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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0067.PDF
21 January 1955 67 CAPITAL PROGRESS: Delivery of Capital Air- lines' 60 Viscounts will begin in the spring with an initial batch of three aircraft, the first of which is seen under construction at Hum. George H. Dowty, chairman of the DowtvGroup, last week received the honorary free- dom of the Borough of Cheltenham from theMayor, Councillor A. W. Mann. This unusual honour was conferred "inrecognition of the distinguished and eminent services rendered by him in the field of in-dustry and to the progress and life of the town over many years, and in token of the esteemand affection in which he is held." Alderman D. L. Lipson, a fellow freeman,proposing Mr. Dowty, pointed out that it would be the first occasion on which theBorough would be conferring its freedom on an industrialist. This was evidence of the change which had takenplace in Cheltenham in recent years. The town had become a very important centre of industry, and the man who was verylargely responsible for that was Mr. Dowty. "Trawl" Rescues by Helicopter '"THOUGH helicopter rescues from the sea and from floods are-1- now quite frequent occurrences—more were reported last week —the process is not always without its difficulties. The normalmethod of rescue is by lowering a strop from the helicopter winch; the person in the water then fastens it round his waist, or anaircrewman is lowered to assist him. These measures often prove tricky, and there is the added risk that the injured person may befurther injured when his weight is taken by the strop. In an endeavour to overcome some of these disadvantages theSearch and Rescue Unit at R.N. Air Station Ford, Sussex, has designed the "scoop net" seen in the accompanying photographs.It is of simple but ingenious design. Having a frame shaped rather like the letter D, but with the straight side open, it is lowered intothe water and towed at about 5 kt towards the casualty, a small drogue keeping the open side of the net forward. If all goeswell—and it has done so in the course of 100 "live" pick-ups— the casualty is scooped into the net and can then be comfortablyhoisted through the 25 feet or so to the helicopter, either to climb aboard or to be lifted in, according to his condition. It is not intended that the new method shall replace thosealready in use, but it is regarded as a very useful addition to air/sea rescue technique and is being made available for generalService use and supplied to carriers and Naval air stations. The inventor of the net is the commanding officer of the A.S.R.Unit at Ford, Lt-Cdr. J. S. Sproule, R.N., and the trials have been carried out by him in conjunction with other members ofthe unit, including Lt. J. Walden, R.N., second pilot; C.P.O. Aircrewman S. Lock; and L/Tel. R. J. Tomkins. Aerial Warfare in South America ENGAGEMENTS in the armed uprising in Costa Rica have-•-' been distinguished by a use of air-power which, having regard to the meagre resources involved, is considerable. Therebels initially claimed complete air superiority and made effec- tive tactical use of their two Harvards and a Thunderbolt. Theonly opposition which the Costa Rican Government could at first bring to bear was from a Dakota commandeered from thelocal airline, Lacsa, and hastily convened to carry two 0.30in machine guns firing through the open doors. The co-pilotcarried a .45in automatic. A dog-fight actually occurred when the Dakota attempted to intercept the Thunderbolt but, thoughall weapons were fired, no decision was apparently reached. The balance of aerial power was, however, completely re-versed when four Mustangs (bought for the nominal sum of $1 each) and spares were delivered from the U.S.A. to the Govern-ment forces. Costa Rican pilots were "shown over" the cockpits and went straight into action—whereupon all three aircraft ofthe rebel air forces lost heart and landed at Rivas Airport, Nicaragua, and were formally interned. Reports suggest thatproper tactical use of only three rebel aircraft had had a major effect on the ground fighting, when battles involving 50 to 100men took place. . . _ Members cf the special investigating commission were flownover Costa Rica in American supply aircraft to investigate the situation and, although they were fired at from the ground and"buzzed" by the Thunderbolt, they suffered no casualties. More progressive in their armament plans are sundry other SouthAmerican states. The Dominican Republic has asked the U.b. Government for 25 F-86F Sabres, while Venezuela has requested22, and the Argentine 25, Lockheed T-33s. Guatemala has also requested aircraft of unspecified type and quantity. Pembrokes for Finland A CONTRACT has been signed between Hunting Percival**• Aircraft, Ltd., and Maatalousministerio, the Finish Ministry of Agriculture, for the supply of two Pembrokes to be u«ed pri-marily for aerial survey and photography. Secondary duties will be freighting, air ambulance work and communications, and in thetwo latter roles accommodation will be provided for six stretchers or ten passengers in rearward-facing seats. Countries now oper-ating, or known to have ordered, Prince or Pembroke survey air- craft include Tanganyika, Siam, Switzerland, Belgium, Swedenand Finland. Additionally, there is the fleet of Princes operated by Hunting Aerosurveys, Ltd., throughout the Middle and Far East,and similar aircraft flown by the R.A.A.F. The Shell Company of Borneo has Princes with vertical camera hatches and associatedequipment for service in the photographic role. Plans for the Eland •"THE managing director of D. Napier and Son, Ltd., Mr. H.A Sammons, and the commercial manager, Mr. R. M. Hilary, recently returned from a visit to the United States. At a con-ference held in London last Wednesday, one of the subjects dis- cussed was the progress and planning for the immediate future—at home and in America—of the Eland turboprop, which has reached type-test stage (a practice 150-hour run was successfullyaccomplished before Christmas) with only seven engines built. In all, over 2,000 hours of bench-running have been completed,as well as 100 hours' flying in the Varsity test-bed. With the Elands in the Varsity now flying under M.o.S. sponsorship, inthe pre-production Elizabethan and in the Convair 340 due to be converted by July, a considerable number of air hours shouldbe in hand by the end of 1955. The next stage will be to gain actual airline operating experi-ence with the two airliners as soon as Cs. of A. have been obtained. (B.E.A. naturally have a direct interest in the fitting ofElands to the Ambassador prototype). It is planned to make the Convair 340 available for world-wide demonstration. Thearrangements are already being made to despatch the aircraft to the U.S.A. for intensive trials with one of the domestic operators.Napiers are also working closely with the C.A.A., with the object of reducing the time required to obtain American certificationof the engine. The 3,000-3,250 e.h.p. Eland will be in quantity production fromthe beginning of 1956, and the 4,200 e.h.p. version some 18 months later. Much of the experience gained will be common in bothengines. In the U.S.A., Convair, Douglas and Lockheed were all said to be considering designs incorporating the Napier Eland. Dart-powered Hurel /COMPETITIVE with the Nord-2600, first details of which were^-/ given in Flight of January 14th, the Hurel-Dubois H.D.70 is likewise powered with two Rolls-Royce Darts. As might besupposed, it has an ultra-high-aspect-ratio wing and will transport 36-40 passengers. A payload of 11,700 lb can be carried for 310miles, or 8,160 1b for 1,870 miles. Rapid conversion from the freight to the passenger role is "built in", or mixed-traffic opera-tion is possible. Although Hurel-Dubois have designed a pure-jet transport, the company is now reported to have stated that "neitherthe application of A.T.O. jet power nor a designed speed in excess of 310 m.p.h. will be of any real advantage in connection withthe high-aspect-ratio formula." It is learned, incidentally, that as from January 1st the Societedes Avions Hurel-Dubois has been reconstituted into two separate companies—the Societe des Brevets Hurel-Dubois, with a capitalof 30 million francs, and the Societe de Constructions des Avions Hurel-Dubois, with a capital of 514 million francs.
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