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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0096.PDF
96 FLIGHT FROM ALL QUARTERS Mr. G. R. Ward. Changes and CatsA MONG the Governmental changes announced last week wereappointments affecting the Air Ministry and the Ministry of Supply. The new Air Minister is Mr. G. R. Ward, who wasformerly Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty; and thenew Minister of Supply is Mr. Aubrey Jones, who in the previous Govern-ment was Minister of Fuel and Power. Mr. Ward, who has been Conserva-tive M.P. for Worcester since 1945, was Under-Secretary of State for Airfrom 1952 to 1955. He joined No. 601 Sqn., R.Aux.A.F., in 1929 and servedin the R.A.F. from 1932-37. From 1937 to 1939 he was in the R.A.F.O.and he served in the R.A.F. in 1939- 45, attaining the rank of group captain. Before all the names of the newGovernment team had been made public, sharp cuts in defence expendi-ture were announced. These included the cancellation of orders for 100Hawker Hunter fighters already placed, "as a result of a reduction inR.A.F. requirements," to quote from the official M.o.S. statement.It is now widely believed that the aircraft strength of Fighter Command will be greatly reduced. A major object of such areduction would be economy, but it would also allow the Com- mand to concentrate more closely on the introduction of defensiveground-to-air missiles. Other major cuts in expenditure are expected.Commenting on the M.o.S. statement, an Air Ministry spokes- man was quoted as saying: "Final decisions on the strength ofdie front hne have not been reached. We must await the Defence White Paper for any indication of our future force plans."A spokesman for the Hawker Siddeley Group said that Hunter production had been going "at peak" at Kingston-on-Thames,Blackpool and Coventry and that in addition to R.A.F. require- ments they had been meeting export orders worth £126m. Can-cellation of the £15m M.o.S. contract would probably mean some redundancy among employees, but the extent of it could not yetbe foreseen. Round the World in 45 Hours BETWEEN January 16 and 18, three Boeing B-52Bs of the93rd Heavy Bomb Wing, U.S.A.F., circled the earth, in a non-stop flying time of 45 hr 19 min. Their average speed of525 m.p.h. for the 24,325 miles was more than double that of a B-50 (94 hr) in 1949. Five aircraft took off from Castle A.F.B., Calif., under thecommand of Maj-Gen. Archie Old. One, a reserve, stayed behind in Labrador; one peeled off near Portugal and landed at BrizeNorton, Oxon (see picture below, and article on p. 126). The remaining three were fuelled by KC-97s near Casablanca, nearDharan, Saudi Arabia, and over Guam. A mock attack was made east of Malaya.On their return Castle was shut by weather and a triumphant welcome was arranged at March A.F.B. The commander ofStrategic Air Command, the redoubtable Gen. LeMay, presented each of the 27 crew-members with the American D.F.C. At leastGen. Old merited the award; he did not sleep during the flight. I.G.Y. Skylarks -TEST firings of the first of the Skylark I.G.Y. test vehicles1 powered by a Raven solid-propeUant motor built by Bristol Aircraft Ltd. (Weston division), in collaboration with the R.A.E.,Westcott are to begin soon at the Woomera range in Australia. The Ra£n gives a thrust of 11,500 lb for about 30 sec and.theSkylark is expected to reach a height of 70 miles in its initial version, while more advanced models are designed to reach 120 If the proving flights proceed satisfactorily in the next few months, upper-atmosphere research flights with special equipment provided by the Royal Society will start in Australia at the beginning of the International Geophysical Year in July. The Royal Society has announced that the first test signal of theI G Y sent out by the Central Radio Propagation Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.—implying that I.G.Y. observers shouldensure that their apparatus is in full working order—was received at Dunstable at 1812 G.M.T. on January 10. Research in the Netherlands ASURVEY of aeronautical research in the Netherlands was dueto be given before the Royal Aeronautical Society by Prof. Dr. Ir. H. J. van der Maas, F.R.Ae.S. (Technological Universityof Delft) in London last night, January 24. The paper described some of the work performed in the Netherlands in the post-warperiod, and the main installations now available. After a short historical introduction, the work of the National AeronauticalResearch Institute (where the main part of the country's aero- nautical research is concentrated) and of the AeronauticalEngineering Department of Delft Technological University was outlined. Aspects mentioned included aerodynamics (includinginvestigations of flutter, helicopter problems, boundary-layer tiieory and gust loads); flight mechanics (including flight-test re-search); structures and materials. We hope to refer to the paper at greater length in an early issue. Vickers Reorganization CEVERAL changes in the design organization of Vickers-^ Armstrongs (Aircraft), Ltd., were announced last week. They form part of what is described as "a general re-alignment of thedesign resources of the firm." Under the new arrangement, design responsibility is now sharedby three chief engineers, each responsible for a particular sphere: Mr. Basil Stephenson, F.R.Ae.S. (civil aircraft); Mr. H. H.Gardner, B.Sc, F.R.Ae.S. (military aircraft); and Brigadier J. Clemow, M.A. (guided weapons). Further details, and portraits,appear on page 119. Bristol Appointments AN announcement from Bristol Aircraft,**• Ltd., states that Mr. J. Lansdowne Norton, M.I.Mech.E., formerly chiefdesigner, ramjets, with Bristol Aero- Engines, Ltd., has taken up the post ofchief mechanical engineer, Bristol Air- craft, Ltd. In this new appointment,Mr. Norton has responsibility for the design of mechanical assemblies onBristol helicopters and fixed-wing air- craft; and he will be directly responsibleto Mr. H. Giddings, assistant chief engineer. Mr. Norton, who was behind much of the early engine design of many success- ful racing motor cycles built by Norton Motors, Ltd., a firm founded by his father, joined in 1936 thedesign staff of what was then the engine division of the Bristol Aeroplane Co., Ltd. In 1943 he became engineer-in-charge ofspecial projects, being responsible among other work for the in^/PJ1 development of the Twin Centaurus power unit. In1950 he was appointed assistant chief turbine development engineer (mechanical); and during 1952 he became chief designer,ramjets. £ *? ??*% T£?er aPP°intrnent is announced from i^^" chief engineer of Mr. J. L. Norton. l B 1T,y 18 one of tbe Boei"9 B"52Bs of theH f eavY t? omb L W'"9 <"• "boye and p. 126) was Inspected -James H- Wolsh
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