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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0563.PDF
FIRST AERONAUTICAL WEEKLY IN THE WORLD FOUNDED 1909 and AIRCRAFT ENGINEER No 2519 Vol 71 FRIDAY 3 MAY 1957 Editor MAURICE A. SMITH D.F.C. and BAR Associate Editor H. F. KING M.B.E. Technical Editor W. T. GUNSTON Production Editor ROY CASEY Hiffe and Sons Ltd Dorset House Stamford Street London, S.E.I Telephone • Waterloo 3333 (60 lines) BRANCH OFFICES Coventry 8-10 Corporation Street Telephone • Coventry 5210 Birmingham 2 King Edward House, New Street Telephone • Midland 7191 (7 lines) Manchester 3 260 Dcansgatc Telephone • Blackfriars 4412 (3 lines)Deansgate 3595 (2 lines) Glasgow C.2 26B Renfield Street Telephone • Central 1265 (2 lines) Toronto 1, Ontario Thomas Skinner of Canada, Ltd. 67 Yonge Street Telephone • Empire 6-0873 New York 6, N.Y. Thomas Skinner and Co. (Publishers), Ltd. Ill Broadway Telephone • Digby 9-1197 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Home and Overseas • Twelve Months, £4 10s. U.S.A. and Canada $14.00 in this issue 567 More About British GuidedMissiles 569 The Air Estimates 570 Navy Estimates575 Rotodyne Prelude 578 Where Do We Go From Here?581 Three-dimensional Dilemma 583 What Price Air Fares?585 Civil Air Organizations 587 B.O.A.C.588 B.E.A. 589 British Private - EnterpriseOperators 593 World Airline Directory Dropping Some of the PilotsI T must be as hard for the R.A.F. to part with at least some of its aeroplanes as it was for the great cavalry regiments to part with their horses; for with its aircraft the R.A.F. has won splendid victories and in only one generation has built up a great tradition. But the parting is proving a graceful one; and the R.A.F.'s sensible attitude towards the advent of guided weapons, and their repercussions on the Service, was clearly shown in views expressed by some of its senior spokesmen—who are personally responsible for the changes—when they answered questions at an Air Ministry conference last week. This attitude to guided weapons was clearly defined in the statement that these were regarded as "a natural step" in the growth of air power; in the succinct remark that in its new development the R.A.F. is "merely leaving out the pilot in certain roles"; and in the clear recognition that the R.A.F. will go on using manned aircraft for a long time to come—in fact even more than ever before in the all-important work of transport. But most revealing of the R.A.F. official attitude were the answers given to questions put by journalists at the end of the conference. These made it clear that the guided-missile stations—at North Coates and elsewhere—will not differ in their administrative structure of wings, squadrons and flights from any other R.A.F. stations; that there is not to be a badge to distinguish guided missile per- sonnel from other members of the R.A.F.; and that the names of R.A.F. Commands will not be altered. The clear inference is that the R.A.F. is determined not to lose its identity and integrity under the impact of guided-missile operations, but rather to phase-in the new weapons to its existing framework. As one of the spokesmen put it (with no little touch of pride), the R.A.F. is still young and flexible enough to withstand such changes. Which is as it should be. Clearly, the R.A.F. intends to continue ruling Britain's skies in its own way—even if, ultimately, from the ground. Accolade for RadarT HE designers of "black boxes" are still often regarded as rather dangerous wizards and disturbers of the slide-rulers' peace. Too often are they relegated to small back rooms and their work shrouded in the numbing anonymity of secrecy. It is therefore particularly welcome and well-deserved that the Radar Research Establishment at Malvern should, on the occasion of the Queen's visit last week, have been renamed the Royal Radar Research Establishment. Such recognition has been accorded to few comparable establishments. The R.R.R.E., as it will henceforth be known, was formed in 1953 by the amalgamation of the Telecommunications Research Establishment, which grew out of Sir Robert Watson Watt's team of 1935, and the Radar Research and Development Establishment, which originated from a Royal Engineers experi- mental section engaged in searchlight development in 1917. Among the great wartime achievements of these units are the early-warning radar system, A.I. gear, A.S.V. search radar, Gee, Oboe, H2S, radar for guns and searchlights, coastal defence radars and the radio proximity fuze. All this knowledge was applied, after World War 2, to further developments, both military and civil, which have resulted in equipment now used in air traffic control, storm detection, air survey and meteorology. Much of the work is secret, but a giant radar capable of detecting small aircraft several hundred miles away, and the very important Doppler radars, can be mentioned. Semiconductors for both valve and photosensitive applications, computers, and simulators for missile and other work are being studied; and the Establishment runs the College of Electronics. This work has always been closely co-ordinated with that of the radio industry so that development and production resources have been effectively used. One factor of which both the Establishment and the industry may be proud is that the radar support required for Britain's air defence is not in any way lagging behind the weapons which provide the executive power of that defence system.
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