FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0606.PDF
606 FLIGHT, 18 May 1956 HERE AND THERE Woomera Development FOLLOWING the visit of Mr. Enroll,Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply, it has been announced in Can-berra that the British and Australian Governments have agreed on a new high-priority development programme for the Woomera rocket range. Considerable ex-tensions are in view, and a new basis of cost sharing has been agreed. Soviet Helicopter Claim IT was reported from Moscow last weekthat Soviet pilot Rafail Kaprilyan had attained a height of 6,017.5 metres(19,743ft) in a single-engined helicopter with a load of two tons. The claim is tobe put to the F.A.I, as a world record. Trump Card? HOWARD HUGHES has filed an applica-tion with the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board for permission to manufacture jet airlinersincorporating "vital new developments." It is claimed that his new project will be farsuperior in range to jet airliners now on the market, and that Trans World Airlines,of which Mr. Hughes is a majority stock- holder, is to buy 25 of them. Fighters for Israel IN order to redress balance of air powerin the Middle East—which has been in Egypt's favour since she obtained mediumbombers built in Czechoslovakia—the Western powers have agreed to allow Israelto buy a limited number of modern fighters. It is believed that France will supply 12Mysteres (in addition to 12 delivered under an early agreement) and that 12 Sabresare to be provided by Canada. Good Report TWO annual prizes offered by TheAccountant for well prepared company re- ports go this year to Associated ElectricalIndustries and Folland Aircraft, Ltd. The Folland report, issued in advance of thea.g.m. last November, was a brochure con- taining two large photographs of the Gnatand a number of curves and diagrams show- ing various aspects of the year's trading. LANC WITH A KNIFE IN ITS BACK, seen by many over Bedfordshire recently, is based at the College of Aeronautics, Cranfield. On loan from the M.o.S., the machine carries a swept wing tor aerodynamic investigation. The effects of Reynolds Number and of incidence on boundary- layer transition are being studied, under a Ministry research contract. Basic Cause THE head of the U.S.A.F. Aero MedicalSafety Division, Col. Moseley, has said that 67 per cent of the accidents which occurredin the Air Force last year could be blamed on the human factor; this included main-tenance and supervisory errors as well as pilot error. A BOARD APPOINTMENT to International Aeradio, Ltd., is announced for Capt. J. W. G. James, British European Air- ways flight operations director. Chance for Amateur Experts AVIATION will be one of the subjects ina new quiz programme by Associated Tele- vision, in which prizes of £1,600 are beingoffered. Those who feel they have an out- standing knowledge of the subject, but whoare not professionally connected with avia- tion, are invited to enter their names forthe "The 64,000 Question," A.T.V., Tele- vision House, London, W.C.2. Rate of Progress ; ^ ON the day on which the Fairey F.D.2took the world speed record at 1,132 m.p.h., a 40-year-old Maurice FarmanShorthorn made a 55 m.p.h. test flight near Melbourne in the hands of Mr. W. E.Boud, superintendent of flying operations for the Victoria-Tasmania region of theDepartment of Civil Aviation. The veteran aircraft, which is powered by a 80 h.p.Wolseley-Renault vee-eight engine, had been rebuilt after a crash last year. Repeating History ON Whit Monday, at Bury St. Edmunds,Suffolk, where Col. Cody made his first ascent by man-lifting kite in the early 1890s,Mr. Denis Rayner is to attempt to repeat the ascent, attaining about 100ft. The kites,seven of which will be used simultaneously, are of early design and have been loanedby the Royal Aircraft Establishment, in whose fabrics department Mr. Rayner isemployed. The flight will be directed by Mr. S. F. L. Cody, grandson of thepioneer. If the wind is too light for man- lifting, the kites will be flown with anempty basket. Lord Hives to the Rescue? A VISCOUNT delivered to Central Afri-can Airways at Salisbury, Rhodesia, last week-end suffered from the attention ofa swarm of bees, which took possession of one of the port engine nacelles. The Rolls-Royce Darts were run up to full revolutions in an attempt to move them, and the air-craft taken up to 17,000ft, but neither manoeuvre succeeded. Asphyxiating thebees would have meant dismantling part of the wing in order to remove their bodies.At the time of writing they are still in possession. Hispano's R.800 DETAILS of the Hispano-Suiza R.800, a small French axial turbojet, were given last week in our special "Aero Engines" issue. Further notes on the engine have just been received from Paris. It is stated that, as the turbine blading is only of Nimonic 80A, there remains considerable develop- ment potential, although the rated thrust has now been raised to 3,131 lb. A 20-hr test has just been run successfully at this figure, with 15 minutes at an over-ride thrust in excess of this value, without water injection or afterburning. The equipped weight is now 727 lb. WICHITA WINNER of a U.S. Navy design competition for out-of-sight surface/air and air/air gunnery drone-target requirements is the Beech KDB-1. Production is already '" hand and deliveries will start next month. The KDB-1 is powered by the McCulloch turbo-supercharged engine described on p. 593 of our "Aero Engines" special issue last week.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
