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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 1802.PDF
23 December 1955 925 C.F.S. INSTRUCTORS are as good today as they ever were. Here two of them—F/L D. Hall in a Hunter, and F/L. D. Franklin in a Meteor 7 —are getting in a spot of aerobatic time. The picture was taken by Russell Adams from a second Meteor, flown by F/L. H. Harrison New European Air Defence SystemT HAT the Soviet threat was "greater than at any previoustime" was the view expressed by Gen. Gruenther, the Supreme Allied Commander, in a statement made in Paris last week. TheNATO Chiefs of Staff, he said, were of the opinion that Russian bombers could reach any part of the Atlantic Pact area. The general was announcing the creation of a co-ordinatedair defence and radar warning system, under SHAPE, for the whole of Western Europe including Britain. In the past, heexplained, SHAPE'S control of air defence had been confined to Western Germany, and in other NATO countries had been anational responsibility. This system did not provide adequate insurance, so four newdefence sectors were being established: (1) Norway and Den- mark, with H.Q. at Oslo; (2) the Low Countries, Germany andFrance, with H.Q. at Fontainebleau; (3) Italy, Turkey, Greece, and the Mediterranean, including Cyprus, with H.Q. at Naples;and (4) the United Kingdom. The first three were all existing NATO commands, whereas the United Kingdom was a nationalcommand, and the R.A.F. would decide on the deployment of aircraft or missiles to repel an attack. Gen. Gruenther said early warnings were useless unless therewas a rapid and efficient communications system. The United States had agreed to share with NATO two radiocommunicationsystems which provided perfect reception and could not be jammed. One was a tropospheric "scatter" method which couldtransmit up to 250 miles. The other was a iononspheric system, which had a range of 1,300 miles. The staff needed to run them in Europe would not be morethan 250 people. The total cost for Europe would be £15m. The United States would be installing pilot plants to cover Norway,from Paris to Naples and from Naples to Izmir in Turkey. Rolls-Royce Strike Settled "THE strike of some 7,500 employees at the Rolls-Royce aero-*- engine factories in the Glasgow area ended last Thursday, when the men returned to work after seven weeks. On the pre-vious day, two meetings of the strikers had accepted almost unanimously a recommendation by the executive council of theA.E.U. that there should be a return to work. Throughout the strike Rolls-Royce have held firmly to theirrefusal to dismiss or take any other action against the employee over whom the dispute arose. He was a polisher who was expelledfrom his union because, it was alleged, he had failed to observe a shop agreement to limit his bonus earnings at a period when workwas scarce. It is believed that the ultimate effects of the stoppage on pro-duction may not be as serious as was at first feared. The engines principally concerned were Avons—of which, it is understood,there was a reasonably large reserve stock, so that it may be possible to regain lost ground by means of increased production.Also, the recent dispute in the Hawker factories is believed to have reduced to some extent the requirement for Avon engines. Capt. A. G. Lamplugh TT is with deep regret that we* learn as we go to press of the death, on December 15th, ofCapt. A. G. Lamplugh, C.B.E., F.R.Ae.S., M.LAe.S., F.R.G.S.,underwriter and principal sur- veyor of the British AviationInsurance Co., Ltd., until his election to its Board last Septem-ber, when illness compelled his retirement. He was 60 years ofage. Alfred Gilmer Lamplugh waseducated at King Edward's School and Queen's College, Birming-ham, and learned to fly in 1913. He served in the R.F.C. andR.A.F. in 1916-19, and was the holder of an early "B" Licence,No. 155. He was with the British Aviation Insurance Group beforeits incorporation as a company in 1931 and had been under-writer to the Group since 1926. . During his career he held a variety of distinguished posts, almostall of them honorary, in bodies concerned with aviation or msur- Capt. Lamplugh. ance. He was a Royal Aero Club committee-member; a council-member of the Air Registration Board; Warden, and first Deputy Master, of the Guild of Air Pilots; an honorary member of theBritish Air Line Pilots' Association; president of the London Gliding Club; and chairman of the Aviation Insurance OfficesAssociation. In 1943 he was chairman of the Independent Com- mittee on the Future of Civil Aviation.It is a sad coincidence that, the day after his death, it was learned that for his services to aviation in Belgium he had beenappointed an Officier de I'Ordre de Leopold II. From the early nineteen-twenties, "Lamps" was a familiarfigure at aviation events in every part of the country. Few men can have known so many pilots, amateur and professional, andnot merely as casual acquaintances; and they in their turn looked upon him as a good companion and staunch friend—and, inbusiness, a man of the greatest integrity. Almost up to the last, though confined to a wheelchair, he was to be seen enjoying thecompany of his friends at many a gathering. British aviation will be the poorer for his passing. Capt. Lamplugh leaves a widow and two sons. The funeraltook place privately on Tuesday last. There will be a memorial service at Christ Church, Down Street, London, W.I, onDecember 29th. The Guild Losing its Clerk WHEN, in the near future, the Guild of Air Pilots and AirNavigators is granted its new status as one of the Livery companies of the City of London, changes in its administrationwill be necessary. In this connection it was announced last week that Mr. L. A. Wingfield, M.C., D.F.C., who has acted as Clerkto the Guild since its foundation, is to relinquish his appointment at the end of the year, as he finds that the claims of his professionpreclude his accepting the additional work that will be involved. During the period of 27 years for which he has held the appoint-ment, Mr. Wingfield has served under three Royal Grand Masters —the Duke of Kent, Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edin-burgh—and many distinguished Masters including A.V-M. Sir Sefton Brancker and A. Cdre. Frederick Guest."Mr. Wingfield has been largely responsible for initiating and carrying through to its successful conclusion the Guild's petitionfor Livery," says the Guild, adding that it "desires to place on record its grateful thanks to him for faithful and distinguishedservices given for so long in an honorary capacity."
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