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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0647.PDF
17 May 1957 651 "SUSAN CONSTANT" was the historic name conferred upon this North American Super Sabre at London Airport last Sunday by Mrs. W. S. Morrison, wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons. Two others were christened "Godspeed" and "Discovery," as related in the first news item on the opposite page. December 10, 1955 (temporary conventional landing gear wasfitted). On May 28, 1956, hovering flights were conducted in the vertical attitude from a "tail-sitting"; on November 28 a fulltransition flight was made from the runway at Edwards; and on April 11 last the final complete cycle of translational flight waseffected from vertical take-off and landing. The X-13 has a large subsonic wing of 21ft span and essentiallydelta form; the length of the aircraft is some 24ft and the height is 15ft. The wing carries fixed end-plates and movable elevons,and the large fin carries a split rudder. Compressor-bleed air is fitted to control jets pointing backwards (i.e., downwards duringhovering) from the wing-tips. Hovering control is also effected by deflecting the jet nozzle. Pilot comfort is increased by tiltingthe seat forwards some 70 deg when the X-13 is vertical. As one of the photographs shows, the aircraft operates from aflat platform on the bed of a large truck which, when extended vertically by hydraulic rams, provides a horizontal bar on whichthe aircraft can perch with the aid of the hook beneath its nose; at rest the X-13 hangs like a bat, with its twin legs resting gentlyagainst its bed. Ryan is working on another jet VTO aircraft under a joint con-tract from the U.S.A.F. and Navy. The new machine is likely to be a high-performance design suitable for operational use. Shackletons for the S.A.A.F. YESTERDAY, May 16, the South African Air Force was due totake delivery of the first two of its Avro Shackletons at a ceremony at the makers' airfield at Woodford, Cheshire.The aircraft—first of eight Mk 3s ordered by South Africa— was being handed over by Mr. J. A. R. Kay, director and generalmanager of A. V. Roe, to the South African Deputy High Com- missioner, Mr. W. D. van Schalkwyk, receiving them on behalfof No. 35 Squadron, S.A.A.F. Three crews from No. 35 Sqn., together with ground personnel, under their CO., Cmdt. M. J.Uys, have been undergoing a familiarization course at Woodford for the past few weeks. Defence in the Lords TN the defence debate in the House of Lords on May 9, LordA Selkirk (First Lord of the Admiralty) said that, although the manned supersonic bomber had been cancelled, a large volumeof supersonic research and development remained in our pro- gramme. He mentioned the Government's determination to presson with the study of supersonic transport aircraft which has been launched in consultation with a number of aircraft companies. Wehad to study whether it was worth-while producing a prototype, but measures were being taken which could lead to a prototypebeing built. Lord Tedder remarked at one point in his speech: "If thedevelopment of these mystic missiles or misguided projectiles proves, in fact, to be slower than anticipated, the failure to developthe supersonic manned bomber and the successor to the P.I might well result in leaving us facing a dangerous gap in our defences.It is true that in many respects development, as I have said, has been very rapid; but, on the other hand, I think it is as well toremember that the Americans, with almost unlimited resources, have poured many millions into development and research in thisfield for the last twelve years. I believe they are still hunting the Snark in Central Brazil." A summary of the Commons debate on the Air Estimatesappears on page 673 of this issue. MR. HAROLD BEST-DEVEREUX, until recently senior surveyor of the Air Registration Board, has been appointed chief of the sales organization of Edgar Percival Air- craft, Ltd. Particularly well known in connection with ultra-light air- craft, he is a member of the execu- tive committee of the Popular Fly- ing Association and chairman of its airworthiness committee, as well as being a member of the Royal Aero Club's aviation committee. During his aviation career he has worked tor several prominent firms; and in the war he was commissioned in the R.A.F.V.R. and was also engaged on technical work at the Admiralty. A 4 Pioneer Spirit HOME from a demonstration tour which took in Central andSouth America, Mr. D. F. Mclntyre, managing director of Scottish Aviation, Ltd., reports great breadth and depth of interestin the Scottish-built STOL (see page 665). Business in prospect is such that Armstrong Whitworth have been given a sub-contractorder for detail parts and certain main components. In Switzerland, David A. Anderton, of Aviation Week, has beenobserving Swissair trials, and though reporting "limited single- engine performance" under the extremely arduous conditionsencountered on these operations, comments enthusiastically other- wise. Swissair has suggested to Scottish Aviation the fitting eitherof two Turbomeca turboprops or an auxiliary turbojet in the tail. The R.A.F. version, it is learned, will be able to carry bombs in"limited" campaigns. In conjunction with the forthcoming Paris Salon a Twin Pioneerwill be operating a passenger service between Issy (Paris) to Le Bourget and will thus be a rival attraction to the two Vertol 44helicopters (Flight last week). Southend Move PROMINENTLY associated with the development of theAccountant turboprop airliner—illustrated on this page last week in its finished form—Messrs. L. C. Heal, S. J. Smyth andN. A. J. Serpell (portraits below) have been elected to the Board Left to right: Messrs. Heal, Smyth and Serpell. of Luff and Smith (Designs), Ltd., consulting aeronauticalengineers and designers. Mr. Heal was with Aviation Traders (Engineering), Ltd., for four years as chief designer of the Accoun-tant, and he is the inventor of the tensioned-skin method of con- struction used in that aircraft. We hope to publish further detailsof the new venture next week. Valiant Incident A RECENT incident at Boscombe Down, when a Valiantcracked a rear spar member after a rocket-assisted take-off in overload conditions, was the subject of a statement last weekby Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), Ltd. Emphasizing that this particular aircraft was a prototype used for experimental work,the company said that the failure "was in no way connected with the rocket-motor trials, which functioned satisfactorily." Valiantsin R.A.F. service would not be affected. The incident occurred some time after the take-off. The pilotmade an uneventful landing, undercarriage operation was not interfered with, and the aircraft was taxied to its parking-placein the normal way.
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