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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0818.PDF
820 FLIGHT THE INDUSTRY . . . IN BRIEF A firm whose 25th anniversary is commemorated by an articleelsewhere in this issue, Air Service Training, Ltd., of Hamble, Hants, has announced the appointment of Mr. I. E. James aschief designer. He succeeds Mr. R. J. B. Woodhams, who has left the firm. Mr. James came to A.S.T., Ltd., from the GlosterAircraft Co., Ltd., where he had been for 32 years, twenty-one of them as chief technician. * * * The Portable Electric Tool Manufacturers' Association is actingas host to the Federation of European Electric Tool Manufacturers' Associations for their annual international conference, which opensat St. Ermin's Hotel, Caxton Street, London, S.W.I, on June 27. Of foremost importance on the conference agenda willbe discussions on the standardization of safety regulations as applied to portable tools. The conference inauguration will beunder the chairmanship of Mr. C. U. Peat. We regret to learn that Mr. Ernest Mather (55), chief inspectorat the Woodford factory of A. V. Roe and Co., Ltd., died suddenly while on an outing of the Woodford senior staff councilto Rhyl recently. Mr. Mather, who was chairman of the council's executive, joined Avro in the First World War as a welder, andso qualified to become a founder-member of the Avro 504 Club, which opened in 1952. He became an inspector in 1935, and inSeptember 1941 was appointed chief inspector at Avro's Yeadon factory. With the closing of the Yeadon factory in 1946, hemoved to Woodford. Axial-flow blowers made by Plannair, Ltd., are to be manu-factured in France under an agreement with Societe Air Equipe- ment, 18 Rue Basly, Asnieres (Seine), who are manufacturers ofair equipment and electric motors for the aircraft and electronic industries. Societe Air Equipement will make the full range ofPlannair blowers not only for France and French territories but also for other European countries and Turkey. Plannair, who arespecialists in blowers for both airborne and ground applications, have their offices, laboratories and factory at Leatherhead, Surrey. PILOT'S PLOTTING BOARD DESIGNED by Short Brothers and Harland, Ltd., a new pilot'splotting board will be used in all Seamews now going into service with the Royal Navy and Coastal Command. It is alsobeing installed in several types of British military aircraft now being exported, and enquiries have been received from overseas. The new board consists of a single-leaf, double-faced ivorine8f in x 7iin sheet, one side of which has a plain surface for briefing notes, the reverse side carrying a rotatable plot and a grid ruledarea for log-keeping. It is attached by two spring-loaded arms to a metal back-plate which also carries expanding clips forpencil stowage and a hinge-pin for mounting the assembly in the aircraft. When in use the board rests on the pilot's right knee, thesecond support serving as an attachment to the aircraft structure. By raising the near left-hand corner, the leaf can be "flipped"over with one hand to present either face. The Short plotting board from two viewpoints. In one particular aircraft installation the board hinge is slippedinto a hinge casing containing a retaining spring. This casing is mounted at the rear end of a pivoted support-arm, the pivot atthe front of the arm being attached to the starboard console. The arm is maintained in the operational position by a spring catch,and to stow the board and support arm it is only necessary to hinge the assembly through 90 deg and then push it down. A NEW LIGHTWEIGHT A.D.F. THE Aircraft Radio Corporation of Boonton, New Jersey,U.S.A., has announced a new lightweight A.D.F. equipment, the units of which, including connectors, total only 19.1 lb inweight. Designated Type 21, the new unit is a three-band, super- heterodyne receiver, complete with power unit, indicator, loop,loop housing and connectors, and is designed for use in all types of aircraft. It provides reception and localization of low-frequencyranges and broadcast stations transmitting at between 190 kc/s. and 1,750 kc/s. The loop assembly protrudes only 1.75in fromthe airframe skin and adjustment is provided to counteract errors in reading—of as much as 25 deg—caused by local distortion ofthe magnetic field about the airframe. Fourteen sub-miniature valves are used, operating well below their continuous rating, andall units are so assembled as to be easily accessible for servicing. The cut-out in the aircraft skin required for the loop mountingmeasures only 3.25in by 6in. The power unit, included in the total weight, is a dynamotor which supplies the necessary D.C. at 120 volts and A.C. at 100c.p.s. from the standard 28-volt aircraft supply. Its speed is regulated internally. For the Type 21 the manufacturers claim reliability, low power-consumption and stability under adverse environmental conditions and power supply voltage changes. It can easily be accommodatedin light aircraft or used as an additional aid in larger aircraft where space and power are limited. Mr. C. V. ALLEN "•••'":""T — •- f E regret to learn of the death—at his home in Ashstead,Surrey, on June 2—of Charles Valentine Allen. With his passing another link with the early days of the British aircraftindustry is broken. By profession a solicitor, Mr. Allen was first secretary of theSociety of British Aircraft Constructors. He was appointed on its incorporation in March 1916, at a time when his firm wasadvising several aircraft manufacturing companies. Though he gave up the S.B.A.C. secretaryship as long ago as1930, his experience of the industry's affairs was drawn upon to the advantage of the Society until only a few weeks before hisdeath. He had, in fact, completed forty years as the Society's legal adviser. He was prominently associated with the constitution in 1937of the Air Registration Board, and since the last war had been active in establishing the co-operatively owned high-speed windtunnel sponsored by the Society and operated by the Aircraft Research Association. Mr. Allen, who was 73, leaves a widow, a daughter andthree sons. SMALL AUTOPILOT A NEW, compact non-electronic automatic pilot, designed foruse in light or medium-weight private and business aircraft, has been flight-demonstrated by the Federal Telephone and RadioCompany, New Jersey, U.S.A., a division of International Tele- phone and Telegraph Corporation. The new autopilot is approximately the size of a portable type-writer and weighs only 17 lb. It consists of a small control unit, a gyroscope, small D.C. servo motors and a turn-and-bankindicator. Designated the FTR autopilot system, the equipment is available in two models, F200 and F300. The F200 weighs17 lb, uninstalled, and is a two-axis unit for single-engined aircraft which have co-ordinated ailerons and rudder. It has a domesticlist-price of $1,995 (about £712). The F300 model weighs 19 lb, uninstalled, and is a three-axis model for twin- or single-enginedaircraft with unco-ordinated ailerons and rudder. It has a domes- tic list price of $2,325 (about £830). The installed weight ofeither model varies from approximately 21 to 25 lb, depending on the type of aircraft. The FTR autopilot consists of a gyro-servo assembly, a controlunit, and a turn-and-bank indicator. This system permits selec- tion of roll or pitch stabilization, or both. It is also capable ofbeing adapted to accept control signals from a radio coupler con- trolling both radio range and I.L.S. systems. Ordinarily installed in the fuselage aft of the baggage compart-ment, the gyro-servo assembly is connected to a control unit mounted on the throttle pedestal or on the instrument panel.The gyro-servo unit is 15in long, ll|in wide and 16|in high. The control unit consists of a manual turn control, a manualpitch control, a manual "course-trim" control, and two on-oflf roll and pitch switches. These switches permit selection of rollor pitch stabilization individually or together. The control unit is only 4in wide, 3|in deep and 3fin high.
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