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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1509.PDF
26 October 1956 665 52F £ kf A perf°rmances bY "otable and contrasting air- K1P M'9hty.Mous.eP°d*- Below, twenty minutes after sunset, aBlackburn Beverley, with f.ve Scarab rockets each side, gets airborne. At St. Leonards Sussex, last Saturday the Minister of Supply,Mr. Reginald Maudling said that against the disappointments and difficulties encountered by Britain's aircraft industry could be seta magnificent record of achievement." He would like its sup- porters to let its achievements speak for themselves, and to criticswould say: Stop knocking the aircraft industry around, because you are doing no good to the country or to the many thousandsof your^fellow-cmzens who work to design and build British sxrcrflitxrcrflit. Mr. Maudling said it was true "our present generation of fightershas been taking too long to get into effective service We lost years of progress when, shortly after the war, the Government ofthe day decided not to go ahead with manned supersonic flight It is very difficult to catch up once you have slipped back."In the civil field, he added, "we have a real chance of regaining the position we held before the Comet disasters. I do not thinkit is always realized what a great triumph it was when the Viscount broke into the American domestic market." [A. Cdre. F. R. Banks' lecture to the Royal Aeronautical Societyis reported on pp. 683-5; editorial comment, p. 663.] V-A Military Aircraft Specialists •THE formation of a new department, to be known as the militaryx aircraft office, is announced by Viekers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), Ltd. Situated at Weybridge, it will serve the whole aircraftcompany, including the Supermarine works. In charge is Mr. Jeffrey Quill, O.B.E., A.F.C., formerly Supermarine sales andliaison manager; he will be assisted by G/C. R. J. Carvell, R.A.F. (Ret.), who recently joined the company, and by Mr. M. Scott <<*»?• Mr. Jeffrey Quill. G/C. R. J. Carvell. Mackirdy, a member of Mr. Quill's staff at Supermarine since1950. They will analyse military aircraft requirements at home and in Commonwealth and foreign countries; maintain contactwith the appropriate air staffs; and study markets and promote sales. As senior test pilot for Supermarine from 1938-47, Mr. Quillwas primarily responsible for the flight testing of Spitfires from the prototype stage onwards. During the war he flew operationallyin the R.A.F. and also served in the Fleet Air Arm. G/C. Carvell was commissioned in the R.A.F. in 1926. Hewas transferred to the Technical Branch in 1941, and from 1946 to 1949 served as M.o.S. representative in Australia. After threeyears at Coastal Command H.Q. he was appointed Assistant Com- mandant of No. 1 School of Technical Training, Halton, wherehe remained until his retirement this year. Mr Scott Mackirdy has been with Vickers-Armstrongs since1945. After service in the R.A.F. and F.A.A. in pre-war days he was invalided out. A few years later, although still officially unfitfor aircrew duties, he flew all types of aircraft in the A.T.A., from 1941 to 1945. Routine Ejection Demonstration LAST Friday, at Chalgrove airfield, Bucks, Warrant Officer M.Tournier of the French Air Force made a test ejection ina Martin-Baker Mk 4 seat from a Meteor 7/8 at 420 kt E.A.S. at 1 500ft The ejection was part of a routine demonstration designedmainly to gain experience of the physiological effects of escape at high speeds. The seat and parachutes worked perfectly andTournier received only minor abrasions. The Meteor was piloted by Capt. Scott, Martin-Baker test pilot. This was, madentallythe fastest test ejection so far carried out, although emergency ejections have been made at rather higher speed. For Tourmerit was his 600th parachute descent but his first ejection. Tribute to Sir Richard ORE than 1,000 people attended the memorial service to SitRichard Fairey at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London, on October 19. Giving the address, Lord Brabazon, a lifelong friendof Sir Richard, said of him: — "Enthusiasm, concentration, independence and originality werehis, whatever he was doing. He was a pioneer in the early days and he was a pioneer right to the end. The world speed recordby his firm made him very proud. "There was nothing he touched that he did not adorn andembellish. Under that serious appearance he was basically shy, but he had the charm of the eternal boy who never really grew up." The lesson was read by another great friend of Sir Richard,Vice-Admiral Sir Caspar John, Flag Officer, Air (Home) and son of Augustus John, the artist. Also among those present wereAir Chief Marshal Sir Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman, Vice-Chief of the Air Staff, representing the Air Council, and Mr. ReginaldMaudling, Minister of Supply. [An obituary of Sir Richard appeared in our issue for October 5.] Lawrence D. Bell "COUNDER of the Bell Aircraft Corporation, of Buffalo, N.Y.,-*• Mr. Lawrence Dale Bell died in that city last Saturday at the age of 62.He had worked his way through the aircraft industry, for he started as a mechanic in 1911. He subsequently acted as super-intendent and, finally, vice-president and general manager for Glenn L. Martin between 1913 and 1928, and then held similarposts with Consolidated until 1935. In the latter year he formed the Bell Aircraft Corporation, whichhas since made a speciality of high-performance, single-seat machines. Bell were assigned the task of designing America's firstjet aircraft, the P-59 Airacomet; but the company's greatest achievement was probably the X-l rocket-propelled research air-craft, which in 1947 became the first piloted supersonic aeroplane and reached a speed of 967 m.p.h. Later developments of thesame basic design reached almost twice this speed, and the more advanced X-2 is reported to have reached an altitude of 126,000ftand a speed of 2,200 m.p.h., or more than Mach 3. At Fort Worth, Texas, Bell maintain an enormous productionof helicopters, and at other locations the company are leaders in the design, development and production of advanced types ofrocket motor. Bell are also prime contractors for the GAM-63 Rascal air-launched bombardment weapon.
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