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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 0031.PDF
FLIGHT, 1 January 1954 17 AIRCRAFT INTELLIGENCE AWAITING FLIGHT TESTING in France is this Paytn P.49 delta. Taxying trials have been wade at Melun Villaroche by M. Oshenbien. Great Britain Short Seamew. It is reported in America that the weapons to be carried by this light anti-submarine aircraft probably include "the same variety of guided torpedoes that the Fairey Gannet will carry." The Seamew, incidentally, repre sents a class of aircraft not developed in the U.S.A. France S..E.5000 Baroudeur. It is learned that this trolley-launched, skid-landing, Atar- powered fighter/attack machine has been flown with its jettisonable take-off trolley still in place. 5.O.4050 Vautour. The second prototype of this twin-jet multi-purpose aircraft has flown. It is laid out as a single-seater with heavy forward-firing armament (two large gun ports are visible), and has a full length dorsal spine. The third prototype —a bomber—should be completed in a few months. The first small production series of Vautours will include three ver sions—ground-support, bomber and all- weather fighter. Initial deliveries will begin in 1954 and large-scale output will follow. The first Vautour has SNECMA Atar 101-C turbojets of 6,160 lb thrust, but later machines are having Atar 101-Ds and Es, of 6,600 lb and 7,260 lb respec tively. One example will have Armstrong Siddeley Sapphires, and a design study for Rolls-Royce Avons is in hand. Reheat and jet deviation will be tried. United States U.S.A.F. Strength. "Air power seems to be holding its own in the tussle for money," writes a correspondent in America. The target strength of the U.S.A.F., recently changed for the fourth time in less than twelve months, is now 137 wings, and the corresponding target date is June 30th, 1957. [Under President Truman's budget for 1954 the original planned strength for January 1956 was 143 wings; this was subsequently reduced to 120 wings by the Eisenhower administration, but after fur ther consideration the target was changed again—to 127 wings.] The estimated com position of the 1957 U.S.A.F. will be as follows: Strategic Air Command, 55 wings; Air Defence Command, 38 wings; Tactical Air Command, 29 wings; Air Transport Command, 15 wings. NORTH AMERICAN F-100A SUPER SABRE (Pratt and Whitney J57-P-7 turbojet! Spon 36ft Length 45 t Boeing B-52. It is now known that the production B-52A will differ very con siderably both in equipment and in exterior features from the prototype XB-52 and YB-52. The principal change is a switch to the British type of cockpit in which two pilots sit side-by-side; this will be in the extreme nose, covered by a squat, airliner-type canopy. The bomb-door geometry is unlike that of the prototypes, and the doors extend further up the sides of the fuselage; the fuselage itself is also longer and the B-52A appears to be about 160ft overall (compared with 153ft). Particularly interesting is the tail turret: whereas that of the prototypes formed a simple pointed rear end, the production assembly is a complex arrangement with a powered weapon-holder at the bottom surmounted by a radar scanner, with a gunner's position further forward under the root of the rudder. Republic F-84F. The transonic, Sapphire- powered Thunderstreak is still being built with a nose intake, but the later variants with root intakes are already on the line, with noses housing various combinations of guns or cameras. Trouble with the heavily swept, high aspect-ratio horizontal tail has led Republic to abandon the original combination of elevator and variable- incidence tailplane in favour of a single, irreversible powered surface, as on the F-100. A point worth noting is that titanium nuts, now widely used in the hot parts of the airframe, save 150 lb per aircraft; it has been estimated that, had the F-84F been designed for titanium from the start, the figure could be from 700 to 1,000 lb. This figure underlines the amount of stainless steel that goes into American fighters. Douglas DC-1. According to Aviation Week, the DC-7 received its C.A.A. cer tification on Friday, November 13th, but to avoid "hanging a jinx" on the aircraft the document was dated November 12th. Douglas A4D. This transonic, carrier- based attack aircraft has now been in spected in mock-up form by many U.S. Navy pilots, who express delight at the simple cockpit. The power unit is an American-built Sapphire, of the same type as fitted to the North American FJ-3 Fury. St
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