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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0236.PDF
236 FLIGHT, 25 February 1955 AIRCRAFT INTELLIGENCE U.S.A. Bell VTO. The interesting point is raisedby Aviation Week that, owing to the loss of thrust resulting from a rise in ambient airtemperature, the Bell vertical-jet prototype (see Flight, February 11th) is restricted tocold-weather flying. Boeing bomber electronics. Illustrative ofthe growth of what the Americans term "avionics" are the following figures of theweights of such equipment carried by four famous Boeing aircraft: B-17, 1,600 lb;B-29, 2,100 lb; B-47, 5,400 lb; and B-52, 6,000 lb. The latter figure is surprisinglylight, bearing in mind the size of the air- craft and the bulk of its bombing system.(For comparison, it has been stated that a modern British medium bomber carriessome 9,000 lb of electronic gear, and that this consumes 100 kW of electrical power—a figure which, according to the Parlia- mentary Secretary to the Ministry of Sup-ply, may well be doubled in future types.) ConvairXB-58 Hustler. Construction ofthis supersonic bomber is going ahead rapidly at Fort Worth, and the prototype isto fly this year. (As previously reported, it has a five-per-cent delta wing carryingfour podded General Electric J79 turbo- jets.) It is now learned that this wing, andthe rear fuselage, incorporate 1,000 to 1,200 sq ft of stainless-steel honeycomb-sandwich skinning in the regions close to the "hot zone" of the J79s. Ryan VTO. It is learned that this experi-mental prototype will be powered by a single Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet of anadvanced mark. This engine is now being inspected at the company's San Diegofactory preparatory to installation in the almost-complete airframe. Flight trials arescheduled to start early in the spring. New missile designations. The U.S. AirForce has abandoned the designation "pilotless aircraft" and has re-classified itsunmanned bombers and intercepters ac- cordingly. At the same time, the organi-zation of operating units has been revised, the terminology now being "tactical,strategic or air-defense" missile squadrons or wings. Examples of the new designa-tions are: tactical missile TM-61 (formerly Martin B-61), Matador; strategic missileSM-62 (formerly Northrop B-62), Snark; intercepter missile IM-99 (formerly BoeingF-99), Bomarc; guided aircraft rocket GAR-98 (formerly Hughes F-98), Falcon;and guided aircraft missile GAM-63 (formerly Bell XB-63), Rascal. France Dassault Mystere IV-B. According to an Italian journal, the prototype Mystere As o private venture, the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation have installed two of their 144 turbojets on the wing-tips of a pro- duction C-123B assault transport (also built by Fairchild, although the basic design was by Chase). With one engine out, as shown here, the rate of climb is increased from 150 to 500 ft/min. The 1,000-lb-thrust turbojets draw fuel from the main tanks and can be sealed by intake doors when not in use. IV-B is back in the shops being fitted witha single-piece "slab" tailplane. Production IV-Bs are expected to be powered by anafterburning Atar 101-G21 of 8,800 lb thrust. Fouga CM. 170Af. With this designa-tion, a fully "navalized" version of the twin-jet Magister light trainer has beendeveloped. We learn that two prototypes have been ordered, and that constructionof both is already well advanced. They in- corporate various modifications, includingcatapult and arrester gear, a long-stroke Messier undercarriage and a sliding cock-pit canopy to Aeronavale requirements. Hurel Dubois HD-321. The second pro-totype HD-32 is being re-engined with single-row Wright Cyclone 9H units of1,475 h.p. each. With these installed it becomes the HD-321, and is expected tooffer marked advantages over the Twin- Wasp version. Over a 310-mile stage, forexample, the 321 should carry a pay load of 16,300 1b (instead of 12,750 lb), cruising at179 m.p.h. (HD-32 figure, 165 m.p.h.). S.F.E.C.M.A.S. Gerfaut. Last Fridaythe Gerfaut IB, described as a "pre- operational prototype," flew faster thansound in level flight solely on the power of an Atar 101-C. This modified machine hasa wing of greater area than that originally fitted, and M. Brucat, the test pilot, re-ported an improvement in take-off and landing characteristics. A braking para-chute was used for landing. The Gerfaut 2 is nearly ready, and this later aircraft isexpected to have a "canard" delta tail- plane at the forward end of the fuselage. DOUGLAS A3D-! SKYWARRIOR (Two Pratt and Whitney J57-P-I ) sPQn 73ft Length 75ft2in
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