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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 1317.PDF
9 September 1955 431 Valiants to the Far East COINCIDENT with the visit of Air Marshal Sir GeorgeMills, A.O.C-in-C. Bomber Command, to Australia this week, two Valiants of No. 138 Sqn. were to leave their base atWittering to fly to Singapore for a month of proving trials. In command of the aircraft are S/L. R. G. Wilson and F/L. R.Mather and the route to Singapore was via Habbaniyah (Ir'aq)j Karachi (Pakistan), and Negombo (Ceylon). Preliminaryarrangements are also in hand for an extension of the flights to include Australia and New Zealand.Air Marshal Sir George Mills is himself attending the Air Force Commemoration Week ceremonies in Australia and is laterto visit New Zealand at the invitation of the New Zealand Government. He is flying out in one of the four Hastings carry-ing ground crew and equipment for the Valiants. No. 138 Sqn. is commanded by W/C. R. G. W. Oakley. Peter Masefield Joins Bristol AN important reorganization of the Bristol Aeroplane Co., Ltd.,was foreshadowed in an announcement last Monday. With it came the news that Mr. Peter Masefield has resigned from thepost of chief executive of B.E.A. in order to become the first managing director of one of the new Bristol companies. Under the new arrangement, the work of the present threemain divisions of the company will be undertaken by three new subsidiary companies, to be known respectively as Bristol Aircraft,Ltd., Bristol Aero-Engines, Ltd., and Bristol Cars, Ltd. They will take over the assets and liabilities of the existing divisionson January 1st next. The following are beingappointed first directors of th.e new companies: —Bristol Aircraft, Ltd. — Sir Reginald Verdon Smith, C. F.Uwins (chairman), Brian Davidson, A. Cdre. F. R. Banks, Dr. A. E.Russell, R. S. Brown, W. R. Fames, H. J. Pollard.Bristol Aero-Engines, Ltd.—Sir Reginald Verdon Smith, Air Chiefr m: ;J^aMgSjM&*«pM» Marshal Sir Alec Coryton (chair- jf liH^H^HBBMt; jl man), Brian Davidson, A. Cdre.* ^^^^•^•p» F. R. Banks, Dr. S. G. Hooker, George Hack, John Innes, R. L.Ninnes, Dr. E. Warlow Davies. Bristol Cars, Ltd. — GeorgeWhite (chairman), Brian Davidson, William Masterton. "In the case of the BristolAircraft, Ltd.," says the company ". . . by agreement with BritishEuropean Airways Corporation and with the approval of the Minister of Transport and CivilAviation, Mr. P. G. Masefield, Chief Executive of British European Airways Corporation, has accepted an invitation to become thefirst managing director. He will join the Bristol Aeroplane Company, Ltd., in November and will take up his directorshipof Bristol Aircraft, Ltd., on the 1st January, 1956." In a letter to the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Mr.Masefield has said that he feels that his "duties towards British aviation lie more clearly in making what contribution I can in thedirection of the more pressing problems of British aircraft develop- ment and production." He emphasizes that his resignation is not Mr. Masefield. the result of any differences of view on policy, and Mr. Boyd-Carpenter has accepted his resignation "with very deep regret," also mentioning his admiration for the "grand job" Mr. Masefieldhas done for B.E.A. Still only 41 years of age, Peter Masefield has had a remarkablecareer in aviation, beginning in 1935 when he left Cambridge in order to join the Fairey design staff. Two years later he becamea member of the staff of The Aeroplane and in 1939 was appointed its technical editor. He went to France in 1939 with the AdvancedAir Striking Force; and later, as a war correspondent, he flew with the R.A.F. and the U.S.A.A.F., qualifying with the latter asboth co-pilot and air gunner on B-17s. In 1943 he was personal adviser on civil aviation to Lord Beaverbrook, who was then LordPrivy Seal; and he also was secretary of the War Cabinet Com- mittee on Postwar Civil Air Transport. In 1945 he was appointedBritish Civil Air Attache in Washington and a year later returned to this country to fill the post of Director General of Long TermPlanning and Projects at the M.C.A. Afterwards he became in quick succession assistant to B.E.A.'s chairman, then deputy chiefexecutive, then chief executive. He is a vice-president and member of the Council of the R.Ae.S.,and is president-elect of the Institute of Transport and president of the Popular Flying Association and of the Aircraft RecognitionSociety. New British Engines FAST Friday, September 2nd, two new British powcrplant-*-1 designations were cleared for publication. The Gyron Junior DGJ.l is announced as a new turbojet manufactured by thede Havilland Engine Co., Ltd. The Sapphire ASSa.8 is like- wise announced as a new Sapphire variant by Armstrong-Siddeley Motors, Ltd. Type-tested ratings are also announced for the de Havilland Gyron DGy.l at 15,000 lb thrust and theA-S Viper ASV.8 (up-rated ASV.5) at 1,750 lb thrust. In announcing the Gyron Junior, the de Havilland EngineCompany described it as smaller than the Gyron (as one might expect) and referred to the possibility of a family of Gyronengines. The Gyron Junior was recently run on the test-bed for the first time, after an exceedingly rapid period of initialdevelopment under a Ministry of Supply contract. On pages 449 to 452 of this issue will be found an account ofthe characteristics and background of development of the three engines which are being shown at Farnborough this year for thefirst time. They are the de Hayilland Gyron turbojet, the Rolls- Royce Conway by-pass turbojet and the Napier E.151 Elandpowerplant for the Fairey Rotodyne helicopter. Incidentally, it is not generally known that the Avon turbojetsinstalled in the Canberra P.R.7 which recently flew to New York and back in 14 hr 21 min were manufactured at the Netherton(Liverpool) factory of D. Napier and Son, Ltd. At this plant, Napier are already starting production of the Eland (fixed-wing)turboprop, and commercial deliveries are expected next year. Avon production is tapering off thus releasing progressively morefloor space for the manufacture of Napier's own engines. Napiers were also responsible for the installation of the Rolls-Royce Conway by-pass turbojet under the belly of the Ministry of Supply's Avro Ashton test-bed. The work was done for theNational Gas Turbine Establishment by the Napier Flight Development Establishment at Luton. The first flight withthe Conway installed was made from Luton late last month, the aircraft being jointly flown by Mr. Mike Randrup and Mr. A. J.Heyworth, respectively chief test pilots of Napier and Rolls-Royce. BLOSSOMING FRIEND- SHIP: The trim lines promised by artists' im- pressions are realized in this view of the first prototype Fokker F.27 Friendship in its assem- bly hall at Schiphol. The two Rolls - Royce Darts hare been installed and the airframe shell is virtually complete, though the first flight, apparently, is still some weeks away.
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