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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0953.PDF
24 July 1953 AIRCRAFT INTELLIGENCE :C:':' ;:•>'> : • • , • :/ • 9^-l:.-^.:::^r:^y :'v..*.: FEATHERED TAKE-OFF: On the power of its turbojet* a/one the McDonne// XF-888—referred to on this page—gets away from Lambert-St. Louis airport. The supersonic Curtiss Electric airscrew is feathered. The basic airframe has now been developed >nto the MO J. Great Britain Avro Vulcan. Re-engined in May and June with Armstrong Siddeley Sapphires, the prototype Vulcan, VX 770, has been flying with these new power-plants for four weeks Thus powered, it flew in the Royal Review. Hawker Fighters". British security officers will be interested to learn (from Aviation Week, U.S.A.) that "Hawker Aircraft has scrapped plans for a delta-wing fighter and will continue to develop the basic Hunter design with more sweepback and more power as previously reported..." Short S.B.6. According to Aviation Week, the chief designer of Short Brothers, David Keith-Lucas, has "given a clue on the Short S.B.6 in a recent lecture." The American journal deduces that this aircraft will be "a long-range patrol bomber incor porating boundary-layer control devices." Whether this is so or not, the name S.B.6 has not previously been mentioned and is, of course, not on any list cleared by the MiniFtry of Supply for publication. United States Convair XF-102. From the XF-92A ex perimental aircraft—which, in 1948, was the first modern delta to fly—have sprung two very advanced designs, both achieving critical Mach numbers of the order of two, by the use of wings no more than 5 per cent thick. The larger is the XB-58 four- jet bomber, which should fly as a prototype in 1955. The other is the XF-102 fighter, the first prototype of which may fly in October of this year. Adopted as the standard U.S.A.F. intercepter, the XF-102 has an all-up weight of over 40,000 lb, and is powered by two afterburning Pratt and Whitney J57S, of some 15,000 lb thrust each. The aircraft has a very elaborate Hughes automatic electronic guidance system, used in conjunction with the arma ment—a Hughes F-98 Falcon air-to-air missile. A recently released news-item states that the sharp leading edges of the 107 wing and tailplane are to be made of porous stainless-steel sheet through which heated air will be passed for anti-icing, with considerable economy in airflow in comparison with "under-skin" heating. Bell X-iA. This new U.S.A.F. super sonic research aircraft, illustrated on this page on April 17th, not only benefits from earlier types in having a really usable supersonic control system, with a quick- response autopilot, but also should be a very useful vehicle with a practicable dura tion under full power. According to Maj. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager, who—in the original Bell X-i—was the first man to pass through the transonic region, the X-iA has enough rocket fuel for four and one-half minutes at full throttle. He further hinted that the new aircraft could exceed the Mach 1.5 limitation of the X-i. McDonnell XF-8&B. Before the U.S.A.F can have its turboprop ground-attack air craft, efficient supersonic airscrews must be developed. One ad hoc test-bed is the Republic XF-84H (this page, February 13th last), which is about to begin testing at Edwards A.F.B., California. The other is that illustrated on this page; it is a rebuild of the XF-88A Voodoo fighter of 1950. An Allison T38 turboprop of about 2,500 h.p. has been installed in the left side of the nose, the nose leg and oil-cooling intakes being on the starboard side. At present a ioft-diameter airscrew is used— feathered for take-off—but later testing will involve smaller units turning at some 6,000 r.p.m. With the two Westinghouse J34 turbojets in action the maximum speed should be about 670 m.p.h. Britain has no comparable airscrew-testing vehicle. Sikorsky 5-58. Although it maintains the classic Sikorsky layout, with a single rotor and anti-torque tail rotor, the S-58 is much larger than any previous members of the family. Powered by a 1,640 h.p. Wright Cyclone 9, the new helicopter was developed principally for the U.S. Navy, where it will be known as the HSS-i (anti-submarine) and HUS-i (utility). In the Army it will be the H-34, standard ii-ton "truck." As a personnel transport, 20 seats can be installed. BRISTOL 175 BRITANNIA 10C (Four Bristol Protein 625s) Span H<Ht Length t«& Height 38ft 9in
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