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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0162.PDF
162 FLIGHT FROM ALL QUARTERS The Formosan CrisisL AST week we recorded the sudden increase in tension in theJ waters off the east coast of China following the expressed intention of the Peking Government to annex the various islandsgarrisoned by the Nationalists. During the past week the U.S. Seventh Fleet has been active in the Straits of Formosa, and atthe time of going to press was engaged in covering the withdrawal of at least 20,000 persons—principally troops—from the Tachens,a group of islands about 200 miles north of Formosa admitted to have been abandoned by Chiang Kai-Shek.The main striking power of the 7th Fleet is vested in the self- contained carrier task force including Boxer, Yorktown, Waspand Kearsarge (all of around 33,000 tons) and the mighty Midway (50,000 tons full load) which joined at the beginning of this month.The 500-odd aircraft of the group have been very active in flying combat air patrols and early-warning picket duties. They haveorders to shoot if attacked. On February 6th all civilian traffic of ships and aircraft wasdiverted from the troubled Straits of Formosa. All flights through Hong Kong to Tokyo by B.O.A.C. and other operators weredelayed by over an hour by the new routing to the East of Formosa.The only case of air-to-air combat reported was a sharp engage- ment in a completely different theatre. A U.S.A.F. North AmericanRB-45 was on strategic reconnaissance over the Yellow Sea escorted by a flight of Sabres. When about 10 miles off the coast of NorthKorea and 40 miles west of Pyongyang, the B-45 tail gunner Mr. Handel Davies. U.S. JET-LEVITATION: As described on page 186 the Niagara divi- sion of the Bell Corporation have revealed their vertical-lift prototype. The machine is shown here hovering about 10ft above the airport adjoining the factory. It forms a unique link between the company's other products—supersonic aircraft and conventional helicopters. sighted a section of four Mig-15s which "began a firing pass." Hereturned the fire with his pair of 0.5in guns (radar-directed) and claimed damage to one fighter. Four more Migs then appearedand a dog-fight ensued, the Sabres effectively breaking up the attack on the B-45 and two pilots—Capt. G. F. Williams and Lt.C. D. Salmon—each claiming one Mig as a kill. New Scientific Adviser to Air Ministry IT is announced that Mr. Handel Davies, M.Sc, F.R.Ae.S., hasbeen appointed to the post of Scientific Adviser to the Air Ministry. At present serving at the Aeroplane and ArmamentExperimental Establishment, Boscombe Down, he will take up his new duties on March 1st.Born in 1912, Handel Davies won a State scholarship fromAberdare Secondary School to the University of Wales, Cardiff,in 1930. There he took first- class honours in mathematics in1933 and in physics in 1934. He was awarded research scholar-ships in the subsequent two years, gaining his M.Sc. for re-search in atomic physics. Joining the R.A.E., Farn-borough, in 1936, he had a well- varied six years' work on engines,stability and control problems and armament, but he was prin-cipally concerned with wind tun- nels. During the next four yearshe served in the Ministry of Air- craft Production, and was en-gaged with new fighter projects and long term planning of Air Staff requirements. On returningto the R.A.E. in 1946 he was placed in charge of high-speed flight research and in 1947 was promoted head of the FlightSection in the Aerodynamics Department. In 1952 he was appointed Chief Superintendent at the A. and A.E.E., BoscombeDown. In the Commons ' I 'HE Hawker Hunter was the subject of questions in the House-1- of Commons last week. They were put by Mr. Woodrow Wyatt (Lab., Aston) who asked when defects in the fighter—causing the engine to stall when the guns were fired—were expected to be cured. Mr. George Ward, the Under-Secretary for Air, replied that itwould be necessary to make certain modifications, which were now being planned, to ensure that in all circumstances theHunter's guns would not affect the performance of its engine. He stressed his view that, even now, the Hunter was a formidableaircraft and "could go into action tomorrow." Mr Wyatt was dubious about his assertion. He went on to askif it was not the case that, as the Hunter could not fight opera- tionally, as the Swift would never do so, and as the Javelin and theP.I were not yet available, and as there were no guided missiles to replace Anti-aircraft Command, there was no air defence what-soever of this country. ^ Mr. Ward repeated that the Hunter was perfectly capable of"going into action tomorrow." It was true that at certain heights and in certain conditions of flight a surge was caused in the engineby the firing of the guns, but that was a matter which could be remedied. Mr. E. Shinwell (Lab., Easington) asked if it was not true thatthe reason why the Hunter was equipped with guns was that although originally it was intended that it should use air-to-airmissiles they were not available, nor was the equipment satisfac- tory for the purpose. Mr. Ward did not comment directly on the suggestion, but saidthat with its four guns the Hunter was the hardest-hitting aircraft in service. In earlier exchanges he said the Javelin should be in Squadronservice during the coming financial year and that development EXPRESS DELIVERY of all kinds of freight and military stores is promised by the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, the first air-to-air photo- graph of which is reproduced here. The Hercules is powered by four Allison T56 turboprops, each of 3,750 e.s.h.p., and was the subject of a lengthy discussion in "Flight" of December 10th, 1954.
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