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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0122.PDF
122 FLIGHT THE INDUSTRY ... been elected to the Board of the Cressall Manufacturing Co., Ltd. The electrical division of the Expanded Metal Company wasformed before the last war, when the possibilities of using "expanded metal" as a rapid dissipater of heat were first appre-ciated. During the war very large numbers of resistors were made for the Admiralty and the Ministry of Supply, and it wasfound that, in addition to its rapid heating and cooling charac- teristics, expanded metal also had the ability to stand up well toshocks. The company's "Expamet" resistors and heaters are used ina wide variety of development and other processes, among which, it is stated, are the testing of engines for the Bristol Britannia andother aircraft, and in high-pressure heater equipment for aero- nautical research. The products of the Cressall ManufacturingCo., Ltd., also well known, are designed to cover a lower current range. Rapide and Tiger Moth Spares ' 11HE manufacturers have announced that changes are to be-»• made in the methods of supplying spares for the D.H. Dragon Rapide and Tiger Moth, both of which have now beenout of production for some ten years. Routine production of spares is to be discontinued, but if there is a constant demandfor any particular part in quantity its manufacture may possibly be continued. In some cases manufacturing drawings will beavailable in lieu of the components. The de Havilland Aircraft Co., Ltd., suggests that all operators of these aircraft shouldreview their spares requirements on a life provision basis and place their orders accordingly. . - : - Dynamic Balancing IN the past, some dynamic-balancing machines have tended tobe sensitive to variation in frequency and voltage of the supply current. In a new product designed by Mr. J. B. Clifton andmanufactured by Small Electric Motors, Ltd., of Beckenham, Kent, good performance and reliability are claimed to have been achievedtogether with improvements which make the behaviour indepen- dent of supply variations. As the accompanying photograph shows, the machine consistsof a framework carrying the rotating component (which can weigh from a few ounces to over 100 lb) and a cabinet housing theelectronic circuitry. The test piece is placed in two half-bearings free to move in the horizontal plane and is belt-driven from asynchronous motor. Transducers sense axial vibration and trans- mit signals to a pair of tuned amplifiers of novel design. Theseemploy no ferrous inductance, the use of capacitors is minimized and tuning to the speed of the test piece is accomplished by variable resistances. The use of high-jain amplifiers and feed-backof a large proportion of all frequencies, except that produced by the out-of-balance, should result in .'ligh selectivity.Normally the S.E.M. machine is so adjusted that a bearing displacement of 0.000025in will produce a steady deflection ofone-tenth full scale on the meter, but the same deflection can be obtained with only one-twenty-fifth as much displacement.These particulars refer to 2,000 r.p.m., but higher sensitivities are obtained at increased speeds. The equipment used in themachine is of a robust nature and careful attention has been paid to accessibility, ease of maintenance and calibration and testing.In the photograph a stroboscopic lamp can be seen illuminating the Work. - . j.-/; •-;:::. . •,•• ... t:-,-, .- ...•• •/.. ~c- ::• ...:', :: - The new Clifton Dynamic Balancer, referred to above. Maintenance Inspections by X-ray ~ A T the invitation of the Carl Drenck X-ray Laboratories, thirty•** representatives of British and Continental aircraft manufac- turers and airlines met in Copenhagen last month to discuss theuse of X-rays for maintenance inspection of aircraft. It was clear from the discussion that very considerable headwayhas been made during recent months. More X-ray sets have been installed and there has been progress in working out andimproving radiographic techniques as well as in selecting areas of the structure to which X-ray inspection can be applied withadvantage. It seems that the lead previously held by America in this field has been much reduced, and it was also apparent fromthe discussion that the technique inspection is now well out of the experimental stage in Europe. Carl Drenck are manufacturers of Fedrex portable X-ray sets.So far six airlines and two aircraft manufacturers are using this equipment, which is supplied in the United Kingdom by Inspec-tion Equipment, of 19 Broad Court, London, W.C.2. IN BRIEF Keelavite Rotary Pumps and Motors, Ltd., of Coventry,announce that their telephone number is now Meriden 441. * * * Thompson Bros. (Bilston), Ltd., announce that, following theretirement of Mr. A. J. Lowe from the London office after 36 years' service as manager, Mr. C. W. Wiles from the Bilston head-quarters has been appointed to the post. * * * Quasi-Arc, Ltd., of Bilston, Staffs, have issued a new editionof their booklet, TC.850, describing their range of A.C. trans- former welding sets. Equipment described includes a new light-weight air-cooled set, two new multi-operator sets and the re- designed Twin-Arc set. The booklet includes a useful section on power factor correction. * * * Following considerable expansion of their activities at homeand overseas, Automotive Products Co., Ltd., and their associated companies, Lockheed Hydraulic Brake Co., Ltd., and Borg andBeck, Co., Ltd., have appointed the following executive directors: Messrs. C. Clench, C. Hayes, A. R. W. Murray, F. Rowarth,P. A. Rippon, J. K. Simpson, H. Unsworth, and D. J. Watkins. They will act as members of an executive management board. * * * International Aeradio announce an order from Vickers-Arm-strongs (Aircraft), Ltd., for the supply of an engineered system for the air traffic control tower at Wisley Airfield. Two single-position I.A.L. A.T.C. desks are to be provided, and the approach control room is to be equipped with two control units for tworadar operators and one unit for the D/F. operator. Six-channel transmitter receiver equipment is being supplied and will beinstalled by I.A.L. * * * Dagenite batteries (Peto and Radford, Ltd.) are being used ontwo current Antarctic expeditions. For the ground starting of the two Sikorsky S-51s operating from the Oluf Sven on theGraham Land expedition, Autair, Ltd., have chosen a trolley carrying two Dagenite 6-HZP21G 12-volt batteries, each of 100a.h. capacity; and special Dagenite lightweight batteries are fitted to the Auster aircraft accompanying the Trans-Antarcticexpeditions. * * * Four new appointments have been announced by the BritishAluminium Co., Ltd. Mr. S. F. Derbyshire will relinquish his post as general production manager on reaching retiring age ©nFebruary 17th, but will continue in a consultative capacity. Messrs. W. B. C. Perrycoste and J. Salter will assume the posts of jointgeneral production managers from that date. Mr. P. T. Ensor has been appointed general manager of the Canadian BritishAluminium Company at Baie Comeau, and Mr. A. R. Wylie has become works manager designate of the Canadian company, afterrelinquishing his post at the Lochaber works.
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