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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 1833.PDF
956 FLIGHT FROM ALL QUARTERS The New MinistersT HE Air Ministry and the Ministry of Transport and CivilAviation are among those affected by the Ministerial changes announced by the Prime Minister last week. The new Air Ministeris Mr. Nigel Birch, in succession to Lord De L'Isle and Dudley, V.C., on whom has been conferred a viscountcyj and Mr. HaroldWatkinson becomes Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation in succession to Mr. Boyd-Carpenter, who takes over the Ministryof Pensions and National Insurance. Among the junior Ministers, Mr. Christopher Soames becomes Parliamentary Under-Secretaryof State, Air Ministry, and Mr. George Ward, formerly Parlia- mentary Under-Secretary, Air Ministry, moves over to the corre-sponding post in the Admiralty. Mr. Nigel Birch, O.B.E., has been Conservative member forWest Flint since 1950 and Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Defence since 1952. Now forty-nine years of age, he waseducated at Eton and during the war served in the K.R.R.C. and on the General Staff; in 1944 he had attained the rank oflieutenant colonel. He will not come to the Air Ministry as a stranger, for he was Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Air in1951-52. Mr. Harold Watkinson also has previous experience of his newMinistry; he was Parliamentary Secretary for Transport and Civil Aviation in 1951-52, since when he has been Parliamentary Secre-tary to the Ministry of Labour and National Service. He has been Conservative member for Woking since 1950. Born in 1910, Mr. Watkinson was educated at Queen's College,Taunton and King's College, London, and, after being engaged in his family's business from 1929-35, was occupied with technicaland engineering journalism from 1935 to 1939. During the war he served in the R.N.y.R. and at one time was lieutenant com-mander in charge of training at the Anti-Aircraft range at Eastney. In 1948 he was chairman of the Machine Tool Trades Associa-tion's production efficiency panel for Southern England. Mr. Christopher Soames, who is the son-in-law of Sir WinstonChurchill, is 35 years of age and was educated at Eton and Sand- hurst. He had a distinguished war record in the ColdstreamGuards and in 1946-47 was assistant military attache in Paris. He has represented Bedford in Parliament since 1950. BACKGROUND IN THE FOREGROUND: Ranged before the Boeing 707 are the people directly associated with the flight-test and development programme. In front, left to right, are the three pilots, J. R. Gannett, A. M. Johnston and R. L. Loesch. On the left is the ground crew, at centre the inspectors, in the right foreground the flight-test en- gineers, and behind them the liaison and instrumentation engineers and representatives of other supporting services. The ten girls represent the data reduction group, and the filing cabinets contain much of the information gathered to date. Beyond the 707 are B-52 bombers. The Prime Minister's reply was: —My Dear Bill, Thank you so much for your letter and for your kind- ness and understanding in making the Office of Secretary of State forAir available at this time for a member of the House of Commons. You have given distinguished service to the country in this office. The wholeAir Force at home and abroad have come to know of your devotion to the Service. We shall all have the happiest memories of our work with you in these last years.—Yours sincerely, ANTHONY EDEN. Mr. Birch. Mr. Watkinson. The following correspondence between Lord De L'Isle and Dudley and Sir Anthony Eden was published concurrently with the announcement of the new appointments: —My Dear Prime Minister, You have known for some time that should you wish to reconstruct the Government I was very ready to resign theoffice which it has been my privilege to hold for the past four years. You have told me that owing to the greatly increased importance ofthe Air you now wish the Secretary of State for Air to sit in the House of Commons. The time has therefore arrived for me to place my resignation in yourhands. . . . May I add my best wishes for the continued success of the Governmentyou lead and of the causes which it represents.—Yours sincerely, DE L'ISLE AND DUDLEY. N.P.L. Acting Director Appointed 'THE resignation of Sir Edward C. Bullard, Sc.D., F.R.S., from-•• the Directorship of the National Physical Laboratory takes effect tomorrow, December 31st. The Department of Scientificand Industrial Research states that the appointment of a succes- sor to Sir Edward will be announced in due course. In themeantime, and pending the taking up of office by a new Director, the Lord President of the Council has appointed Dr. R. L.Smith-Rose, C.B.E., D.Sc, M.I.E.E., Director of Radio Research in the D.S.I.R., to be Acting Director, with effect fromJanuary 1st. For Project Vanguard OPERATIONS manager of Project Vanguard—developmentof the world's first man-made earth satellite—will be N. Elliott Felt, Jr. Announcing this, the Glenn L. MartinCompany state that Mr. Felt will direct planning, design and manufacture of the three-stage rocket which will carry thesatellite into space. He served for 2| years as an infantryman during the late war and is well known in the field of rocketry.His was the responsibility for designing the guidance system of the Martin Viking, which set the world's altitude record of 158miles for single-stage vehicles. Vanguard is to be launched some time during the InternationalGeophysical Year—actually the 18-month period from July 1st, 1957, to December 31st, 1958. The satellite will be carried bythe Martin-built rocket and will then be, as the manufacturers say, "blasted into its orbit," where it will circle the earth at some18,000 miles an hour. Meanwhile it will record and transmit scientific data.
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