FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1631.PDF
784-785 FLIGHT, 11 December 1953 254 Latest member of the Avro family, which has included such historic machines as the Type 504 and Lancaster, is the Vulcan delta-wing bomber, first flown in 1952. A dream come true was the Avro Vulcan bomber of 1952, for it was the splendid realization of the long-cherished "paper dart" ideal. The extreme cleanness of outline afforded by the delta configuration is admirably shown in the picture at 254— a picture which even to the layman is strongly suggestive of speed combined with load-carrying capacity. It is not often that a Minister of State refers to a new aircraft in such terms as these, used by the Minister of Supply on the occasion of the Vulcan's first flight: "The advent of this huge four-jet delta plane represents yet another dramatic leap in the progress of British aviation and may well have a profound influence upon future develop ment, not only in air warfare but also in. civil transport. The bold decision to adopt the triangular wing for an aircraft of 256 Sweden looks ahead: the Soab Draken research aircraft 1952). 257 Among France's post-war best: the S.0.4050 Vautour 1952). 255 The helicopter airliner realized: Bristol's 173 Mk 1 1952). this size and to dispense with the tailplane was an act of faith for which the designers and manufacturers deserve the highest praise." A palpable advance in helicopter design was the Bristol 173 Mk 1, shown at 255. A departure of particular interest is the use of two engines (Alvis Leonides) with a synchronizing shaft between them, which ensures that both engines turn at the same speed and enables one to drive both rotors if the other fails. Earlier this year a 173 was fitted experimentally with wings— a feature which will be incorporated in later machines with a view to "unloading" the rotors and raising the cruising speed. Two of the world's smallest jet aircraft are the Swedish Saab Draken "double delta" research machine (256) and the French Sipa 200 Minijet (259). The Palas turbojet of the Minijet needs only 22 gallons of kerosine per hour. Resembling each other in layout are France's land-based S.O.4050 Vautour (257) and the carrier-borne Douglas A3D (258). The A3D is the most formidable attack machine yet developed for naval use, and carries atomic, or other, weapons in great variety. At the foot of the page are two machines which made their debut at the 1953 S.B.A.C. Display: the Handley Page Victor four-jet bomber (260) and the Short S.B.5 research aircraft (261). The key feature of the magnificent Victor is the "crescent" wing, the relatively thick, sharply swept, inboard sections of which house the four Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire turbojets. Immediately outboard are thinner, less swept portions, and the outermost panels are very thin indeed, with even less sweep. The S.B.5 was built for research into the low-speed qualities of sharply swept wings. 25B Seaborne air power, epitomized by the Douglas A3D (1952). 259 260 The crescent-wing Handley Page Victor 1952.) 261 Jet runabout: the Sipa 200 Minijet 1952). Low-speed research for high-speed flight: Short S.&.5.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
