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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 0044.PDF
28 FLIGHT, 1 January 1954 TtHE INDUSTRY Hawker Apprentice Prizes A LITTLE over two years ago several of the original appren tices of the Sopwith Aviation Co., Ltd., forerunner of Hawkers—all of them men who had subsequently made their mark in the aviation and other industries—decided among them selves to present a trophy for annual competition among the present-day apprentices of the company. On December 18th, in the canteen of the Kingston factory, the trophy (a shield of impressive design) was presented for the third time. The winner on this occasion, as best apprentice of the year, was T. Opatowski. J. H. Dawson was awarded the prize for the best trade apprentice and D. N. Shackles was rewarded as a Higher National Certificate winner. Air. Neville Spriggs (who is now managing director of the Kingston and Blackpool companies), presenting the awards, reminded his audience that the whole of the executive had started their careers with the firm as "ordinary young lads"; it was Hawkers' policy that any bright boy would be encouraged to take his place at the top in due time. The prize presentation was preceded by the annual distribu tion of clocks as long-service awards—the recipients of which included Mr. W. G. H. Rayner, assistant works manager at the Richmond Road factory—and by the showing of the Shell film The Story of the Century, direct from its premiere at the R.Ae.S.-R.Ae.C. Wright Jubilee Dinner the previous evening. The film, with its nostalgic scenes of flying during and before the Kaiser's war, brought appreciative comments from the several ex-R.F.C. pilots present, though there was a feeling that the Second World War sequences rather casually dismissed the part played by the Hurricane. Alluding to this in a subsequent speech, Sir Sydney Camm said that the Hurricane first flew in 1935. In 1937 the firm designed something much more powerful—the Typhoon. Hurri cane production might have been delayed in its favour; but it was not—with fortunate results for Britain in the summer of 1940. Other speakers at the presentation were Mr. J. T. Lidbury (general manager) and, on behalf of the former apprentices, Mr. R. W. Sutton, who was a Hawker director from 1934 to 1941 and is now a consultant. New Protective Finish 'T'HE Adelaide Engineering Co., of Liverpool, makers of -1 "Cowanite" zinc and latex rust inhibitor, announce a new protective finish developed by Dr. Michael Cowan and known as "Alumintex." Consisting of aluminium and latex, combined with carrying agents, it is claimed to have lasting qualities con siderably greater than those of aluminium paint. It can be applied direct to all industrial metals, wood, asbestos, stone and slate, and over adherent rust, scale and paint. Details are obtainable from the company's offices at 7 Waterloo Road, Liverpool 22. D.C. Ratiometer Indicators TPHE British Standards Institution has published a revision of * G.114, Direct-current Ratiometer Indicators for Aircraft. This revised Standard includes data relating to platinum resistance thermometer elements in addition to that given in G.114 (April 1949) for nickel resistance thermometer elements. An appendix has been added, giving information on minimum tests recom mended to verify the serviceability of instruments manufactured in compliance with the requirements of the standard. Copies of the revised British Standard, No. 2, G.114, are obtainable from the B.S.I, sales branch at 2, Park Street, London, W.l, price 2s. 6d. net. For Factory Floors A NEW floor-cleaning machine for industrial use employs **• battery power and thus obviates the inconvenience of a trailing cable. Made by S. R. Cowland, Ltd., of Birmingham, and known as the Cowland C50A, it consists fundamentally of a cast aluminium base—suspended on an adjustable front caster and two rear wheels—upon which is mounted a divided tank, one half for water and detergent and the other for dirty water. This tank is flanked by two 12-volt Exide traction batteries connected in series to power a B.T.H. 1 h.p. motor, which drives twin rotary cleaning brushes, and a \ h.p. 11,200 r.p.m. suction motor driving a fan which exhausts the air from the dirty-water tank. Mounted on the guiding handles are the motor switches and water- and suction-control levers. In operation, the cleansing solution is gravity-fed from its four-gallon tank to a sprinkler system immediately ahead of the brushes. Then, as the machine passes over the scrubbed portion of the floor, the dirty water is piled up by trailing squeegee rubbers attached to the suction bar at the rear and sucked into the other half of the tank. This system is stated to be so efficient that the clean floor is dry within seconds of the machine's passing. The quickly interchangeable aluminium-backed brushes, which together cover an area 19 in wide, intermesh in the manner of gears, so that no unscrubbed streak is left behind on the floor. If grease-encrusted floors are to be dealt with, the machine can be fitted with wire scratch-brushes for the initial cleaning. The sole selling agents for the C50A machine are Industrial Colloids, Ltd., Altrincham, Cheshire. An Old-Timer Retires NEWS reaches us of the retirement of Mr. Frederick Mayer, at the age of 67, from the post of chief installation engineer in the engine division of the Bristol Aeroplane Co., Ltd. He was due to retire at the usual age of 65, but stayed on to see the power- units for the Beverley, Princess, Britannia and Olympus-Vulcan through their initial flight-tests. Mr. Mayer was associated with various aircraft and engine experiments as far back as 1910, and in 1915 was on the engine inspection staff at Farnborough, whence he was seconded to the Bristol Company (then the British and Colonial Aeroplane Co.) as chief engine examiner. A year later, by which time he was serving in the R.F.C., he was posted to No. 5 Aircraft Accept ance Park, Filton, where he was concerned with engine, arma ment and flight-testing of aircraft built by Bristols and other West Country constructors. In 1919 he joined the Bristol Company, and in 1921 was transferred to Mr. Mayer. their newly formed engine division as chief installation engineer under Mr. A. H. R. (now Sir Roy) Fedden. From then onwards he was responsible for supervising the servicing of engines at the flying school, on the test beds and in experimental installations; he also organized a technical liaison service with customers at home and abroad, which took him to many countries of Europe, the East and even —for winter and summer trials—the Arctic and the tropics. He has handled engine installations in over 250 different varieties of prototype aircraft. IN BRIEF The Aluminium Castings Co., Ltd., announce that Mr. John MacNish, C.A., of Charterhouse Industrial Development Co., Ltd., has been appointed a director of the company to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Mr. R. S. Dyball. * * * Subjects dealt with in a recent issue of Magnolia Metals Review (Practical Data on Lined Bearings) include "Metallography in the Service of Engineers" and "Surface Finishing—a New Approach." (Magnolia Metal Co. of Great Britain, Ltd., 34 Victoria Street, London, S.W.I.) * * * Mr. J. R. Harding, B.Sc.(Eng.), M.I.E.E., has been appointed assistant general manager of Pirelli-General Cable Works, Ltd. He joined the company in 1925 and has been successively a district engineer, manager of overhead lines department, deputy sales manager for rubber cable, and joint sales manager (with Mr. R. J. Willoughby) for paper cable. * * * The production of castings by the use of anodized aluminium dies is described in a new publication "Niforge" Stress-Free Castings by the Parlanti Process. Copies are available from Carron-Parlanti, Ltd., Carron, Falkirk, Stirlingshire. Of particular interest are the physical data showing heat-transference during casting. * * * Mr. R. J. Ashley, managing director of Skyways, Ltd., from 1946 to 1952 has joined Armstrong Siddeley Motors, Ltd., as general manager of their car division. Mr. Ashley, who was an air display pilot from 1934 to 1936 and was with Olley Air Services from 1937 to 1940, served with the R.A.F. during the war and was seconded to Railway Airways Joint Committee .(1941-42) and to British Overseas Airways Corporation (1942-46).
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