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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1508.PDF
664 FLIGHT CACCIATORE: The Hawker Hunter T.7 proto- type at Rome's Ciampino Airport after its 566 m.p.h. trip from London Airport (news item on this page). FROM ALL QUARTERS Higher Appointments IMPORTANT new appointments are announced as we go topress. The Ministry of Supply and the Air Ministry announce that,with the Queen's consent, the Minister of Supply has appointed Air Marshal Sir Claude Pelly, K.C.B., C.B.E., M.C., as Controllerof Aircraft at the Ministry of Supply with effect from November 19, 1956. He will succeed Air Chief Marshal Sir John W. Baker,G.B.E. K.C.B., M.C., D.F.C., A.D.C., who will be retiring from the Service towards the end of the year. Air Marshal Pelly, who is 54, was Senior Air Staff Officer at AirHeadquarters, Western Desert, in 1943, and commanded the M.o.S. Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishmentfrom 1946 to 1948. In 1953 he was appointed C-in-C. Middle East Air Force. The Air Ministry announces that the Queen has approved theappointment of Air Marshal Geoffrey William Tuttle, C.B., O.B.E., D.F.C., as Deputy Chief of the Air Staff. Air MarshalTuttle's appointment as Deputy Chief of the Air Staff in an acting capacity was announced on July 12 last. It is also announced that the Minister of Supply has appointedDr. R. Cockburn, C.B., O.B.E., to the post of Controller of Guided Weapons and Electronics with effect from October 17, 1956. The Minister of Supply has further, with the agreement of theFirst Lord of the Admiralty, appointed Rear-Admiral A. S. Bolt, D.S.O., D.S.C., to be Deputy Controller of Aircraft in successionto Vice-Admiral W. T. Couchman, C.B., C.V.O., D.S.O., O.B.E. Rear-Admiral Bolt will take up this appointment in the springof 1957. Hunter at Ciampino — ON its way to Italy, for its qualities to be demonstrated to theItalian Air Force, a Hawker Hunter T.7 gave an impressive demonstration of its capabilities by setting up—subject to con-firmation—a new record for the flight from London to Rome. The T.7, flown by A. W. ("Bill") Bedford, Hawker deputy chieftest pilot, and Frank Murphy, now R.A.F. liaison officer and formerly production test pilot at Dunsfold, covered the 891.67miles on October 20 in 1 hr 34 min 28.5 sec, an average speed of 566.1 m.p.h. The existing London-Rome record, 1 hr 59 min, wasset up by a de Havilland Comet I on March 16, 1950. — and Hunters at Amman THE arrival of two R.A.F. Hunters from Cyprus at Amman onOctober 18 raised speculations that the Venoms already in Jordan under treaty arrangements were to be reinforced by moremodern fighters, especially as two days previously Major General "Flight" photograph Mr. Allan. Aii Abu Nuwar, chiet ot the Jordanian general staff, said that theR.A.F. aircraft at Amman had been "put on the alert" to aid Jordan in the event of an Israeli attack.But a British Embassy spokesman in Amman was reported as saying that the Hunters—the first swept-wing fighters ever seenover the Jordan capital—were on "visiting flights," in accordance with the practice of acquainting pilots with airfields and operatingconditions, and that they would stay for only brief periods. He indicated that other Hunters would be making similar visits. In London an Air Ministry spokesman said that the aircraftwere on "a normal training flight through various Middle East stations, which include Amman." New Chief Designer at Reading FOLLOWING the recent resignation of Mr. E. W. J. Gray,B.Sc, M.I.Mech.E., F.R.Ae.S., Mr. J. Allan, Dip.Ae. (Hull), A.F.R.Ae.S., has been appointedchief designer of Handley Page (Reading), Ltd. After beingapprenticed to the Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Company(as it then was) Mr. Allan became a member of the design staff, andbetween 1937 and 1952 worked both as a stressman and as anaerodynamicist. While at Black- burns he was responsible formuch of the design work on the H.P.88 research aircraft. In 1952he joined Handley Page (Read- ing), Ltd., as assistant chiefdesigner, taking responsibility for military and civil versionsof the Marathon transport, and subsequently for design develop-ment of the Herald since May, 1955. Mr. Allan is 40 years of age. Air Minister's Reply to Critics IN a speech at Stockton-on-Tees on October 18 the Secretary ofState for Air, Mr. Nigel Birch, O.B.E., MJ., said that there had been "much loose and some dangerous talk lately about the stateof readiness of our Armed Forces and about their equipment." Referring particularly to air power, Mr. Birch commented: — "I see that an employee of an aircraft company said yesterdaythat Britain was worse equipped in the air than America, Russia or even Sweden. The supreme test of air power today is thepossession of 'V class types of bombers. Except in extremely long range, which we do not need, I believe that our 'V bombershave a better performance in speed, height over target and manoeuvrability than their U.S. and Russian equivalents. TheSwedes have no medium or heavy bombers. Moreover the Swedes are busy buying our Hunter fighters, which hardly looks as ifthey share the black views of some people here at home. "The main difficulty in maintaining a front rank Air Force notonly today but for the future is the long time scale for develop- ment and the great cost of development and of the new machinesthemselves. "It is therefore vital to choose rightly and develop quickly. Ourprocedures have been much improved since 1952. But this is a continuing process and I certainly intend to bend all my effortsto getting them better still. "Meanwhile I trust that critics among manufacturers will usetheir best efforts and energies in getting their development and production ready on time." ROYALLY RECEIVED by H.E. Baha Ud-din Toukan, the Jordanian Ambassador, on behalf of King Hussein: the Vickers Varsity VK 501, converted by Eagle Aircraft Services, Ltd., whose chairman, Mr. Harold Bamberg, is seen (right) formally handing-over the aircraft to the Ambassador at Blackbushe on October 18. With them (left) is the Jordonian Military and Air Attache, Col. Karim Oham.
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