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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 0043.PDF
1 January 1954 27 CORRESPONDENCE The Editor of "Flight" does not hold himself responsible for the views expressed by correspondents in these columns; the names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters. The Wonder of 50 Years Ago WPHE First Fifty Years" (the feature article in your special * number of December 11th) was, I think, superlative and probably far more absorbing to the non-expert than many Farn-borough editions. I now have a feeling that some of us have been looking with too much wonder upon developments of today; and I was astounded to hear from the B.B.C. that the Wrights used a wind tunnel! Harrogate, Yorks. ALLAN GREAVES. [We are grateful for our correspondent's appreciation—one of a number we have received. Incidentally, the Wright brothers' use of a wind tunnel was the subject of two references in the issue mentioned.—Ed.] Almost Overlooked I WAS sorry to note that, in the B.B.C.'s recent one-hour feature on fifty years of flying, the first Englishman to become a popular hero with the British public, Claude Grahame-White, was dismissed in two or three words. It seemed to have been overlooked that he was the first Englishman to pass successfully the tests necessary for an official pilot's certificate, the first Englishman to make a cross-country flight in this country, the first man in the world to make an aeroplane flight at night, and the first Englishman to win a big international aeroplane contest (the Gordon-Bennett of 1910). Epsom, Surrey. HARRY HARPER. Jet Trainers I T seems to me that the sting of "S.H.E.'s" letter in your issue of November 20th is in the tail. His assertion that mere is a Commonwealth demand for a four-five-seater personal plane powered with a 250 h.p. turboprop engine appears to have led him to find arguments in favour of a Service trainer powered with just such a unit. Since, however, the Air Staff are concerned with producing pilots capable of handling the fantastically expensive V-bombers and all-weather fighters, the economics of modern Service-pilot training must be viewed against the background values of modern operational aircraft. Because such an ab initio trainer as "S.H.E." advocates would be so far removed in power, performance and equipment from the advanced type of trainer it is clear (as "S.H.E." admits) that an intermediate trainer would be needed. Even if such a trainer were produced, this would mean a return to the three-type scheme which, widi its additional spares provisioning, etc., is such a night mare to the equipment and engineering branches of die Service. One of the main Service problems is to discover the inept trainee as early as possible during training (synthetic aptitude- tests are still far from infallible) and it is this more than anything else mat has sounded the death knell of the "simple" ab initio trainer which, by its very simplicity, permits all and sundry to be taught to fly and thereby passes along the training channel many who will fail at a later stage. Quite apart from the obvious waste of time and effort that late failures cause, the demoralizing influence on the failed pupil (not to mention his instructors) is incalculable but very real. No other person has as much influence on a pupil as has his first instructor. Lessons learnt during the early impressionable hours are not easily forgotten; and surely it makes sense that, since 90 per cent of Service aircraft will be jets, this is the power source which should be used throughout training. It is admitted that the 10 per cent of pilot graduates who will operate piston or turbo prop aircraft will require special conversion courses, but, because the numbers will be so few, it will be possible to make these courses prolonged and thorough. If the Provost/Vampire training sequence now introduced into the R.A.F. is the success which is anticipated, it is logical to sup pose that the Provost could be replaced by an ab initio trainer of similar weight and performance but powered with a jet engine. Far from being expensive for the taxpayer, such a trainer might well prove most economical because, whereas the present Provost/ Vampire sequence gives an approximately equal share of hours to each type, the ab initio jet trainer might be expected to take over a higher proportion of the total, thus enabling a corresponding reduction to be made on the more costly advanced trainer. It is, therefore, most fortunate that the Viper jet engine is available, giving a thrust which would seem to be almost ideal for the trainer envisaged; and one eagerly awaits the appearance of the Viper Provost, which is due to be delivered [a small number for trial and evaluation—Ed.] to the Royal Air Force this year (1954). London, W.C.2. A.C.B. Thrust—Limited and Otherwise WITH reference to your comment (P.742, December 4th) on Mr. LaPierre's article it may be true that some British designers foresaw limitation of thrust. Indeed it was true, lament ably true, that some British designers foresaw no thrust at all! Among the initiates, however, I knew none who doubted that thrusts would increase. Whittle propounded a layout, in about 1941, for 10,0001b-plus; Power Jets seriously considered it, and indeed never rejected it. Mr. LaPierre's implication that there was an "imaginary barrier" to higher thrust, which barrier was broken by America, is unworthy of the excellent work done by his and other American firms, although consistent with other sporadic publicity efforts (to which I am sure Mr. LaPierre would not subscribe) made in America to establish that country as the progenitor of turbojet propulsion. As to "life." Some Power Jets engines designed and built between 1940 and 1942 had a very much greater actual life than that attributed to certain engines now (or until recently) in full production. There are quite a number of W2/700s, for example, which are still running and giving close to their original performance—usually in "hack" circumstances, where maintenance is at a low ebb, and frequent starts and vehement accelerations make up most of their time. London, W.l. PATRICK JOHNSON. FORTHCOMING EVENTS Dec. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. 31- 13. 2 6. 7. 9. 12 15. 16. 16. 18. 21. 22. 23. 23. 26. National Schoolboys' Own Exhibition, Horticultural Halls, Westminister. British Interplanetary Society: "Cosmic Radiation Hazards in Space Flight," by Dr. L. R. Shepherd, Ph.D. Institute of Metals: Informal discussion, "Lubricants for Non- ferrous Metal Working." R.Ae.S. "Young People's" Lecture: "The Fun of Finding Out in Flying," by Sir Leonard Bairstow, C.B.E., F.R.S., Hon.F.R.Ae.S. British Interplanetary Society (North-west Branch): "Our First Goal—the Moon," by P. A. Moore, F.R.A.S. Institution of Civil Engineers: "Control of Movement at Airports," by Clifford Hayes and E. J. Dickie. Institute of Navigation: "Methods of Air and Surface Naviga tion," by W/C. E. W. Anderson, D. H. Sadler, Lt. Cdr. R. B. Michell, R.N., and G/C. E. Fennessy. British Interplanetary Society (Midlands Branch): Brains Trust. British Interplanetary Society (Provisional Yorkshire Branch): Short-paper evening and Brains Trust. Photog ram metric Society: "New Stereoscopic Plotting Instru ment for Aerial Photographs," by Professor E. H. Thompson. R.Ae.S. Main Lecture: First Mitchell Memorial Lecture, by J. Smith, C.B.E., F.R.Ae.S. (at Southampton). Helicopter Association: Brains Trust. British Interplanetary Society (Provisional Western Branch): "Astronautics in the Next 25 Years," by E. Burgess, F.R.A.S. Aircraft Recognition Society: All-England Recognition Contest, Ro al Institution, London. R.Ae.S. Section Lecture: "X-ray Metallography," by Dr. G. L. J. Bailey. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. 4 5 6 10 11 18. Jan. 25-29. Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences: 22nd Annual Meeting, New York. R.Ae.S. Section Lecture: "Air Intake Efficiency," by F. B. Greatrex, B.A., A.F.R.Ae.S. Photog ram metric Society: "New Plotting Machine for Air Photographs," by J. E. Odle. British Interplanetary Society: "Progress towards Astro nautics," by K. W. Gotland. Radar Association: "Secondary Radar," by K. Harris. R.Ae.S. Main Lecture: "Recent Developments in the Structural Approach to Aeroelastic Problems," by Dr. D. Williams, M.I.Mech.E., F.R.Ae.S. R.Ae.S. Section Lecture: "Helicopter Research," by F. J. O'Hara, A.R.Ae.S. (jointly with the Helicopter Association). 2. R.Ae.S. Section Lecture: "Metal Sandwich Construction," by F. Tyson, B.A., A.F.R.Ae.S. R.Ae.S. Branch Fixtures (to Jan. 15).—Jan. 4, Bristol, "Review of Developments in Aircraft Equipment," by G. H. Dowty. Jan. 6, Belfast, joint meeting with Queen's University Film Society; Luton, Wilbur Wright Centenary film; Brough, "New Developments in Aircraft Production Engineering," by Professor J. V. Connolly; Chester, "Guided Weapons," by D. J. Lyons. Jan. 11, Birmingham, joint meeting with Institute of Rubber; Ha/ton, "The Propeller Gas Turbine," by A. C. Clinton. Jan. 13, Hatfield, "Stability and Control in Aircraft Design," by J. C. Wimpenny; Weybridge, "Sail plane Design," by K. G. Wilkinson. Jan. 14. Isle of Wight, "Large Press Forgings," by E. T. Stewart-Jones. Jan. 15, Glasgow, "The Pilot's Point of View," by Officers of Glasgow U.A.S. Feb. Mar.
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