hours at a height of 49,000ft. The all-up weight was 11,085 lb, and the armament consisted of two 23 mm guns and one 37 mm gun Also in use with the Polish Air Force, he continued, were II-28 jet bombers, and a number of Russian officers were in charge of various units of the service. Approximately 120 jet aircraft were in use, and the total operational strength was 300. He believed that the Russians had some 200 aircraft—all jets—in service in the Pomeranian and Silesian areas of Western Poland. Perhaps the most significant remark made by 2nd Lt. Jarecki, in reply to a question by Flight's representative, was that "the Mig has not yet flown at supersonic speed." A Convair-Canadair Link-up AN important deal has been announced whereby General - Dynamics Corporation—the American parent company of Canadair, Ltd.—will acquire from the Atlas Corporation 400,000 shares of its holdings in Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation. This will constitute the largest block of Convair shares in the hands of one holder, and General Dynamics are acquiring it for $8,700,000 cash and 20,000 shares of their own common stock. It is expected that Mr. John Jay Hopkins will become chairman of the board of Convair in addition to his present position as chairman and president of General Dynamics. Announcing the deal on behalf of Atlas Corporation, of which he is president, Mr. Floyd B. Odium stated : "We entered the Convair picture at a time when the company was beset by financial and business difficulties. We have brought it through to the point where its organization is sound, its finance in excellent shape, and its future seems bright. It is logical that Atlas Corporation, in line with its policy of investing in special situations, should at this stage withdraw from the position of sponsorship. The new relationship between two companies—the one developing the atomic-powered submarine, and the other the atomic-powered airplane—will make for strength in both, as well as in our national defence picture." Speaking for General Dynamics, Mr. Hopkins emphasized that the transaction would not interrupt the continuity of policy and management at Convair; General Joseph T. McNarney would continue as president of the company. General Dynamics Corporation have been the parent company of Canadair, Ltd., of Montreal, since 1947. Canadair are, of course, well known as constructors of North Star transports (B.O.A.C.'s Argonauts), and, under licence, North American F-86E Sabres and Lockheed T-33 trainers. They are at present preparing for the production of the Beechcraft transport/crew- trainer for the U.S.A.F. An important future venture, recently rumoured, is the manufacture for the Canadian Government of a maritime-reconnaissance version of the Bristol Britannia. Convair, with aircraft plants at San Diego and Fort Worth and with a guided-missile plant at Pomona, are one of the largest United States aircraft manufacturers. They are best known, perhaps, for their widely used Convair-Liner civil transport (and its military derivative, the T-29 navigator/bombardier trainer); the vast B-36 intercontinental bomber; the turboprop-powered XP5Y-1 long-range patrol flying-boat; and the XF2Y-1 Sea Dart water-based fighter. They also have several advanced designs of aircraft and missiles in various stages of development. Two Missing Pilots AT the time of going to press there is still no news of two •**• well-known sporting pilots, missing on solo flights—Rodney Matthews-Naper and Tom Hayhow. For Matthews-Naper, in fact, hope was abandoned on April 4th, and a widespread search called off. He had taken off from Northolt at 6.40 p.m. in his Miles Messenger, G-AKBL, on April 1st, to fly to Dublin, which he contacted by R/T. at 9.50; nothing more was heard. Unconfirmed reports said that he was carrying one or more passengers. A search of the Irish Sea by ships and aircraft was instituted, and climbers searched the Mourne Mountains in Co. Wicklow, but all to no avail. Thirty- five years of age, and a farmer by occupation, with an estate at Loughcrew, Oldcastle, Co. Meath, he made considerable use of his Messenger for both business and recreation. He entered for several of the National Air Races during the past few years, and last year he organized a private owners' air rally in Eire. He was born in Australia, and during the war he served in the Royal Australian Navy; he was said to be planning a return there, in his Messenger, at the time of his disappearance. Tom Hayhow was seeking to add more capital-to-capital records to the 28 he already holds. Flying his Auster Aiglet trainer G-AMOS, he was aiming at Belgrade, a 1,053-mile flight. He was timed out of Denham by R.Ae.C. observers at 6.05 a.m. on Friday last, April 10th, heading for Munich (530 miles) which he reached at 11.29 G.M.T. Refuelling with enough petrol (60 gallons, carried in the standard and extra tanks) for over seven hours' flying, he took off at 12.8, intending to reach Zemun, Belgrade's airport, by flying a track passing over St. Ilz and Ivanic Grad. Thereafter nothing more was seen or heard of the Auster, although it carried radio. R. Matthews-Naper. T. W. Hayhow. Air-traffic control centres in the areas between Munich and Belgrade made numerous enquiries, and air and ground searches were laid on by Service units in the Unites States zone of Germany, by the Italian and Yugoslavian authorities, and by civil flying organizations. The first of several slender clues was a report from a meteoro logical station on the 7,000ft Dobratsch mountain, in Carinthia,
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