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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0026.PDF
26 THE INDUSTRY . . . into flames, they were a mere 300 yards away. The flames were extinguished with foam and CO2, the pilot extricated without injury, and the aircraft saved. The tender, equipped with a Redifon GR.261 radio-telephone, was manufactured by Sun Engineering (Richmond), Ltd., of Kingston-on-Thames. * * * Recently published British Standards include the following (obtainable at the prices shown from the B.S.I. Sales Depart- ment, 2 Park Street, London, W.I): B.S. SP 65, aluminium alloy taper pins for aeronautical purposes (Is); B.S. SP 66 and 67, FLIGHT, 6 January 1956 cable thimbles for aircraft (Is); B.S. G.151, tachometer generators (synchronous type) for aircraft (3s); B.S. A.61 and A. 169-172, five specifications relating to aircraft bolts manufactured from aluminium alloy to B.S. L.65 (A.61, 2s 6d; others, Is); B.S. 2S99, 80-ton 2i per cent nickel-chromium-molybdenum steel for air- craft (2s). # ^ ^ Vickers-Armstrongs, Ltd., have initiated a special course foraircraft woodworkers—believed to be the only one of its kind in Britain—at The College, Swindon. Mr. W. Gillespie, thePrincipal, states that the course may be submitted to the City and Guilds of London Institute for recognition for examination purposes. .;:.:..,-:-. „.- CORRESPONDENCE The Editor of "Flight" does not hold himself responsible for the views expressed by correspondents in these columns; the names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters. High-altitude OrnithologyI WAS interested in the letter from Maurice Austin [Corres- pondence, December 9th], and possibly the following may be of interest to him. Recently I have had the opportunity of flying Meteors aroundsome of the higher peaks of the Andes. For reasons of safety, range, etc., these flights were normally carried out at 25,000ft plus. On at least two occasions what must have been condors (judgingby their size) were encountered at approximately 27,000ft. They appeared to be wheeling over the high valleys which had a breakin the cloud above them. The drop in altitude from the top of a peak to the floor of a valley may sometimes be in the regionof 20,000ft to 9,000ft in a few miles, so I came to the conclusion that they were over their feeding ground and not "in transit"across the mountains. Quite often one encounters flocks of the local small vulturesaround 20,000ft. This is not surprising, since the Airport at La Paz in Bolivia is some 13,000ft high, and the birds are usuallyprotected as scavengers. Even condors seem to get lost occasionally. There is one ina cage at an airstrip in Brazil some 800 miles from the Andes. It was picked up in a state of exhaustion. It may have beencaught in one of the high upper winds which are encountered at times. Stroud, Glos. 3-':-:" ANDREW MCDOWALL. A Different Observer Corps ? UR correspondent Mr. Simmons rightly takes up thecudgels on behalf of the "spotting" abilities of the Royal Observer Corps. I think, though, that the American gentleman who defendedthe inclusion of a B-17 shot in The Dam Busters was referring to the Ground Observer Corps (not the R.O.C.) whose problemsand approach are different from those of their British counterparts. Oxford. D. V. Taking a Bow T AM wondering if it has ever been suggested by any other•*• readers of Flight, previous to this letter, that all record- breaking aircraft should be allowed a "lap of honour," as itwere, over and around the capital immediately after the achieve- ment. Surely this could be arranged with the Powers that Be and atime and day allotted to this special flight. It would give great satisfaction to many to see the particular aircraft and no doubtimpress a great many more who, at the moment, "couldn't care less." Ilford, Essex. A. E. SMITH. When Is A Jet Not A Jet? f\N November 29th B.O.A.C. issued a notice to the Pressv-' headed "Jets in West Atlantic: B.W.I.A. introduces Vis- counts in Caribbean." Surely it is grossly misleading to saythey are operating jets when they are using turboprops. Is this a prelude to telling the world that B.O.A.C. are again operatinga jet service when the Britannias come into use? When I raised this point with B.O.A.C. I was told: "TheViscount is a jet type and is now very commonly so called. The use of the word 'jet* is much more readily understood, in ourview, than the term •turboprop' . . . Not one person in a hun- dred among the general, uninitiated, public has the faintest ideawhat 'turboprop' means." But two wrongs don't make one right. If the public are told the Viscounts and Britannias are jets, and they see airscrews, they will at least know they are not jets and will feel they have been misled. I believe that the knowledgability of the travelling public is very much underestimated. In any case, B.O.A.C. should help to spread knowledge—not pander to the lack of it. London, S.W.3. GEOFFREY DORMAN. Coming to Terms WE are all, in this nuclear age, becoming accustomed to theidea that the chemical formulae which we learned at school some thirty years ago were only partially true, but at any rate theywere not wrong. It is therefore with something of a shock that I read the third paragraph of the left-hand column on page 270of your issue of August 19th, 1955, under the heading "Man in Space," which seems to indicate that the cardinal principles ofstatistics and dynamics taught in my day were hopelessly off the beam. Apparently a force is now to be measured in feet per secondper second and then equated "in air density terms" (whatever that may mean) to a velocity in miles per hour, and this by somemiracle causes the weight of an American Air Force lieutenant- colonel suddenly to become two tons. Would it not have been just as simple and very much truer tosay that the lieutenant-colonel had withstood a deceleration of so much, which is equivalent to the deceleration which would bebrought about by his unprotected body moving at a speed of 1,800 m.p.h. through an air density normally to be found at40,000ft? Tokyo, Japan. R. C. K.[It would.—Ed.] ."....:. FORTHCOMING EVENTS Jan. 6. Helicopter Association: "Economic Production of Heli- copters—Future Possibilities," by L. J. Harper. Jan. TO. R.Ae.S.: Section Lecture: "Some Modern Structural Prob- lems," by Prof. W. S. Hemp, M.A., F.R.Ae.S. Jan. 12. R.Ae.S.: Presidential Address by N. E. Rowe, C.B.E., B.Sc, F.C.G.I., F.I.A.S., F.R.Ae.S Jan. 12-13. British Welding Research Association: London Meeting on Increasing Productivity by Welding. Jan. 14. British Interplanetary Society: "Space Ship Instrumenta- tion," by R. A. Woldron, B.A., Grad. Inst.P. Jan. 14. Women's Engineering Society: New Year Luncheon. Jan. 17. R.Ae.S.: Section Lecture: "Crack Detection in Aircraft Structures," by Dr. W. Deck, Federal Aircraft Factory, Switzerland. Jan. 20. Institute of Navigation: Some Meteorological Aspects of High-Level Navigation—(1) "Jet Streams in Flight," by Capt. B. C. Frost (B.O.A.C.); (2) "Forecasting Jet Streams," by J. K. Bannon and T. H. Kirk (Meteorological Office). Jon. 21. Aircraft Recognition Society: Ninth All-England Recognition Contest. Feb. 10. Helicopter Association: "Helicopter Control Systems," by J. S. Shapiro, Dip.Ing., A.F.R.Ae.S. Feb. 11. British Interplanetary Society: Birmingham Branch: "Aero- dynamic Considerations of an Orbital Rocket," by W. F. Hilton, Ph.D. Feb. 13. Institute of Transport: Brancker Memorial Lecture by R. S. Damon, President, Trans-World Airlines. R.Ae.S. Branch Fixtures to January 26th: Jan. 9, Glasgow, "Helicopters," by R. Hafner. Jan. 10, Boscombe Down, Fatigue—the Metallic Deathwatch Beetle," by D. C. Smith; Bristol, Aerodynamics and Associated Problems," by R. F. Creasey. Jon. 11 Brough, "Passengers and Freight Handling by Transport Com- mand, by W/C. P. J. George; Chester, "Supersonic Flight," by r» i . "»"•, ^7 *"• t. J. rnuun. jgn. LH, ansioi, AeroeiasricProblems in Connection with High-Speed Flight," by E. G. Broadbent; 5?"?5t',,"The Turbulent Atmosphere," by E. Hyde. Jan. 26, Isle ofWight, "Interplanetary Flight," by A. V. Cleaver
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