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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 0372.PDF
UP SHE RISES: From a mobile launching ramp, aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier, a Chance Vought Regulus missile gets under way. In actual operations a new smokeless propellant would render the launch less visible. The Regulus can be launched from surface vessels, submarines or land sites. 174 FLIGHT, 12 February 1954 HERE AND THERE B-26s For Indo-China IT was announced in Washington last week-end that delivery of B-26s to the French forces in Indo-China was being accelerated, and that 200 men would be sent to augment the American technical ground-staff already mere. Swiss Venoms ? AUTHORITY to purchase a hundred de Havilland Venoms is being sought by the two Houses of the Swiss Parliament. The Swiss Air Force is at present using Vampires, in addition to obsolescent piston-engined material. Teutonic Farnborough GERMANY'S first post-war air display is to be held at Rhine-Main Airport, Frank furt, from April 10th to 13th. It is hoped that the show will demonstrate the ability of German manufacturers to supply com ponents and accessories to foreign firms. Unpopular Solution? OPERATING from a local park, S-55 helicopters of H.M.S. Perseus transported 120 men back to the carrier last Sunday as she lay off Bangor, Co. Down. Their liberty-boats had been damaged by a sud den gale. Four helicopters carried batches of six men on each trip. Adventurous Spirit FLYING a Mosquito solo, Mrs. Diana Bixby, of California, is shortly to attempt to beat the late Bill Odom's (Douglas In vader) round-the-world record of 73 hours. Engine trouble caused the failure of a pre vious attempt which she made wim her husband, Bob Bixby, in April 1950. Silence, Sir! QUESTIONED in the Commons last week about damage alleged to have been caused to property by sonic bangs, Mr. George Ward, Under-Secretary for Air, said that orders had already been issued to all R.A.F. stations whereby pilots must refrain from deliberately causing bangs "except when authorized by stations or at exhibitions or in legitimate and essential forms of operation." Call Me Madam PROBABLY not for the first time, the use of the title "flying officer" for a W.R.A.F. flight officer who has qualified for her wings has caused a comedy of errors. Last week the Royal Air Force Club accepted a membership application from a flying officer at an R.A.F. station— only to discover, when Air Ministry Records were consulted, that the "him" was a "her." The club was probably shaken to its foundations, for, like so many of its neighbours in Piccadilly, it confines its membership strictly to the male sex. Not the Gallant Major INVESTIGATIONS during the week end failed to establish the identity of a pilot who flew a Meteor under Bristol's Clifton suspension bridge last Friday. Canadair Appointments AS a result of reorganization at Canadair, Ltd., Montreal, Everett B. Schaefer be comes assistant chief engineer, while chief engineers in various sections are appointed as follows: J. M. Schaffer, design; R. D. Richmond, development; B. J. Kaganov, structures; J. J. Waller, material and pro cess; and E. H. Higgins, projects. T. A. Harvie becomes project engineer and H. H. Whiteman assistant project engineer, while S. J. Pope is appointed section chief, aerodynamics. Forward Thinking on Radio SPEAKING at the recent London annual luncheon of the Radio Com munication and Electronic Engineering Association, Mr. T. E. Goldup (retiring chairman) suggested that constructors should consult the radio industry about navigational aids and communications equipment while new aircraft were still in the design stage. In a subsequent interview he expressed the opinion that such consultation would save many months on the production of new types. The Association's annual report, incidentally, states that "further efforts have been made to secure recognition by the aircraft industry of a standard power supply in civil aircraft." The new chairman of the R.C.E.E.A. is Mr. C. G. White, general sales manager and director of Kelvin Hughes (Marine), Ltd. Air-Safety Lecture THE Cantor Lecture of the Royal Society of Arts on March 1st will be given by A. Cdre. Sir Vernon Brown, former Chief Inspector of Accidents, M.C.A. His sub ject will be Safety in the Air. From Three Aspects A TRIO of lectures on the Blackburn and General Aircraft Freighter was delivered to a meeting of the Brough branch of the R.Ae.S. on February 3rd. Under the general heading The Design, Construction and Flight Testing of the Universal Freighter, the three lectures were delivered by Mr. C. W. Prower, assistant chief designer, Mr. W. A. Hargreaves, works director, and Mr. G. R. I. Parker, assistant chief test pilot. A summary of the lectures will appear in Flight in the near future. Valiants ex Brooklands THE excellent take-off performance of the Vickers Valiant is already familiar to Farnborough-goers, but it is not generally known that production Valiants are being flown out of the historic Brooklands air field, which lies in a "saucer" and has a maximum runway length of only 1,288 yd. Already Mr. G. R. Bryce, Vickers- Armstrongs' chief test pilot, has shown that one of these four-A von bombers can be unstuck (in nil wind, but lightly loaded) in much less than that distance, and a demonstration by the next production machine is expected within a few days. Helicopter Service Pioneering THE world's first scheduled helicoptei passenger service was not—as stated last week—that which operated between Lon don and Birmingham; in fact, the first was the Liverpool-Cardiff service which begar on June 1st, 1950. The single fare was £3 10s, and a monthly return cost £5 10s Wrexham was an intermediate stop. Or mis subject of "firsts," it may be added that the first regular helicopter mail service was between Peterborough and Yarmouth which began June 1st, 1948, and the first night mail from Peterborough to Norwich, started on October 17th, 1949—in both cases run by British European Airways
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