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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0011.PDF
FLIGHT, 7 January 1955 11 The side view on the left shows the great size of the Mystere IV N fuse- lage, and also suggests that the tiny nosewheel must bear a load out of all proportion to the tyre size. The lower view emphasizes the similarity to the F-86D, which even extends to the details of the nose undercarriage and doors. ALL-WEATHER MYSTERE ... this being either British (Elliott Brothers) or of French origin(S.F.E.N.A.)- Control in the pitching plane is provided by an all- flying tail, and it is probable that production IV Ns will have aone-piece tailplane of the "slab" type (i.e., no separate elevators). Spring tabs are not fitted, these being—in the opinion of mostengineers—undesirable devices for modern fighters. Although the Mystere IV B has reached the speed of sound inlevel flight, this achievement has not so far been realized by the larger IV N. At the present time, it appears that the IV N has alimiting Mach number of about 1.21, reached in a 20 deg dive, and the maximum level Mach number is probably about 0.97. Severalimportant calculated performance figures will be found in the table below. The actual realized figures, although not yet released,should not differ greatly. The prototype Mystere IV N first flew on July 19th last yearand has now completed about 50 flights totalling considerably more than 50 hours. It finished its trials at the Centre d'Essaisen Vol at Bretigny (roughly equivalent to our Boscombe Down) last month and has now returned to the Dassault flight-test estab-lishment at Melun-Villaroche. In intervals between serious test- ing, a number of distinguished passengers have been carried, andan account of a ride given to the French Air Minister, M. Catroux, was published in our issue for November 12th last. Taking an overall view of the aircraft, the Mystere IV N appearsan unusually interesting solution to a difficult problem. It is, of course, only natural that Dassault, having a sound and well-tried basic design, should try to "stretch" it to the utmost. Time will show whether or not the IV N is a good and usable all-weather machine. Throughout the history of the development of Dassault fightersfthe influence of North American Aviation can be seen in each | succeeding prototype. North American's all-weather Sabre, thet F-86D, is a single seater. This was made possible largely through |the adoption of an immense array of automatic control systems;[even so, navigation of the F-86D remains a slight problem. The (French designers seem to agree with our own that an all-weatherIfighter requires a second crew-member; it does appear, however, |that the IV N is about as far as anyone would care to go in"stretching" the Mystere design, short of incorporating a wholly r wing (the latter is, in fact, being done). A glance at the photo- raphs indicates that the tyre pressure must be high.Even allowing for the valuable emergency thrust of the Avon CAPT. PRITCHARD'S AMERICAN TOUR FT is learned from the Royal Aeronautical Society that Capt.L J. Laurence Pritchard, a member of its council, is to give a eries of lectures to engineering students and graduates at aaumber of American universities, and to sections of the Institute if the Aeronautical Sciences.He will lecture on the history of the R.Ae.S. and its relationship vith American individuals and organizations during the last 80years; on The Wright Brothers from the British Point of View; and on The History of British Aviation between 1804 and 1954. Capt. Pritchard's schedule includes attendance at the Confer-ence on High-Speed Aeronautics, the celebration of the centenary of the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, the Honors Night Dinnerof the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences, and lectures at the universities of Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Cornell, Michigan,Purdue, Illinois, Colorado and California; at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn,the State Colleges of Iowa and Mississippi; and at the California Institute of Technology. He is also expected to give the opening lecture in Vancouveron the occasion of the founding of a branch of the Canadian Aero- and afterburner, the weight of the Mystere seems to have risen ingreater proportion than has the power. The fuel tankage, for example, has increased until, in this latest machine, it totals noless than 1,100 Imp. gals. The overall impression that the aircraft gives is, therefore, that it would be a better aircraft with rathermore wing, although it should not be any more difficult to handle than other fighters of comparable performance.The best feature of the aircraft is that nearly all its equipment has been tried and fully proved. If it were ordered there seems tobe no reason why squadrons should not be formed within a year. The final answer is probably provided by the recent off-shore purchase of the Gloster Javelin—a machine designed for a similar task, but tailored to the job from the outset, DASSAULT MYSTERE IV N (Rolls-Royce Avon RA.7R (9,500 Ib thrust) or, later, S.N.E.C.M.A. Ator 101 G-21 or a later model of Avon) Span, 36ft 5in; length, 48ft 7in; height, 15ft 3in; gross wing area, 344.5 sq ft; quarter-chord sweep, 38 deg; thickness/chord ratio, 7.5 per cent; dihedral, — 1 deg 30 min; track. 10.6ft; empty weight, 15,400 Ib; all-up weight without underwing load, 23,060 Ib; wing loading 67 Ib/sq ft. Performance: Maximum level Mach number, 0.97; limiting Mach num- ber, 1.21; maximum speed at sea level, 630 m.p.h. (547 knots); maximum speed at 12,000m (39,370ft), 569 m.p.h. (494 knots); landing speed, 144 m.p.h. (124 knots); take-off over 50ft, 3,180ft; landing over 50ft, 5,250ft; climb to 39,370ft, 5 min 20 sec (with afterburner); normal duration, 1 hr 45 min (max. duration 3 hours with 1,100 gals). nautical Institute, and to spend a week in the Library of Congressat Washington, to study correspondence of the Wright Brothers with members of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Capt. Pritchard is to sail on January 10th, and expects to beback in England in the middle of April. i; GANNET TROPICAL TRIALS /COMPREHENSIVE hot-weather trials of the Fairey Gannet,^ at Khartoum, were recently completed in less than a month. The object was to test the Double Mamba engine under operatingconditions for any part of the Mediterranean area, and two identical engines were used, in order that results could be cross-checked. On the return flight from Khartoum, deck-landing trials tookplace in the Mediterranean on the light fleet carrier H.M.S. Albion. This is the first time an angled deck carrier of this classhas been available for comprehensive deck tests by the Gannet, and trouble-free landings and take-offs were reported. Service flying with the Gannet, and deliveries of productionaircraft to the Royal Navy, have been fully resumed following modifications to the Double Mamba.
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