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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0676.PDF
674 FLIGHT FROM ALL QUARTERS . . . open to women training for such licences and to those interestedin furthering the Association's aims. The chairman is Miss Freydis Leaf, who was last year's airracing champion, and the vice-chairman is Mrs. Monique Rendall; Miss Janet Ferguson is hon. secretary, and Miss Anthea Williamshon. treasurer. It is proposed to make the Women's Junior Air Corps rallyat White Waltham on Whit Monday the first flying event in which the Association will take part. Details of membership are obtain-able from the hon. secretary of the B.W.P.A. at the headquarters of the Women's Engineering Society, 45, Eastcastle Street, London,W.I. Plastics Exhibition and Convention IN a little over a week the third British Plastics Exhibition andConvention (June lst-llth) opens at Olympi'a. This year's show promises to be on an even larger scale than that of 1953,which was attended by buyers from over fifty countries. At the Convention, 20 papers will be read. Full details of thetitles and lecturers were given in Flight of March 25th, but the following is a condensed list of dates and subjects: —(1) June 2nd, a.m. Polymer structure and properties (1)—Synthesis of new polymers. (2) June 2nd, p.m. Polymer structure and properties (2)—Irradiation of polymeric materials; polythene molecular weight and properties. (3) June 3rd, a.m. Expanded plastics.—Blowing agentsand processes; technology of polyurethane. (4) June 3rd, p.m. Thermo- plastics.—P.T.F.E. dispersions; new nylon polymers and compositions.(5) June 6th, a.m. Extrusion.—Fundamental problems of single screw extruders. (6) June 6th, p.m. Work study.—Application of work studyto plastics processes, and the effect on productivity. (7) June 7th, a.m. Injection moulding (1)—Effect of variables on the quality of injectionmouldings. (8) June 7th, p.m. Injection moulding (2)—Recent ad- vances in injection moulding technique and evaluation of an injectionmoulding material; injection mould design. (9) June 8th, a.m. Patents— Patent law and the filing of patents in plastics, in Britain and abroad.(10) June 8th, p.m. Foundry resins—Development in the use of plastics in the foundry. (11) June 9th, a.m. Glass reinforced plastics (1)—Con-sistency in moulding; possibilities in the motor industries. (12) June 9th, p.m. Glass reinforced plastics (2)—Chemical resistance of glass-re-inforced materials; testing and specifications; epoxide resin glass laminates. Tickets for both the Exhibition and Convention are obtainablefree, from The Manager, British Plastics Exhibition, Dorset House, Stamford Street, London, S.E.I., the name of the appli-cant's firm being included and the convention sessions for which tickets are required being specified.In connection with the show the journal British Plastics— which is organizing the show, with the co-operation of the BritishPlastics Federation—is publishing a special show guide number on June 1st, giving the fullest possible information about theexhibition, and providing a useful work of reference to the plastic industry's latest materials, products, plant and equipment. A showreport issue will appear on July 15th. A Triumphant British Picture BEFORE Princess Margaret and a distinguished audience, thelong-awaited film The Dam Busters had its premiere, in aidof Service charities, at the Empire Theatre in London last Monday evening; and so heavy had been the applications for seatsthat the "first night" was extended to Tuesday evening also, when the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester had consented to attend.Most of the general-release films which come our way are easy to review; words of criticism are rarely difficult to find,and the majority of air-war films are not only indifferent in their technical accuracy but treat their subjects with the familiarHollywood approach that effectively prevents the critic from caring very much about either the subject-matter or the outcome.For a change, The Dam Busters (an Associated British picture directed by Michael Anderson) comes as a breath of fresh air,carrying the viewer back into the grim and great days of 1942-3, holding him entranced, and leaving him with a strong impressionthat here, at least, is a film of which Britain can be proud. Any film telling such a story (it should be noted that the pictureis based on Paul BrickhilFs best-seller of the same name, together with W/C. Guy Gibson's own Enemy Coast Ahead) could hardlyfail to be exceptional. But it would have been a tragedy had—as could easily have happened—the company responsible not donetheir utmost ro record what happened. In the event, practically every living person who could materially help in the productionwas brought in as an adviser; the airfield location scenes were shot at 617's actual base—Scampton—whose war-time commander,G/C. J. N. H. Whitworth, was technical advisor-in-chief during the making of the picture. The film opens in a particularly pleasant quarter of Surrey,where Michael Redgrave as Dr. B. N. Wallis (who today is Vickers Armstrongs' chief of aeronautical research and development) isobviously engaged in a very 'back-roomish" experiment. To be frank, we had misgivings at this stage: the wife worried at her Dr. B. N. Wallis—a recent photograph—with Michael Redgrave (right), who portrays him as he was twelve years ago. Richard Todd plays the part of the late W/C. Guy Gibson, V.C. (right); this rather film-star-like "still" does not, perhaps, do justice to a convincing characterization. husband's overwork, the doctor called in ostensibly to examinea daughter but really to check up on Wallis's own health, and other familiar "ploys", could have introduced an indifferent pro-duction. Nor are the inventor's struggles with "The Ministry" particularly stimulating, although no doubt accurate enough. Eventually, however, a development contract is awarded, andwe see some of the trials off the North Kent shore; this sequence is a genuine one, from the cine record made at the time. To thisextent only is the skipping bomb actually used in the operation revealed; many of its most significant features are not displayed,but its behaviour is clear. It was designed to be dropped on to calm water from a low altitude, when it would skip in a predictedfashion across torpedo nets and other obstructions until it finally hit the dam itself at a much reduced speed; it would then sinkagainst the face of the wall until triggered by a hydrostatic pistol. Early trials of representative weapons were disastrous, and onlywith difficulty did Dr. Wallis retain support for his conception right through to the eventual successful trial early in 1943. Considerations of the water-level in the dams (the Mohne, Ederand Sorpe) and the state of the moon pointed strongly to an attack in the middle of May—i.e., exactly a dozen years ago. Air ChiefMarshal Sir Arthur Harris, then C-in-C. Bomber Command, picked W/C. Guy Gibson—already an outstanding officer—toform a new squadron, from hand-picked crews, solely to breach the great Ruhr dams. From this moment on The Dam Busters lifts itself head andshoulders above almost any other air-war film which we can recall. The story of how the Lancasters were modified,* how thecrews trained, and how the operation itself fared is by now generally known. [Continued opposite *For the film, this considerable task was performed by A. V. Roe andCo., Ltd.
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