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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0343.PDF
FLIGHT, 15 March 1957 345 CINDERELLA TRANSFORMATION . . . they went on doing so until the time came when the duty ofloading ambulance aircraft was taken over by R.A.F. casualty- evacuation personnel. The War Office then quite naturally decidedthat the fuselage was redundant and requested the Air Ministry to remove it. There now enters into this story a touch of the macabre, forit is said that the Dakota (still on its wheels) ran away while it was being moved, prior to its complete removal from Mytchett,and ended its run with undercarriage in a tank ditch and nose resting ignominiously on the edge. There it was patheticallyvisible from the main Southampton-London railway line. Such a story, even if apocryphal—it has not been possible to prove it—adds even more point to this Cinderella's subsequent transforma- tion scene. In this case (though it might be tactless to carry the pantomimeanalogy too far) the Good Fairy was Eagle Aircraft Services, Ltd. For when the Air Ministry put up what was left of KN550 forsale by competitive tender, E.A.S. bought it. They then trans- ported this very dilapidated fuselage and centre section by roadup to their premises at Ringway Airport, Manchester; and their problem—no easy one, by any stretch of imagination—was thento get a C. of A. and transform what was once a flyable aeroplane into a saleable proposition. Eagle set about this task with remarkable promptitude, forwithin about three weeks of getting KN550 to Manchester, they had arranged for its sale to B.O.A.C., on behalf of Aden Airways,as a completed aeroplane with a full 12 months' C. of A. Rebuild- ing it, however, proved a much more laborious and lengthy task;for, after nearly six years' untended exposure to the wind and weather, much of KN55O's fuselage and centre section was un-serviceable—and certainly nothing unserviceable escaped the eagle eyes of A.R.B. and B.O.A.C. inspectors keeping a close watch onall the work being done. There was, inevitably, a tremendous amount of corrosion to be cleaned up. The fin attachment frames had been broken byincorrect haulage. All the white paint had to be removed. For- tunately, the fuel tanks were serviceable; but the obtaining ofspares to replace unserviceable items and new parts to make the aircraft complete presented a big problem to Mr. R. Clacher, whohas been in charge of production, and Mr. C. W. Axten, who is responsible for inspection of all work done, in the Eagle hangarat Ringway. They got a port wing from B.E.A., and the starboard one came from S.A.S. at Copenhagen; so G-AOJI—to give thisdemobilized Dakota her civilian title—will fly over the Arabian deserts in somewhat mongrel fashion. New tyres and engines, ofcourse, had to be obtained; and the fuselage has been given a complete new skin from aft of the wing roots, both above andbelow. All electrical wiring was renewed and hydraulic, de-icing, fuel and oil supply lines checked, most of them being renewed.The front cockpit equipment was still reasonably complete, but had to be replanned to meet Aden Airways' requirements. All thepassenger accommodation has had to be fitted from scratch to B.O.A.C./Aden Airways standards; and understandably the com-plicated work—virtually a rebuilding—has taken something over twelve months' patient effort to complete. Its achievement isa fine piece of work by Eagle Aircraft Services, Ltd. Now, however, G-AOJI has been completed and wears her newwhite and blue colours with Aden Airways' double Speedbird insignia, under which she now starts a life of civilian passengercarrying. Who would have thought, when the aircraft left Canada in 1945, that nearly twelve years later she would find her way outto Southern Arabia in B.O.A.C. service? And how many of her future passengers will realize that the aircraft in whose tastefullyappointed cabin they are comfortably sipping their coffee or orange juice above the desert sands was once a neglected andweatherbeaten fuselage used for the ground training of R.A.M.C. personnel near the military town of Aldershot? Perhaps AdenAirways—in view of her unusual history—might call G-AOJI Cinderella. Or maybe—like the rest of the Aden fleet—the newaircraft will remain discreetly anonymous. H.W. SPEEDING U.S.A.F. PRODUCTION LAST week the U.S. Defense Department announced five guid-y ing factors which, it was hoped, will reduce the overall period between the issue of a requirement for military aircraft and theirdelivery to user squadrons. The factors are: better long-range planning for new weapons;energetic tapping of all sources of ideas for new weapons; Service Secretaries and Chiefs of Staff to pay close attention to newweapons earlier in the development cycle to achieve correct priority and financial support; each new programme to be supervisedby an experienced military officer who will remain in his post for more than three years; and simplification in contract procedures. NORTH AMERICAN IN EUROPE A EUROPEAN office—in Geneva—is to be opened by NorthAmerican Aviation, Inc., under the charge of Robert J. Clark, who will be stationed at the Hotel du Rhone until permanentoffices are ready. Mr. Clark, who joined the company in 1943, has for the past three years been their Washington staff's co-ordinator with the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics. . j HARVARD CONVERSION A CONVERSION of the ubiquitous North American T-6 or•r*- SNJ Harvard, incorporating a tricycle undercarriage and other refinements, is scheduled to fly this month. The newmachine, known as the Super-6, is the product of the Erie L. Bacon Corporation of Santa Monica, U.S.A., and is expectedto complete C.A.A. flight tests in April. The conversion has been developed for sale primarily toforeign air forces, several of which are stated to have indicated serious interest in the project. After fifteen years' service, theretirement of the T-6 from the U.S. Services was recently announced. The principal new features of the Super-6 are the tricyclelanding gear, modernized power package with jet stacks and augmentor cooling, one-piece canopy, new lightweight Goodyearwheels, modernized cockpit and instrument panel, reduction of 4ft in span, wingtip fuel pods, and a general "cleaning-up" of theairframe to reduce weight and drag. An increase in cruising speed of 30 m.p.h. and a 20 per cent greater cruising range areestimated. The original main fuel tanks in the centre section have been removed to accommodate the main landing gear, butthe total fuel capacity is increased. BRITAIN FROM THE AIR TJNDER the title From the Pilot's Seat, Chapman and Hall*"' published in 1950 a book in which were reproduced over a hundred low-altitude oblique photographs of features of scenicand architectural interest in the British Isles. Finely printed on art paper, the collection was in many ways a remarkable one, withan informative commentary by Mr. Cyril E. Murrell—managing director of Aero Pictorial, Ltd., of Redhill Aerodrome, Surrey,who own the copyright of the photographs. Some remaining copies of the book were acquired by Aero Pictorial and are beingretailed at 12s 6d—half the original published price. Aero Pictorial style themselves "artists in aerial photography," and if the illus-trations in this book are typical of their work the claim is not an exaggerated one. COLOURED DRAWINGS of historic aircraft (measuring 8in X Win, plus a white border) are now available, price 3s 6d each, from Gordon Storey, 9 Cecil Court, Charing Cross Road, London, W.C.2. The repro- duction here is indicative of their style. Already in the series are the Camel, Nieuport 17, Spad, Bristol Fighter, D.H.4, R.E.8, F.E.2B, S.E.5A, Pup, Fokker Triplane, Fokker D.VII and Albatross. In preparation are similar pictures of the Zero, Me 109, Spitfire, Hurricane, Tomahawk Fwl90,Ju87 and Me 110.
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