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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0602.PDF
602 PLIGHT FROM ALL QUARTERS T.C.A. Choose the Conway A FTER extensive evaluation of all available airframes and power- **• plants, Trans-Canada Air Lines last week placed an order for four Douglas DC-8s powered by Rolls-Royce Conway by-pass turbojets. This is the first time that British engines have broken into the commercial big-jet business, and it will be agreed that all three companies concerned deserve congratulation. Further comment is offered in our leading article. Without spares, each DC-8 will cost about £1,964,000. They will be used by T.C.A. on mixed-class, non-stop services over all the companies trunk routes, particularly those which cross the Atlantic. First delivery is scheduled for 1960; two more Conway- DC-8s are on option for delivery the following year and it may be expected that further aircraft will be ordered should T.CA.'s traffic justify such a step. B.E.25 Orion ORION is the name chosen for the Bristol B.E.25 turbopropengine. This engine, which has several times been described in our pages—the most recent being in last week's issue—isscheduled to power later Britannias and the larger Bristol 187 long-range transport. First prototype run was rather more thanfive months ago and several have now run equipped as complete powerplants. Development is being accelerated. In Greek mythology Orion was a mighty hunter of greatbeauty, son of Poseidon; after his death he was changed into the familiar constellation which bears his name. Bristol's first Orionwas an experimental nine-cylinder radial of 1926, fitted with an early turbo-supercharger. CF-105 for R.A.F.? ONE of the most promising military aircraft now under con-struction anywhere is the Avro Aircraft CF-105 delta-wing long-range all-weather fighter, powered with two Orenda PS. 13two-spool turbojets. Speed should be in the region of Mach 2 and very advanced Hughes automatic fire control will be employedfor guided-missile delivery. Recent Ministry of Supply interest may conceivably be linked with an as yet unconfirmed report thatthe Gloster Javelin development (two Bristol Olympus) may not now enter service with the R.A.F. The first prototype of the CF-105 should fly within a year. U.S.A.F. Ten-miler ANNOUNCEMENT was made on Monday of a new aircraftfor the U.S.A.F. which will cruise at ten miles altitude "as a matter of course." Designated Lockheed U-2, it will be acompletely new type and will be powered by a P. and W. J57. The information was given by Dr. H. L. Dryden, director ofthe N.A.C.A. He said that U-2s would be used for studying jet streams, examining air for radio-active content, cosmic ray par-ticles, ozone and other constituents, and for investigating turbu- lence and gusts. The U.S.A.F. will also use U-2s for thedevelopment of electrical equipment and other devices. Farewell to Gosport ADINNER held on Friday last at Gosport (H.M.S. Siskin) bythe Aircraft Torpedo Development Unit, marked not only the moving out of that body but also the severance of the long associa- tion between the airfield and the flying Services. In fact, it also marked the end of Gosport as an airfield: after a month or two all flying is to cease and the site will be handed over to the civil authorities for use as a housing estate. In the chair at the dinner was the CO. of A.T.D.U., G/C. H. E. Dicken, flanked on his right and left by Rear Admiral Caspar John, Flag Officer Air (Home) and A.V-M. W. A. Opie, represent- ing the M.o.S. By way of decoration the position of honour was taken up by a silver model of the Fairey Swordfish, perhaps the most famous of all torpedo aircraft types flown from Gosport. Speaking after dinner, G/C. Dicken recalled some of the names of early pilots connected with the station, dwelling particularly, of course, on Col. Smith-Barry and his School of Special Flying. He recalled also the use of the airfield by some of the original squadrons of the Royal Flying Corps while on their way to join the British Expeditionary Force in France in 1914. He regretted very much that houses were to be "strewn all over this airfield" but pointed out that it was no longer usable by modern aircraft (A.T.D.U. now have Canberras). Admiral Caspar John, unsmiling yet with humour, spoke of the pleasant relations between the Royal Navy and the unit, which has been a lodger unit for many years. After extolling the virtues of the Cornish countryside—A.T.D.U. is moving to Culdrose— he pointed out that Air (Home) Command was not saying farewellto the unitj as the change would be entirely geographical. A.V-M. Opie was at a disadvantage, not having actually servedat Gosport, but he did recall the days of the Gosport speaking- tube, and how convenient it was to disconnect on occasions. AirMarshal Sir Thomas A. Warne-Browne, who was first at Gosport in 1919, spoke of the early days of torpedo dropping, and of"touching wheels on Fort Grange when flying Avro 504s from the airfield." It was No. 5 Squadron, R.F.C. that made Gosport a stopping-place on the way to France in August 1914, and it was one of the officers of No. 5,2nd Lt. R. R. Smith-Barry, of the Special Reserve,who in 1917, as a colonel, was able to implement his ideas on instruction at the School of Special Flying. It differed fromcurrent practice by not only teaching a pilot how not to get into difficulties but also showing him how to get out of them shouldthey occur. Recovery from a spin was one of the most important items of the curriculum^ The school was primarily for instructorsand largely filled the position now occupied by the C.F.S. TV Reconnaissance ONE of several new announcements made during the past weekin America—it is celebrated there as Armed Forces Week— is a system for transmitting pictures of the ground by recon-naissance aircraft flying at speeds in excess of Mach 1 in the strato- sphere. Developed by Philco, the new equipment is very compactand can be carried in small aircraft. For covering large areas two cameras are used, under automaticcontrol. The transmitted picture, sharp and clear, is filmed on the ground, prints being available in less than a minute, for pro-jection on "cinema-size" screens. D.H. Chairman's Statement IN his address issued in advance of the de Havilland annualgeneral meeting, Mr. W. E. Nixon, the chairman and managing director, says that the pioneering work of this country in intro- ducing die jet airliner, based as it has been upon Britain's progress with gas-turbine engines, has placed in our hands an opportunity to develop an industry vital to our defence and future prosperity. "I believe that the world airliner means so much to the overall safetyof Britain that it can be considered a military requirement," he con- tinues. "Everyone recognizes the importance of the aircraft industry todefence (this will still persist even in the age of the guided missile), but the industry cannot remain strong unless it is a major producer of trans-port aircraft. This can be achieved only if Britain herself becomes a really big operator of such aircraft. The exporting of large airliners isessential but it cannot be satisfactorily achieved without widespread operations under the British flag to generate an adequate home market. "Only by whole-heartedly embracing a policy of extended operationscan Britain progress vigorously to the more advanced transport designs to follow the Comet 4 and its contemporary British propeller-turbineliners. When I claim that the large airliner ought to be considered as a military requirement I mean no less than that if we neglect this branchof development we shall lack the resources to produce the highly advanced fighters and bombers which everybody agrees are vital. . . . "A national awakening to the importance of this issue is urgently TOPIC BRITANNIA: Mr. J. Schonfeld (right), K.L.M.'s technical repre- sentative designate in Washington, discusses Britannia production with Mr. David Hurford, of the sales department, Bristol Aircraft, Ltd.
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