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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0927.PDF
8 July 1955 37 Lord Brabazon said that the Council of I.C.A.O. had reached the conclusion that International Airworthiness and related Opera- tional Standards should be reviewed with the aim of presenting them in a broader and more objective manner. The third issue of Section C (Engines and Propellers) of British Civil Airworthiness Requirements was about to be published, the technical preparations and committee work having been com- pleted. A considerable number of amendments were involved, including approval of engines using water-methanol injection, approval of engines with compressor or turbine bleeds, low temperature starting tests and humidity correction factors for piston and turbine engines. The A.R.B. expected amendments to Section E (Gliders) in the light of proposals from the Technical Department of the B.G.A. and preparatory work was continuing for a second issue of Section G (Rotorcraft). Certificate of Airworthiness Investigations in hand during the past year were concerned with the Westland S.55, the conversion of Convair 340 and Ambassador to take Napier Eland engines and with the Britannia, various marks of Comet and Viscount, the Beverley, single and twin Pioneers, Accountant and Herald. Reference was also made in the report to the change of policy re- garding certification of ultra light aircraft. The Board had been concerned with the flight testing of 125 aircraft, among which was the Britannia. The Board's chief test pilot, Mr. D. P. Davies and a performance specialist took pan in the tropical and high altitude tests of this aircraft. Tropical and other trials were carried out on the York, Hermes and Tudor and tests made on the Britannia, Pioneer, Auster, Viscount 720, Viscount 724, Viscount 737, Heron 2 and Sparrowjet. New gliders tested were the Skylark 2 and the Eon Olympia Mark 4. On the subject of powerplant development, the chairman re- ported as follows: "In most installations, the larger British piston engines of relatively recent types now have an excellent record of reliability, which compares favourably with that of the engines of any other constructing country. The Dart turbo-propeller I engine in the Viscount is giving an excellent performance in ser- I vice and a great deal of development work has now been com- g pleted with promising results on the Proteus engine for the I Britannia. However, with the entry of the axial flow engine in | turbo-propeller and turbo-jet form into civil aviation, we are * faced with two new major problems, the first being that of engine I vulnerability to damage from external sources and the second i that of engine anti-icing precautions. The former will only be I fully assessed after a period of airline operation, but the latter | is already known to present formidable technical problems." During the year, nine piston engines covering the entire powerrange were type tested and approved in the Normal Category. Two turboprop engines were type tested and approved in theNormal Category and two in the Special Category. Twelve new fixed-pitch and ten variable-pitch propellers were also approved.No radically new developments on propellers had made their appearance but a number of minor design changes, addingmaterially to potential safety, had been developed. An interesting development during the year was the approvalof the Inspection Organization of Air France at Orly, France, for the overhaul, repair and inspection of certain items and equip-ment for replacement on Viscount aircraft. This approval, which might possibly be the forerunner of others, was a logical develop-ment of the wider use of British aircraft. The increasing use of electrical supply for vital services in air-craft had led to a re-examination of the Board's requirements for electrical power supplies, with the object of providingsufficient emergency power for continued flight and landing even if the main supply suffers complete failure. With aircraft havingelectrically powered flying controls this would involve duplica- tion of the electrical power supply system. In other aircraftvarious emergency electrical systems were under consideration. Referring to the Council and staff the chairman stated that onhis appointment to the Council to fill the vacancy left by Sir Maurice Denny, Sir Harold Roxbee Cox ceased to act as a con-sultant to the Board but he remained chairman of the Engine Requirements Co-ordinating Committee. Capt. A. M. A.Majendie had been appointed to the Council to represent pilots in place of Capt. M. J. R. Alderson. A. Cdre. A. H. Wheeler,R.A.F., Retd., had accepted an invitation to act as consultant to the Board on matters affecting piloting and the flight characteris-tics of aircraft. With the increasing expansion of specialized activities the Board was considering the appointment of furtherconsultants. A.R.B. OFFICIALS Chairman: The Rt. Hon. Lord Brabazon of Tara, P.C., G.B.E., M.C.Vice-chairmen: Sir Frederick Handley Page, C.B.E.; Guy F. Johnson, C.B.E.; A. B. Stewart. Members: A. G. Elliott, C.B.E.; Marshal of theRoyal Air Force Lord Douglas of Kirdeside, G.C.B., M.C., D.F.C.; E. R. H. Hill; Captain A. G. Lamplugh, C.B.E.; Captain A. M. A.Majendie; L. Murray Stewart; J. D. North; Colonel R. L. Preston, C.B.E.; Sir Harold Roxbee Cox; J. Eric Rylands; F. E. N. St. Barbe;Whitney Straight, C.B.E.; M.C., D.F.C.; J. J. Taylor, O.B.E. (Hon. Treasurer); Major R. H. Thornton, M.C. Chief Executive and Sec-retary to the Board: R. E. Hardingham, C.M.G., O.B.E., Chief Technical Officer: W. Tye, O.B.E. I G/C. W. N. CUMMINGW ITH regret we announce the death, following an illness, ofG/C. William Neville Cumming, O.B.E., D.F.C., A.F.R.Ae., F.R.Met.S. He was 55 years of age. Known to hisfriends as "Bill," though sometimes as "Neville," G/C. Cumming had devoted most of his working life to aviation, in which his career was both activeand distinguished. Be- tween 1917 and 1926 heserved first in the R.N.A.S. and then inthe R.A.F., in France and India. He nextwent to Canada for four years, where hedid much pioneer civil flying. In 1931 he joinedImperial Airways, with whom he remained un-til 1938. During this period he was con-cerned with the intro- duction of flying-boatservices, carrying out the first tests of theShort Caledonia from Southampton to Alex-andria on March 4th, 1937. He also inaugurated the New York to Bermuda service onJune 12th, 1937. It was in 1936 that he obtained his first-class navigator's ticket. Between 1939 and 1945 he again served with the R.A.F., firstin Coastal Command and later as staff officer in charge of anti-U-boat defences in the Indian Ocean. Since the war hehad been associated with several air transport companies and had been director of TSIorth-West Airlines (I.O.M.), G/C. Cumming. Ltd., and Southern Engineering Co., Ltd. In 1949, G/C. Cumming served for a year as Master of theGuild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators of the British Empire. This was the year in which the Queen, as Princess Elizabeth, wasinstalled as Grand Master of the Guild. She in turn installed the Master. G/C. Cumming was also a past chairman of the BritishAir Charter Association, a past-president of F.I.T.A.P., a mem- ber of the Council of the Air League of the British Empire anda member of the Helicopter Association of Great Britain. Sympathy is extended to his widow, son and daughter. CRANFBELD'S NEW PRINCIPAL THE appointment of Professor A. J. Murphy, M.Sc, F.I.M.,to be Principal of the College of Aeronautics, Cranneld, was announced on the occasion of the eighth annual presentation of• diplomas at the College on Friday last, July 1st. Professor Murphy, who for the last five years has been Professor of Indus-trial Metallurgy at Birmingham University (and since 1953 Director of the department of Physical Metallurgy and IndustrialMetallurgy), will take up his appointment on October 1st next. VICKERS-ARMSTRONGS DIRECTORSHIP AMONG the directors of the new subsidiary companies of**• Vickers-Armstrongs, Ltd., the formation of which was recently announced, are several who receive Board appointmentsfor the first time. The majority of these executives are in the shipbuilding and engineering companies, but there is one inVickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), Ltd.—Mr. J. Anderson. Mr. Anderson joined the Weybridge Works in April 1926.He was appointed assistant accountant in 1940 and assistant commercial manager in 1945. In April 1947 he became com-mercial manager, Weybridge Works, and was made a special director in 1949. In December 1950 he was appointed commer-cial manager of the aircraft section, with control of both • Weybridge and Supermarine commercial departments.
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