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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0841.PDF
29 June 1956 843 Elegance both in form and finish distinguishes the Morane Saulnier Paris—an aircraft that "looks right" from any angle. On the opposite page is a close-up of the distinctive tail unit and the starboard jet-pipe exit. oil pressure gauges, together with fuelcontents and fuel flow gauges. In front of the co-pilot are the radios and circuit-breaker panel. Since the aircraft services are all-electric there are many breakers,but they have been arranged in marked groups for easy identification. Stand-bycontrols for air-brakes, flap and under- carriage are mechanical. Rudder pedalsare individually adjustable and the con- trol-column grip is of the plain stick type. Jean Cliquet, the Paris test pilot whotook me up, started the engines with the aid of an external battery and activatedall the necessary circuits for instrumen- tation and radio. He taxied out usingthe steerable nosewheel, setting a spank- ing pace down the long, straight Villa-coublay taxi-way. There was, of course, no need to run-up the engines and, after turning on to the runway, setting trims andchecking switches, we were smartly away. The take-off took 20 sec, the Paris unsticking at 92 kt with four people up; and bythe time we reached the end of the 2,000 yd runway we were making 150 kt. Cliquet held the aircraft level for a while until we reached 215 kt,when he settled into a 1,640 ft/min climb at climbing power. On the way up we engaged hood-seal inflation and selected air-conditioning with a pleasant flow of cool air. Though the pres- surized atmosphere produced in the cabin is never quite the sameas plain untreated air, it is pleasant to be able to regulate the temperature to be just right. Pretty soon each of the four of us had adjusted his sun-blind togive the degree of shade that he wanted, and Jean Cliquet pro- ceeded to show me how the Paris handled. Lateral control is lightand a high rate of roll can be achieved despite the fact that the aileron tabs had been locked in the neutral position. For thepilot-training role tabs would probably once again be brought into action though for normal executive flying the available rate of rollwithout them is almost more than enough. Cliquet next trimmed "hands off' at 260 kt and 9,500ft altitude.Telling me to watch carefully, he pulled one power lever smartly back to the closed position without touching the stick or rudderbar. Even from the Paris I had not expected anything like what followed. There was a slight twitch towards the throtded engine,but that was all. Neither yaw nor roll developed and the aircraft carried straight on, the nose dropping very gently as the speed cameslowly back following the reduction in power. This was just a foretaste of the handling characteristics. For ademonstration stall the power levers were pulled back and die speed fell off very slowly. After a long wait we reached 92 ktand, with die nose held up at about 15 deg, rough airframe buffet- ing developed into a straight stall. With the stick held well backneither nose nor wing dropped and the Paris continued to lose height in that attitude until Cliquet let go of the stick. Theaircraft then dropped its nose and recovered straight ahead all by itself. In case I was not sufficiently impressed with this exceedingly gendemanly behaviour, Cliquet then showed me another of theM.S. 760's delightful habits. He put it into a 20 deg dive at 350 kt and trimmed it "hands off." In this condition he extendedthe airbrakes and sat back again. Deceleration was decisive but not rough and, wiui the controls still free and the g-meter register-ing one extra g, we came gradually out into a 10 deg climb at 220 kt. The airbrakes are set to give this gentle but decisive diverecovery. There was now not much more time to spare, so Cliquet handedover control to me/.I soon began to enjoy that balance of steadi- ness and responsiveness which is the hallmark of a well-harmonizedcontrol system. I turned and dived and zoomed happily for several minutes and then asked somewhat hesitantly whether, with fourpeople up, it would be in order to try a roll (as a two-seat trainer the Paris is, of course, fully aerobatic and spin worthy, but I wasn'tsure about such things with four occupants). Cliquet just gestured briefly and, enjoining everyone to tighten his harness, I rolled itas cautiously as if I was turning over a crate of eggs. I need not have worried; the aircraft behaved perfectly, showing no unnaturaltendency to fall out of the roll or do anything strange. I rolled again several times, taking care, for the passengers' sake, to applythe minimum of negative g, and felt rather pleased at performing at least a minor aerobatic manoeuvre in a jet aircraft carrying fourpeople—though not forgetting that "Tex" Johnston had rolled a slightly larger passenger aircraft, the Boeing 707. It was now high time to get back to Villacoublay. At 230 kt,wim airbrakes out, we descended at 4,900 ft/min. A normal circuit was made at 125 kt with wheels and some flap down; and the finalapproach, with 50 deg of flap, was at 105 kt. We came down quite steeply, rounded out, floated a little and touched down on themain wheels. Straight away Cliquet put the nosewheel down, engaged nosewheel steering, and let die Paris bowl down to dieother end of die runway. The brakes, when he finally used diem, were very effective and, disengaging die pressurization and hoodseal, we rolled back to dispersal. I still look back on my trip in die Paris as one of die mostpleasant I have had in any kind of executive aircraft. From die pilot's point of view the Paris certainly deserves every success itmay achieve. HELICOPTER ASSOCIATION A.G.M. IN his address at the recent annual general meeting of die Heli-copter Association of Great Britain, Dr. G. S. Hislop, the chairman^ expressed concern at die slow development of heli-copter passenger services in this country. Achievements by British helicopter charter operators had been remarkably success-ful in regions as far removed as die Antarctic, die Persian Gulf and the north of Scodand. But compared with Europe and theUSA this country was now a long way behind in the develop- ment of passenger services. This was all the more disappointingwhen one recalled that some years ago v/e were well in the lead, as far as technical knowledge was concerned. ,,,,,. With recent financial cuts applied to the "Cinderella of theaircraft industry, the present helicopter situation did not look very promising and was not helped by the lukewarm attitudeprevalent in higher quarters. It was the Helicopter Association s duty never to cease exerting pressure in furtherance ot its aims—advancing the science and utilization of rotating wing aircraft. In pursuance of this objective, Dr. Hislop urged the initiationof a more energetic development programme m Great Britain for multi-engined helicopters and also the provision of alternativeoperating facilities in London when the South Bank sue was closed to helicopter traffic. He paid tribute to die work ofLord Douglas of Kirtleside during his term of office as president and welcomed die new president, Lord Brabazon of Tara.Other business at the meeting included the constitution of die newly elected Council on which there are four new members,Mr. D. L. Hollis Williams, B.Sc, F.R.Ae.S.; Mr. J. E. Harper, A.F.C.; S/L. W. R. Gellatley, A.F.C.; and Mr. A. E. Bristow.The first award of die Alan Marsh Medal had been made to S/L. Gellatley, in recognition of his outstanding work as a helicoptertest pilot while at die A. and A.E.E., Boscombe Down. LOCKHEED OFFER SCHOLARSHIP AN open scholarship for honours study in mechanical sciences,**• at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, is being offered by the Lockheed Hydraulic Brake Co., Ltd. It is open to boys fromany public or secondary grammar school, of between 17 and 18 years 9 months of age at the time of application. Details areobtainable from the company's education officer, at Tachbrook Road, Leamington Spa. Warwickshire.
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