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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0927.PDF
FLIGHT, 17 July 1953 S3 PARISIAN ROUND-UP . . . stood on a scales which read 37 kg (81 lb). A typical application which was shown on the stand is the manner in which Klegecel has been used to provide a smooth interior to the tank bays of a number of modern fighters, including the Ouragan. The basic wing structure here consists of flat sheet with internal angle section stiffening members. These have a depth of roughly an inch and the spaces between them are filled with Klegecel, which is then finished off flush with the tops of the stiffeners; the smooth surface resulting from this process being quite suitable as a basis for flexible bag tanks. Klegecel is claimed to be completelv unaffected by any of the liquids normally found in, or associated with, aircraft. This cellular material also finds aircraft applications in the sphere of heat and sound insulation. Labinal.—A private company concentrating principally upon the development of electric power equipment, Labinal showed some well- engineered pre-fabricated cable assemblies, junction boxes and relavs of the type fitted in the Mystere 2. A wide variety of generators was also shown, that for the Mystere 2 and Nord 2501 for example, delivering 6 kW at 28.5 volts between 3,150 and 8,000 r.p.m., the weight being 46 lb. The Mystere 4, on the other hand, has a generator of but 4 kW capacity weighing 35 lb; and a roughly similar generator was shown developed for the French-built Sea Venom, together with earlier models for the Vampire and Mistral. Labinal also are licensed to sell—and later to manufacture—electrical equipment designed by the American firms of Jack Heinz and Hartmann, and a wide variety of these firms' products was on view. L.C.T.—The Laboratoire Central de Telecommunication showed their recently developed D.M.E. unit which operates in the 1,000 mc band. The present interrogator and receiver linkage has a maximum range at altitude of the order of 190 miles, and tests are proceeding in a number of French aircraft with a view to getting the system adopted by the French Government. Le Bozec.—Among a wide variety of fuel system components were several valves with their associated electric actuators. Designed for insertion in pipes of from 1 to 2in bore, these valves had unusually thin metal discs in place of the more normal built-up butterfly type valves. Oil and fuel filters of various patterns were also shown. L.M.T.—Le Materiel Telephonique is a French partner in a world wide telecommunications network. On their stand was a variety of quartz control V.H.F. R/T. equipment and A.D.F. apparatus. Therm- isters and transistors were shown, some employing germanium crystals. A prominent exhibit concerned the V.O.R. equipment developed by Lorenz in Germany which consists basically of a 50-watt transmitter in the 108/118 mc band; a 50-watt stand-by set with automatic switch over; a 200-watt amplifier; and 50-watt transmitter for en route installa tion. The Lorenz company has developed an unusually flexible system which they call V.O.R./FLEX which can be built up from 50 watts to a full 200 watts facility with stand-by equipment simply by adding standardized packages. Lorenz assume that their equipment will be chosen as the standard navigational aid for the European airway system as envisaged by I.C.A.O. Magnesium Industriel.—Among the many magnesium castings exhibited was an excellently finished canopy frame for the French-built Sea Venom. Like that of the British-built two-seat Vampires and Venoms, this canopy is a precision casting in a magnesium-base alloy and the example shown was taken straight from the factory without preparation as a special exhibit. Additional magnesium castings were shown of the type supplied to Hispano Suiza for the Nene; adoption of this material has reduced the weight of the Nene by some 100 lb as compared with the first British-built version. Messier.—The largest exhibit by this famous undercarriage maker was the main leg for the Nord 2501 which was an all-steel welded unit with an excellent finish. For comparison the main and nose legs of the Mystere 2 were exhibited alongside. The standard Messier plate brakes employ multiple discs of chrome-iron while the wheels were universally magnesium alloy casting machined all over. The exhibition wheels in fact were standard production pieces although they had the appearance of special show-piece models. A particularly interesting development was the new anti-skid device which is being marketed under the name of Ministop. The device consists of an accelerometer—a free mass rotating with the wheel—together with a centrifugal governor and an associated electrical circuit. The general principle of operation is very similar to that of both the Dunlop Maxaret and the Westinghouse Decelostat and extensive testing in a MD 315 aircraft under French government supervision has given favourable results. We were told that the Ministop would be produced in this country by the British Messier, Ltd. Ministere Marine.—This large stand which, as in previous years, was guarded by sailors wielding picturesque halberds, exhibited two experimental missiles both of which were briefly referred to in our issue of July 3rd. The first was an experimental test vehicle developed by the ballistics and aerodynamics laboratory at Vernon, just down the Seine from Paris. This was propelled by a by-fuel rocket, the fuels being strong nitric acid and gas oil. These fuels were carried in chrome moly bdenum tanks of 370 and 165 litres capacity respectively. The fuel is blown from the tanks by steam from a generator delivering at 600 deg C and 390 lb/sq in pressure. The nitric acid circulates in a double section around the centrifugal combustion chamber to confer some cooling. The combustion chamber itself operates at 3,000 deg C, and pressure of 285 lb/sq in, the fuel flow being 44 lb per second and the efflux velocity 6,600ft per second. The other missile was the black-and-yellow S.E.1522 glider bomb, which has been developed as an air-to-ship weapon. It resembles a small aircraft, of some 15ft span, with slightly swept wings of about 12 per cent thickness/chord ratio. The main construction is in flush-riveted stressed skin of less than 20-gauge, although the wing-tips were of solid wood The only controls appeared to be a conventional rudder and a pair of venetian-biind air brakes which could be run down electrically beneath the inner wings, their position at 90 deg to, the airstream being main- This is the Curtiss-Wright-Dehmel Type 501 instrument flight trainer. In the foreground is the instructor's occasional seat, and the panel by which he introduces "difficulties." tained by roller guides. No engine was fitted, and the only external control or sensing device was the long nose pitot. We learnt that the design Mach number was 0.75, and that the design has—as might be expected—long since been superseded. Montupet.—A variety of aluminium- and magnesium-base sand castings was shown by this famous foundry. The most interesting was a piece of pre-fabricated wing built to the specifications of O.N.E.R.A. (which see) with six pierced ribs and a plate spar. Shown just as it left the mould, without more than a brushing clean, this appeared to have a finish rather inferior to that of similar developments in the U.S.A. and this country. O.N.E.R.A.—The Office Nationale d'Etudes et de Recherches Aero- nautiques corresponds very roughly to our Royal Aircraft Establishment, with a possible leaning towards the theoretical, as distinct from the operational, aspect. This was a stand of singular interest. The largest exhibit was an excellent one-eighth scale model of the working section of the large transonic tunnel at Modane. The full- size tunnel, which is rapidly nearing completion, has a diameter at this point of 8m (about 25ft) and a maximum horse-power of 110,000. Within the model was a test body, with missile-like profile, mounted on a rather complex wire system. A novel development was a means for studying the flow of fluids in rocket motors. Two sheets of Plexiglas are placed about one half-inch apart, their profiles being shaped to represent the combustion chamber and venturi of a rocket. Fuel ?nd air is fed into the chamber and burnt, the feed and ignition being initiated very violently. After from one to three seconds the Plexiglas is too badly burnt for the results to be repre sentative, but the initial combustion is photographically recorded at from 1,000 to 3,150 frames/second by a special camera, whose maximum "speed" we were assured was 6,000 frames/sec. By this means can flow patterns be determined to a high degree of accuracy. A related exhibit was a means for determining the flame temperature of rockets. A photocell, placed near the rocket exhaust, receives in quick succession the emission from a standard reference lamp; the same light after passage through the flame of the rocket; and the light from the rocket alone. Each set of readings is taken at a single monochrome wavelength in the band 4,000 to 8,000 A.U.; and the resulting photocell readings can be made with a frequency as high as 4,500 per second. A single-stage supersonic compressor rotor was a "monobloc" proto type machined from solid light alloy (R.R.58) to a high degree of pre cision. The blades were of about 7 per cent thickness, flat on one side with a double wedge profile, the maximum thickness occurring at about 40 per cent chord. The maximum operating speed for this unit—of some 20in diameter—was 28,000 r.p.m. O.N.E.R.A. have developed a new refractory alloy, which they call Oneral. This has a density of 8 gm/c.c. (S.G. =8), and a number of test blades were shown after immersion in acid at from 1,000 to 1,100 deg C. For comparison a number of blades of Nimonic 80A were shown alongside, although resistance to acids is not normally a requirement for surfi blading. Plessey.—This well-known British firm shared a stand with Thermal Control, Ltd. The most discussed exhibit was the liquid-fuel turbine starter, of the type shown at the last S.B.A.C. show. Since then, the starter has been improved and made more compact, and a licence for its production has been obtained by the Hamilton Standard division of the United Aircraft Corporation in the U.S.A. The Plessey company claim thai a start with the liquid-fuel unit costs roughly one-twentieth as much as does the expenditure of a large cartridge of the size needed by the largest turbojets. Altogether, it is difficult to find any reasons for not using liquid-fuel units, although AiResearch remain unconvinced. Phillips and Pain.—Yet another licensee of British equipment— in this case, Graviner—Phillips and Pain make fire and smoke detection devices, and all kinds of airborne extinguishing systems. Methyl Bromide appeared to be the favoured extinguishing medium. Rochar.—The main item was a complex electronic equipment for measuring frequencies, such as the r.p.m. of an engine on a test-bed. Various sensing heads record the r.p.m., fuel- and air-consumption, and other parameters, and passes these results to a frequency-meter receiver. The final figures can be obtained precisely by a row of illuminated
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