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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0867.PDF
24 June 1955 865 1,900 lb launching weight, and the installation of Soar-qualityturbojets would reduce the launching weight to 1,450 lb and widen the radius of action to 100 miles or more. In all cases, thesame wing loading and military load are assumed. Complete independence from aerodromes, runways or carrierdecks (in spite of high supersonic velocities), coupled with com- pactness and small dimensions, are, of course, features which noother aircraft type can offer at present. Needing no booster rockets or similar pyrotechnics, the launching can produce notreacherous smoke signal for the enemy, and no special launching device is required. Coleopters are easy to transport, to store andto shelter; this commends them for use on board ships of any kind. Immensely valuable is the possibility of recovering unmannedguided coleopters. Current projects, therefore, include an un- manned mail carrier and a weapon carrier, i.e., a pilotless fighteraeroplane for interception. For self-destructive guided weapons, the advantages derived from eventual recovery (after failing tomake contact with the target) are two-fold. Firstly, ground- damage from one's own defence means can be avoided—a veryimportant point, which may allow the employment of warheads otherwise either too costly or too dangerous for use over populateddistricts, troops or vessels. Secondly, since the economy of guided- missile defence is, at the present state of the technique, gravelyin doubt, a non-expendable, easily recoverable missile such as the coleopter should be valued highly. In addition, the exceptional performance in climb, speed and manoeuvrability, on the strengthof plain fuels and without need for booster rockets, may be appreciated. With its automaticity in launching and descent, with its freedomfrom stalling, and with its ability to hover, the manned coleopter should, in relation to its high performance, require less skill andtraining in its pilots than do conventional high-speed aeroplanes and helicopters. From the safety aspect of view, the coleopter shares with all jetlifters and with the helicopter (when close to the ground) the inability to land normally should the means of propulsion becomeinoperative. Manned coleopters, therefore, may have to have twinor dual propulsion, of which one part alone is sufficient for a controlled descent. Besides, baling out by parachute, or jettisoningof a cabin "capsule" involving parachute or rotor descent, seems safe and easy with the coleopter since this aircraft can be broughtto zero forward speed in case of a mishap. This should be a con- siderable advantage in comparison with the high-speed aeroplaneand its necessity to shed the crew at high speed. Compared with high-speed aeroplanes and with helicopters,the coleopter is a simple aircraft. Its few mechanical components could be designed to be trouble-free, and it should be cheap ininitial cost and in maintenance. High reliability and good economy may therefore be expected. MAGNESIUM ANNIVERSARY TWENTY-ONE years ago, a newly-formed British company*• acquired from the I.G. Farbenindustrie of Germany (then one of the world's largest producers of magnesium) rights toproduce the metal by the process of thermal electrolysis of anhydrous magnesium chloride. The new firm was MagnesiumElektron, Ltd., and its first plant began operation in 1936, pro- ducing 1,500 tons a year of magnesium and alloys. Magnesium, which is 40 per cent lighter than aluminium, soonbecame a factor of considerable importance in the air re-arma- ment programme, and by 1941 the United Kingdom firm hadincreased their production by a further 5,000 tons per annum. In the same year, a new plant was built in Lancashire; andthe company also designed, and helped to construct and operate for the U.S.A., one of the largest magnesium plants in the world;situated at Henderson, near Las Vegas in Nevada, this new factory was capable of an annual output of 50,000 tons. During the war years, research was devoted to immediateproblems, but great progress has since been made in the development of new ultra-light alloys possessing the increasedmechanical properties demanded by the aircraft and aero-engine industry. It had been discovered by Professor Sauerwald in1938 that a small addition or zirconium caused intense grain refinement of magnesium; but it took many years of metal-lurgical and chemical research to find methods of alloying this element. With the assistance of certain of its United Kingdomlicensees, the company introduced, early in 1947, a series of magnesium-zirconium-zinc alloys for airframe use, and mag-nesium-zirconium-zinc rare-earth alloys for use in engines. The former gave good uniform strength at normal temperatures,and the other provided high creep-resistance at operating temperatures up to 250 deg C. These successful alloys, together with the more recentmagnesium-zirconium-zinc-thorium, are now standard aircraft and engine materials. A total of 26 companies at home andabroad have taken licences to use Magnesium Elektron's patent processes.To mark its 21st anniversary, the company invited representa- tives of all its licensees to visit the works at Clifton Junctionon June 16th and 17th. Almost every licensee firm was repre- sented; some short papers were read covering recent develop-ments in the field of magnesium, and a number of discussions were held. Also, with the collaboration of the leading Britishfounders, fabricators and users of "Elektron" magnesium alloys, a remarkably representative exhibition was staged. ROLLS-ROYCE INTENTIONS A HINT about the future of the Rolls-Royce RB.109 engineis given by Lord Hives, the company's chairman, in his statement issued in advance of the annual general meeting (to beheld at Derby on July 5th). "Last year," he says, "I indicated that our experience of pro-peller turbine engines had convinced us that this type of engine would probably play the biggest role in civil aviation for someyears ahead. At that time we were well advanced with an improved specification, and our new engine, designated RB.109,has now started its programme of development running. We are confident that it will be a worthy successor to the Dart."In his review of the company's military-aviation products, he mentions that the manufacture of Avons by the Bristol Aero-plane Company was discontinued during 1954 and the production of these engines by the Standard Motor Company and D. Napierand Son, "should be terminated during the current year, after which all Avon engine production will be concentrated in our owngroup of factories." This, he adds, brings to an end an emergency measure most effectively carried through and providing an exampleof what can be achieved by a high degree of co-operation between people in the same industry. ...Lord Hives concludes his report on the aero-engine division by saying: "Among the many problems which confront the enginebuilder today is the canicular problem of testing engines under the conditions to be expected at very high altitudes. Your direc-tors consider that it is of such great importance that the company should have its own facilities, even though these represent a verysubstantial expenditure. Contracts of the order of £2 million are already placed or under discussion." Earlier in his statement the chairman indicated an importantchange in the system whereby Rolls-Royce employees hold shares in the business. The existing scheme, under which £145,000of workers' stock—as the shares are known—is held by employees was introduced in 1920 and was probably unique at that time.Today the amount is far too small in relation to the company's issued capital—it is less than 2\ per cent—to achieve the originalobject of the scheme. The chairman's statement says that fewer than 6 per cent of the employees own workers' stock; two-thirdsof these hold £50 or less; and only six hold more than £500. These holdings were acquired prior to 1934 and none of the holdersis a director. The Board has accordingly decided to terminate the existing arrangement and "to replace it by a larger and moreflexible scheme, which will enable a far greater proportion of the employees to participate and to hold approximately ten percent of the issued equity capital." Accordingly, it is proposed to create £600,000 in workers' shares of 10s each. ROAD TRANSPORT COST TABLES A GREAT deal of information of value to transport operatorsis contained in "Motor Transport" Cost Tables, now avail- able. The tables cover most vehicle types (petrol and diesel) andinclude employment costs in addition to running expenses. All the figures given are averages of basic data provided by a numberof operators and manufacturers, and the commercial-vehicle user can thus compare his own figures with the normal. The bookletincludes a cost reckoner—useful also to the ordinary motorist— to convert m.p.g. into pence per mile. Price is one shilling, frombooksellers, or Is 2d including postage, from Iliffe and Sons, Ltd., Dorset House, Stamford Street, London, S.E.I.
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