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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0068.PDF
68 FLIGHT FROM ALL QUARTERS . . . Coventry Corporation). The second British Lockheed Inter- national Aerobatic Trophy contest will take place at Baginton on July 20th and 21st. No details have yet been given concerning the number or the classification of the races. Commemorating Breguet's Work A HANDSOME trophy in commemoration of the French•**• aviation pioneer Louis Breguet, who died last May, and much of whose work was devoted to rotating-wing flight, hasbeen presented to the Royal Aero Club bySir Richard Fairey, chairman and manag-ing director of the Fairey Aviation Co.,Ltd. It is to be awarded annually "formeritorious achieve- ment in the develop-ment of any form of aircraft that substan-tially achieves the advantages offered byrotating-wing aircraft" —in other words, itmay be assumed, any type of machine cap-able of good perform- ance independent offorward speed. The trophy is to beawarded to a company, or individuals or groupof individuals (such as inventors, techniciansor aircrews) provided that the recipient iseither a subject or a registered organizationof the British Com- monwealth or ofFrance or her posses- sions. The Aero Clubde France will be asked to submit tothe Royal Aero Club by January 31st eachyear its recommenda- tions as to possibleFrench recipients. Technical require-ments stipulate that the aircraft concerned must be a heavier-than-air machine capable of taking off in still air ata speed not exceeding 30 km/hr (18.64 m.p.h.) at full normal load, maintaining sustained flight, and landing at a speed notexceeding 30 km/hr in still air. The award will be open to F.A.I, classes C (aeroplanes), E (rotorcraft) and H. Details of the newcategory H are not yet available, but they are expected to take account of V.T.O. aircraft. The trophy, illustrated here, is a silver statuette of Daedalusand Icarus, the two figures famed in Greek mythology for their attempt to fly with wings made of feathers and wax. The trophyis not a new one, yet its previous history is completely unknown. It was made by Mappin and Webb before the First World Warbut the details of its history and original purpose were destroyed, with other records, by enemy action in 1940-41. The Hawker Siddeley Year TN his speech to shareholders at the annual general meeting ofx Hawker Siddeley Group, Ltd., in London on January 11th, Sir Thomas Sopwith (chairman) said that the year ended July31st, 1955, had been another successful one and that the profits of the group, after deducting reserve for increased replacementcost of fixed assets but before taxation, had amounted to £11.675,537 as compared with £6,976,354 in the previous year. "There are those who will disapprove of the apparently largeprofits disclosed by these accounts," said Sir Thomas. "To them I would say this: Our profits are a reflection of excellent workman-ship and efficient management, and they represent only a moderate return on the greatly increased turnover of our operating com-panies in their varied activities at home and abroad. "If this country is to overcome difficult economic conditions inthe future, industry must continue to make profits and to plough back the major part of them in order to finance development andresearch." This has always been the policy of the directors, Sir Richard fairey's trophy. continued Sir Thomas, and this year, despite the heavy burden of taxation, which was estimated at £7,146,794, they had been; able to leave £4,360,989 of the year's profits in the subsidiary " companies, where it would be used "to finance expenditure on new assets and in the development and scientific research so vital ,s to our future." :Z The chairman went on to say that consent had been receivedfrom the Treasury to capitalize £11,644,700 of the group's reserves. An extraordinary general meeting would be held onJanuary 25th at which resolutions would be presented to increase the authorized Ordinary share capital by £12m and to applycapitalized reserves in paying up in full unissued Ordinary shares of £1 each, to be allotted in the proportion of one new share foreach Ordinary share held. The chairman's review of the year's activities did not, so faras the aviation side was concerned, disclose any new development not already reported, though it is worthy of note that, in speak-ing of the progress of the Canadian companies, he remarked that Avro Aircraft was engaged in research and development of"a revolutionary new aircraft design conception." This suggests that work has been resumed on the so-called "flying saucer" pro-ject, which was at one time reported to have been either postponed or abandoned. Of Hunter progress, Sir Thomas Sopwith said that largenumbers were now in service with the R.A.F., first deliveries to Sweden had started, deliveries to Denmark would soon begin,and a contract had been signed with the Peruvian Government for deliveries to begin this spring. Components had also beensupplied to Holland and Belgium, where the aircraft was being built under licence. At the end of Sir Thomas's speech a shareholder asked if therewas "anything cooking" in regard to a civil aircraft—it was said two years ago, he believed, that the company were working on acivil version of the Vulcan. Sir Thomas replied: "That is one of the questions which I am sure you will realize is constantly underreview by the Board. I would not say it has been dropped. It certainly has not been dropped. I hope in time we shall findour way into the civil market." The chairman's statement was issued to shareholders inadvance of the meeting, in the form of a most handsomely illus- trated 32 page brochure in full colour, illustrating every facetof the group's activities. Though already having a fair idea of its activities outside aviation, we were surprised at the scale on whichsome of the companies are operating—particularly the vast numbers and size of the Canadian Car and Foundry Company'srolling stock and road transport products; and, again, the scale on which Hawksley S.M.D. are now building "traditional housesby new constructional methods." From the same company, too, come such products as cranes and television transmitter masts. Porous Solution AIRCRAFT which "perspire" may prove to be the answer to**• heating problems at supersonic speed, according to Mr. C. E. Pappas, chief of aerodynamics and thermodynamics at theRepublic Aviation Corporation. Mr. Pappas said in New York recently that he believed that within two years aircraft could beflying at a Mach number of 4 at 50,000ft, under which conditions the airframe surfaces would heat to 900 deg F. in not much morethan a minute's flying time. For such speeds, he said, new metals would be used—and so might "transpiration." For example, watercould be forced out through pores in the skin, being emitted as steam and carrying off a good deal of the heat. Mr. Pappas addedthat aircraft flying at 100,000ft at a Mach number of 10 could become a reality in five years if appropriate structural materialsand powerplants were developed. Temperatures at such speeds would be about 3,000 deg F, and flight could last no longer thanfive minutes because of fuel and temperature limitations. Ceylon Survey Progress THE Lockheed Hudson which the Photographic Survey Cor-x poration of Toronto will use in the forthcoming aerial photographic survey of Ceylon has left Oshawa Airport for thatcountry. The Hudson will be employed in photographing the whole of the island (over 25,000 ^sq miles), as a basis for theintegrated air/ground resources survey described in Flight of November 11th, 1955. The project is being carried out undercontract to the Canadian Government as part of the Colombo Plan. The aircraft, piloted by William MacLarren, is flying toColombo via Newfoundland, the Azores, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Malta, Lebanon, Iraq, Oman, Pakistan and India. Othercrew-members are R. Nymark, navigator; L. Hollinger, flight engineer; and N. R. Hislop, camera operator. Already in Ceylon,where advance preparations for the coming survey have been made, are Mr. J. M. Henderson, project manager (previouslyproject manager of the P.S.C. survey in Pakistan), and Mr. H. Woodward, chief photographer.
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