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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1407.PDF
FLIGHT, 28 September 1956 CORRESPONDENCE 559 The Editor of "Flight" is not necessarily in agreement with thethe names and -JJ • • "rartL? Low-altitude Contrails YlflTH reference to Mr. T. P. de Paravicini's profound letterT T on contrails (Flight, September 14) I wish to confirm his statement that they can be formed at low altitude.I saw, one bitterly cold Sunday morning early hi May 1937 or 8 three Hawker Hinds flying at about 800ft leaving black pencilcontrails which hung in the air for miles or at least a minute and a half. However, on this particular morning, and for somedays previously, conditions were rather peculiar. Apart from the intense cold the clouds, although without definite form, appearedto be polished like metal and the east wind was so dry that it cracked the lips and corners of one's mouth. No doubt the met.experts could explain this condition. During the war I saw a Lancaster leaving a similar black contrailfrom the tail at about 1,500ft. In this instance the day was humid. Three or more aircraft were milling round this Lancaster whichjas events turned out, may have been an early test bed with a jet installed in the tail. I have seen a curved contrail above which, against thin alto-stratus, there proceeded a straight black shadow. The contrail came directly from out of the sun, and provided the plane didnot gain or lose altitude when turning to port (or starboard) this phenomenon is quite in order, for it has also been seen by manyother people. Also last year, I saw a high altitude contrail with a great kink in it. Have any other readers seen these variations? Birmingham, 14. MAURICE AUSTIN. Nationalized Airways TT is refreshing to see that instead of continuing to lose the•*• taxpayer's money, British European Airways have at last made a respectable profit, although it is still very meagre when expressedas a percentage on their turnover. But can anyone explain why we must have two nationalized aircorporations? I personally feel that private enterprise can always do better, as in overseas airlines, and as borne out by the recentresults of British Aviation Services, which includes Silver City Airways. In case anyone points out that B.O.A.C. do all the long runs,and B.E.A. all the short hauls, and therefore the respective aircraft used are quite different, etc., etc., I would point out that the rail-ways of this country are all under one authority, and not two separate corporations, one running long distance express servicesand the other "locals." Last year B.O.A.C. handled a third of a million passengers withapproximately 18,000 total staff, yet a prominent North American airline handled no less than seven times that number of passengerswith actually fewer staff. On top of this seeming inefficiency, we have duplicated staff,ground crews, maintenance men, etc., in B.E.A. who could very well be telescoped in a merger between the two nationalizedairlines. Sutton Coldfield, Warwicks. NOSWALE. Automatic Pilots TI^E have noted with interest the comments of Mr. K. I. T.T" Richardson, superintendent of publicity services, Sperry Gyroscope Co., Ltd., which appeared in your issue of July 20.Referring to our advertisement in the May 1956 issue of Aviation Age, Mr. Richardson stated he was "slightly amused by [the]claims in the FTR advertisement." Mr. Richardson implied that Sperry's ALIA and AL3 Gyropilots preceded Federal's tubelessautopilots. Information available to the writer discloses that the ALIA Gyropilot employs air-driven gyro and pneumatic servos;and the AL3 Gyropilot does employ vacuum tubes, which is con- trary to Mr. Richardson's statement in his letter. Truthfully, the early hydraulic automatic pilots were the first"tubeless" autopilots. With the advent of electric autopilots which utilized vacuum tubes for power amplification, phase detection,etc., the term "tubeless" has b:en applied to those electric auto- pilots which functioned without the use of vacuum tubes. In thecase of Sperry's ALIA Gyropilot, which utilizes pneumatic servos rather than electric, we believe your readers will agree with usthat it is not truly a "tubeless" autopilot in the sense that the term, as used throughout the industry, implies. The fact that the AL3does employ tubes speaks for itself. Unlike Mr. Richardson, who found himself "slightly amused"at the claims Federal made for its autopilot in the Aviation Age advertisement, we find we are not amused (even slighdy) by whathe has endeavoured to convey to your readers. Two statements in his letter have us chortling, however: — c J ?, SP^y Gyropilots employ well proven gyro references."Federal s F-200 and F-300 Autopilots use vertical gyros of Sperry Gyroscope design. Many thousands of these gyroscopes have beenmanufactured in the United States by Sperry and other manufac- turers. They have been successfully used by civil and militaryaircraft. Referring to Federal's claim for the "only tubeless" pilot at thelowest price" and "first in its field" (for aircraft under 7,500 pounds gross take-off weight), Mr. Richardson states: "All thesefeatures we can, I believe, justifiably claim for the Sperry Gyro- pilots, if we wished to." Knowing how vigorously public relationspeople bring new or advanced philosophies and equipment to the attention of the general public, we can assume that Mr. Richard-son knows that the claims contained in his referenced letter are not valid. We trust that the foregoing puts the true perspective for your readers. PAUL HARVEY,Clifton, NJ. Export Sales Manager, Federal Telephone and Radio Co. From the R.N.Z.A.F. in Fiji YVITH reference to the photograph in Flight of May 18, 1956,page 629, the Sunderlands shown are captioned, "Sunder- lands of 205/209 Sqn." This may be correct in the case of thetrail aircraft, but is certainly not so in the case of the lead aircraft illustrated. This Sunderland is, without question, a Sunderlandof the R.N.Z.A.F. and belongs to either No. 5 or No. 6 Squadron. With a little more detail, we might be able to furnish thenumber and hull letters of the aircraft. From photographs taken during the same flight, I believe we are right in saying that itis NZ.4117, with hull letters KNK. As proof of this disclaimer, the aircraft in the lead has twin A.D.F. loop housings and twinradio aerial kingposts. Also, although they are far from plain in the photograph, NZ.4117 had exhaust fishtails removed. In closing, let us thank you for the subject. It provided a very interesting discussion. PRIDE OF PLACESuva, Fiji. (The Men of No. 5 Sqn., Fiji.) [The caption in question was from an official source.—Ed.] Veteran Skymaster VOUR correspondent Sgt. D. F. Gilpin referred in your issuex of April 6, 1956, to a veteran Skymaster, serial No. 3094. This veteran is still a master of the sky, having been re-christenedunder an Indian registration mark VT-DIA in September, 1955. As a close companion to five odier Skymasters of the giantnationalized airline, the Indian Airlines Corporation, this aircraft is principally engaged as one of the night air mail runners for theIndian Government. Occasionally the veteran can be seen at British and European airports, carrying distinguished passengers.With an age record of 22,900 flying hours VT-DIA is still a youthfully vigorous performer in the aviation sky.New Delhi. INDIAN AIRLINES CORPORATION, Someshwar Dayal, Chief Public Relations Officer. FORTHCOMING EVENTS Sept. 25-29. 2nd European Aeronautical Congress, Scheveningen. Sept.27-28. Aerodrome Owners' Association: Annual Conference, Southampton. Sept. 28. R.Ae.S.: Graduates and Students Section: "Novel Methods ot Take-off and Landing," by T. J. Cummings. Oct. 1. R.Ae.S.: First Sir Henry Royce Memorial Lecture, by H. I. F. Evernden. M.B.E. (Main lecture at Derby.) Oct. 4-5. Air Traffic Control Convention, Southend. Oct. 5. Helicopter Association: "Strain Gauge and Blade Motion Recording Systems for Helicopters," by P. D. MacMahon. Oct. 6. British Interplanetary Society: "Study of the High Atmos- phere in the International Geophysical Year," by Prof. H. S. W. Massey, F.R.S. Oct. 9. R.Ae.S.: Section Lecture: "The Pressure Jet Helicopter," by A. Stepan, Dipl.-lng. Oct. 10. R.Ae.S.: Graduates and Students Section: "Service fright- testing of High-speed Aircraft," by S/L. P. D. Thorne. Oct. 11. R.Ae.S.: Main Lecture at Henlow: "Rocket Motors," by S. Allen, F.R.Ae.S. Oct. 16. Institute of Navigation: A.G.M. and Presidential Address: "The Place of Navigation in Modern Air Transport," by Captain A. M. A. Majendie. Oct. 17. R.Ae.S.: Main Lecture: "Importance of Time in Aircraft Manufacture," by A.Cdre F. R. Banks,C.B.,O.B.E.,F.R.Ae.S. Oct. 23. R.Ae.S.: Section Discussion: "Functional Efficiency of Aircraft," introduced by C. Abell, O.B.E., F.R.Ae.S., and A. V-M. A. F. Hutton, C.B., C.B.E., D.F.C. Oct. 25-26. Aircraft Electrical Society: Annual Display, Los Angeles. R.Ae.S. Branch Fixtures (to October 22): Oct. 1, Derby, Main Lecture (see above). Oct. 2, Boscombe Down, "Meteorological Flight Research," by R. J. Murgatroyd. Oct. 10, Luton, "The A.R.A. Transonic Tunnels," by A. E. Haines. Oct. 11, Henfow, Main Lecture (see above). Oct. 17, Coventry, "Problems Associated with Production and Use of Wrought Aluminium Alloys," by G. Forrest and K. Gunn. Oct. 22, Glasgow, "Development of the Jet Propulsion Gas Turbine," by G. C. R. Mathieson.
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