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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0711.PDF
27 May 1955 709 rotor and a movable rear rotor. Both rotors are geared togetherand driven by two coupled 3 h.p. electric motors housed within the helicopter fuselage. At maximum speed the rotors revolve at1,800 r.p.m. and 400 ft/sec tip-speed, producing a centrifugal force of some 2,500 g. The lightweight blades are constructedof hollow magnesium, with brass leading-edges. The present test programme on this model includes basic lift, drag and pitching-moment measurements for various rotor configurations. Several of the aerodynamic exhibits were concerned with thestudy of flow separation at supersonic speeds, over two-dimen- sional wing-sections and flat and curved plates. The use ofsuction through a porous skin for achieving laminar flow over a fuselage was demonstrated on a body of revolution mounted bymeans of a stub wing to the overhead balance of the 13ft x 9ft tunnel. This investigation includes an examination of the useof suction for improving the flow at wing/root junctions. Most of the N.P.L.'s other tunnels were also used to goodadvantage in displaying the varied aspects of the work performed there, from the supersonic flow around a swept-wing half-modelin the 18in X 14in tunnel of High-speed Laboratory "A," to the airflow over ships, being investigated in the open-jet tunnel. Royal Message to Helicopter Association A MESSAGE from the Duke of Edinburgh to the Helicopter**• Association of Great Britain was read by the retiring presi- dent, Mr. Eric Mensforth, at the Association's tenth annualgeneral meeting, held on May 20th. The message said: —• "I send my best wishes to the Helicopter Association of GreatBritain on the occasion of its Tenth Annual General Meeting. "I have good cause to know the value of helicopters. I have alsoseen them in use by the Army and the Royal Navy and for rescue purposes by the Royal Air Force. "The helicopter as it stands today is a very considerable achievement,but it is still at the beginning of its career. Anything you can do to speed its development will be a great benefit to Great Britain. Here isa field of engineering wide open for pioneers; the difficulties may be great, but the rewards will be much greater still. "The Helicopter Association has the backing of everyone who isinterested in this form of transport. I hope it will not be long before helicopters designed and built in Great Britain are in use in largenumbers all over the world." After saying that the Association was very honoured to receivethis encouragement, Mr. Mensforth went on to review the activities of the past year.The result of the ballot to fill the five vacancies on the Council was announced, the new members elected being Mr. A.McClements, Dr. J. A. J. Bennett, W/C. R. A. C. Brie, Dr. G. S. Hislop and Capt. J. A. Cameron. Present at the meeting was Lord Douglas of Kirtleside, chair-man of B.E.A., who was welcomed as president for 1955-56. Aluminium's Centenary /"OPENING on Wednesday next, June 1st, at the Royal Festival^"^ Hall, London, is the exhibition which, sponsored by the Aluminium Development Association and the light-metal industry,will mark the centenary of aluminium as a commercial metal, and tell the story of ^an industry that has been built on research.Aircraft components are to figure among the exhibits. The exhibition remains open until the evening of Friday, June10th, with the exception of the Sunday and also Friday, the 3rd, when the Duke of Edinburgh will visit the exhibition. Admis-sion will be confined to the industry (on presentation of trade cards or cards obtainable from the A.D.A. at 33 Grosvenor Street,W.I), but on Saturday, June 4th the general public will be admitted in limited numbers and without charge. East African Accident ' A FINE safety record was marred on May 18th, when EastAfrican Airways DC-3 VP-KKH crashed on Mount Kili- manjaro during a flight from Dar-es-Salaam to Nairobi. Theaircraft, which was completing a scheduled service from Durban, was missing until May 22nd, when another of the airline's DC-3ssighted wreckage at about 14,500ft on Mawenzi, the lower of Kilimanjaro's two peaks. There was thought to be no hope ofsurvival for any of the 20 occupants—16 passengers and four crew. The passengers included the wife of G/C. Malin Sorsbie, O.B.E.,the general manager of East African Airways. Glider Registration Concession GLIDERS flown within the United Kingdom are nowexempt from the M.T.C.A. requirements of registration and airworthiness certification, provided their owners have third-party insurance cover, the Air Navigation Order, 1954, is complied with, and (as the Ministry solemnly declares) thegliders "are not being used as aerial work or public transport aircraft". The announcement is made in M.T.C.A. Civil Avia-tion Information Circular No. 47/1955. The British Gliding Association's rule that all gliders flownfrom the sites of member-clubs must possess a B.G.A. certificate of airworthiness remains unaffected, of course, and the maineffect of the Ministry ruling is to extend the Association's responsibility to new gliders. Previously, new types and newproduction machines required an A.R.B. certificate of airworthi- ness: for all others, B.G.A. certification sufficed. The air-worthiness of British gliders is now completely the responsibility of the B.G.A., through the Association's Technical Committee. Westland Board Appointment IT is announced that General Sir Kenneth Noel Crawford,K.C.B., M.C., has been elected to the Board of Westland Aircraft, Ltd. Sir Kenneth, who retired from the Army in1953, is a former Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff; he was appointed to the post in 1947 after being G.O.C. BritishTroops in Greece. Previously, from 1942 until 1946, he was Director, Air, at the War Office, and was responsible for theorganization of the Airborne Forces; he is himself a qualified parachutist. For four years prior to his retirement Sir Kennethwas at the M.o.S. as Controller of Supplies (Munitions). U.S.A.F "At Home" LAST Saturday was America's "Armed Forces Day", when agreat many Service establishments, in Europe as well as in the United States, were open to the public. The U.S.A.F. openeda number of its bases in this country, and the following report, from a correspondent who visited Upper Heyford, indicates thescale at which arrangements were made for interesting the visitors. Hospitality (he writes) was the keyword at Upper Heyford,when the 3918th Air Base Group, Strategic Air Command, was thrown open. The weather did not quite give the base com-mander, Col. Timothy J. Dacey, the full co-operation he deserved, but the several thousand people who visited this Oxfordshirestation found plenty to compensate for the climate. It is difficult to interest the public in aircraft, and in the vastorganization behind them, without having an actual flying show; but—and especially in view of the wintry conditions that pre-vailed—on Saturday much more time could be devoted to the
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