FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0737.PDF
5 June 1953 73i engined Lincoln bombers gave way to the hundreds-of-rniles-an-hour-faster Canberra. This tremendous change was tackled with the resource and enthusiasm which is a Royal Air Force tradition, and within a short time the Canberra had settled down to a normal Service operational existence, as remarkable for its high serviceability and its tremendous popularity with the pilots as for the great increase in performance which it brought to the Command. The Canberra bombers continue to flow from the line, with the test pilots flying many sorties a day to areas as far apart as Dover and Belfast for their flight testing, and new marks are beginning to roll off the line to add another punch to the strong arm of Bomber Command. Behind this scene lie the continuous research and development and experimental flight-testing which ensure that the current production aeroplane keeps pace with Service requirements, and which prepare the way for even more useful marks of this versatile aircraft destined to enter the Royal Air Force in the near future. Emergence for test-flying: a pleasant impression at Samlesbury. PARTY AT RINGWAY TWO test pilots at the northern factories of the Fairey Aviation Co., Ltd., David Masters and Ken Forbes, were hosts at a cocktail party held at Ringway Airport on May 21st. Guests included officials of Manchester Corporation and Ring- way Airport, where Fairey's northern flight test unit is based; Avro's Chief Test Pilot, Jimmy Orrell, from nearby Woodford; J. S. Fyfield, test pilot at De Havilland, Chester, for whom Faireys are assembling Vampires; the CO. and other senior ofi&cers from R.N.A.S. Stretton and R.A.F. Ringway; and local representatives of M.C.A., B.E.A. and Shell. FOR ACCURATE AIR SURVEYS AIR-SURVEY work, and air mapping in particular, call for a high order of dimensional stability in the photographic negative-base employed. In this respect glass plates are almost ideal since, except for the normal expansion or contraction with variation of temperature, they are not subject to dimensional changes from other causes. Films, however, usually show some degree of instability due to the behaviour of the cellulose esters forming the flexible base. They swell slightly during processing in the darkroom and shrink on drying. This effect is further com plicated by differing in magnitude on the length in relation to the width. A further shrinkage occurs with long storage. Dimensionally stable film-base has been available for some time past, but the greater proportion of it has had to be imported from the United States, at a cost of precious dollars. It is, therefore, gratifying to learn that Ilford, Ltd., in conjunction with BX Plastics, Ltd., have now produced an all-British base of this type. Ilford S.R., as the new material is called, is claimed to be one of the most stable plastic bases of the cellulose type commercially available. The process by which it is made leaves a minimum amount of residual strain in the plastic base, ensuring that the differential dimensional changes which do occur are of a very low order. There is at present no universally accepted British standard or specification for shrinkage-resisting film base, but it is stated that Ilford S.R. base can meet the requirements of the United States Army-Navy specification AN-F-40 for topographic film. DISPERSING STATIC ELECTRICITY DETAILS are now available of the equipment manufactured by Chelton (Electrostatics), Ltd., of Marlow, Bucks, for the prevention of static interference with aircraft radio equipment. The items concerned are the "Driwik" silent static discharger and the Chelton insulated aerial system. As is well known, aircraft in motion frequently pick up large electrical charges, by passing through regions of differing potential, or from precipitation, or from friction caused by dust or ice particles. The charge is subsequently lost from the surface of the aircraft in a series of uncontrolled bursts, which produce the well-known interference from which all radio and radar devices suffer. Dischargers provide a path down which steady, controlled and therefore "silent" discharge can take place at a lower potential than that required to cause discharge from the airframe itself. In the "Driwik" discharger the actual point of discharge into the air A typical "Driwik" discharger in elevation and plan. is some 12 inches behind the point of attachment, so that con duction between this point and the aerials is purely through the air and not via the metal of the aircraft, which is a much better transmitter of any radio oscillation set up by the improved discharge. "Driwik" units are made up of stranded cotton wick, impregnated with metallic silver and encased in plastic; life is claimed to be at least 1,000 hours. To get full benefit from the "Driwik" system, the aerial itself must be insulated, and Chelton's have standardized seven-strand 28 s.w.g. stainless-steel wire covered with black polythene for all aerials; they have also designed an ingenious unit system of chucks and other components from which almost any desired aerial can be built up. TEST PILOT'S NEW POST Mr. Michael Daunt, O.B.E., at one time Gloster's chief test pilot—he made the initial flights of the proto type Meteor—has recently joined the technical sales side of Export Packing Service, Ltd., of Sitting- bourne, Kent. He thus brings his experience of flying high-speed air craft to bear upon the also-special ized problems of packing them and shipping them to all parts of the world, for this is, a leading side of the company's activities. NIGHT-FLYING INVENTION CLAIM BEFORE the Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors, a claim was lodged on May 18th for an invention which, it was contended, had brought about an important change in war time night-flying instruction. Making the claim were Mr. C. H. Wood, and his brother, Mr. A. W. Wood. Mr. J. P. Graham, Q.C, for the brothers, said that during 1940 the problem of night-flying instruction had become a bottleneck in the expansion of the R.A.F., and particularly Bomber Command. At that time Mr. A. W. Wood was a Link Trainer instructor, and he put the problem of the simulation of night conditions during day time to his brother, a photographer. As a result they developed filters which could be attached to goggles and cockpit windscreens and which cut out all natural daylight but allowed sodium flarepath lights to penetrate. Mr. Graham said that the filter scheme had been adopted and was still being used in many countries for both Service and civilian pilot-instruction. No decision has yet been announced.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
