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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1032.PDF
178 FLIGHT FROM ALL QUARTERS Fleet Air Arm Honoured LAST Monday, July 30, the Queen presented her Colour to the' Royal Naval Barracks, Lee-on-Solent, Hants, "in recognition of the size and status of the Fleet Air Arm", whose headquartersare there. Although the presentation took place in very gusty conditions,which caused drums piled for the consecration ceremony to be unceremoniously blown away into the ranks of W.R.N.S. andelsewhere, these did not interfere with a low-level fly-past of over a hundred aircraft representing Naval squadrons and R.N.V.R.air divisions. The fly-past, led by Rear Admiral C. L. G. Evans, Flag OfficerFlying Training, in a Vampire, included Gannets, Sea Hawks, Sea Venoms, Attackers and various helicopters. Five aircraftwere drawn up on the parade ground, pride of place being given to the last surviving airworthy Swordfish, which was flanked bytwo Gannets and two Sea Hawks. Exports Record DURING the first six months of this year British aviationexports reached what has been described as the "unparalleled" total of £55,916,532. This is 82 per cent higher than for thecorresponding period of 1955, and the figure is within £10,250,000 of last year's record annual total. The United States bought British aircraft valued at £7,141,529in the first six months of this year (these were, of course, mainly Viscounts). Other principal customers were Australia (£8,500,000),Sweden (£2,500,000), France (£1,800,000), Belgium (£1,700,000), Canada (£1,500,000) and the Netherlands (£1,400,000). The total for June, £10,401,023, was the second highest yetrecorded in any month. . New Designations SEVERAL new mark numbers for British military aircraft maynow be officially referred to. One of the most involved yet to be published is Vickers-Armstrongs Valiant B(PR)K.l, indi-cating the Mk 1 Valiant tanker, convertible to bomber and photo- reconnaissance missions. Another variant, also superficially likeits predecessors, is the Fairey Gannet A.S.4 with a more powerful Double Mamba. The prototype, WN 372, flew on March 12 lastand the first production A.S.4, XA 412, flew on April 13. Also announced are the de Havilland Comet C.2 and T.2 and theradio-controlled Fairey Firefly U.9 and Gloster Meteor U.15 and U.I6. In the engine field, D. Napier and Son are permitted toquote Gazelle ratings from NGa.l (1,260 s.h.p.) to NGa.4 (2.000 s.h.D.). Guided-weapon Trials Ship = THE Royal Navy's first guided-weapon trials ship, H.M.S.Girdle Ness (Captain M. G. Greig, D.S.C., R.N.) was com- missioned last week. In a few weeks' time, after a shake-downcruise, she will be available for weapon tests, the first of which —presumably to test the radar and, later, launching character-istics with dummy rounds—will be carried out in the English Channel. Subsequently the ship will proceed to the Irish Sea,where practice will be obtained in operating target drones launched from a land base and handed on to H.M.S. Girdle Nessto control. The vessel (writes a correspondent who recently visited her)is equipped with one multiple launcher—three sets of three rails—mounted upon a modified gun-turret platform on the STANDARD PROCEDURE: During her visit to RAF. Station Marham on July 23 (recorded on this page last week) the Queen presented a squadron standard to No. 207 Sqn. Here Her Majesty, having received the standard from Air Marshal Sir Harry Broadhurst (A.O.C-in-C, Bomber Command), presents it to the standard bearer, F/O.R.C.Havers. foredeck. In each set, two rails are fitted opposite each otherin the lateral plane and the third is situated above. A surface suitable for a sliding contact shoe is provided below. There wasno visible indication of how the services in a missile are to be kept warmed up and running during the final handling sequence,as would be necessary if a high rate of fire were demanded. Abaft the fully enclosed bridge structure are a telemetryreceiving aerial and an octagonal radar dish aerial, the latter presumably providing the beamed signals to control the missileafter it has been gathered into the beam following launching. Intermediate radar that would be used to discriminate betweenthe individual targets presented by the enemy attacking force is indicated by another aerial, and the after part of the ship isequipped with the normal radar antennae required to establish the overall picture of the air situation. Because so much of the search radar equipment is concernedwith the identification of airborne targets, and because it was stated that the initial trials are to be carried out with one par-ticular type of weapon only, it can be assumed that the perform- ance of a sea-to-air defensive missile is to be evaluated. The sizeof the launcher suggests that such a missile, complete with boosters, might be about 20ft in length. The foreign aero-nautical Press, incidentally, has reported that Armstrong Whit- worth are developing a weapon for the Royal Navy. The ship carries a crew of 33 officers and 360 men, togetherwith 20 civilian members of the Royal Naval Scientific Service who are responsible for recording the results of the individualtrials. Up to 30 civilian technicians representing the main con- tractors responsible for the design of the weapon and its controlsystem will also be accommodated on board. Three phases are envisaged in the trials programme. Duringthe first, the weapon and its system Will be operated by the civilian technicians; during the second, Royal Naval personnelwill operate under the general supervision of the civilian tech- nicians; and in the third the Naval team will assume entireresponsibility. CANBERRAS AND VALIANTS, with a Victor and Vulcan in the back- ground, r6ady for inspection during the Queen's visit to Marham. The Canberra: can be seen by their varied fin markings to belong to a number of different light-bomber wings, the diced fin at right denoting the Wittering Wing and the bat at left No. 78 Squadron. Valiants are based at Marham and appear as yet to carry no distinctive markings.
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