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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0926.PDF
72 FLIGHT, 6 July 1956 Airliners of the World PROj ECTS FAIRCHILD M-186 SINCE its first announcement in December 1953 nothing has beenheard of this twin-jet transport project, and it is now unlikely to go ahead. The design was that of a high-wing machine with a fuselageseating up to 64. The specified engine was the Wright J67, a derivative of the Olympus, but any 15,000 lb-thrust unit would presumably beadequate. The wings, which carried the engines buried at their roots, were to be fitted with a variety of high-lift devices. The maximumweight and cruising speed were estimated as 75,000 lb and 570 m.p.h. FAIREY ROTODYNE DEVELOPMENT of the twin-Eland Rotodyne rotary-wing transportis going ahead under Ministry of Supply contract. A possible civilversion might have the following capability: a still-air range of 270 nautical miles cruising at not less than 150 m.p.h., with a load of11,000 lb carried in 3,300 cu ft of unrestricted interior. For most passenger services a total of 44 persons, with baggage, could beaccommodated. HANDLEY PAGE LAMINAR AIRCRAFT FOR a considerable period Handley Page have been investigatingthe practicability of employing some measure of boundary-layercontrol over the wing of an aircraft. Laboratory work and extensive flight trials with a two-seat Vampire have now produced remarkablyencouraging results, and plans—albeit of a general nature—are in hand for a long-range jet transport designed from the outset for such aninstallation. In our issue of June 15 we published an impression of a projected machine which appeared to be of roughly Vanguard size;as is characteristic of "laminarized" aircraft, the wing was small in relation to the fuselage. In a recent reference to their work on such aircraft Handley Pagesaid: "Design studies have been made for aircraft which would reap the benefits from a laminar-flow system. They have shown that onlyby designing for laminar flow from the very start can its advantages be fully realized. "Owing to reduced drag, smaller and lighter engines can be usedand fuel needed is reduced. Two sets of engines are installed. One provides the low thrust required for the cruise. The other, consistingof lightweight high-thrust engines, provides additional power for take- off and climb. This gives a powerplant with a very low total weight."Wings can be smaller; the cumulative effect on all-up weight is much greater than the sum of individual savings. An initial weight-saving of 1,000 lb is worth about 5,000 lb on all-up weight for a long-range aircraft. Thus, for a given task a smaller and lighter laminar-flow aircraft can be built; both its initial and operating costs will be lower than those of a comparable conventional aircraft. "Aircraft designers and operators today are worried by the wayin which the size and weight of conventional aircraft increase rapidly if they are designed for long-range flight. Only recently weight increasesresulted in the cancellation of orders for a promising military transport. Laminar-flow aircraft built to fly very great distances, however, need tobe no heavier than conventional aircraft whose range is much less. For example, if a conventional jet transport is to fly 3,600 nautical miles,it becomes about twice as heavy as one which flies 2,000 nautical miles. But the weight increase of a laminar-flow aircraft for the longer rangeis only about 42 per cent. And, initially, the laminar-flow airliner which flics 2,000 nautical miles weighs considerably less than the conventionaljet aircraft for the same range and payload." C-130 DEVELOPMENT IN view of its remarkable combination of speed, range, load and short-field performance, it is to be expected that the Lockheed C-130transport of the U.S. Air Force will appeal greatly to civil operators. Lockheed are at present in large-scale production with this aircraft at Present ptanTwill keep the line entirely military until about 1958 but it is probable that by that year it will have been possible to obtain a C.A.A. certificate; the Allison T56 turboprop is basically similar to the engine of the Electra. Studies show that the C-130 can haul freight at 5.3 cents per short-ton n.m. on a 1,000-n.m. stage, or at 5.9 over 2,000 n.m. MD-12 DESIGNED by Misztal, the pre-1939 designer for P.Z.L., theMD-12 is a completely new light transport, although its configura-tion is basically similar to the same designer's C.S.S. series of Dove-like machines. The MD-12 is probably designed to weigh about 20,000 lband has a low-mounted wing, two radial engines, a nosewheel under- carriage and a "T-tail." It is intended for Polish internal services butno information is available regarding its schedule of development. SAUNDERS-ROE PRINCESS THREE complete airframes were built for the Saunders-Roe Princessflying-boat and all are at present laid up, encased in protective"Cocoons," pending the availability of suitable powerplants (the original design installation was ten early Bristol Proteus).It now seems likely that the Bristol Orion turboprop will be admirably suited to these great aircraft and that, with six Orions, the originaldesign performance could be very comfortably exceeded. Assuming a design power of 5,045 e.h.p. (4,000 s.h.p. plus 2,720 1b thrust), there-engined Princess could, without extensive airframe modification (other than that needed to accommodate the new engines) achieve thefollowing figures: unstick in 6,720ft at 345,000 1b (30,000 1b up on the original weight), cruise at 311 knots and have a still-air range of 5,250statute miles with up to 220 passengers. The work of conversion would necessarily be protracted, since it would involve a largely re-engineeredwing; but hope remains that this will be done 3 perhaps in about threeyears time. S.E. CARAVELLE DEVELOPMENT ALTHOUGH no specific details may be published it is known thatthe basic design of the S.N.C.A.S.E. Caravelle is such as to facilitatethe installation of turbojets considerably more powerful than those at present fitted. This involves little more than relocating the units onexisting strong frame nearer to the e.g. than those currently used. Advanced designs of Caravelle have been prepared using the late modelOlympus, Pratt and Whitney J57 and J75 (JT3C and JT4A) and Conway. TU-114 AT a recent reception in Moscow, Gen. Nicolai Zakharov, the deputydirector of Aeroflot (the Soviet commercial operator), spoke of anew, and very large, four-jet transport which would shortly be "ready" (not necessarily for service). It would, he said, seat up to 180 passengerson two decks, the lower deck having a restaurant and the upper deck 30 berths. The cruising speed would be 570 m.p.h. and the range excep-tional; the General's words were: "Moscow to any capital in the world." During the Soviet Aviation Day celebrations on June 23 it waslearned that this aircraft bears the designation Tu-114. No precise details of its layout, size or derivation have been made public but it is notunlikely that it is descended from the large bomber known as "Bison." This machine has a 30-deg-swept wing of some 175ft span, with fourlarge turbojets partially buried at the roots. VICKERS-ARMSTRONGS MEDIUM-RANGE TRANSPORTA BRITISH newspaper recently published a report stating thatVickers-Armstrongs were engaged in the basic study of a design for a jet transport of proportions suitable for carrying about 90 pas-sengers on medium-stage routes. The statement is not confirmed by the company, who have at no time made any reference to such a project. AIRLINERS OF TH Page Boeing 707 11 Douglas DC-8 5 Vickers-Armstrongs Viscount 19 Bristol Britannia 23 de Havilland Comet 7 S.N.C.A.S.E. Caravelle 31 Napier Eland-Convair 4 Convair Metropolitan 5 Aviation Traders Accountant 36 Lockheed Electro 39 Vickers-Armstrongs Vanguard 43 Fokker F.27 Friendship 47 EWORLD: INDEX Page de Havilland Heron .; 50 Douglas DC-7C 51 Lockheed L.1649A 5 Handley Page Herald 9 Hurel-Dubois H.D.321 52 Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer ^ $3 Frye Safari £4 Blackburn and General Aircraft Universal 66 Convair Golden Arrow 68 Soviet Tu-104 59 Hunting Percival Prince V 70 Projects 7]
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