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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0624.PDF
624 FLIGHT, 18 May 1956 THE INDUSTRY Air Minister at WartonA DEMONSTRATION by a P.I and a Canberra P.R.9 waswatched by Mr. Nigel Birch, Secretary of State for Air, Air Chief Marshal Sir Dermot A. Boyle, Chief of the Air Staff, andAir Marshal Sir Thomas G. Pike, Deputy C.A.S., when they visited the English Electric Company's aircraft division develop-ment centre at Warton, Lancashire, last week. The visitors were met by Lord Caldecote, a director of EnglishElectric, and other executives of the company, including A.Cdre. Strang Graham and Mr. F. W. Page, chief engineer of the air-craft division. During the morning they inspected the labora- tories, wind tunnels and other facilities. A proposed visit to thePreston factory was cancelled when the weather improved and the flying display became possible. Roland Beamont piloted theP.I and Desmond de Villiers the P.R.9. Automatic Announcements AN ingenious automatic announcing system, developed by the• General Electric Co., Ltd., can reproduce, at the touch of a button, any one of 25 pre-recorded announcements or signals,which can then be relayed over a loudspeaker system. The messages are recorded on a loop of 3in-wide magnetictape. To make the system fully automatic, particular announce- ments such as shift changes, meal breaks or other messages canbe triggered by a master clock mechanism. Also, of course, the push-buttons can be mounted remotely from the instrument sothat announcements or emergency calls can be initiated from other parts of the premises. The automatic announcer was originally developed by G.E.C.for British Railways (Eastern Region) and first installed at Strat- ford Station. In this installation the platform announcementsfor passengers are automatically initiated by the trains themselves. Practical Buildings "pROM Coseley Engineering Co., Ltd.,Lanesfield, Wolverhamp-•*• ton, comes a catalogue illustrating and describing their stan- dard building system. The method makes use of basically lightlattice-type steel portal frames, built as tapered members in the smaller spans and parallel members in the larger. Each frameis composed of four all-welded members (two vertical and two roof) which in turn bolt together to form the complete frame.The vertical members are fixed to foundation bolts at floor level, these bolts having previously been cast into the concrete founda-tions. Thus there is no structural steelwork below floor level, an important consideration should dismantling and re-erection atanother site subsequently be required. The buildings are normally supplied with cladding of corru- This impressive view of the control room of de Havilland's Gyron test- bed was taken by the illumination of the Holophane lighting system with which the installation is equipped. Recessed ceiling units have lens-plates which concentrate much of the light on to the wall-mounted instruments. In the test-cell itself, flameproof fittings with anti- vibratory lompholders are employed. gated asbestos cement of either "Big-Six" or "Trafford Tile"pattern. A feature of the sheeting is the provision of curved apex and eaves, thus sealing these normally weather-vulnerable pointswhile at the same time greatly enhancing the appearance of the building. Alternative forms of cladding can be provided to orderin the form of aluminium, galvanized steel or protected metals. Among the advantages claimed for the Coseley method ofconstruction are that the absence of roof-truss girders allows storage space to the full height of the roof. An illustration inthe catalogue shows space utilized in this way at the U.S.A.F. depot at West Drayton, Middlesex, and among other examplesillustrated are buildings for several well-known firms in the air- craft industry, including de Havilland Propellers, Ltd., JosephSankey and Sons, Ltd., and Avica Equipment, Ltd. Coseley buildings erected for B.E.A. as import and export freight ware-houses at London Airport are also illustrated. IN BRIEF This strange device is the Rolli-Tanker, developed by Goodyear and intended for the transport of fuels and other fluids overland or on the surface of water. So far made in sizes of up to 250 gal capacity, these "tyre tanks" are also being tested by Goodyear Aviation Products as to their suitability for parachute or free-fall dropping. Net profits shown in the Bristol Aeroplane Company's consoli-dated profit and loss account amount to £977,363 (1954, £798,588) after charging taxation of £762,191 (1954, £714,830). The annual general meeting takes place on Thursday, June 7. * * * " : On June 1, Scottish Aviation Ltd., will be celebrating die 21stanniversary of their formation. The occasion will be marked by a dinner-dance. * * * -.. • v '. •• • _:'! • A new branch office of Black and Decker, Ltd., was openedrecently in Manchester. The premises include a fully-equipped service workshop with a staff of twelve, and a demonstrationtheatre where tools can be shown in action. * * * Expandite, Ltd., among whose products are runway jointingmaterials, announce that one of their technical representatives, Mr. John Masterson, is leaving on May 31 for a tour of EastAfrica and Rhodesia. He can be reached by letter at the Com- mercial Secretary's Office, Trade Commission, Nairobi. * • * Reconstruction of R.A.F. Station, Gaydon, where Valiants arebased, was commenced by die Laing group of companies in 1952. The group's house journal states that work over the past fouryears has involved construction of nearly two miles of runway, three miles of perimeter track, and many buildings, includingliving quarters, workshops, and an operations block and training centre. The two last-named are of "Easiform" construction. Acontrol tower has also been built, and hangars with 160ft spans, specially designed in conjunction with Ove Arup and Partners.
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