FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1094.PDF
240 FLIGHT FROM ALL QUARTERS CAPPING EVERYTHING: Descnbea as being still in an experimental stage is this fantastic disc-shaped radome, mounted above a Lockheed WV-2 Super Constellation of the U.S. Navy. Tests at Edwards Air Force Base are to take place shortly (see news item below). To and From Suez AIRCRAFT from R.A.F. Transport Command and the airlines—**• including B.O.A.C.'s Britannias—have been heavily engaged flying troops to and from the Mediterranean area, and civiliansaway from Suez. A fair share of the airlift—largely under co-ordination by Airwork—has fallen to the independentoperators. Three of the Britannias which are scheduled to join B.O.A.C.'sregular services in October flew from Hum, Hants, last Sunday each converted to carry 100 soldiers. Other troops flew out from Hurn and Blackbushe in Hermesand Viking aircraft, while Yorks were used to carry heavy baggage. Meanwhile, elements of the 1st and 3rd Battalions, the ParachuteRegiment, were flown home from the Mediterranean by Hastings of Transport Command for further training; and three Solents ofAquila Airways (leaving two for the company's normal services) are to fly wives and families of Suez Canal employees from theGreat Bitter Lake to Malta. The Government's request for help in troop-lifting to theMediterranean has met with a good response from the indepen- dents, and about 200 aircraft—about half of them four-engined—could be impressed if necessary. Many of the four-engined aircraft (Hermes and Tudors) arealready utilized on troop charter; Airwork, whose Hermes are regularly used for trooping anyway, could probably make someVikings available without affecting their Safari and other services. Silver City, recently doing record car-ferry business across theChannel, take the phlegmatic view that should conditions become so serious as to require the use of their 22 Freighters and Super-freighters, holiday traffic would probably have declined anyway. Crusader Speed Record Attempt TTHE first American attempt to beat the world speed record set•*• up by Peter Twiss in the Fairey Delta 2 last March was to be made over China Lake, near Los Angeles, this week with theChance Vought F8U-1 Crusader. The name of the pilot has not been announced. The Crusader is reported to have recorded aspeed of 1,100 m.p.h. in two runs last December. To beat the British record by the necessary one per cent it will have to attainat least 1,143.3 m.p.h. The Crusader is powered by a Pratt and Whitney J57 with afterburner and the record aircraft is now posi-tioned at the U.S. Navy air base at Inyokern, close to China Lake. German Orders ""THE West German Government has recently confirmed aircraft•*• orders from two British companies amounting to £7 m., and informed a third company that a contract "worth several millions"will be signed in the near future. Largest of the German orders, said to be worth over £5 m., hasbeen placed with Sir W. G. Armstrong-Whitworth Aircraft, Ltd., and is for 68 Mk 4 Sea Hawks. The second confirmed order,worth £2 m., is for sixteen Gannets from the Fairey Aviation Co., Ltd.v Both orders include spares and equipment. Meanwhile, Bristol Aircraft, Ltd., has been notified by theFederal German Ministry of Defence that the Sycamore has been selected for service with the German Defence forces and "a sub-stantial number" will be required. Engine Change THEN Lufthansa announced their order for four Boeing707-320s on April 24, they stated that the aircraft would be "powered by Pratt and Whitney JT4 [J75] jet engines, equippedwith Boeing-developed sound-suppressors and thrust-reversers." Last Monday, a surprise announcement from Rolls-Royce showedthat the German airline had changed its mind: "Lufthansa have chosen Rolls-Royce Conway by-pass turbojets to power then-fleet of four Boeing 707 jet airliners . . ." Lufthansa apparently made their decision after a long anddetailed evaluation of the performance of all the alternative engines and service facilities offered by each manufacturer. The airline states that some of the factors which influenced it were, (1) TheConway is lighter, giving the 707 an additional 5,700 lb of payload, or alternatively the same weight of extra fuel, (2) The Conwayhas a lower specific fuel consumption, (3) A slower jet efflux results in less noise, and (4) Reduced fire hazard, due to thesurrounding "envelope" of cool air. Curious Constellation DESCRIBED as "looking like a flying saucer that has capturedan aeroplane," the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation's new early-warning research aircraft (a development of the WV-2 which the U.S. Navy already operates) is now being tested at Burbank. Basically a Super Constellation, the aircraft has (according toits manufacturers' description) "been made bizarre by a huge, discus-shaped structure spreading over it like a parasol. Thisellipsoid, measuring more than 30ft across, is a radome which houses the experimental craft's distance-determining radarantenna." First tests are by high-speed taxying to evaluate the aero-dynamic characteristics of the big radome and its effect, if any, on stability and control. It will then be detached and sent by roadto Edwards Air Force Base, where the WV-2 is due to undergo flight testing with all its special equipment in place. Fairey Managing Director • j LAST Monday, August 13, certain executive changes were an-' nounced by the Fairey Aviation Co., Ltd. Sir Richard Fairey, M.B.E., Hon.F.R.Ae.S., resigned office as managing director onAugust 10, 1956, but remains executive chairman. Mr. Geoffrey W. Hall, A.F.R.Ae.S., formerly an assistant managing director,has been appointed managing director. Mr. L. Massey Hilton, D.F.C., A.F.C., A.F.R.Ae.S., having intimated that on medicaladvice he would be obliged to seek early release from his executive duties, has resigned as assistant managing director but remains amember of the Board. SAMPLING THE SHACKLETON: A visitor to Woodford on August 9 was Air Marshal Sir Bryan Reynolds, A.O.C-in-C, Coastal Command. Here, before a Shackleton flight on that occasion, are (I. to r.) Mr. E. Galitzine (Avro sales manager). Air Marshal Reynolds, Mr. J. A. R. Kay (Avro general manager), S/L. J. B. Wales (Avro test pilot), S/L. V. S. Swain (P.S.O. to the A.O.C-in-C.) and G/C. E. C. Dearth, Ret. (Avro security and R.A.F. liaison officer).
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
