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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0694.PDF
694 FLIGHT FROM ALL QUARTERS B.E.A. Viscounts and Helicopters TN four years—by which time B.E.A.'s traffic is expected to have•*- doubled—the Corporation will have a fleet of 83 Viscounts, assuming that the new options just placed for seven 810s and 12840s are taken up. This is by far the largest turbine fleet ordered by any airline in the world (the nearest is Capital, with 60Viscounts, the next PanAm with 44 707s and DC-8s). For the record, the following is a list of B.E.A.'s Viscount orders to date:26 Viscount 701s (in service from April 1953); 24 Viscount Major 802s, for delivery beginning this autumn; 14 Major 806s, for de-livery beginning autumn 1957; seven Major 810s on option for delivery beginning autumn 1958; and 12 Major 840s on optionfor delivery beginning spring 1959. Delivery of the 20 Vanguards ordered by B.E.A. will begin in the spring of 1960. Next month B.E.A. will temporarily acquire a prototype Bristol173 twin-engined helicopter for a brief spell of experimental flying, and it is hoped to follow this up with "extensive developmentflying" on two later 173s with the larger Leonides Major engines. Hinting at its future helicopter programme the Corporation says:"If all goes well, this programme will lead on to experimental flying by B.E.A. of a prototype Bristol 192C helicopter [a 173development powered by two Napier Gazelle turbines of 1,650 h.p. with a cruising speed of 138 m.p.h. and seating for 21 pas-sengers] in about three years time." If progress with this helicopter were promising enough, "asmall fleet" might be ordered for operation by 1960. More Maritime Britannias FROM Montreal comes news of a further "multi-million-dollar"order from the Federal Department of Defence Production to Canadair, Ltd., for CL-28s—the maritime reconnaissance adapta-tion of the Bristol Britannia, powered with Wright Turbo-Com- pounds. As in the case of the original order, no numbers aredisclosed. Russia Vetoes the Viscount THE proposed flight to Moscow by a party of travel agents andpress representatives in a B.E.A. Viscount, which was to have taken place last Wednesday, was cancelled as a result of Russianobjections to "specially arranged flights." For the same reason the flight to have been made yesterday by an Eagle Viking witha party of fashion models was called off also. The Russians' attitude, it appears, is that air travel into Russiashould be by regular air routes, and by objecting to special flights they are probably trying to emphasize the fact that their offer topermit regular London-Moscow services has so far not been approved by the British Government. Javelin Silencer /"J.ROUND running of Gloster Javelin twin-jet all-^-* weather fighters at the company airfield at Hucclecote, near Gloucester, is now taking place in a new silencing pen, whichwas officially opened on June 1st. In principle the pen is virtually identical with that at South Marston, described in ourissue of October 8, 1954; it is, however, considerably larger and cost some £25,000—over twice as much as single-enginedinstallations. Basic specifications for the Gloster pen were formulated by the late Mr. Quentin Reeves, a consulting engineer who had gained the foremost position in this field and who was tragically killed last year while supervising Hunter 5 running in a pen DECIBEL DOUSER: As described in a news-item above, the Gloster Aircraft company have commissioned this sound-absorbent ground- running pen for Javelins now flowing from Hucclecote. An F.A.W.4 is in position; the entrance doors are closed before running. at Bitteswell. As in his many previous installations the aircraftis backed into a sound-absorbent enclosure and so positioned that the efflux from the two Armstrong Siddeley Sapphiresescapes through a 76ft Detuner—one of the first single Detuners to be arranged to accept the output from two turbojets simul-taneously. The intake to the Detuner is guarded by wire mesh. By Comet to Toulouse THE Comet 3 prototype flew the 564 miles from Hatfield toToulouse on Saturday, June 2, in 80 minutes, an average speed of 420 m.p.h. The purpose of the flight was to demonstrate theComet to Mr. J. H. Carmichael, president of Capital Airlines, and his five colleagues (see page 759). The flight was made to Toulouseto enable the party to inspect the Caravelle at Sud-Est's Marignane factory; a flight in the Caravelle was made to Nice and back(during which John Cunningham, who piloted the Comet, handled the aircraft), after which the party returned by Comet to London.Representatives of B.O.A.C., B.E.A., Trans-Australian Airlines, Rolls-Royce and the Ministry of Supply were on board the Cometwith the party from Capital Airlines. Vickers' New Chairman TWO days before his retirement, on May 31, from the chairman-ship of Vickers, Ltd., Lt-Gen. Sir Ronald Weeks, K.C.B., C.B.E., D.S.O., M.C., T.D., had the satisfaction of being able totell shareholders, in his last annual address, that "The Vickers Aircraftstable can count its wins with Valiant production dead on schedule, Viscountproduction only slightly behind on its scheduled deliveries, Swifts comingout on time on the rearranged pro- gramme and the N.113 developingaccording to plan." (This story of progress is underlined by the accounts,which, broken down into figures for the shipbuilding, aircraft, steel andgeneral engineering divisions, show that aircraft business accounted for31.5 per cent of the total 1955 turn- over of £131m; in 1954 the propor-tion was only 20 per cent.) Sir Ronald—whose inclusion in theBirthday Honours is referred to on the opposite page—is succeeded by Viscount Knollys, G.C.M.G.,M.B.E., D.F.C., who has been a director of the company since 1952 and deputy chairman since 1945. He served in the R.A.F.during the First World War, and from 1943 to 1947 he was chair- man of B.O.A.C. He is chairman of the R.A.F. Benevolent Fund. Appointment of two special directors of Vickers-Armstrongs(Aircraft), Ltd., was announced last week. They are Mr. J. E. Armitage, F.C.W.A. (commercial manager, Weybridge works),and Mr. N. Sims (commercial manager, Supermarine works). R.A.F.A. Conference LAST week-end, the Royal Air Forces Association held its annual'conference, this time at Southport, where 364 branches were represented. In the chair was Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Tedder, who, in succession to the Duke of Edinburgh, was invited to become president of the Association for the next three years. The IMPLEMENTATION: Seen on its first dropping trials is the prototype Auster Agricola. A number of runs were made across Rearsby airfield with the hopper doors at various settings. Pelleted superphosphate was used and the trials were described as "entirely successful." Viscount Knollys.
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