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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0904.PDF
14 FLIGH Sir Arnold Hall Director Dr. F. E. Jones Deputy Director (E) Morien Morgan Deputy Director (A) H. T. Hill Assistant Director (Workshops) J. Wilson Secretary Impressions by Ralph Salion of R.A.E. personalities: some of the Board of Management, departmental heads and old-timers. FARNBOROUGH 1955.,, lishment's scientific and technical work are made by the Directorand his two deputies. When one thinks of basic aeronautical research, the science ofaerodynamics may easily take pride of place. Certainly, the Aero- dynamics Department (with Mr. L. F. Nicholson in charge) hasa wide field to cover, ranging from basic research for the M.o.S. and for industry to development work on particular aircraft. Andat the present time, with extensive wind-tunnel facilities at Farn- borough and at the well-laid-out National Aeronautical Establish-ment, Bedford, its equipment is good—though its staff, of course, would not object to more still. The aerodynamicists at R.A.E. and N.A.E., naturally enough,prefer in general to concentrate on basic, forward-looking work. Much of their research is inevitably directed towards investigationson particular types, however, and in this they enjoy extremely close co-operation with industry. The present tendency for firms them-selves to acquire more wind-tunnel facilities is welcomed at R.A.E., in enabling the emphasis there to swing to the broader typeof problem. A major problem, not confined to Farnborough but of specialimportance there, is that of keeping abreast of other people's work in aerodynamics, for the majority of incoming reports are con-cerned with this subject. Increasingly, it is becoming difficult to maintain a balance between time spent in studying the results ofother people's work, and in actually doing work which will in turn enable associated outside work to be appreciated. While lines of basic research may be conceived vand beguninside the department, ideas for ad hoc studies come mainly from meetings with industry; indeed formal and informal meetings ofthis nature form the main information input in this sphere. The project group, too, concerned with considering the state of thescience of aerodynamics at any given moment and suggesting specific lines of research, often adopts or adapts projects emanatingfrom individual firms. With the present concentration of interest in supersonic flight,the Aerodynamics Department is looking to the new 8ft tunnel at Bedford for the next stages of wind-tunnel testing—and beyond thatto even higher speeds where the techniques of physics supersede the conventional wind-tunnels of aerodynamics. In co-operationwith other departments and the industry, it is providing essential design data for missiles and new aircraft, in addition to buildingup an experimental and theoretical knowledge of fundamental problems. The prediction, estimation and measurement of stabi-lity derivatives at supersonic speeds is one such fundamental prob- lem : other studies are directed towards boundary-layers, heattransfer and other problems of supersonic and hypersonic flow. At the other end of the speed scale the implications of jet deflectionand vertical take-off are opening up an exciting new field. The Aerodynamics Department is but one of those possessingtheir own "flights" of research aircraft, specially equipped and instrumented, and flown by the Establishment's Service pilots.This working fleet of R.A.E., comprising in all over 150 machines of 60 differing types and marks, is a unique collection performinga unique job of work. The pilots, whose normal tour of duty on M.o.S. secondment is three years, are frequently attached for thisperiod to specific projects, for continuity. The flight-test work performed is invariably a joint operation, in which scientists andaircrew work together extremely closely. Approximately half of the pilots are E.T.P.S.-trained; others come to Farnborough directfrom front-line units. The Commanding Officer in charge of experimental flying, G/C. D. C. McKinley, assists the depart-ments in cutting their experimental cloth to suit the available fleet, with the help of an efficient planning section. He is also chairmanof the flying control committee in connection with the annual S.B.A.C. show flying display. Maintenance of the assorted collec-tion of variously fitted aircraft is performed mainly by civilian personnel. A large and important unit at Farnborough is the StructuresDepartment which, under Dr. P. B. Walker, is sectioned into five divisions, with respective responsibility for airworthiness, strengthand design, fundamental structural research, flutter and vibration, and structural fatigue. The significant part played by this depart-ment in the Comet accident investigation is referred to later; its more normal work covers an equally wide range of interests. Concerning airworthiness, one can sum up much by sayingthat all the "strength and stiffness" chapters of A.P.970 are written here. The department advises on airworthiness—andnormally its advice is taken. Requirements for future Service aircraft are generally decided here. Another unit of this division,quietly and efficiently at work at Berkshire Copse, is the now well-known accident investigation section. Much strength testing is of course performed by the industryfirms themselves, in addition to the large amount at the R.A.E., and there is therefore a particularly active liaison with industryin the department's "strength and design" section. Much thought is given to new testing techniques, and also to the problems ofoptically and electrically transparent structures. But the depart- ment is even prouder of its record in the field of flutter and vibra-tion, in which it claims to have led for the last 15 years. A flutter simulator has been devised and used, and in-flight flutter testingmethods are now being developed (flutter tests on wings fitted to rockets have already been made, the results being telemeteredto the ground). An increasing amount of this work is concerned with specific types of aircraft. Fundamental structural research is self-explanatory. One verydifficult problem now being investigated is that of kinetic heating, a major difficulty being the simulation on the ground of theappropriate temperature gradients and thermal shocks experienced by an aircraft in supersonic flight. A considerable under-standing of flight conditions is required, and there can here be no rigid division between "structures" and "aerodynamics." The problem of fatigue, although brought into sudden pro-minence at the Comet Inquiry last year, is no new one to the R.A.E. Structures Department. Separate units now involved areconcerned with basic fatigue research, laboratory testing and flight load measurements, and fatigue-life assessment. With muchattention to fatigue aspects, and consequent improvements, pro- gress is inevitably slowing down: whereas at the beginningsuggestions could be made which might double the fatigue life, this is not now possible. Life restrictions are necessary unless aweight penalty is accepted. In these difficult problems, thorough exchanges of views, test results, and suggestions between industryand R.A.E. Structures Department continue. One of the most important departments on the "equipment" sideis that devoted to guided weapons, under Mr. W. H. Stephens. Its task is to make a general study of guided-weapon systems, andto formulate practical methods of meeting the requirements of all three Services; and to provide supporting technical research forthis country's guided-weapon industry. The department's work, Dr. P. B. Walker Structures Dr. N. J. L. Megson Chemistry N. E. G. HillInstrumentation H. C. B. ThomasMechanical Engineering Dr. S. H. HollingdaleMathematical Services
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