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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0646.PDF
650 FLIGHT FROM ALL QUARTERS Super Sabre EnduranceT HREE North American F-100C Super Sabres of the 452ndSquadron, 322nd Fighter (Day) Group, based at Foster A.F.B., Texas, flew from London Airport to Virginia on May 13 to par-ticipate in the Jamestown celebrations. On the previous day they had been named (by Lady Churchill; Mrs. John Hay Whitney,wife of the U.S. Ambassador in London; and Mrs. W. S. Morrison, wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons) afterthe three little English ships which sailed the Atlantic in 1606 and 1607, carrying settlers who formed the first permanent colonyat Jamestown. The names—Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery—were painted on the noses of the aircraft, which wereflown, respectively, by Colonel Carlos M. Talbott, Major Robert L. Koles and Major Charles C. Jones, They reached theirdestination after a flight-refuelled Atlantic crossing in 7 hr 33 min. The Super Sabres carried facsimiles of two seals of the James Iperiod, a copy of the original charter under which the voyage and settlement were made, coins from the reigns of James I andElizabeth II, and copies of London newspapers. Interviewed by Flight at London Airport on the Saturday pre-ceding their departure, the pilots said that they intended to fly at about 35,OOOft and at Mach 0.85. Each machine carried twounder-wing tanks of 450 U.S. gallons. The tankers were Boeing KB-50 "three-pointers." To combat fatigue the F-100 pilotswere provided with sugar cubes or sweets, sandwiches filled according to instructions of the flight surgeon, and stimulantscolloquially called "go pills", for consumption about half way across the Atlantic. Fine achievement as it was, the flight to Jamestown was sur-passed on the same day by three other Super Sabres of the same unit; starting from London Airport, they flew the Atlanticand continued across the American continent to land at Los Angeles International Airport, having flown 6,710 miles non-stopin 14 hr 5 min. This is the longest flight on record by single- engined jet aircraft. The pilots were Capts. Engle and Bryant,and Lt. Workman. F.A.I. Awards for Peter Twiss THE Koyal Aero Club announces that the Gold Medal of theFederation Aeronautique Internationale for 1956 is being awarded to Mr. Peter Twiss, in recognition of the fact that inmaking his world air speed record of 1,132 m.p.h. on March 10 last year he was the first man to be officially timed in accordance with F.A.I, regulations while flying at a speed of over 1,000 m.p.h. The de la Vaulx Medal for 1956 has also been awarded to himfor obtaining the record. Presentation of both medals will take place during the Federation's annual conference at Palermo onJune 24. The F.A.I. Gold Medal was instituted in 1925 in order to pro-vide annual recognition of outstanding contributions to aviation. Previous British winners have been Sir Alan Cobham (1926),H. J. L. Hinkler (1928), C. W. A. Scott (1934), Jean Batten (1937) and A. Cdre. Sir Frank Whittle (1950). The de la Vaulx Medalwas instituted in 1933 to commemorate a past president of the F.A.I., the Count de la Vaulx; it is awarded annually to holdersof F.A.I, records confirmed during the year. Jet Provost ;Co-operation TN the introduction of the Hunting Percival Jet Provost to exportA markets Hunting Percival Aircraft, Ltd., and the de Havilland Aircraft Co., Ltd., are to collaborate. Thus (according to a jointannouncement) "the full strength of the de Havilland world-wide organization is now associated with Hunting Percival in makingthe Jet Provost speedily available throughout the British Com- monwealth and foreign countries." The "J.P." will be offered witharmament to cover the weapons training and policing roles. As a trainer, of course, it is complementary to the D.H. VampireTrainer. Ryan's Vertijet "DOWERED by a special Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet (chosen for••- its favourable thrust/weight ratio), the Ryan X-13 Vertijet of the U.S. Air Force is illustrated in the two photographs below.It is the first all-jet machine to have gone through the complete cycle of vertical take-off and landing and translational flight. Ryan have been heavily engaged in VTO work since theyreceived a Navy study contract on April 24, 1947. On October 20, 1950, a pilotless test-rig was hovered in tethered flight by remotecontrol, and free hovering was conducted with a remotely con- trolled Allison J33 in May 1951. The company's chief engineeringtest pilot, "Pete" Girard, made the first piloted hovering jet flight with a modified rig on November 24, 1953. A contract to design, make and test two X-13 research aircraftwas placed by the U.S.A.F. in August 1953; construction of the first began at San Diego in the following January, and Girard flewthe aircraft from a conventional take-off at Edwards A.F.B. on VERTIJET: Aptly named, Ryan's bat-like VTO aircraft is powered by a single Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet with a thrust appreciably greater than the gross weight of the aircraft. It has already flown straight up to lOflOOft from a standing start.
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