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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0430.PDF
430 FLIGHT, 13 April 1956 AIRCRAFT REPAIR FROM A NEW ANGLE THE use of Dexion angle material in aircraft factories is afamiliar enough sight, but its emergency employment as anintegral part of an airframe structure is a distinct novelty. The aircraft in question was a Burma Airways DC-3, XY-ACT, whichwas severely damaged by an explosion when touching down at Pakokku, an airfield 40 miles north of Rangoon; the damage waslater found to have been caused by a land mine laid under the grass strip (and, evidence suggested, exploded by remote controlat the crucial moment). The detonation severely damaged the under-side of the fuselage—as will be seen in the first of the three photographs below— and the blast effect was so great that both wing-tips were reducedto scrap metal, while even the tip of the tail fin was damaged. Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company were asked to surveythe damage and one of their engineers was flown to Burma to recommend a method of salvage. In view of the surface-transportdifficulties, it was decided that the aircraft should be temporarily repaired so that it could be flown to its base at Rangoon andthen on to the H.A.E.C. base at Hong Kong for final repair. Using another DC-3 as a mock-up, the company proceeded to design and stress a repair structure made up of Dexion steel angle225/80. After assembly and marking and numbering, the struc- ture was dismantled for flying to Pakokku. For the general fuselage repair and for the centre section trailing-edge structure a total of 2,200ft of Dexion was used. In order to meet official requirements, aircraft-type AN3 and AN7 boltswere used for close-tolerance fits (their number totalled 2,400). The centre-section repair made use of wooden formers bolted tothe Dexion, the whole afterwards being fabric-covered. H.A.E.C. despatched a repair team to Pakokku to install thescheme and to prepare the aircraft for its return flight. The work was completed and the aircraft test-flown by Capt. Leong ofUnion of Burma Airways, a veteran pilot of China National Avia- tion Corporation. The DC-3 was flown without flaps and requiredno trim for straight and level flight. After a check inspection of the repair it was flown to the Burma Airways base at Rangoon intransit to Hong Kong. The aircraft was subsequently flown by Capt. Leong inextremely rough air conditions to H.A.E.C. at Hong Kong, being periodically inspected in flight by the crew. INDUSTRY NEWS IN BRIEF F. G. Miles, Ltd., announce the formation of Miles Structural Plastics, Ltd., with a nominal capital of £10,000. The new com- pany has taken over all activities of the Plastics Division of F. G. Miles, Ltd., as from April 3rd. Miles activities in the plastics field are particularly identified, so far as aircraft are concerned, with the moulding of Durestos resin-bonded asbestos. On March 19th ground-breaking ceremonies were held in Mel- bourne for the new plant of Black and Decker, Australasia, Ltd., which, when completed by March next year, will manufacture Black and Decker portable electric tools for sale in Australia and New Zealand. Mr. C. H. T. Johnson, commercial director of Decca Radar,Ltd., has been elected chairman of the Radio Communication and Electronic Engineering Association for the present year, in suc-cession to Mr. S. J. Preston, a director of E.M.I. Electronics, Ltd., who becomes vice-chairman. During his war service with theR.A.F. Mr. Johnson was Technical Officer at H.Q. 60 Group. Douglas Equipment, Ltd., of Cheltenham, announce the resig- nation of Air Marshal Sir Alick C. Stevens from their Board. The heading to a recent news item on the appointment of Mr. V. C. Varcoe as aviation sales manager, Shell-Mex and B.P., Ltd., in succession to Mr. J. C. C. Taylor, implied that he had only recently joined the firm; as the paragraph itself made clear, however, he has been with the company since 1925. New contracts for 187 aircraft-towing tractors, ordered by the Ministry of Supply on behalf of the Royal Air Force, brings the value of such orders currently in hand at the David Brown Indus- trial Tractor Division to approximately £250,000. In the last five years, it is stated, over 750 David Brown aircraft-towing tractors have been supplied to the R.A.F. During the same period over 150 similar machines have been delivered to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy, and to the Air Forces of Pakistan, Denmark, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The view on the left shows XY-ACT (see top of page) after the explosion. The lower picture, left, illustrates how the centre-section repair was made with Dexion angle. The third view shows the stiffening in the interior of the fuselage. The structure was made slightly asymmetrical in order to allow space for aircrew to crawl through and inspect the assembly in flight. When the aircraft was permanently repaired, the Dexion angle was used by H.A.E.C. to make maintenance stagings for their works.
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