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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 1551.PDF
666 Service Aviation FLIGHT, 21 October 1953 R.A.F. AUSTERS for the ANTARCTIC EXPEDITIONS to the snowy wastesnear the South Pole are very muchin fashion nowadays. While the Americans are preparing to explore certainregions of Antarctica during the Inter- national Geophysical Year, a joint Com-monwealth expedition is making ready to cross Antarctica at about the same time;and, as related on p. 658, a survey of the Grahamsland Peninsula is soon to begin.Preparations for any such venture, how- ever, take a long time, and a great deal ofnew equipment has to be tested in advance. An important part of the equipment ofwhat has been called the Trans-Antarctic Expedition will be two Austers which areintended for use in general reconnaissance and transport duties. The Auster is no newcomer to thesefrigid regions, for Mk 6s were active there with the Falkland Island Dependenciessurvey expedition in 1949-1950. The pilot concerned at that time was S/L. J. H..Lewis, R.A.F., and he is to take part in the Trans-Antarctic venture as well. He isto be accompanied by S/L. J. R. Claydon, R.N.Z.A.F., F/Sgt. P. D. Weston, R.A.F.(also an Antarctic veteran), and Sgt. Williams, R.A.F. The team is now atRearsby, sorting, checking and repacking a great quantity of equipment which willaccompany them on a preparatory expedi- tion this winter. In addition to providingtwo Austers (extensively modified by Auster Aircraft, Ltd.), the Royal Air Forcehas accepted responsibility for all the radio equipment to be used for communicationboth between England and the expedition and between the various teams. Nextyear, two more pilots will join the R.A.F. contingent. Auster Aircraft have now completed themodification and testing of the two air- craft—Mk 7 trainers returned to them forthis purpose by the R.A.F. The aircraft will be powered by a Gipsy Major Mk 7Gengine, fitted with the Plessey six-shot cartridge starter, an oil-dilutioji system anda 24v 500W generator. The oil qooler has been eliminated and a normal exhaust-muff heater added. As the aircraft will have to operate onfloats for part of the time, a considerable effort has been made to lighten the struc-ture as much as possible; extensive radio equipment has made this all the more Seen airborne near Rearsby, the Auster Mk 7 for the Trans-Antarctic Expedition displays some of its special features. Painted bright orange to show up in snow, it has A.D.F. aerial dome, discharge wicks and a special undercarriage, as well as less-obvious special equipment. necessary. To this end, therefore, thefabric covering has been removed and replaced by the lighter fabric used for civilAusters and finished in a bright orange dope to make the aircraft visible againstsnow. The self-sealing tanks have been replaced by the lighter 16 gal civil versionsand a standard 13-gal belly tank attached. The fuel capacity of 45 gal thus allowsan endurance in the region of six hours. Far use with skis, Austers have fitted special undercarriage legs using rubber discs in compression. Wheels and brakes are fitted only for tests in England. The wheel undercarriage would be ofno use in the Antarctic and it has been fitted only for testing at Rearsby. Duringthe expedition, a new undercarriage-leg arrangement with rubber disc shock-absorption will carry special skis, the runners of which are made of a laminatedfabric sheet, grade F1080, designed to resist abrasion. Wheel brakes have beenremoved and replaced by a cable-control by which the water rudders at the tail of the floats can be retracted for beaching.The floats themselves were designed and made by Auster's and are the same asthose used in previous expeditions. To give greater directional stability whenfloats are fitted, an aerodynamically balanced rudder (similar to that of theAutocar) is provided, together with an extra fin under the tail. To resist extremelylow temperature, oversize very soft rubber grommets have been fitted round thePerspex transparencies. One of the greatest problems of Antarc-tic flying is, of course, navigation, and use of a magnetic compass immediatelyinvolves difficulties. The variation over much of the Antarctic has never beenaccurately plotted, and some attempt will be made during the expedition to fill in atleast some of the gaps in this knowledge. The Austers will therefore rely primarilyon a Bendix Polar Path stable gyro which precesses only about 2 deg per hour. Inaddition, a landing compass, an astro com- pass and a sun compass will be carried;and considerable use can, of course, be made of the aircraft's Marconi AD. 7092A.D.F. and of the Marconi AD. 97/108 lightweight communications radio, witha stick aerial mounted on top of the cabin, and a 150-ft trailing aerial which isstreamed on a small plastic drogue over the top of the rudder. Both Austers have dis-charger wicks on rudder and ailerons. The R.A.F. will sail for the Antarcticnext month with one Auster crated as a spare and the other mounted on floats andlashed on deck. They will be embarked in the tiny Canadian sealer Theron for thejourney to the Falkland Island Depen- dencies. Their main duty will be to guidethe ship through pack ice by providing air reconnaissance and to test and gain experi-ence of the equipment they have with them. After seven months they willreturn to England before finally starting in November 1956 on the Trans-AntarcticExpedition proper. At that time they will be joined by some D.H.C. Beavers andOtters working from the New Zealand side of the Antarctic. (Left) The Aus- ter - built floats test - assembled. (Right) The three pilots, (I. to r.) S/L. Lewis, S/L. C I a y d o n , R.N.Z.A.F., and (flying on the first expedition) F/L. G. M. Haslop.
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