FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0160.PDF
162 FLIGHT, 1 February 1957 STAVERTON RESETTLEMENT . . . Staverton, so centrally situated for Gloucester and Cheltenham,is more than an aerodrome for the people of those centres and the surrounding countryside. For over 7,000 of them it means employ-ment; for 2,000 last year (and probably more this) it means a gateway to the Continent by a means of travel which gives theman extra day's holiday because of its swiftness compared with boat and train; and for many more—if plans for increasing the sizeof the industrial estate are fruitful—it may mean a livelihood. This aspect of Staverton development may become especiallyimportant, economically, to the area if contracts for the Javelin —which now keep busy several thousand people at the GlosterAircraft Co., Ltd., and at Armstrong Siddeley (Brockworth), Ltd. —should come to an end. For all these reasons, the corporationsof Gloucester and Cheltenham deserve success in their plans and hopes for the expansion of Staverton. H. W. ". . . Roiol, Ltd., the oldest and largest inhabitants . . ." 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in agreement with the views expressed by correspondents in these columns; the names and addresses of the writers, not for publication in detail, must in all cases accompany letters. Chipmunk AirworthinessW ITH reference to the recent interchange of correspondence inFlight relative to obtaining Certificates of Airworthiness for ex-Service Chipmunk aircraft, it may be of interest to those con-cerned to know that this company, in association with Flight Servicing and the College of Aeronautics, has now been respon-sible for the civil certification of sixteen of these aircraft. This total includes the initial prototype which was purchased from theAir Ministry in April of last year, and was the first Chipmunk Mk 22 to be awarded a C. of A. in the following month. This conversion programme continues without hindrance anddemonstrates that no insurmountable difficulties have been encoun- tered other than delays normally associated with the incorporationof modifications to an aircraft, either ex-Service or civil, which has spent a considerable time in storage. We should like to take this opportunity, therefore, of expressingour thanks to the de Havilland Aircraft Co., to the makers of the various accessories, and particularly to the Air Registration Board,for their co-operative attitude and willingness to discuss opera- tional details (such as the spinning regulations) for inclusion inthe Flight Manual. Particularly, we should like to feel that the initial developmentof this fine training aircraft will be of assistance to all subsequent operators, both at home and overseas.Croydon Airport, Surrey. L. W. WENMAN, Manager, Airways Aero Associations, Ltd. [Airways Aero Associations, Ltd., are proprietors of the Airways Aero Club at Croydon.] Remaining Rarities IN his article on "Remaining Rarities" (Flight, January 4) Mr.David E. Ogilvy writes that the Beaufighter has not operated in this country for the last three years.But certainly one Beaufighter was flying over this country on many occasions last year. I have seen it flying, roughly east andwest, over Sully Hospital on the Glamorganshire coast. It was painted yellow and a dark colour in bold diagonal stripes and itappeared equipped for target towing. Penarth, Glam. HUGH MORONEY. ~D EGARDING the article in Flight on "Remaining Rarities,"**• I think it might interest Mr. Ogilvy to know that I saw a Beaufighter over here on December 31, 1956.Rothbury, Northumberland. B. REID. Soviet Contrails? T> EFERRING to the article "Identification by Contrails" in the•••*• August 3,1956, issue of Flight I enclose a picture I took from the roof of our house sometime in September. [Our correspon-dent's photograph, unfortunately, is not suitable for reproduction; the contrails are too distant and faint—Ed.] The town of Hango, being the southernmost in Finland, lieson the "doorstep" between the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea, less than 50 miles from the Estonian coast. The picture wastaken at 2 p.m., a very clear day, with the camera aimed towards the south-east. These contrails—which, by the way, are quitefamiliar to us in Southern Finland, as they are visible on most clear days—are not made by aeroplanes of the Finnish Air Force,according to statements in the press. This is likely to be true, as trie few jets we have (Vampires) are very rarely seen in this area. Thus I, and others, too, have come to the conclusion that they are made by aircraft from behind the so-called Iron Curtain. Onthis particular day I studied the contrails very carefully through a pair of strong (8 x 60) binoculars and for the first time I managedto get the aircraft themselves in sight. They made long sweeps from east to west and back and at first I thought that they wereall single-engined. But when the machine that made the two uppermost trails on its eastward run turned towards the south-east (where it was crossing some of the other contrails) it gave me the opportunity to see it from behind, and I noticed that therewere two very sharply pointed streams close together. These two trails soon joined into a thicker trail with a thin dark band inits middle. I thought that the twin-engined aircraft I was observing mightfall within that possible 5th group in that Flight article. I also think I might have witnessed a training or mock attack betweenthe twin-engined and two single-engined aeroplanes. The only details I could detect apart from the contrails were that the single-engine machines sent out bright and gleaming sun reflections and that the twin seemed dark and matt.Hango, Finland. FINNISH READER. "Sensitive" Industry /~\F recent years the British aircraft industry has become, in my^-' opinion, unduly sensitive to criticism. I would be the last to advocate "knocking" an industry, particularly when that industrywas not in an entirely happy position. Nevertheless, when men in eminent positions produce what are to my mind wholly speciousarguments in defence of such an industry, I feel that attention should be drawn to the fact. The classic case in recent months is the storm which centredaround the paper delivered before the Royal Aeronautical Society by A. Cdre. F. R. Banks. Noted as a forthright speaker, Mr. Bankselected to cast doubt on our ability as an aircraft-producing nation. As far as I can determine, his arguments and criticisms wereentirely constructive, and I have yet to see any of them refuted. Nevertheless, a hubbub of dismay arose, centred almost entirelyon his single (and perhaps unfortunate) assertion that "In quality of equipment the R.A.F. is about fourth after the U.S.A., Russiaand Sweden." The most curious arguments have been used to support the contention that this is not so. Perhaps the lecturerwas, on this one point, unjustified; in any case the subject is too general for discussion to be worth while. My point in citing thecase is that nobody bothered—or perhaps nobody was able—to challenge the remainder of the paper, which was long, informativeand, to an Englishman, profoundly disturbing. Now I find Sir Arnold Hall, one of our very finest aeronauticalscientists—I hope he will not take exception to being so described —-!perpetuating this most fallacious of all arguments, that a nationwhich can export three hundred million dollars' worth of aviation products a year must be "all right." If one examines this export success one cannot fail to noticethat the bulk of the business has been gained by one aeroplane, the Viscount. I cannot refrain from quoting Mr. Peter Masefield,who once said: The confirmation of the Elizabethan order by B.b.A. marked the lowest point in the fortunes of the Viscount.At this tune it seemed that the project was doomed" (my italics). It seems that, but for the courage of the original Pierson-Edwardsteam at Vickers, we Just would not have had a Viscount at all. That Sir Arnold has his $300m is therefore wholly fortuitous To approach the argument from another angle, it is of funda-mental importance to remember that nearly all the aircraft which-
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
