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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0733.PDF
June 1953 727 (Above) Rolling back a loft-plate which has just been "printed" from a master by using a gelatine plate—seen on the table—as an intermediate stage. (Right, above) Examining a master in the loft-plate store. (Right) Perspex canopies being assembled at Preston. The success of the canopy design and construction achieved with the aid of this and other equipment can be judged from the fact that only one failure has occurred in the air in 30,000 hours' fly ing. Other devices include a rotatable fuel-test rig, a structural- test frame, a large conventional wind-tunnel, a water tunnel, and —particularly interesting—an unusually economical transonic wind-tunnel. This is twelve inches square in cross-section, and flow of air is created uniquely by positioning the tunnel as part of the intake of a Nene engine made available by Rolls-Royce, Ltd. This system has enabled smooth airflow to be obtained at an attractively high Mach number. Activity at Preston can best be described by saying that the production line looked like a production line, and that the factory workers gave the impression of getting on with the job, and of being interested in it. The number of British machine-tools in use was encouraging, and our guide spoke highly of them. Some (Below) The transonic wind tunnel: the operator on the left is examining the working section, whilst a colleague in the control room is ready to adjust the Nene's power lever, (below, right) The control panel of the fuel test rig, by means of which complete fuel systems can be checked under simulated conditions of flight. American and Swiss units were in evidence, too, and one of the latter particularly caught the eye—a jig-borer that can work to one part in a million with a skilled operator. Another interesting machine was the huge rubber press, which can mould in five seconds a set of components that would take a competent tin-* smith more than a full day. And out at Samlesbury were stretch- forming machines which could similarly save hours of skilled labour. So much, then, for a brief glance at the production side of the picture. Let us now look at the aircraft itself. An Air Ministry specification was issued in 1945 for a medium-range bomber relying solely on speed and altitude for defence. English Electric and Rolls-Royce, working in particularly close harmony, decided that the specification could not only be met, but exceeded, and so the Canberra design was born. Chief designer at the time was W. E. W. Petter, who remained at Preston until nine months after the prototype's first flight. The whole idea was to evolve a relatively simple, cheap aircraft quickly, so that a whole fleet and not just one or two prototypes could be produced at once. The success of this policy may be judged from the number of Can- berras which took part in the recent Exercise Jungle King. Put in another way, the policy was to create an aeroplane that was "the extreme in adventurous conventionahsm"—to quote a phrase used by Mr. Page. Impetus was given to the proceedings by the fact that at the beginning of 1945 the Germans had jet aircraft in service in far larger numbers than we ourselves, including a suc cessful reconnaissance jet bomber, the Arado 234; but difficulties also existed, notably in that little money was available for arma ment purposes once the war had ended, and that there was no suitable engine for the proposed airframe. Monthly meetings between the two companies, however, allowed the engine and air frame to grow up together, and when the prototype flew the one acted as flying test-bed for the other, because no other suitable aircraft existed which could achieve the requisite height and speed. Work proceeded apace, and the first flight referred to above took place in May, 1949, with W/C. Beamont at the controls. The Avon engines were incompletely developed and de-rated, but perform ance and handling characteristics surpassed all expectations. The
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