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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1537.PDF
27 November 1953 691 "minus two hundred divided by the square root of the members" in a suggested formula for club efficiency. Replying for the guests, Mr. George Ward, M.P., Under- Secretary of State for Air, emphasized that for those who wanted pure flying, and not the mere mastery of mechanical devices (required on modern high-performance machines) the clubs satisfied a most important need. A final speech was made, in French, by M. Champelauvier, of the Federation Nationale Aeronautique de France, who emphasized the need for co-operation between the aero clubs of Britain and France, and expressed his belief in the future of the helicopter. Auto-Ejection Trials IT was disclosed last week that, during September, the Martin-Baker and Irving companies carried out a series of trials which showed that a great deal of progress has been made in the inter related techniques of e.'ector seat and parachute operation. The equipment employed consisted of the Martin-Baker automatic MB.2E seat and the standard Irving 24ft canopy. As in earlier tests a Meteor T.7 was used, based at Chalgrove, Oxon. No live drops were attempted, but dummies were success fully ejected at a height of only 200ft and a speed of 600 m.p.h., and in every case the canopy brought the dummy down to the steady rate of descent before reaching the ground. From these results, say Irvings, it can be deduced that their parachutes can safely be used with the fully automatic Martin- Baker seats at all subsonic aircraft speeds likely to be met with in the near future. A Civil Pilot's Courage A STORY of courage and resourcefulness displayed by a civil **- pilot in Australia was revealed last week in the London Gazette by the announcement of the award of the George Medal to Clarence Robert Hibbert, senior examiner of airmen, Common wealth Department of Civil Aviation. The citation states that Mr. Hibbert was the captain of a Drover aircraft en route from Wewak to Momote Airfield, Manus Island. It continues: "Over the Bismarck Sea part of the propeller on the port engine became detached and pierced the pilot's cockpit, smashing Hibbert's left foot and causing the subsequent failure of the remaining two engines. "In spite of his injuries, Hibbert immediately brought the aircraft under control and transmitted the distress signal. Realizing that he was physically unable to continue to pilot the machine he direcred that he be removed from the cockpit and replaced at the controls by a qualified pilot who was a passenger in the aircraft. He then attempted to transmit further distress signals. When it became apparent that the machine would come down in the sea, he went to the rear of the aircraft to make the vital preparations for this emergency, and it was largely due to his efforts that the dinghy and its associated life-saving equipment were successfully launched. "After the occupants had transferred to the dinghy, Hibbert, although in great pain and weak from the loss of blood, continued to discharge his responsibilities as captain and was primarily responsible for the successful assembly and use of the emergency radio transmitter . . . "Throughout the whole operation Hibbert displayed qualities of leadership ... in keeping with the highest tradition of service in the air." Another examiner who was on board the Drover, Mr. Thomas Peel Drury, receives the Queen's Commendation for his actions after the aircraft ditched. Brazil and Aircraft Imports TVliW exchange regulations, now in force, will have a bearing *• ' on aircraft imports into Brazil. From our correspondent in that country comes a note on the new system. Exchange avail able for imports, he says, is spread over five categories of merchandise and sold by auction on the various stock exchanges. Registered firms bid the premium they are prepared to pay on the official rate of exchange and, if successful, receive a promissory note. This entitles them to an import licence, and any authorized bank will then furnish the corresponding exchange cover against payment at the official rate. Category 1 imports, to which 50 per cent of the exchange is allotted and for which the minimum premium is 10 cruzeiros per dollar (or the equivalent in other currencies) include aircraft engines and accessories; aviation spirit and lubricants; and air craft radio equipment. Category 3 imports, for which 15 per cent of the exchange is reserved and for which the minimum premium is 15 cruzeiros, include: radar apparatus; electric lighting equipment for aircraft; pulverizing and spraying apparatus; and pneumatic tyres and tubes for aircraft. Wholesale DC-3 Conversion A LSO arising out of Brazil's foreign exchange situation, an x interesting proposal is afoot for large-scale conversion of DC-3s to Super DC-3s. The Director of Aeronautical Supplies, reports our correspondent, has said that the quota allotted to SCOTTISH SEND-OFF: At the formal opening of the Rolls-Royce East Kilbride factory, described on page 693. Top table, I. to r.: Mr. W. A. Robotham (director R-R); Air Chief Marshal Sir John W. Baker; Rear-Admiral Caspar John; Mr. Duncan Sandys; and Lord Hives. imports of complete aircraft will be entirely absorbed in the purchase of modern equipment for international lines, leaving nothing for renewals to domestic fleets. It is therefore proposed to convert no fewer than 300 DC-3s and C-47s, provided that the Air Ministry will cede plant and labour while the operators obtain from the United States the necessary components. These will consist of P. and W. R2000-13 engines, and undercarriages, wings and airscrews. It is stated that conversion will cost £40,000 per aircraft, as against £320,000 for a replacement such as the 44-seat Convair. [Douglas quote £100,000 for conversion.] Our correspondent adds that the Export-Import Bank, Washington, has granted a credit of 3,110,000 U.S. dollars to the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation towards die supply of diree Super Constellations to Viacao Aerea Riograndense. The loan will be amortized by monthly payments over four years, beginning in March 1955, with interest at 4| per cent per annum. The Bank of Brazil has authorized a loan of 60 million cruzeiros (£1,200,000) to Panair do Brasil to enable that company to acquire four Comets for its international routes. The total cost exceeds 160 million cruzeiros. History and Herr Messerschmitt WILLY MESSERSCHMITT, the former designer of German aircraft, recently discussed his Me262 twin-engined fighter with American journalists. After saying that his firm built "600 to 800" of these aircraft, he went on to claim that the Me262 was the only jet fighter to see action in World War II and that it reached 640 m.p.h. in horizontal flight at sea level in 1945. Assuming these statements to have been accurately quoted, they are, to say the least, open to question. It is odd that Herr Messerschmitt should not remember within 200 aircraft how many 262s were built. Again, he cannot claim that no other jet fighter saw action in the 1939-45 period; the Gloster Meteor was standard equipment in a number of squadrons from 1944 onwards and these operated from Britain and the Continent, destroying many flying bombs and piloted aircraft. As for the 640 m.p.h. figure, we would like to see the German designer going into a little more detail on how the speed was achieved; after protracted test ing in this country the maximum speed of the Me262 was found to be 517-520 m.p.h. The Extraordinary X-3 1117HEN the photographs reproduced overleaf came into our ' ' office we recalled the country bumpkin who, confronted with a giraffe, for die first time, exclaimed "I don't believe it." We have watched the Douglas X-3 progress from the original project of 1947, through many variations, right up to this form—which is by no means final. And yet, prepared as we were, the know ledge that the X-3 has actually been built, and flown by a human pilot, comes as a shock and as an unpleasant reminder of this country's lack of attempts at research in comparable fields. In our survey of the work of the Douglas D.558-2 Skyrocket (Flight, May 9th, 1952) we quoted the pilot principally con cerned—Bill Bridgeman—as pleading for a "genuine" supersonic aircraft capable of keeping above Mach 1 for a time measured in minutes, not seconds. He a'so asked for a true supersonic wing-section, adequate irreversible controls (and, perhaps, a yaw damper) and an efficient cockpit-condition:n? system. Fulfilling these requirements the Douglas X-3 is the outcome of a joint programme by the U.S.A.F. Air Research and Development Command, assisted by the N.A.C.A. and U.S. Navy, with Douglas, Santa Monica, as the sole contractor. It may be noted that the Skyrocket was a Douglas/Navy development. The X-3 grew out of a Navy contract of 1947 calling for a research air-.
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