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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0127.PDF
1 February 1957 129 SKI-SHOD: The first ski-equipped Lockheed C-130A. For a close- up view of one of the skis see "Flight" of January 11. Lt-Cdr. G. A. J. Goodhart, R.N., receives the Royal Aero ClubSilver Medal for his world gliding record over a 300 km triangular course in Australia on January 7 last year. He reached a speed of46.62 m.p.h. over the course, beating the previous record of 24.66 m.p.h. by "an unprecedented margin." R.Ae.C. Silver Medals also go to Cdr. H. C. N. Goodhart,R.N., and Mr. Frank Foster for winning the world two-seater gliding championship at St. Yan last July; and Mr. R. Gibbs getsa Bronze Medal as world model aircraft speed champion and holder of the Class I and II world speed records for model aircraft. M.T.C.A. Changes A PPOINTED to succeed Mr. John Profumo as Joint Parlia-**• mentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation is Mr. Airey Neave. Mr. Profumo, who has gone to theColonial Office, has held this position with the M.T.C.A. since 1952. Mr. Neave, who was formerly Parliamentary Private Secretaryto the Secretary of State for the Colonies, is a barrister and Member of Parliament for Abingdon, Berkshire. He served withgreat distinction during the war and was later a member of the British War Crimes Executive. Mr. George Nugent has taken over from Mr. Hugh Molson asthe other Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the M.T.C.A., for inland transport. Both junior Ministers continue to be responsible to Mr. HaroldWatkinson, who was appointed Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation in 1955, but was elevated to Cabinet rank in the newGovernment. Brazil's V.I.P. Viscount LAST week Field Aircraft Services, Ltd., demonstrated theViscount which they have just converted to V.I.P. standard for die President of the United States of Brazil. The machine is the150th Viscount and was originally ordered by Braathen's S.A.F.E. It now contains a superbly finished private writing-room andsleeping quarters aft (photograph, p. 157), a 22-seat passenger cabin forward and a separate radio operator's compartment. Extra radio equipment includes Loran, M.F. and H.F., andFields have also fitted a Kelvin and Hughes periscopic sextant in a specially prepared cabin roof mounting. A second BrazilianV.I.P. machine, a Viscount 764D, will be delivered direct from Vickers to Fields to be fitted with an even more luxurious interior. Field Aircraft Services, Ltd., now have considerable experience of Viscounts. They have manufactured sub-assemblies, developedthe ingenious pictorial maintenance chart for overhauls and have now built a complete fuselage mock-up to facilitate the design ofV.I.P. interiors. The company is experimenting with some new materials for this purpose, and some of the bulkheads in the firstBrazilian V.I.P. Viscount are made of Sapele mahogany veneer on expanded p.v.c. foam. All the work on this aircraft was done atthe company's repair, modification and conversion factory at Tollerton, Notts. Recognition Contest Results F)ETAILED results of the Aircraft Recognition Society's all--••*' England recognition contest, held on January 19, are given below. The winners of the Hurricane Trophy, Post 2/Q3(Wallington), Royal Observer Corps, were successful for the second year running and for the fourth time in six successivecontests. A total of 176 entrants competed. Hurricane Trophy (highest score regardless of category).—Post 2/Q3(Wallington), R.O.C.: M. J. Hooks, 34 points; M. N. Jamieson, 30; J. W. Ware, 30. Total, 94. Runners-up.—Registration Research:T. Pharo, 35; J. Buer, 29; M. Stroud, 24. Total, 88. Heracles Trophy (leading team of A.T.C. or C.C.F. entrants).—No. 2236 (Stanmore) Sqn., A.T.C.: A. R. Wigmore, 29; J. Dunn, 25; C. Mann, 22. Total, 76. Runners-up.—No. 4/F (Ilford) Sqn., A.T.C.:R- N. Slater, 25; R. Dann, 25; R. E. Holmes, 25. Total, 75. B.E.A. Viscount Trophy (leading Service team).—Royal NetherlandsAir Force: J. Valette, 27; K. R. de Graaf, 26; A. F. Cometh, 25. Total, 78. Runners-up.—No. 1 School of Technical Training, Halton:D. J. Parker, 28; A. B. R. Curd, 24; D. P. Brown, 21. Total, 73. "Air Pictorial" Trophy (highest individual score).—T. Pharo, 35(this is only the second time in ten years that a competitor has gained full marks). Runner-up: M. J. Hooks, 34. SPOTLIGHT ON THE INDUSTRYI N reviewing last week the Select Committee report on thesupply of military aircraft, we observed that many points of interest were cited in evidence. A. CDRE. H. J. KIRKPATRICK, of the Air Ministry, remarked,for instance, that there had been an increasing desire to get the Central Fighter Establishment in on the early trials of new types—"somewhere perhaps about the third prototype." Indeed, he said, C.F.E. had already "had a look" at the F.23 [EnglishElectric P.I]. It was hoped that the C.F.E. would have some F.23s for tactical trials before a release to the Service. SIR ARNOLD HALL remarked that the Hunter was designed fortwo 30 mm guns firing a particular type of ammunition, and that it was now carrying four of the guns, using very much moreformidable ammunition. In other words, it was "carrying a kick" a good deal more than twice that for which it was conceived. MR. W. E. W. PETTER described the history of the Gnat. "Iwas looking," he said, "for a product for a fairly small firm with not unlimited resources, with a factory that was good at mass-producing small components, and I was also looking for some- thing which would not automatically be killed by competition forexisting types or by much larger firms. I got the idea of the light fighter when the Tu-4 threat was serious in 1951 from an AirForce officer. The idea caught on well with the Air Ministry to start with; 24 were ordered by the C.A.S. of the day in 1951,or, at any rate, he asked for them. These were approved by the D.R.P.C. [Defence Research Policy Committee] about October1951, but due to the Ministry of Supply not altogelier believing in this concept the machinery was never really put in motion tomake these 24 machines. For one thing, the engine I wanted [the Saturn] was in a very early state at Bristol and thought to be toofar off to fit in the time scale the Air Staff had in mind. The Air Staff were asked to re-write the specification for a longer-termproject; they tried for a long time and did not succeed in making anything that was really more than an indifferent Hunter. Theresult was that the M.o.S. dropped the whole thing in 1952; the engine was stopped; and we went on as a private venture. . . ."It was only when NATO got interested in the concept that the engine was started again in 1953. . . . Unfortunately thespecification was very different from what the British Air Staff would think suitable ... it became more and more a groundattack fighter. I am sure die British Air Staff are right: you have to have a good fighter and after that carry out the externalthings which make it a ground attack scheme. As a result of that, and lack of support from home, we were not placed in thecompetition and the French and Italians are going on with American money. ... It now looks as if we have a very valuable [Contd. overleaf "FLIGHT" AND THE BRITANNIA TN publishing the special articles in the "Britannia" section of this* enlarged issue, "Flight" does not seek to describe the aircraft itself; that we have done already, as is shown below. Our purposethis week is fittingly to salute the entry of an exceptionally fine British aircraft into commercial service; and we do so chiefly by reviewingand explaining the immense amount of painstaking work which the Bristol Company and its suppliers of special equipment have put in'othe development of the Britannia for its world wide duties. In this task they have received the closest co-operation from the first users,B.O.A.C., two of whose pilots contribute to this issue vivid and absorb- ing articles on their flying experiences with the new aircraft. For readers who wish to refer back to the more purely structuraland technical background, the following list of relevant issues of "Flight" will be of use :— Airframe and Complete Aircraft:—Full descriptions: Aug. 22.19B2; Aug. 12, 1955. Major progress reports: Jan. 25, 1952; Feb. 29. 1952; Mar. 7, 1952; Aug. 8, 1952; Feb. 6, 1953; Jan. 1, 1954; Aug. 13.1954; Oct. 15, 1954; Jan. 21, 195B; Apr. 22, 1955; Nov. 11, 1955; Jan. 6. 1956; Mar. 30, 1956. Proteus Engines:—Full description: June 6, 1952. Reports: Aug. 12,1955; Sept. 9, 19SS. Orion Engine.—Full description: Oct. 26, 1956.
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