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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0001.PDF
FIRST AERONAUTICAL WEEKLY IN THE WORLD FOUNDED 1909 ^ and AIRCRAFT ENGINEER No 2450 Vo! 69 FRIDAY 6 JANUARY 1956 Editor MAURICE A. SMITH D.F.C. and BAR Associate Editor V H. F. KING M.BE. Technical Editor h W. T. GUNSTON Production Editor ROY CASEY Iliffe and Sons Ltd Dorset House Stamford Street London, S.E.I Telephone • Waterloo 3333 (60 lines) BRANCH OFFICES Coventry 8-10 Corporation Street Telephone • Coventry 5210 Birmingham 2 King Edward House, New Street Telephone • Midland 7191 (7 lines) Manchester 3 ... 260 Deansgate Telephone • Blackfriars 4412 (3 lines)Deansgate 3595 (2 lines) Glasgow C.2 26B Renfield Street Telephone • Central 1265 (2 lines) Toronto 2, Ontario 74 College Street Telephone • Walnut 4-5361 New York 6, N.Y. Ill Broadway I Telephone • Digby 9-1197 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Home and Overseas • Twelve Months, 14 10s. US.A. and Canada, $14.00 in th is issue 4 Britannias Join B.O.A.C. 5 Fairchild's S.T.O.L. 7 Training the Naval Air Observer 10 Ejection Research 11 Folland Ejector Seat 12 The Comet 3's Tour 14 A Spread of Giants 16 Comet in the Ascendant 17 Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire 23 The Airport and the State 24 Easy-Going Airline 30 The New Year Honours Commercial ConsiderationsE VENTS of the past few days have further modified—in most cases according to expectations—the ever-changing civil-aviation scene, and if ever there was a need for the makers of Britain's airliners to put in a full quota of overtime, it is surely now. Happily, there is little doubt that this is being done at all levels. Exceptional activity is reported from Bristol, Hatfield and Weybridge. The news in general has not been bad, nor even discouraging, but clearly the slice of turbine-airliner sales which is coming to this country will not be as large as had been hoped. Orders for America's DC-8 and 707 have been quite phenomenal and without precedent in the sums of money involved. The Viscount continues to make the pace in its own field and at this early stage of its career the Vanguard seems full of promise. Increasing support for the Britannia will, it is thought, depend to a great extent on its early showing on the air routes, and the delivery of B.O.A.C.'s first two aircraft last week was a tonic indeed. The turboprop Britannia has no direct competitor and, with its demonstrated performance and a share of luck against the contingencies which can so affect the future of any new aircraft, it will be capable of sweeping its particular board by the early 1960s. The first flight of the DC-7C on December 20th was new evidence of the drive which the great Douglas company can put behind a project. There were those in this country who had confidently asserted that this contender could not possibly take the air for months to come. The Pure-Jet Picture What of the Comet? Its recently completed world circuit was a resounding success and its performance came as a revelation to many upon whom the printed figures had made only a partial impression. Its non-stop flight from Montreal to London in just over 6 hr—the very first direct crossing by a jet air- liner—was, perhaps, the most remarkable demonstration of its performance potential, though even this was not strictly indicative of the Mark 4's capabilities in airline service. The eagerness of all to fly in the Comet wherever she landed around the world shows that no prejudice remains against jet airliners generally, and in particular this one. It has not passed unnoticed, moreover, that the morning after its return from a strenuous world flight this prototype machine was again airborne over England, giving further demonstrations. The Comet, our only pure-jet airliner since the Vickers 1000 was abandoned, continues to be of immense national importance, and until—years hence—a new design has been realized it must alone uphold Britain's jet prestige. With the exception of regular and direct Atlantic crossings in both directions, B.O.A.C.'s Comet 4s will be able to handle any arterial routes in the world. This is more than can be said even of the DC-8 or 707—both outstanding machines but, being larger and of longer range, in a class of their own. Evidently time is once again the all-important factor affecting Comet sales. The technical merit of the machine and the enormous background of knowledge and experience (to be further expanded as R.A.F. Transport Command operate their modified Comet 2s) will not sell it if it is not available at the right time. Although no break-even figure has been mentioned, it is appreciated that the makers must soon be able to see a reasonable number of orders in. addition to those already received from B.O.A.C. if they are to proceed with plans for large-scale production. Here again, service—an early return to service—may prove the best sales stimulant. There is no easy or economical way to speed up development and production, but if the survival of a particular design is at stake, then a way will have to be found. Much as the still-birth of the Vickers 1000 is to be regretted from many points of view, when the difficult decision was taken a few weeks back the aircraft had, on a time basis, lost much of its competitive appeal.
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