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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1578.PDF
736 FLIGHT, 2 November 1956 CORRESPONDENCE The Editor of "Flight" is not necessarily in agreement with the views expressed by correspondents in these columns;the names and addresses of the writers, not for publication in detail, must in all cases accompany letters. ConvertiplanesA LTHOUGH convertiplanes of several types have been flying• quite successfully in the U.S.A. for some time past, the true convertiplane (that is, an aircraft which takes off, and lands,as either a helicopter or autogiro, and the rotor of which retracts into the fuselage or wings, so that it flies as a perfectly normalaeroplane for its entire journey) is at present still in the drawing- board stage, even in U.S.A., where the Sikorsky concern aresaid to be "well advanced" with such a design. There is every reason to believe that this machine, when brought to a successfulissue, will prove to be the surviving type of air passenger liner of the future. Sikorsky mentioned the possibilities of an aircraftof this type in his lecture delivered to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers during the summer of last year. To reduce excessive weight, cost and complication, it ispossible that rotor systems of the autogiro type will be used in preference to helicopter rotors. The undoubted advantages ofthe autogiro principle have never yet been fully realized. Had the system been invented today, instead of over 30 years ago, itwould have been hailed as an aeronautical marvel, if only for its utter simplicity, lightness and cheapness as compared to thehelicopter. Like many another outstanding invention, its main trouble was that it was invented half a century before its time.For its advantages to have been fully realized, it should have been invented after the helicopter, not before. (By this, the writermeans the successful helicopter of today, not the several thousand patent-applied-for helicopters over the past 70 to 80 years orso.) Furthermore, in taking-off even a giant air liner, absolute direct helicopter lift is not a sine qua non. The very short take-offrun of 50 to 100 yards or so necessitated by the autogiro system is permissible. In the case of a large fixed-wing aircraft in which auxiliaryrotors are used merely for take-off and landing and are stowed for (say) a 5,000-mile non-stop flight, a costly and heavy heli-copter system would be utterly out of the question from the airline operators' point of view; and if rotors were used at all,the ultra light, simple and cheap autogiro rotor would be the obvious answer. Incidentally, the writer took out the first British patent everto be applied for by a Britisher for an aircraft of this type, as far back as 1938. Its number is 499,632. An extension of patentterm was applied for and granted; consequently, notwithstanding its age, it is still operative. London, S.W.17. E. V. HAMMOND. Tonnage Preferred SINCE your publication of Mr. Brown's apparently excellentsuggestion [Flight, October 12] that aircraft weights and loads should be measured in tons instead of pounds, I have scannedyour correspondence columns in vain for evidence of the unanimous support this long-overdue measure might have beenexpected to receive. The ton is the commonly accepted unit for measuring vehicleand cargo weights in most forms of transport, and its use in aviation would surely facilitate comparison. Furthermore, the tonis nearly equivalent to the metric ton, enabling approximate con- version to metric system weights to be made without agonizingmental gymnastics. Can it be that the seeming coyness of the aviation world in this matter is due to a desire to soft pedal com-parison with those other forms of transport, either because the relative capacity of aviation is at present so small or its charges,particularly for freight, so high? If air freight is ever to be more than the froth on the body oftransport beer it will have to adopt more sensible units than pounds weight. Will you, sir, not encourage this step (and helpyour struggling readers, not all of whom carry slide rules in their pockets) by quoting tonnages as well as, or instead of, poundages? Southsea, Hants. TORQUEMADA. A Rolls-Royce Designer V^OUR recent article on Sir Henry Royce was most interesting;-*- but in my view the brilliance of this great man has rather over- shadowed the work of at least one individual who contributed verylargely to the prosperity of Rolls-Royce aero engines. I refer to Mr. A. J. Rowledge. I have been in the engineeringindustry quite a long time and have had the opportunity of seeing firms from the inside. Frequently the credit for good work doesnot go to the person mainly responsible for it. Round about 1919 the Napier Lion engine was showing its capabilities; in fact it wasso good that most of the high-powered aeroplanes from then onwards utilized it, at the expense of Rolls-Royce business. When some time before 1925 Mr. Row'edge decided to join Rolls-Royce,Rolls-Royce engines took on a new look and one could hardly help noticing that certain points of the new series of engines hadtilings in common with an advanced design of car engine for which Mr. Rowledge was responsible. The "F" engine, which,as most people know, was the forerunner of the Kestrel, can be described as the prototype of all Rolls-Royce aero-engines up tothe Griffon, and must have been to a large extent due to the influence of Mr. Rowledge's work. In passing, it is interesting to note that the world's land speedrecord is still held by a car driven by engines developed from Mr. Rowledge's 1919 design. The reputation of Sir HenryRoyce is secure for all time, but I cannot help feeling that Mr. Rowledge's work has not received full recognition.Cropston, Leics. R. C. MCLEOD. In the Queue A/f AY I refer to your report "Controlling the Traffic" on page-L"-"- 653 of your October 19 issue? In the last paragraph on that page you have quoted in brackets a reply attributed to Air. Collins,leading the reader to believe that a 12-second separation can be achieved "between aircraft fitted with Decca and buffers." Thisgives, unfortunately, a wrong impression and is perhaps mis- leading to a very marked extent. The general reply to the questionof separation standards between aircraft fitted with Decca was that a five-minute longitudinal and a ten-mile lateral separation werebeing used in experiments with these aircraft so fitted. Mr. Collins, in his contribution to the panel's reply, wasreferring to an earlier question raised during the course of Captain Bailey's lecture, when a statement was made by the Decca Radarrepresentative to the effect that trials had been carried our at Dum-Dum airport with Decca-equipped aircraft, and a V.F.R.landing rate had been achieved of 12 sec. Mr. Collins said in jest that if Decca Radar and Decca Navigator could get togetherand, additionally, if buffers be fitted to the aircraft, perhaps a 12- second separation could be used. It was not, however, a seriousproposition at this stage and we had to be content with a five- minute figure. London, W.I. JOHN K. SUTCLIFFE, Editor, Journal of the Guild of Air Traffic Control Officers. [Our contributor of course realized—and assumed that readerswould too—that Mr. Collins's remark about 12-second separation tjetween aircraft fitted with buffers was not serious; but he regretsany misunderstanding that may have arisen.—Ed.] Nov. Nov. Nov. Nov. Nov. Nov. Nov. Nov. Nov. Nov. Nov. Nov. 1-2 2 6 7 7 9 9-10 10 13 13 14 16 FORTHCOMING EVENTS Institute of Welding; Joint Meeting with the Netherlands Welding Society. Helicopter Association: "Development of the Skeeter Helicopter," by T. D. Nisbet, A.R.Ae.S. R.Ae.S.: Main Lecture: "London Airport," by Air Marshal Sir John D'Albiac, K.B.E., C.B., D.S.O. Air-Britain: National Aviation Photographic Competition. Kronfeld Club: Discussion on Aircraft/Car Fuel Wager. Blackpool and Fylde Aeronautical Society and Blackpool and Fylde Aero Club: Dinner Dance. Agricultural Aviation Show, Palmerston North, New Zealand. Society of Licensed Aircraft Engineers: All-day Meeting: "Non Destructive Testing and Inspection." Institute of Transport: Anniversary Luncheon. R.Ae.S.: Section Lecture: "Air Conditioning of Aircraft," by Dr. E. W. Still, F.R.Ae.S. Kronfeld Club: "Navigation Across the Tosman Sea in 1930," by Francis Chichester. Institute of Navigation: "Navigational Aspects of Turbo- prop Operations over the North Atlantic," by J. E. D. Will'iams. R.Ae.S.: Section Lecture: "C. of A. Flight Testing," by D. P. Davies. R.Ae.S. Branch Fixtures (to November 21). Nov. 5, Belfast, "Gyroscope," by C. B. Flindt; Holton, Film Show. Nov. 6, Boscombe Down, "High Speed Flight Problems," by R. F. Creasey. Nov. 7, Luton, "The Prestwick Pioneer," by N. J. Capper; Bristol, "The Dawn of Aerodynamics," by J. L. Pritchard; Chester, "Flight Systems for Transport Aircraft," by W. H. McKinley. Nov. 8, Isle of Wight, Annual Dinner. Nov. 12, Glasgow, "Uses of Electronic Computing Machines," by R. J. A. Paul; Halton, Film Show; • Henlow, "Use of Plastics in the Aircraft Industry," by H. V. Potter. Nov. 14, Leicester, "Manned Flight into Outer Space," by T. Nonweiler. Nov. 16, Birmingham, "Silencing of Jet Engines," by F. B. Great rex; Luton, Branch Dinner. Nov. 19, Halton, Film Show. Nov. 21, Bristol, Junior Members' Papers Competition; Christchurch, "Aeroplane Noise: A Challenge," by Prof. E. J. Richards; Coventry, "Some Influences of Equipment and Systems on Aircraft Design," by C. F. Joy; Reading, "Interplanetary Flight," by J. Humphries; Weybr/dge, "New Machining Techniques in the Aircraft Industry," by L. G. Burnard and T. A. Waite. Nov. 20.
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