FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0260.PDF
262 FLIGHT BELLIGERENT BEAUTY (reminiscent of Miss Marlene Dietrich fondling a brace of forty- fives) is this Hawker Sea Hawk FGA.6, carrying full war load. The Mks 100 and 101 for the West German Naval Air Arm will be basically similar (see news item below). FROM ALL QUARTERS The Sea Hawks Soar WHEN Sir Sydney Camm and hisKingston design team laid out the trim Hawker P. 1040 straight-wing Nene-powered fighter more than eleven years ago, they could not have foreseen that, fol-lowing the adoption of a naval version by the Fleet Air Arm, the Sea Hawk (as thetype became known) would ultimately pass into service with the Dutch and GermanNavies also. Confirmation of the German order comes nearly ten years afterthe P.1040's maiden flight and must be acclaimed as one of the finest tributes paid to a British aircraft in recent times. Sixty-eight machines are involved, at a price of over five million pounds, including spares and equipment. The contract was signed in Bonn on behalf of Armstrong Whit-worth Aircraft (who have been responsible for developing and producing the Sea Hawk) by Mr. C. S. Emery, a director of thecompany. It follows the order placed by the Dutch Government some months ago for thirty similar machines. The letter of intent was received by A.W.A. last August; mean-while, officers ot the West German Naval Air Arm have been studying the aircraft at Coventry. Last month they were accordeda civic reception by the Lord Mayor of Coventry, as their number included officers from Kiel, with which the Midland city has abond of friendship. Although originally stated to be of Mk 4 pattern, the Germanmachines will, in fact, be designated Mk 100 and Mk 101, and will be basically of the latest—Mk 6—type, with internal modi-fications to meet German requirements. They will carry full deck-landing equipment and will retain the folding-wing featurein order that their pilots, who are to receive training in the U.S.A., will be able to use the aircraft carriers of other NATO nations(Germany having none of her own). Powered with Rolls-Royce Nenes delivering considerably in excess of 5,000 lb thrust, theGerman Sea Hawks will (according to a Hawker Siddeley announcement) be used for "patrol and reconnaissance." Thatthe Sea Hawk is, at the same time, a potent strike weapon is indicated by the photograph above. Hawker Headquarters Expansion OTHER noteworthy news concerning Hawkers is that they areabout to embark on what is described as "the biggest expan- sion and rebuilding scheme in the 47 years' history of thecompany." This period, of course, dates back to 1910, the year in whichT. O. M. (now Sir Thomas) Sopwith obtained his R.Ae.C. Aviator's Certificate. In 1912 he founded the Sopwith AviationCompany, with a disused roller-skating rink in Canbury Park Road, Kingston-upon-Thames, as his factory. It was here that thepresent Hawker factory and offices were established and expanded during World War 1, though the name of the Sopwith AviationCo. gave place to that of the Hawker Engineering Co. in 1920. Sopwith war-time production also took place in a large factory amile or so to the north, in Richmond Road. In the inter-war years this plant was acquired by Leyland Motors, but after the SecondWorld War it reverted to aeroplane manufacture, with Hawker Aircraft as the occupiers. It is this latter factory that will be the object of the big new "Flight" photograph building scheme. A four-storey office block—illustrated below—will have a 500ft frontage on the Richmond Road. Here will be situated a new design office of some 50,000 sq ft on one uninter-rupted floor under a 400ft-span daylight roof, and its technical equipment is to include a flight simulator and the Ferranti Pegasuscomputer already in use in the existing offices. At the rear of the factory, overlooking the Thames nearTeddington Lock, a research and development building will be erected, with an area of 100,000 sq ft. It is to contain a variety ofthe most modern equipment, including a large structural test rig. Adjoining this building will be a two-storey office block of 20,000sq ft, to house drawing offices, laboratories and other departments. The new scheme will bring administrative, design, research anddevelopment activities into close conjunction, and there will also be new ancillary services such as canteens and recreation rooms. At a time when much has been heard of a run-down of Hunterproduction, this bold new planning—the buildings alone will cost over £lm—is certain to bring general encouragement, particularlyin the Kingston area. G.91 SupersonicT HE prototype Fiat G.91 light ground-attack aircraft for NATO (Bristol Orpheus turbojet) has, on its twenty-fourth flight, been dived at supersonic speed four times in succession, at a height of 30,000ft. Announcing this, Fiat add that "the manoeuvre to dis- engage from the sonic barrier was particularly easy." Missile Regiment Commander T AST week it was announced that Lt-Col. J. E. Cordingley had•*-' been appointed to command 47 Guided Missile Regiment (Field), R.A., which is to start forming this month. [An announce-ment of its formation appeared in these columns on February 15.] Lt-Col. Cordingley is the son of A.V-M. Sir John W. Cordingley,who has been Controller of the R.A.F. Benevolent Fund since his retirement from the R.A.F. in 1947. No-Prop TrainingD URING the past fifteen months No. 2 F.T.S., Hullavington,Wiltshire, has been the scene of an important—and success- ful—experiment. Two courses have been trained ab initio toVampire advanced trainer standard entirely on the Hunting Percival Jet Provost, and the standard they have reached (as wementioned on page 230 last week) evoked very favourable com- ment from the examining wings of R.A.F. Central Flying Schooland of the NATO Air Training Advisory Group. Nearly 4,000 hours' flying have been accumulated on the Jet Provost T. Mk Isin the third phase—assessment of the aircraft's qualities as a basic trainer—of the extensive trials that have been undertaken by theR.A.F. HAWKER H.Q.: An architect's elevation of the new office block, at Kingston, described above.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
