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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0534.PDF
534 FLIGHT, 4 May 1956 THE A.R.A. TUNNEL A Co-operative Research Facility for the British Industry: Inauguration Today THE transonic wind tunnel of the Aircraft Research Association atBedford is due to be officially opened by His Royal Highness the Duke o( Edinburgh, at noon today, May 4th. Editorial comment on thissignificant occasion is given in a leading article in this issue; and on this and the following five pages the development history, designand construction of the installation are described. FOR a considerable number of years it has been generallyacknowledged that the British aircraft industry has beenhandicapped by a lack of really capable test equipment of the type necessary for the development of high-speed aircraft. Inparticular, a serious shortage has existed of transonic and super- sonic tunnels large enough to accommodate a reasonable size ofmodel. Very substantial expenditure has now resulted in the commis-sioning of excellent high-speed tunnels at the R.A.E., both at Farnborough (the modification of an existing tunnel) and at Bed-ford. Nevertheless, these tunnels, being Government property, can never fully serve the requirements of the industry for ad hocdevelopments. Realizing this, some companies have constructed their own tunnels, generally using the induction-type layout withturbojet power in order to effect substantial economies in capital cost. It is safe to say that no single British aircraft companywould have been willing to spend the seven-figure sum necessary for the construction and equipment of a large, high-speed tunnelcapable of continuous operation. During the early part of the present decade, the idea of forming a co-operative group of firmswho would pool their resources in a single establishment for the mutual benefit of all was discussed at length. Formal talks werethen held under the sponsorship of the Society of British Air- craft Constructors, whose technical committee acted as a generalsupervisory body at this stage. On February 13th, 1952, a meeting was held in the old S.B.A.C.office at Savile Row, London, at which the Aircraft Research Association was formed as a company limited by guarantee on anon-profit-making basis, and approved by the Department of Scientific Research as a research organization. A small Londonoffice was obtained and Mr. R. Hills, B.A., A.F.R.Ae.S., was appointed chief executive. The governing body of the A.R.A. was established as a com-mittee consisting of one director from each of the aircraft com- panies interested in the tunnel. Originally these comprised allthe major manufacturers apart from de Havilland, English Elec- tric and Short and Harland, but Fairey later withdrew (aftersignificantly assisting in the tunnel design) to leave the 14 named in the accompanying list, which includes two of the chief British aero-engine manufacturers. These companies each contributedtowards the capital cost of the tunnel, and the use of the tunnel will be made available to each firm in the proportion in which theypaid for it. Running expenses will be paid by the member firms in proportion to their own occupation of the facility, the rate perhour being so chosen as to cover all overheads exactly. At present no particular difficulty is foreseen in the operation ofthe venture. Should one manufacturer tend to monopolize the tunnel, it may be necessary to follow the practice established atthe Southern California Co-operative Tunnel at Pasadena, in which the proportion of each year's time remaining is allocatedinversely according to the amount each company has already had. Already the A.R.A. tunnel is booked up at least a year ahead and,should any company not be in a position to make use of time due to it, the facility will automatically become available to the nextfirm in the queue. It is expected that the same rate-per-hour will be charged to each user, although an increased rate may becharged to companies who are not A.R.A. members. Model-making for high-speed tunnels is an exceedingly largeand complicated job requiring the utmost precision; a complex high-tensile-steel model may easily cost £10,000 and take ayear to manufacture. Firms intending to use the tunnel will bring their own models, which will be prepared in closed bays in orderto preserve the secrecy of each new project. The operation of the tunnel and reduction of results will, in normal circumstances, bedone entirely by A.R.A. staff, who should become widely experi- enced and acquire considerable value as consultants. They willbe bound on oath to keep all results strictly confidential between the A.R.A. and the company concerned. Should there be any spare time the tunnel may be used formore general tests of interest to several A.R.A. firms. As already stated, however, the new tunnel is not intended for basic researchbut will be employed almost entirely on ad hoc testing of indi- vidual members' projects. The location of the tunnel site was one of the first essentialsto be decided. A suitable supply of electric power was needed together with a supply of water for cooling, and it was finallydecided that the Bedford area combined many advantages.- A site close to the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Bedford, in par-ticular, would be extremely convenient. Having selected the general area, finding a specific site presented further problems.Several had to be abandoned for reasons such as town planning requirements and agricultural needs, and many discussions tookplace with the various local authorities. Concurrently with the search for a suitable site the design ofthe tunnel was being formulated. It was decided that the tunnel Scale is given to this •photograph, taken during the installa- tion of the two-stage fan, by the engineers supervising the posi- tioning of the unit.
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