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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 1331.PDF
598 FLIGHT, 7 May 1954 AT THE B.I.F. Some Castle Bromwich Exhibits of Interest to the Aircraft Industry ON Monday last the British Industries Fair opened in Birmingham (Castle Bromwich) and London (Olympia and Earls Court); it remains open until May 14th. For London, this will be the !ast B.I.F. under the existing organization by the Board of Trade, as future Fairs are to be taken over by a newly formed corporation; but the Midlands section will continue to be staged by Birmingham Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the B.o.T. As usual, Castle Bromwich houses the majority of the engineer ing exhibits, shown by over 1,000 firms. As usual, also, a tour of the Birmingham stands brought recognition of the names of many firms well known in the aircraft industry, though purely aero nautical exhibits were rare, for members of the S.B.A.C. largely reserve such items for Farnborough. Standard Telephones and Cables, however, in a display of their work in a wide field of telecommunications, are featuring the STR. 9X ten-channel V.H.F., and PV.1B D/F., equipment as used to control the Coronation fly-past over London; and we learned that the R.A.F. has asked for a similar set-up to be installed near Woolwich for the Royal Homecoming Fly-past. Other essentially aeronautical exhibits which the Castle Brom wich visitor may notice include a 7in contra-rotating (i.e., flow- straightening) air fan for the Viscount, on the stand of the Air screw Co. and Jicwood, Ltd.; a complete Proteus engine and a Centaurus 661 mounting ring (rubber-to-metal bonding by Spencer Moulton), on the stand of the Bristol Engineering Manu facturers' Association; a sectioned Derwent on the Rolls-Royce stand; and, on the stand of Evertaut, Ltd., a Merlin exhaust mani fold, typifying their fabrication work. Some small airframe components showing the application of high-speed finishes and chromate primers are to be found in the Cellon stand, and—a pygmy among giant electric apparatus— there is an aircraft actuator in the English Electric exhibit. Shown for the first time, the Rover 60 h.p. industrial gas tur bine is attracting a great deal of attention, a sectioned example emphasizing the simplicity of the single combustion-chamber and tiny (by aircraft standards) centrifugal compressor. I.C.I. Metals, on a stand which is perhaps the most technically instructive in the whole show, are featuring the latest progress in wrought titanium development; and I.C.I, associates in the B.I.F. include Marston Excelsior, with their heat-exchanger and flexible- tank products; the I.C.I. "Terylene" Council, stressing the value of "Terylene" polyester fibre as, inter alia, a lightweight insulator; and I.C.I. Plastics, of Perspex fame. Titanium is seen again in special exhibits by two firms of the Laporte Chemical group. The "little horses" that work in portable tools are the main theme of a gay roundabout-and-fair-ground display by Desoutter Brothers. Geo. Salter and Co., Ltd., are featuring, amid every imaginable size and shape of spring, their "Truarc" retaining rings; Jenks Brothers, Ltd., have a most impressive display of "Britool" hand tools, including a new range of five torque wrenches from 8 to 500 ft lb; the Pyrene Co., Ltd., are showing fire-fighting equipment for almost every conceivable situation; Autoset (Production), Ltd., are again exhibiting their comprehensive range of castors, together with engineers' clamps and other works equipment; Philidas, Ltd., have their self-locking nuts—widely used by the aircraft industry—on a stand which also displays the ball, roller and other bearings made by Pollard Bearings, Ltd.; and—recalling the pre-war aviation industry—the names Heston and Phoenix are linked again in the exhibit of the Heston Group, whose products include passenger steps and other aircraft ground equipment. A wing leading-edge is to be seen on the stand of Hordern- Richmond (Sales), Ltd., in a display illustrating the use of Hy-Du- Lignum for press tools; Flexible Drives (Gilmans), Ltd, give pride of place to their "Six-star Flexmaster" multi-purpose flexible-shaft machine, demountable for floor, bench or suspended installation; Thomas Smith and Sons of Saldey, Ltd., have an impressive display of hand tools, and of drop forgings in steel and fight alloys; and Wellworthy, Ltd., show, in addition to pistons and associated components and castings, "Wellseal" joint ing compound and components produced by the Al-Fin process of chemically bonding aluminium to iron or steel. Some interesting applications of resilient mountings for heavy- duty machinery are shown by L. H. Newton and Co.. Ltd., and photographs on the stand show that the test-cells of a leading gas-turbine manufacturer have been thus equipped; these "Seetru" bolts incorporate rubber bonding which both provides expansion- fixing in floor or wall and also gives a resilient mounting. Apart from the spring products for which they are so well known, Herbert Terry and Sons, Ltd., are this year showing their range of "Security" A.G.S. 1000 worm-drive hose clips. The Dunlop aviation division is represented by a display of flexible piping for hydraulic and pneumatic applications; the Owen Organ ization have exhibits typical of their products, which range from aircraft small parts to Conveyancer fork-lift trucks; W. H. Paul, Ltd., show examples of their steel fabrication work, among customers for which are Rolls-Royce, Ltd.; Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds (Midlands), Ltd., are again at the show, their pro ducts including "Aerotight" stiffnuts; Garringtons, Ltd., show hand tools and forgings (they are large-scale producers of gas- turbine blades, forged by the upsetting process); Hilmor, Ltd., show tube-bending equipment that should interest the aircraft industry; Sciaky Electric Welding Machines, Ltd., demonstrate their range of spot and stitch welding equipment, widely used by manufacturers of aircraft components; and among other exhibitors in the electrical section are Clang, Ltd., who are A.I.D.- and A.R.B.-approved for electrical small parts. Samuel Fox and Co., of the United Steel Companies, are making a point of their recent achievements in the manufacture of clock, and watch and instrument springs, until recently a virtual monopoly of the Swiss; the Saunders Valve Co., Ltd., are again displaying their diaphragm valves, well known in aircraft appli cations; Thompson Brothers (Bilston), Ltd., of refueller fame, are represented in the show; Tufnol, Ltd., are demonstrating appli cations of the versatile material of that name; Westinghouse Brake and Signal Co., Ltd., are showing the "Westruk" 960 rectifier equipment for aircraft ground starting and servicing, as recently described in Flight; B.O.A.C. are reminding industry of the advantages of air travel; and Associated Iliffe Press (Stand D216) are ready to tell visitors about technical journals and other publi cations to serve their specialized needs. Very many other exhibitors at Castle Bromwich are, of course, makers of products used by the aircraft industry. In addition to those mentioned above, for example, there are: George Angus and Co., Ltd.; Auto Diesels, Ltd.; BX Plastics, Ltd.; Bakelite, Ltd.; Benton and Stone, Ltd.; Thomas Bolton and Sons, Ltd.; Bolton Gate Co., Ltd.; British Ermeto Corporation, Ltd.; British Insu lated Callender's Cables, Ltd.; British Manufactured Bearings, Co., Ltd.; British Ropes, Ltd.; British Tyre and Rubber Co., Ltd. (whose engineering division, it was announced last week-end, has been acquired by J. Stone and Co., Ltd., of Deptford and Charlton); Chance Brothers, Ltd.; P. B. Cow and Co., Ltd.; Distillers Co., Ltd.; J. H. Fenner and Co., Ltd.; Firth Vickers Stainless Steels, Ltd.; Fletcher Miller, Ltd.; H. Fisher (Oldham), Ltd.; Gulf Oil (Great Britain), Ltd.; General Electric Co., Ltd.; Hall and Hall, Ltd.; Joshua Hindle and Sons, Ltd.; loco, Ltd.; Jenolite, Ltd.; Kleen-e-ze Brush Co., Ltd.; Lansing Bagnall, Ltd.; Arthur Lee and Sons, Ltd.; Joseph Lucas, Ltd.; M.C.L. and Repetition,Ltd.;Manchester Oil Refinery (Sales),Ltd.;Mavitta Drafting Machines, Ltd.; Metal Processes, Ltd.; Midland Silicones, Ltd.; Exors. of James Mills, Ltd.; Monsanto Chemicals, Ltd.; B. O. Morris, Ltd.; David Moseley and Sons, Ltd.; Multiform Structures, Ltd.; New Welbeck, Ltd.; Newton Brothers (Derby), Ltd.; Oldham and Sons, Ltd.; Palmer Tyre, Ltd.; Phipps Plastic Products, Ltd.; Plastic Engineers, Ltd.; Precision Metal Spinnings (Stratfo'rd-on-Avon), Ltd.; Revo Electric Co., Ltd.; Rotherham and Sons, Ltd.; Rozalex, Ltd.; Joseph Sankey and Sons, Ltd.; Serck Tubes, Ltd.; Shell-Mex and B.P., Ltd.; Siebe, Gorman and Co., Ltd.; Sorbo, Ltd.; Tilley Lamp Co., Ltd.; Ronald Trist and Co., Ltd.; Tames Walker and Co., Ltd.; Wayne Tank and Pump Co., Ltd.; Wolf Electric Tools, Ltd.; Wrights' Ropes, Ltd.; Yorkshire Copper Works, Ltd. "WINGS FOR THE WORLD" WITH the above title, an aviation film produced by the Esso Petroleum Company was recently shown for the first time in London. It consists mainly of pictures taken at last year's S.B.A.C. show at Farnborough, together with a short general introduction concerning this country's postwar bid for exports and the development of the Viscount and Comet. The photography, which is in colour, is excellent, and in par ticular the air-to-air views taken from the M.o.S. Packet are admirable. Regrettably, the commentary and the background music are not of this high standard. While not wishing to be over-critical of a film which is not intended for the aviation specialist, we believe that most readers of Flight would be dis appointed in the loose, over-dramatic commentary, and irritated by the terribly "bright" yet very wearing musical acompaniment. The ideal solution for the aviation enthusiast able to see this film, we feel, is that he should take along a pair of earplugs. If he is anything of a purist, he should also blink his eyes as the Pioneer changes in mid-air into a Beaver. Then he will undoubtedly enjoy this film. K. T. O.
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