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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0180.PDF
178 FLIGHT A recent photograph of a pre-production D.H.I 10 all-weather naval intercepter, referred to in a news-item (opposite page). FROM ALL QUARTERS Lord TrenchardW E learn with deep regret, as we go to press, of the death ofMarshal of the Royal Air Force Viscount Trenchard. He was 83 years of age, and had been suffering deteriorating healthfor the last two years. Often referred to in recent times as "the father of the Royal Air Force", Lord Trenchard learned to flyat the Sopwith school at Brooklands in 1912, took his certificate, and joined the Flying Corps, to become an instructor at theCentral Flying School, Upavon, within two months. We intend to publish a full appreciation in our next issue. Rolls-Royce Nuclear Project IT has been known for some time past that Rolls-Royce, Ltd.,have been studying the possibilities of nuclear energy for air- craft propulsion; this work has, in fact, been in progress forthe past 18 months. Last week the company disclosed some details. Nearing completion at Derby (in the grounds of a large privatehouse) is a nuclear engineering laboratory, next to which is a department to accommodate a research and development team.This team, says the company, has been built up from the Aero Engine Division Advanced Planning Group associated withDr. A. A. Griffith, F.R.S., and has been supplemented with special- ists from outside, in particular Dr. S. G. Bauer and Mr. C. D.Boadle from Harwell. The announcement states that the company are applying theirengineering experience to the development of light-weight re- actors which ultimately can be incorporated in engines suitablefor air and surface transport. The statement adds: "The first experimental work on high-temperature liquid metals began lastJuly in temporary test facilities ... at Derby and already valuable results have been obtained". The reference to liquid metals suggests that the technique beingstudied is that of conveying energy from the nuclear generator by means of molten metal (sodium is the most likely choice)passed through a closed circuit via a heat-exchanger, which trans- fers the heat to the propulsion unit, probably a turbine. In the House ON February 7th, in the House of Commons, A.Cdre. Harvey(Macclesfield, C.) said that he no longer thought that the Air Ministry was the right department to order air equipment, becausethere were so many committees which had to be co-ordinated in order "to bring in all the technical information." Something hadto be done to bring about a more flexible control in co-ordinating the requirements of the three Services. The Minister of Supply, Mr. Reginald Maudling, agreed withA.Cdre. Harvey that our latest bombers should not be referred to as "medium bombers" because their height, speed and bomb loadover the target area was as good as anything in the world. Mr. Maudling did not agree that there had been too much Treasury "FLIGHT" As the continuance of the dispute in the printing trade necessitates amendments to printing schedules, this issue is reduced in size and copies may be late in reaching readers. To all who are inconvenienced in any way we offer our sincere regrets in circumstances beyond our control. control in the past, but there was much to be said for the argumentthat when dealing with an aircraft an annual system of control had considerable disadvantages. The American system of what wascalled "fund financing" had many advantages. There would be a substantial underspending in the current year,said Mr. Maudling, for several reasons. One was the cancellation of die major part of the Swift programme and anodier the replacingof the Javelin programme. Concerning the system of Treasury accounting, Mr. Maudlingsaid that the Air Ministry did not pay anything for an aircraft until it was finally delivered and complete and technical clearance hadbeen given. So one often found, for instance, that an aircraft was 95 per cent complete, but that some piece still had to come fromthe manufacturers of the black boxes, or the magic boxes, to be put into the aircraft. Thus, 95 per cent of production expendituredid not appear in the Air Ministry's spending that year; so far as that was concerned, die spending appeared to be nil.Mr. Maudling added: "Amid all the welter of exaggeration that always goes on when people discuss in the Press or elsewhere theaircraft industry, amid the welter of excessive blame or excessive praise, there are certain hard facts which we ought to get clear. Isuggest the facts are these. First, in production, our aircraft industry does a first-rate job. If we have an aircraft technicallydeveloped and cleared, and we say to a firm, 'We want a hundred of these aeroplanes within a certain time,' the firm will take a priceand a date and work to them efficiently. I do not think that we have aiiy complaint on the production side. The difficulties alwaysarise in the development phase, between the gleam in the designer's eye and the turning of the idea into a finished piece of hardwarewhich can be put on the production line. That always absorbs time. My own impression, after visiting the United States, is thatthe development period in this country is not very different from what it is there, N.P.L. Director Appointed TTHE new Director of the National Physical Laboratory is toA be Professor G. B. B. M. Sutherland, Sc.D., F.R.S., who is at present a professor of physics, and director of the BiophysicsResearch Centre, at the Uni- versity of Michigan. It isexpected that he will take up his appointment next September.Prof. Sutherland succeeds Sir Edward Bullard, Sc.D., F.R.S.,who retired on December 31st, 1955, and whose duties are atpresent being performed by Dr. R. L. Smith-Rose, C.B.E., D.Sc,M.I.E.E., as acting director. During the early part of thewar, Prof. Sutherland was assistant to the Director ofAeronautical Research at the Ministry of Supply. In 1941 hewas made head of a Cambridge group carrying out research forM.o.S., M.A.P., and the Admiralty; this work, on thestructure of hydrocarbons, was concerned with the development of improved aviation fuels. In 1947 Prof. Sutherland becameReader in Spectroscopy at Cambridge and in 1949 went to America to take up his post at the University of Michigan. Prof.Sutherland was educated at Morgan Academy, Dundee, and St. Andrew's University. From 1935-49 he was a Fellow andLecturer at Pembroke College, Cambridge. Prof. Sutherland.
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