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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1353.PDF
FLIGHT, 9 October 1953 507 DEBUT WITH A BANG The R.A.A.F. Avon-Sabre s Inaugural Demonstration "CROM Australia comes a colourful -t account of the first official flight of the Australian-built Avon-Sabre, when watched by the Prime Minister, Mr. R. G. Menzies, and many senior officials, F/L. "Bill" Scott produced a triple supersonic bang during a dive from 42,000ft. Scott —28 years of age, and weighing 14 stone— is a test pilot on loan from the Royal Australian Air Force to the Common wealth Aircraft Corporation. The demon stration was given from the new Avalon test field, 33 miles from Melbourne, on August 21st. Mr. Menzies was clearly very impressed by the flight. In a subsequent speech he said: "In the opinion of those best quali fied to judge, this Sabre has a higher per formance than any Sabre seen in action in Korea. At this moment it is probably the world's finest fighter." Later, the Chief of the Australian Air Staff, Air Marshal Sir Donald Hardman, stated that the first squadron of Avon-Sabres would be delivered to the R.A.A.F. within a year. In place of machine-guns, the aircraft would have two heavy-calibre can nons [30 mm.—Ed.]. There would be provision for 16 rockets under the wings, and it would carry two 500 lb bombs. After the demonstration, Scott said: "I went supersonic at 660 miles an hour, then kept her going faster to hold her to it down to 26,000ft. . . I went up a bit over 700 m.p.h. in the dive without pushing her." When the Sabre was gaining height preparatory to the dive, the crowd below, and thousands of radio listeners, heard an un scheduled exchange between the pilot and a radio commentator. On take-off Scott made a circuit of the field, then pulled up the nose of the aircraft and shot almost vertically out of sight in a few Close up, the numerous stencils can be read: several refer to the large access-door for the starboard 30 mm gun, whose blast tube is prominent. The enlarged Avon intake is also noticeable. In the air the Commonwealth Sabre looks much like a standard F-86E, with "all-flying tail" and wing slats. All the early test-flying has been done by FjL. Bill Scott left). seconds. The crowd and radio listeners heard his voice reading-off the altitudes as he climbed: "Just passing 27,000 feet . . . 32,000 . . . 35,000." COMMENTATOR: "We've lost sight of him, Scott's voice is changing as he flies higher." SCOTT: "I've got my radio compass runed into 3GL. I can hear that an nouncer saying what I'm doing." COMMENTATOR: "You're making me nervous. If I say anything wrong you can pick me up. I've lost sight of him again. I think he's somewhere over towards Melbourne." SCOTT : "No—I'm just five miles north of you." COMMENTATOR: "I knew that would happen. You'd better waggle your wings, we can't see you. Now you're directly into the sun and I'm almost breaking my neck trying to see you." SCOTT : "Well, I'll move her over a bit." Soon the pilot called "42,000 feet" and a few seconds later said, "I'm on the way down. . . Mach point-nine . . . point nine-five . . . point nine-eight. . . There's Mach one. Got it! Holding Mach one." The three detonations reached the ground about 15 seconds later. Said Scott: "I didn't hear anything. Did you?" After his dive, Scott took the Sabre through a dazzling 30- minute display of aerobatics. As he climbed from the cock pit, looking like a science-fiction pilot in his green g-suit and red helmet, he was congratulated by the Prime Minister and by the Minister for Defence Production, Mr. Eric Harrison. Earlier, the Prime Minister had said that the job of installing the British Avon engine in the American Sabre fuselage had de manded a tremendous amount of engineer ing skill, and he warmly acknowledged the co-operation of Rolls-Royce and North American Aviation. The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation, which was building the Avon-Sabre for the R.A.A.F. at its plant in Melbourne, had to make extensive modifications to the original Sabre air frame to take the more powerful Avon. (It is said that substitution of the more powerful but no heavier Avon for the Gen eral Electric J47 has necessitated major re design of 60 per cent of the fuselage struc ture. Mr. Ian H. Ring, Commonwealth's chief engineer, disclosed that one of the most important modifications was the 25 psr cent enlargement of the nose intake, in a vertical direction, to accommodate the higher-placed intake of the Avon.) The Minister for Defence Production hit at local critics of the policy of building military aircraft in Australia instead of
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