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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 1125.PDF
FLIGHT, 12 August 1955 Progress at Brough 237 THE INDUSTRY Pf/ n,ear,cu work in the field of boundary-layer control hadhelped Blackburn and General Aircraft, Ltd., "in obtaining a new and major development contract" is stated by the chairmanAir. Robert Blackburn, in his address to shareholders, issued in advance of the annual general meeting on August 25th."Some time ago," he says, "we initiated a good deal of interest- ing research work on boundary-layer control which, in the simplestterms, means operating on the thin layer of slow-moving air at the surface of the wing, by sucking or blowing it away. . .We have obtained much improved lifting qualities from a high- speed, thin, swept-back wing, and thus greatly improved thetake-off and landing performance." Of progress with the Beverley transport—which is due to gointo squadron service at the end of the year—Mr. Blackburn recalls that the company was successful in beating the target date(set some 2\ years earlier by the Ministry of Supply) for the first flight of the first production aircraft. Subsequent Beverleys haveleft the line in accordance with programme. In an allusion to overseas orders for the Beverley and for the civil version, theUniversal, the chairman remarks that not-so-distant delivery dates can now be quoted, and that "the signs in some quarters are notunhopeful." Speaking of the work of the company's engine division, Mr.Blackburn briefly reviews the Blackburn-Turbomeca range, men- tioning in particular the use of the Palouste in the Fairey ultra-lighthelicopter, and an M.o.S. order for the Coupled Turmo for development purposes. The company's trading results (to March 31st last) show a profitof £520,000—an increase of £69,000; tax provision, however, causes the nett profit, at £253,000, to show an increase of only£8,500. Portable Power Tools in Rescue Tender 'TWO power-operated rescue saws figure in the equipment of a*- new light crash tender, the prototype of which has recently been constructed by Fire Armour Ltd., 9 George Street, BakerStreet, London, W.I. Based on an Austin Champ 4x4 chassis, the vehicle is fittedwith a 5 kVA generator of sufficient capacity to operate simul- taneously the following equipment at rated capacity: Two 12in-diameter Black and Decker rescue-saws; one Black and Decker heavy-duty fin portable drill; and two 500 W floodlights.Each portable electric tool is provided with 100ft of cable, mounted on a reel with slip-ring electrical contacts.The vehicle also carries fire extinguishing equipment, con- sisting of a 150 lb dry-powder extinguisher equipped with hoseline and discharge nozzle. Alternatively, one 12 gal chloro- bromomethane extinguisher, nitrogen-actuated, mav be fitted. The Herald's Landing Gear PROTOTYPE work by-•• undercarriage manufac- turers often calls for the useof hand forgings, and a recent example—a leg by Electro-Hydraulics, Ltd., for the Handley Page Herald—is be-lieved to have been the largest hand forging of its type everproduced. The main leg has to spanthe space from the high wing to the ground, a distance ofabout 9ft. The finished job, seen in the accompanyingillustration, was produced in four months from the receiptof raw material (D.T.D. 683). Completion involved somesixty operations and 800 hours of machining on large-capacity centre lathes, ver- tical millers and horizontalborers. The original forging weighed 670 lb and the finish-ed component 126 lb. 7"/ie major component of the Electro Hydraulics' undercar- riage for the Handley Page Herald, referred to above. Sir Alick Stevens Joins Douglas Equipment TT is announced that Air Marshal Sir Alick C. Stevens, K.B.E.,A C.B.—who, until he retired in December 1954, was A.O.C-in- C. Coastal Command and the first holder of the NATO posts ofAir C-in-C. Eastern Atlantic and Maritime Air C-in-C. Channel Command, has joined the Board of Douglas Equipment, Ltd.,Cheltenham, as assistant managing director. The company are manufacturers of special-purpose vehicles,among which is the Tugmaster Series I tractor, designed for tow- ing the V-bombers. Long-scale j.p.t. Indicator A SMALL, lightweight jet-pipe temperature indicator which**• has a clearer scale than the older types of instrument has been designed by Smiths Aircraft Instruments, Ltd. Known as thelong-scale moving coil indicator, it gives readings direct from four or more thermocouples, connected in parallel, over temperatureranges from 0 to 800 deg C or from 0 to 1,000 deg C. The movement has been constructed so that it will fit into astandard international 3iin case or a 2in flangeless case. The small case is hermetically sealed, giving the instrument a longlife in any climate. In spite of its small size—which makes it especially suitable forlightweight fighters—the 2in indicator has an extremely long, wide, easily read scale covering 250 deg of arc and with a scalelength of 3^in. On the large-case instrument the scale is about 51in long. The movement of the pointer over the scale isachieved without gearing or linkage. IN BRIEF Mr. G. E. Knight has been appointed divisional secretary ofthe Bristol Aeroplane Company's aircraft division in succession to Mr. E. V. Norcock, who has left the company to join theBoard of Export Packing Services, Ltd. Mr. Knight, who is 34, has been assistant divisional secretary for the past two years. * * * Avica Equipment, Ltd.. have moved from London, N.7, toa larger factory at Mark Road, Hemel Hempstead, Herts (tele- phone Boxmoor 4711, telegrams Avica, Hemel Hempstead). * * * We are informed that Mr. James Martin, of Martin-BakerAircraft, Ltd., is starting proceedings against the Folland Aircraft company for infringement of patent rights in connection witha special ejection seat. * * * Goodmans Industries, Ltd., of Axiom Works, Wembley, Middx,.have recently issued a comprehensive illustrated catalogue giv- ing technical data on their whole range of vibration generators andancillary driving equipment. * * * The story of a stupendous civil-engineering project is vividlytold in a colour film made by the Aluminium Company of Canada and illustrating the first stage in their British Columbia projectfor the production of primary aluminium. Entitled The Kitimat Story, the film is available in a 16 mm version to engineeringsocieties, etc., on application to the Northern Aluminium Co., Ltd., Banbury, Oxon. * * * Mr. Arthur Donald Busby, B.Sc, A.I.M., who has been amember of the development and research department of the Mond Nickel Co., Ltd., for 18 years—for the last five years asdevelopment metallurgist on alloy and special cast irons—has resigned his position. As from September 1st, he is taking up thepost of deputy process development manager of the titanium department of I.C.I. (Metals), Ltd. * * * Major C. J. P. Ball, D.S.O., M.C., who has held the post ofchairman and managing director of Magnesium Elektron, Ltd., from the company's formation in 1934, has relinquished thatappointment in favour of Dr. C. J. Smithells, M.C., but remains chairman. Brig. A. G. Cole, O.B.E., previously assistant manag-ing director, has been appointed commercial director. Dr. S. J. Fletcher remains technical director.* * * The Henderson Safety Tank Co., Ltd., built the fuel tank forBluebird, in which Mr. Donald Campbell regained the world's water speed record at an average speed of 202.32 m.p.h. Of all-welded manganese aluminium construction, the 47-gallon annular tank weighs 38 1b. The Henderson Safetv Tank Co., Ltd., atElstree, are the Hunting Group's firm of sheet-metal specialists, and besides building fuel tanks for military and civil aircraft, theyfrequently undertake specialist work.
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