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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1398.PDF
552 FLIGHT, 23 October 1953 FROM ALL QUARTERS Belgian-Built Hunters— TN our issue of May 2nd, 1952, after a visit to the Avions Fairey •*• factory in Belgium, we remarked that it seemed plain sense that the Meteors we had seen coming through the Gosselies shops should be quickly succeeded on the line by something newer and better fitted for the first-line defence of the west. Now, after a year and a half, comes the announcement that a large order for Hawker Hunters has been placed by the Belgian Government for construction by the Belgian aircraft industry. About two-thirds of the order concerns Avions Fairey, which organization will assemble major units (technically classified as category "D" com ponents) supplied by the Dutch aircraft industry. Another Belgian firm, SABCA, will assemble about one-third of the total and will also manufacture wings and undercarriages. A parallel announcement concerns a further substantial order for Hunters placed with Belgium under the off-shore supply scheme for the NATO programme. Of this order three-quarters will be built in Belgium from major components supplied direct by Hawker Aircraft, Ltd., and delivered by an air-lift system operating direct to the Avions Fairey airfield at Gosselies. A similar lift has been the practice with the Belgian-built Meteors. The Rolls-Royce Avon turbojets for the Belgian and Dutch Hunters are to be built under licence in Belgium by Fabrique Nationale. —and Dutch Re-equipment Plans L T-GEN. I. A. ALER, the Netherlands Chief of Air Force Staff, made some interesting points in a recent interview. He began by saying that no one should be so complacent as to imagine that the Netherlands Air Force had as yet reached the target of full "adequacy" at which the country must aim. The Force, he declared, was still in the building-up stage. It is hoped to see it fully equipped with all modern radar devices by 1954-55, with Hunters by 1955, and with an all-weather fighter (the make of which Gen. Aler was "unable to indicate") by 1955-56. At present the Netherlands Air Force is still using radar material taken over from the British forces immediately after the war, and while 100 million guilders' worth of such equipment has been on order with the Philips concern of Eindhoven since 1950, it appears unlikely that the whole contract—which includes the building of radar stations and command posts—will be completed before 1954-55. Although "the real armament for the Dutch Air Force, the Hunter," is not expected in full delivery before 1955, it is "not unreasonable to hope," according to Gen. Aler, that the first few may come to hand by the end of next year. In the meantime, Holland will take the last fifth of an old-standing order of 300 Meteors which, at the time the order was placed, were badly needed for the training of pilots (the fighter force had twice as many trainees as passed-out pilots). A proportion of the Hunters to be built in Holland will be at the disposal of the United States as "offshore" purchases, but the Dutch Air Force hopes to be given the use of the first to come off the assembly lines. (As we reported on September 4th, 460 Hunters are to be built under licence by Fokker, de Schelde and FIRST OF TWO Mk 31 Bristol Freighters ordered by Air Viet-Nam recently left Filton on its delivery fight in the hands of Capt. Ladure, the com pany's chief pilot, who has done over 4,000 hours on Bristol 170s. The second aircraft will follow shortly. Seen here are, left to right, Cmdt. Claudel (A.V-N. technical adviser), Capt. J. Jouanicou (co-pilot), Capt. Ladure, Mr. Verden (engineer) and Mr. J. Sullivan (Bristols). Aviolanda. Of these, 112 will be "offshore" to America. Of the remainder, 156 are earmarked for the Dutch Air Force and 192 for the Belgians. As related above, Belgium herself now comes into the "offshore Hunter" building programme.) The Decisive Battle TN a speech at Hove, Sussex, last week, Lord Balfour of Inchrye J- said that because a war could be lost from the air within hours of its outbreak, absolute priority in money, material and men was needed for the Royal Air Force. To accept this fact needed a new outlook on defence, alien to many of high distinction who had been associated all their lives with the older Services. "You cannot win the battle at sea," he said, "until you have won the battle in the air. You cannot win the battle on land without having first won the battle in the air. But if you lose the battle in the air at the very beginning you might as well have no sea or land forces. "Today the cost of national defence bears heavily. The burden is as much as we can economically carry, and it cannot be increased in total. It is within the present total that we should re-orientate our views on the proportions to be spent on the air, the sea and the land. Until sufficient sums are spent and sufficient men attracted to the needs of the R.A.F. for our home defence—static, missile, fighter and bomber—we cannot consider ourselves as doing all we should for the protection of Britain." Lord Balfour had said earlier in his speech: "Let there be no wishful thinking that the task of intercepting hostile bombers has been substantially solved by development of intercepting radio-directed rocket missiles, whether fired and controlled from ground or air. These scientific developments may increase the percentage of successful interceptions of enemy bombers, but some bombers will always get through. The damage the individual bomber could do with 1944 explosive power is like a scratch on the surface compared to the devastation that an accurately de livered atomic bomb would cause. "Our ability to prevent continued atomic raiding of Britain's cities and bases depends upon having on instant call a highly efficient, adequately manned, strategic counter-bomber force of sufficient size." THE NEW A.O.P.: Makers' drawings of the Auster A.O.P. Mk 9 (Blackburn-Cirrus Bombardier), now in production as a successor to the familiar A.O.P.6 The wing and flaps will be seen to have been completely redesigned and the wing is braced by a single strut on each side. The "fat" tyres and tailwheel should be welcomed by Army pilots, who are frequently called upon to operate from the most inhospitable terrains. Cantilever legs are used.
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