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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0859.PDF
24 June 1955 857 tions will entail the transportation of crews and supplies to andfrom shore bases and drilling rigs, which may be separated by up to 70 miles of sea.The two S-55s bought recently by Bahamas Airways are to be used on an unusual contract operation in New Guinea for anassociated company of Shell; their duty will be to transport a lightweight drilling rig broken down into 1,000 lb sections fromthe main camp to a drilling site 25 miles away. When this work is completed the Bahamas helicopters will move to British Borneofor an offshore drilling contract similar to that described above. Eglinton's Air Day AN air display was held at R.N.A.S. Eglinton, Northern Ireland,**• on June 18th, drawing a crowd of 4,564, a record for the station. The Gannet A.S.ls of Nos. 820 and 824 Squadrons andthe T.2s of No. 727 Squadron, all stationed at Eglinton, took part in demonstrations. Three of their number were also away takingpart in the Paris Air Show. There was a mass attack on a dummy ammunition dump defended by the Army firing break-up shot;and Sea Hawks of No. 807 Squadron from R.N.A.S. Brawdy gave a first-rate display of formation aerobatics. Comic relief was pro-vided by an S-51 which got airborne witii a suitably caparisoned bedstead. Hollywood Flies High readers of Flight will have the opportunity of seeingParamount's Strategic Air Command, which opened at the Plaza, Piccadilly, on June 17th and is to be generally released inAugust. The opportunity should not be lost, for the film contains some of the most striking aerial pictures ever recorded by acamera, still or otherwise. It also provides an impression of the most powerful weapon yet constructed by man—the globalbomber arm of the United States Air Force. Lavish U.S.A.F. co-operation was extended to the makers ofthis picture, that it might explain accurately the purpose of the financial and human sacrifices required to make S.A.C. strongenough to prevent war or, at worst, to win it. To this extent the film is propaganda, and more sophisticated audiences may findparts of it too laboured for their liking. Thus, the story of S.A.C. is, for mass-audience appeal, pegged on to a husband-wife rela-tionship—though, fortunately, one with fewer embarrassing moments than is normal in Hollywood renderings of service life.The young bride (June Allyson), for example, does not collapse hysterically when husband James Stewart is whisked off for 21months of active duty at the critical moment of his very lucrative career as a baseball player. One is almost prepared to overlookthe winsome audacity with which she invades the base and sets up home in married quarters, constantly telephoning news of herprogress to the discomforted Stewart (now a Lt.-Col.) as he under- goes his "physical."But the wifely onslaught on Frank Lovejoy (who, as "General Hawkes," is the film's interpretation of S.A.C.'s fabulous com-mander, Curtis LeMay) is too much to swallow—unless one accepts Miss Allyson as symbolizing the concentrated resentmentof all S.A.C. mothers, wives and sweethearts. Like so many real-life Americans recalled for long spells ofpost-war duty, Lt.-Col. James Stewart asks "Why me?—I did my NEW MARKINGS for this Grumman S2F-1 submarine hunter/killer are these of the Royal Canadian Navy. A specimen machine, supplied from America, it is the forerunner of CS2F-ls to be built under licence by de Havilland Aircraft of Canada, Ltd. share in the war." Told that S.A.C. needs mature commandersmore than ever before, he resigns himself to the prospect of 21 months in uniform and is soon contentedly installed in the left-hand seat of a B-36. Through the courtesy of S.A.C., Paramount, Technicolor and Vistavision, we are permitted to join the crewsof the goliath bombers, which, like silvery prehistoric monsters, dominate the first half of the picture. Stewart is then transferredto the swifter, smaller B-47, and the theme of defence through deterrence develops to the point that the call of duty—even inpeacetime—is too strong for him to return to civilian life. Both B-36 and B-47 are thoroughly and skilfully photographed—inside and out, on the ground and in the air. For technical interest, the interior views of the B-36 and the aerial meeting of aB-47 and its KC-97 tanker are outstanding; perhaps the most dramatic sequence is the rearward view of a B-47's take-off, thefast-diminishing runway curtained by streaming plumes of rocket smoke; and the grandstand views of S.A.C.'s bombers at altitudeare of breath-taking beauty. The most memorable scene, to our mind, showed a B-36 cruising at dusk above a slate-grey landscapein a lurid wake of contrail full of the departing sun. The Viscount Certificated . . . OFFICIAL United States certification of the Viscount wassignified on June 13th when, at a ceremony in London, Civil Aeronautics Administration type certificates for the first ofCapital Airlines Viscounts, its engines and its airscrews were presented to the manufacturers concerned. The presentationswere made by Mr. Fred B. Lee, administrator of the C.A.A. Mr. Lee was introduced by his British counterpart, Mr. R. E.Hardingham, chief executive of the Air Registration Board, who drew attention to the remarkable number of "firsts" to theViscount's credit: it was the first turbine-powered aircraft to receive a British C. of A., the first such aircraft to carry passen-gers, and was now becoming the first British airliner certificated by the United States. Mr. Hardingham made it clear that thenegotiations leading up to the certification had not always been A-HUNTING THEY WILL GO: Seeking new laurels for the R.A.F. are these members of No. 54 Squadron due to fly at Geneva (see opposite page). Below is the aerobatic team— I. to r. standing, F/O. P. V. L. Hamilton, Capt. R. E. Immig, U.S.A.F., F/O. B. J. Noble; kneeling, F/O. C. J. Redhouse. On the right is the "individualist," F/L. P. J. Fry.
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