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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 1216.PDF
330 FLIGHT, 26 August 1955 INDIA HT-2 trainers on the assembly line at Bangalore. HINDUSTAN AIRCRAFT, LTD.I NDIA'S only aircraft manufacturing organization, HindustanAircraft, serves not only the country's domestic needs, but also those of many of the airline operators and Air Forces in Asiancountries and the Middle East. H.A.L. is the largest aircraft repair, overhaul and manufacturing organization in the East, andpossesses its own airport and seaplane landing base. The company's works are spread over 1,100 acres of land, andare equipped with engine and accessories shops, a first-class laboratory, foundry, machine shop and tool room. The design,engineering and research departments are manned by fully quali- fied engineers, the total number of personnel employed beingabout 10,000. The factory has earned the recognition of the Director-General of Civil Aviation in India, and has beenapproved by the American C.A.A. for the repair and overhaul of DC-3s, C-47s and Pratt and Whitney aero-engines. On the manufacturing side the HT-2 trainer, designed anddeveloped by the company, is now in full production. The aircraft has been tested by Indian and foreign pilots, and hasbeen certified as a suitable trainer for basic training for the Indian Air Force, to whom deliveries are being made in batches.The Director-General of Civil Aviation also has placed an initial order. The Government of India having permitted export, thecompany is presently making plans to demonstrate the aircraft in nearby countries. H.A.L.-built Vampire fighters are being sup-plied to the Indian Air Force according to programme. Hindustan Aircraft is an overseas member of the S.B.A.C. Inaddition to the C.A.A. approval for DC-3 work, the company is also an authorized DC-3 service centre of the Douglas company.H.A.L. is also the sole repair and service agent in India of the de Havilland companies. Aircraft types for which repair and over-haul facilities exist include (in addition to Dakotas) Doves, Harvards, Liberators and Tempests. The company's branch factory at Calcutta is continuing to con-centrate on repair and overhaul of DC-3s belonging to the Indian Airline Corporation and non-scheduled operators. Future plansat the main Bangalore factory are centred on a basic jet trainer, which is being designed at present. A medium transport aircraftis also under development. The company is under the direction of the Ministry of Defenceof the Government of India. Local management heads include J. M. Shrinagesh, managing director and general manager; R.Natarajan, deputy general manager; and Dr. V. M. Ghatage, chief designer. NEW ZEALAND WITH some 300 cities and towns served by air, and a total ofabout 80 aerodromes, New Zealand has an extremely healthy operating side to its aviation life. No aircraft are designed ormanufactured there, however, due to the high cost inevitably involved in small-batch production at the present time. In the sphere of agricultural flying, New Zealand is uniquein its development, since 1949, of aerial top-dressing—the spread- ing of fertilizer and grass seed by air on inaccessible high grazingcountry. As in other spheres, the ubiquitous Tiger Moth has been adopted and adapted for this specialized application, but thecountry's urgent interest in a purpose-built machine has acceler- ated the development elsewhere of new designs. The Fletcher FU-24, manufactured in the U.S.A. and assembledin New Zealand, is the first type to be specially designed for top- dressing. At present it is still a relative newcomer, having onlyrecently received a type certification from the New Zealand Director of Civil Aviation. It is on this background, with its emphasis on agriculturalflying, that New Zealand's framework of ancillary companies has been built up. At aerodromes throughout the country, smallgroups of aeronautical engineers have become skilled, not only in routine aircraft maintenance, overhaul and repair work, butalso in the design and manufacture of hoppers and other special- ized equipment, and the modification of aircraft to take theseinstallations. It is these firms, together with the agents for the major British aircraft constructors, which form most of the entriesin the New Zealand section of the Commonwealth directory on p. 331. The two firms here noted are concerned with aircraftassembly, as well as with major repairs and overhaul. The de Havilland Aircraft Company of New Zealand, Ltd. SINCE the war the New Zealand branch of the de HavillandAircraft Company has overhauled, serviced and maintained air- craft and engines for the R.N.Z.A.F., N.Z. National Airways Cor-poration, flying clubs and private owners. Devons for the New Zealand Air Force have been assembled, in addition to a numberof Fox Moths and Chipmunks for flying-club operation. The company's main plant, occupying just under 30,000 sq ft,is at Rongotai aerodrome, Wellington, where during the war the manufacture of 345 Tiger Moths had taken place. At PalmerstonNorth, an overhaul shop for R.N.Z.A.F. Goblin turbojets is in operation. English directors of the company are Sir Geoffrey de Havilland,F. E. N. St. Barbe, and W. E. Nixon; while J. A. Kerr (general manager) and D. W. Gendall (secretary) are the New Zealanddirectors. James Aviation, Ltd. PLANS for the importation of Fletcher FU-24 agriculturalaircraft into New Zealand have been made by the Cable-Price Corporation, and assembly of these machines is to take place atthe Rukuhia workshops of James Aviation, Ltd. The design of the FU-24 is stated to be based on the 1951 New Zealand speci-fication for a topdressing aircraft, and the recent type certification now clears the way for a full assembly programme.In addition to this work, the firm carries out agricultural and charter flying, and possesses an extensive aircraft repair organ-ization. The managing director of the company is Mr. O. G. James; bases are at Rukuhia and Rotorua.
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