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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0683.PDF
"Flight" photographs (Left) David Ogilvy in the Comper Swift; he came second in both rounds of the Goodyear Trophy race. (Right) the tip-tanked T-33s of the U.S.A.F.E.'s Aero jets aerobatic team. up into a perfect roll-off-the-top. They placed the low point ofeach manoeuvre in front of the crowd, a feature which holds attention well. On one occasion they half-rolled in box andreversed the direction of the roll to regain level flight. They began one loop in echelon starboard and rolled off the top intobox formation before signing off with a vertical upward bomb burst. The peacefulness of their passing was rudely shatteredseconds later when all four aircraft arrived together over the run- way from the four points of the compass, none of them more than40ft above the ground. From the control tower we looked down into the leader's cockpit as he passed and saw certainly thecolour of his bone-dome if not the colour of his eyes. His identity, we later discovered, was Maj. M. Smolen. The last item on the programme was the aerobatic displayof the Patrouille de France, official aerobatic team of the Armee de l'Air. They were led by Lt. Tourniaire. They convertedcomparatively recently to Mysteres from Ouragans and were obviously not quite so accustomed to their new aircraft as No. 43Sqn. to the Hunter. The sensitivity of their controls was clearly evident in frequent slight porpoisings similar to those one hascome to expect in a Sabre aerobatic team. From certain direc- tions the aircraft did indeed resemble the Sabre's successor,the North American F-100. They kept perhaps closer to the airfield than the other two teams, but in so doing they lost someof the freedom of manoeuvre which the others had enjoyed. How- ever, they went through the full gamut of loops, rolls and rolls-off-the-top and frequently changed formation. Their demon- stration was a fitting conclusion to a fine afternoon's flying. Of the three teams, British, American and French, one wouldsay that the British were enterprising, complicated and showed superb airmanship; the Americans were spectacular and precise,but not so varied; and the French team were relatively new to their aircraft and to this country, and their flying was not quiteso well co-ordinated. • •-... , - .., • - SECOND ROUND RESULTS Pilot Goodyear Trophy A. G. OldhamD. F. Ogilvy H. B. liesN. D. Norman N. H.Jones Miss A. Windle B. MaileP. Vanneck Oiram Cup J. N. Somers... E. Crabtree ...J. R. Johnston P. Blamire T. G. Knox A. Barker J. E. G. Appleyard ... E. N. Husbands Kemsley Trophy J. H. DenyerJ.M.Donald... D. P. BoulnoisC. Gregory B. J. Snook W. P. BowlesJ.G. Lovegrove A. J. Spiller S.B.A.C. Cup F. Dunkerley G. C. Marler...E. Crabtree ... R. H. MclntoshR. R. Paine A. S. K. Paine J. Rush P. S. CliSord Aircraft Tiger Moth Comper Swift ... Miles M.18/2 ... Tiger Moth Tiger Moth Miles W. Straight Tiger MothTiger Moth Chipmunk Gemini 3 Hawk Tr.3Gemini 1a Proctor 3 Proctor 3Chilton D.W.Ia Proctor 1 AusterJ.IN ...Tiger Moth Tiger MothT'craft Plus D... Tiger Moth MonarchTiger Moth Autocrat Sparrowjet Falcon SixProctor 3 Proctor 3Hawk Sp.Six ... Proctor 1Falcon Six Mew Gull H'cap m. t. 00 00 03 00 03 27 00 44 01 18 02 14 00 5900 33 00 49 03 00 00 49 00 30 00 58 01 18 00 00 01 04 02 0600 07 00 00 01 14 00 11 02 37 00 56 00 56 04 03 02 10 00 23 00 00 03 18 00 31 02 08 04 28 Speedm.p.h. 103127* 132 106* 109* 117 1071034 139 162 137 134 137* 139 126* 138* 118 101* 100* 109 101* 119* 105 104* 197* 163* 143 139 179 143 161 195 Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 78 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dis. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pointi total 34 34 34 14 22 22 1414 32 22 32 24 26 28 14 8 28 34 34 24 26 14 20 12 26 36 26 30 12 24 20 14 100,000 AT SPEKE DISPLAY WHIT-MONDAY in the North-West brought a crowd ofover 100,000 spectators to jam Liverpool's public-trans-port services and sample the international air display at Speke Airport. The tragic fatal accident to Leo Valentin whichmarred the display towards the end of the programme was not known to many of the spectators at the time, who had enjoyed apleasant afternoon's flying. The display, sponsored by the Liverpool Echo, is believed to have realized a useful amount for the fundsof the Soldiers', Sailors' and Airmen's Families Association. The afternoon was warm and sunny, with an on-shore breezefanning in from the Mersey, across which the Wirral peninsula was hazily visible. The programme began at the very beginning ofaviation, almost, with a hesitant flight across the aerodrome by the 1910 Deperdussin of the Shuttleworth Collection, flown by JeffreyQuill. After a Naval Dragonfly had been shown off in all directions by Lt-Cdr. Laurence Tivy from R.N.A.S. Anthorn, one of theday's most sparkling performances came from Alain Hister, runner-up in last year's Lockheed aerobatic competition, in hisSipa Minijet. An inverted run across the field preceded a lively selection of fast runs, rolls and figures of eight which delightedthe crowd but agitated a number of the aerodrome's resident hares in the open grass area. Hisler later took off again to givefurther precise performances at Yeadon and Hucknall. ' Eight Vampire F.B.5s of 613 "City of Manchester" AuxiliarySquadron, led by S/L. Jack Wales of Avro, next proved that Mancunian week-enders can formate as well as most regulars.This was followed by Leo Valentin's first appearance on thepro- gramme, in a long-delayed parachute drop from a'Rapide. Con-trast was provided by Gerard Srriith, C.F.I, oof the Derby and Lanes Gliding Club, who eased his Slingsby Sky into elegant aerobatics before coming in for a low beat-up and the customarywell-judged landing next to the sailplane's trailer. Five Attackers from No. 1831 R.N.V.R. Squadron (R.N.A.S.Stretton) were next responsible for a well-timed performance, four in formation (led by Lt. P. Barlow) giving some neat forma-tion changes and a pretty red-trailed breakaway, and the solo man (Lt-Cdr. P. L. V. Rougier) giving the crowd the shock of its lifeby bursting in fast, low and unexpected. Jeffrey Quill, this time in a Spitfire V, then gave a surprising reminder of the machine'sperformance with Farnborough-style climbing rolls, and an excel- lent view of the once-familiar elliptical planform in a wide circuitof the airport. The name "Skyblazers" has justly become linked with perfec-tion in close-formation aerobatics, and the performance of the talented quartet of U.S.A.F. pilots in their F-86F Sabres at Spekedemonstrated the reason yet again. An exhilarating succession of rolls, loops, formation changes during rolls and loops, and plain,honest top-quality tight-formation work in general was presented. The group's very precision and professional steadiness made itsdisplay seem almost easy—that is, until the smoke-trailing "bomb burst" break-away and the final low-level, high-speed, four-pointcrossover jerked the crowd back to its feet and reality. The Skyblazers team, from the 48th Fighter/Bomber (Statue ofLiberty) Wing, based at Chaumont Air Base, France, consists of Gapt. James S. Reynolds, 1st Lt. James L. Foster, 1st Lt. HaroldA. Homan and 1st Lt. Warren L. Filing. The flying programme, bearing little relation to that printed inthe. official dispLy programme, continued. The next item was a "parachute race," described as "a novel event which has not beenstaged before in this country"—which was not really surprising.
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