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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0181.PDF
17 February 1956 A. V-M. A. C. H. Sharp f E record with regret the death of A. V-M. A. C. H. SharpC.B.E., D.S.O., A.F.C., director of export sales for the Glenn Martin Aircraft Company. He died in Baltimore on February 7th,after a heart attack, at the age of 51. Educated at King's College' School, Wimbledon, and Selwyn College, Cambridge, "Bobby"Sharp entered the R.A.F. in 1924, serving with Nos. 4 and 26 Army Co-operation Squadrons and No. 23 Fighter Sqn., and asan armaments specialist in India. After graduating from the Staff College in 1937 he joined Bomber Command planning staff andlater commanded No. 18 Sqn. In 1941-42 he was Deputy Director of Organization, Air Ministry, and was then seconded tothe American 8th Air Force as Deputy Chief of Staff. He held this post until early in 1944, when he went to South-East AsiaCommand as A.O.C. Admin., Base Air Forces. In the following spring he was appointed to a similar post with "Tiger" force, thenbeing formed for heavy bomber action against the Japanese. After the war he returned to the Air Ministry, this time as Directorof Accident Prevention; he graduated from the Imperial Defence College in 1948; and before his retirement—in 1953, at his ownrequest—he was Director-General of Organization, Air Ministry. U.S.-British Appointment AN American having an unusually long and close association**• with British aviation has joined the aeronautical products division of Honeywell-Brown, Ltd., of Perivale, Middlesex (whoare British associates of the well- known Minneapolis-HoneywellRegulator Company). He is Mr. Eric Thompson Bradley, who hasbeen Defence Production Officer at the American Embassy inLondon since 1950. He is particularly well known in theBritish industry in connection with the M.D.A.P. programmeand offshore procurement. Mr. Bradley's connections in thiscountry were, however, formed very much earlier—in 1914,when he came to England and enlisted in the Royal Engineers.In 1915 he was commissioned in the R.N.A.S., in which, as a pilotand flight commander, he served with distinction until 1918, whenhe was recalled to join the U.S. Air Service. In the Second World War he was at first attached to the British PurchasingCommission in New York, but early in 1942 was back in uniform as a U.S. Air Force colonel—and also back in London, where heworked in close collaboration with M.A.P. He was appointed O.B.E. in 1945. After the war he was appointed Director of theAviation Division of the U.S. Foreign Liquidation Commission for the Pacific and China areas. Fighters from Christchurch TOURING the latter part of 1951 the Airspeed Company was-L-' finally integrated within the de Havilland Enterprise and the company's organization at Christchurch, Hants, was expandedand fitted for design, pre-production and development on the Mr. Bradley. V 179 Vampire and Venom. Under Mr. W. A. Tamblin, F.R.Ae.S.,A.M.I.N.A., who was appointed chief designer, the Christchurch team have since produced the modern Vampire advanced-flyingand weapons trainer, the Venom N.F.3 night fighter and F.B.4 fighter/bomber and the carrier-based Sea Venom 21 and 22all-weather fighters. All these aircraft are in extensive service and have been boughtby many overseas air forces and navies. The latest Venoms represent an incomparable advance in fighting efficiency over theearlier marks, embodying powered ailerons, a most comprehen- sive search and interception radar installation and many otherrefinements. A heavy load of new project and experimental work has also been undertaken at Christchurch, of which a particularlynotable programme has involved flying a Sea Venom with blown flaps. The boundary layer is controlled by air bled from theGhost engine and expelled at high velocity over the flaps; pre- liminary trials show promise of important advances. By far the most important task facing the organization is thedevelopment of the D.H.I 10 all-weather naval intercepter powered by two advanced Rolls-Royce Avons. The accompany-ing photograph shows a recent Christchurch-built 110, incor- porating many advances over earlier prototypes. Pylons underthe wings are doubtless associated with guided-weapon arma- ment, which is supplemented by a pack of four 30mm guns.The air brakes, under the forward fuselage and jet pipes, are clearly seen, as is the experimental calibration nose-probe. Forty Years On ORIGINALLY formed in 1916, and recently revived, the Sop-with Apprentices Association held their first annual reunion dinner on Thursday of last week, the London Airport Northrestaurant being happily chosen as the venue. The occasion was of a strongly characteristic nature, for all themembers of the Association are men (now mainly in their fifties) who have gone far in their chosen professions. Some are in seniorposts in industry; others have attained high rank in the R.A.F.; some are now in the top management of Hawker Aircraft—which,as everyone knows, grew from the Sopwith Aviation Company at the end of World War I. But, however varied their endeavoursduring the 35-40 years that have elapsed, none of them seemed to have forgotten the experiences and friendships of the Kingston-on-Thames skating rink in which the first Sopwith aircraft of the Kaiser's war were built. Reminiscences of l|-strutters. Pups,Camels, Triplanes, Salamanders and Snipes—and of the men who made and flew them—were fond and numerous. A list of the majority of those present, most of whom wereSopwith apprentices, is, we feel, worthy of quotation! — A.-V.M. L. T. Pankhurst, Director-General of Personnel, Air Minis-try; A. Cdre. C. B. Wincott, manager, guided weapons division, Fairey Aviation; W/C. W. W. Warner, chief engineer, Airwork, Ltd.; Mr.R. W. Sutton, aircraft consultant, a former Hawker director; Mr. Frank Buckell, manager of the G.E.C. aeronautical department; Mr. DonaldHealey, the car manufacturer; Mr. J. D. Stranks, Hawker works director; Mr. J. H. Williams, equipment engineer (road services), London Trans-port; Mr. L. A. Pollard, formerly works manager at Hawkers' Langley factory; Mr. Herbert Parsons, general sales manager, Pirelli, Ltd.; andMr. V. W. Derrington, motor equipment designer and manufacturer, who is rion. secretary of the Apprentices' Association and who organized thereunion. A.V-M. Pankhurst was in the chair; Mr. Neville Spriggs (Hawker Aircraft managing director) and Mr. G. Anderson (export salesand publicity manager) acted as hosts; S/L. "Joe" Taylor, Shell aviation sales manager, was present to represent the Avro 504 Club; and therewas one youthful guest—R. C. Cannon, the Hawker apprentice who won last year's shield given by the Association. MARSUPIAL MOMENT: A particu- larly revealing view of the loading operation of a Republic RF-84F on to a Convair RB-36. The scene was photo- graphed at Fairchild A.F.B., Washington.
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