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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0678.PDF
684 FLIGHT, 2A May 1957 HERE AND THERE Rocket Boost for Whirlwind PREPARATIONS are being made for thefitting of three Napier rocket units, each of 30 lb thrust, to the rotor tips of a WestlandWhirlwind. These will give the equivalent of an additional 90 rotor-shaft horse-powerfor a total of 1| minutes. "Lone Eagle" Commemoration ON Tuesday last a two-seat F-100 SuperSabre marked the 30th anniversary of Col. Charles Lindbergh's solo crossing of theAtlantic by flying from McGuire A.F.B., New Jersey, to Le Bourget. On the wayit made a pass over the site of Roosevelt Field, which was Lindbergh's point ofdeparture. Objective Statistics IN a Parliamentary answer on May 15 theAir Minister, Mr. George Ward, said that five flying objects reported over Britain thisyear were still so far unidentified, compared with six last year, none in 1955 and six in1954. Mackay Trophy Award IT is reported from Washington that theMackay Trophy for 1956 has been awarded to Capt. I. Kincheloe "for piloting theBell X-2 at speeds of over 1,500 m.p.h. and altitudes of over 90,000ft in Septemberlast year." Dropping a Hint THE U.S.A.F. has devised a new methodof broadcasting surrender and similar messages from the air. An amplifier andloudspeaker are dropped from a high alti- tude and braked by a series of increasinglylarge parachutes until, when the apparatus is within audible range of the ground, atape-recorded message is broadcast. Vampires for Switzerland A CONTRACT has been signed by theSwiss Government for the purchase of 20 D.H. Vampire Trainers. In 1950 Switzer-land herself started to manufacture Vampires under licence and later beganproduction of Goblin engines. Mud, Glorious Mud DESCRIBING as "typical" the taxyingruts seen in the photograph below, Black- burn and General Aircraft say that someeven worse ground was recently crossed by a Beverley at R.A.F. Station Old Sarum."On taxying out," they record, "the wheels caused ruts to a maximum depthof 15in. ... In nil wind and on this very soft surface, the Beverley was airborne in600 yards, much of the run being uphill. INDEED A MUDDY BUSINESS: Visual evidence of the taxying (successful) of a Blackburn Beverley across grass at its makers' airfield at Brough. Some even more success- ful negotiation of soft ground by this 60-ton (a.u.w.) transport is recorded in this column. The take-off resembled that of a seaplane,with the front wheels of the. bogey riding high and shedding mud in all directions."Shortly afterwards an Anson taxied out, got bogged and was unable to take-off."Naturally," add Blackburns, "it is not good practice to make ruts of this depth,but it does at least indicate that the 'gentle giant' can operate under veryadverse conditions." Education for Engineering A CONFERENCE on education forindustry, with particular emphasis on engineering, is to be held at Cheltenhamon October 9 and 10 this year under the EEgis of North Gloucestershire IndustrialEducation Council. Prominent indus- trialists and educationists, including LordHives and Sir Harold Roxbee Cox, will address the meeting. Details are obtain-able from the Council's secretary, Mr. G. T. Page, 8 Lansdown Place, Cheltenham. CONVAIR CANARD: Thh awesome capsule is one of the stores forming part of the Cony air B-58 weapon system. It has fixed wings, moving foreplanes and what appears to be a third horizontal surface at the rear. It is undoubtedly self-propelled. POLE-SQUATTER: Leon Biancotto's Monitor caught by the camera in odd juxtaposition during his record inverted flight (see para- graph immediately below). SPLL 3sm ssjnmjv Si THE record for inverted-flight duration,which has been held at lhr 5min for the last ten years by Fred Nicole, has beenbroken by Leon Biancotto. He flew a Stampe Monitor inverted over Cormeille-Pqntoise airfield, near Paris, for lhr 15min (picture above). Biancotto won the aero-batics championship at Coventry last summer. Japanese Air Strength ~" THE Japanese Defence Ministry has saidthat the Japanese Air Force now has 499 aircraft, and that this number is expectedto increase to 1,300 by 1960. Agriculturalist Down Under AN Edgar Percival E.P.9 is making a10,000 miles' demonstration tour of Australia, piloted by Mr. Beverley Snook.It was sent out by sea because of the uncertain Middle East political situation. Brazilian Visitor DURING his recent visit to Holland asguest of the Netherlands Government the Brazilian Aviation Minister, BrigadierHenrique Fleiuss, went to the military air- field at Ypenburg, had a flight in the FokkerFriendship and inspected its makers' works at Schiphol and also the KX.M.offices. The Antonov Bee IN a recent interview the Soviet designerAntonov said that his team were now work- ing on a small aircraft called the Bee. Itwas a propeller-driven machine with short- field performance, intended for ambulanceand agricultural work and light transport. Cruising and landing speeds respectivelywould be 124 m.p.h. and 22 m.p.h. Stoking the Furnace IN Canberra on May 15 the Minister forSupply, Mr. H. Beale, said that Australian experiments in the use of brown coal "as areplacement fuel for oil in turbojets and other types of jet power units" had pro-duced promising results. He told the House of Representatives that aeronautical researchlaboratories had injected the coal into engines in finely pulverized form. It isavailable in large quantities in Victoria.
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