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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1201.PDF
ii September 1953 357 Turning off the runway at Tangmere after a practice run is S/L. Neville Duke in the red Hunter. This, the fastest aircraft built in Britain, is WB188, the fust prototype. Noteworthy features are the reheat Avon, the pointed nose and, of course, the scarlet finish. a perfect start to the great week. Even the breeze co-operated by aligning itself with the runway in use. Early on Monday morning the air.ield gates were opened to admit the first of the 18,000 tech nicians invited to attend the preview. With a few exceptions the aircraft taking part in the afternoon's flying had by now been towed on to the section of the runway ad.acent to the static park, making a glittering and colourful collection which outshone even the gaudy rows of caravans. On the tarmac by the control tower, too far away for close insp?ction, stood the black-bodied Victor; still more distant was the all-white Vulcan, its four Sapphires whistling as Avro engineers performed a final pre-display check. Ro'.y Falk, incidentally, was expected to bring in the second—the Olympus-powered—Vulcan around mid-day, thus providing a sixth delta for the final item in the flying programme. The other member of the V-bomber trio, the Valiant, was to be represented by the new B.2; but this latest version had made its first flight only two days earlier and was not expected to show its sinister black form until later in the week. The only other delayed arrival was the Viscount 700, a new machine which was due to fly to Farnborough almost from the production line. Monday's visitors also hoped mat, on successful completion of business elsewhere, Neville Duke would honour the great gather ing by presenting the red reheat Avon-Hunter. A very quick circuit of the huge exhibition tent, wherein the first of many genial reunions and meetings were under way, gave the impression that the standard of presentation is even higher than that of previous years. Several new projects shown in model form caught me eye of Flight observers and attendant cameramen. They included some of particular interest to the many airline operators present, such as the Fairey and Saunders-Roe helicopter buses, Percival's new high-wing P.87 feederliner with pusher turboprops, and the two Handley Page contenders for future markets—the H.P. 97 (of which only the fuselage was revealed last year) and the H.P.R.3 Dakota replacement. In studying the model of the Short Sherpa high-altitude research aircraft with aero-isoclinic wing (see page 352), aerodynamicists displayed an interest comparable with that excited by the full-size The sunlit scene: Ten types of aircraft can be distinguished in the view below, including a distant R.A.E. Ashton above the D.H.UO's rakish tail. On the right, the winged Bristol 173 gives thousands their first sight of one of the new shapes soon to be common. variable-sweep S.B.5—another of this year's novelties—standing in the sunshine outside. An appraisal of the aircraft follows. MILITARY AND RESEARCH TYPES Auster/Ambulance Freighter.—The show machine is the grey-painted prototype, XA177, in Service markings and fitted with four comfortable-looking seats. It is difficult to credit that 80 per cent of the parts of this little workhorse are standard Auster components—but no doubt Ranald Porteous, who was observed sitting by the open back door, inviting entry, would bear this out. Avro Deltas.—Of the show-stealing delta sextet, the follow ing are new to Farnborough (or at least to the S.B.A.C. Display): Vulcan B.l VX777—the second (Olympus-powered) prototype, which, on preliminary examination, appears to differ from the first Vulcan only in having the "dewlap" bulge under the for ward fuselage; the 707A, numbered WZ736, and likewise aerodynamically similar to its predecessor; and the dual-control WZ744 (707C). The three old-stagers are the first prototype Vulcan, VX770—now powered with Sapphires instead of
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