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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0736.PDF
742 FLIGHT, 31 May 1957 Another new engine, the Boston turboprop. It is one of three com- pletely new units which are starting a Turbomeca family. The neat, but only just sonic, air-to-air missile by Nord. Designated Type 5103, this example was the 640th production round mode. THE PARIS SHOW, .. (rated at 3,307 1b thrust without reheat), although it has passed all itstests up to the 150-hr qualification. Hispano were also unable to proceed with licence-production of 200-series Avons. Some 1,300 Nenes had been delivered when production ceased, andover 500 of the larger Verdons. One of the latter is displayed, with a 7,700 lb rating Motoimpon. Sales organization for Polish engines, this Warsawgioup are chiefly concerned with Wiktor Narkiewicz's WN-3 radial. A neat seven-cylinder unit, mounted in the Bies trainer in a close-fittingcowling with intake cooling shutters, the WN-3 gives 335 h.p. and weighs 530 lb. Napier. Almost the only new British exhibit is a full-scale woodenmodel of a pump-fed kerosine/H.T.P. aircraft rocket motor (illustrated on page 741. No details can be given but it seems fair to accept thedesign as being related to the Scorpion. Two Scorpion barrels can be seen under the belly of a Canberra model, also on view. In addition, the company display their entire range of powerplants—Elands, Gazelle, Oryx, ramjets and rocket motors for missiles—and announce larger sizes of H.T.P. tip-drive boost rockets for helicoptersin the S-55 class. A new designation is Eland 229, for the Westminster helicopter. Nord. The French S.N.C.A. du Nord now embrace the formerS.F.E.C.M.A.S. (Arsenal) organization, whose ramjet work has now resulted in the impressive ST.450 test vehicle (illustrated on page 741).Boosted by twin cordite motors carried on a frame with swept fins, the main vehicle contains an integral ramjet of 17.72in diameter. Theforebody, containing all the expensive moving parts and equipment, is recoverable by parachute; and one such unit—still bearing signs ofaerodynamic heating from a trip to 75,500ft at over 2,100 m.p.h.—is exhibited, standing on its nose spike. Nord also make complete afterburning jet-pipes, with variable nozzle,for the Turbomeca Gabizo. Omnipol. This is the sales organization for Czech engines and displaysthe new M.332, a direct-injection four-in-line rated at 140 h.p. and weighing 230 lb. It will power later Metasokols. Also on view are WalterMinor 4-IIIs and the Praga Doris B (first shown at Paris 1955). Orenda. The cut-away display exhibit of the later-series Orenda(two-stage turbine) is one of the finest in the world. Of the Iroquois not even a mock-up can be displayed. Piaggio. This Italian company show one of their licence-builtLycommg GO-480 flat-sixes. Potez. Current four-, six- and eight-cylinder units are on view,together with a neat 1,500/2,200W motor generator. Pratt and Whitney. The big J75, shown as the JT4A commercialengine in "the 15,000 lb-thrust class" is less bulky than one might expect, and represents considerable advances over the earlier J57s. Theexhibit is authentic and carries two G.L.A. high-voltage igniter boxes, Holley fuel control and a saddle oil tank holding no less than 9 U.S. gal. Alongside is a rotating, sectioned JT3, or commercial J57 (the firstsectioned two-spool unit ever to be displayed). Even the Hydio-Aire pneumatic gate valve and water-injection control is sectioned—but, dueto a quirk of Pentagon rules, Pratt and Whitney cannot distribute litera- ture revealing its interior. We ourselves attempted to count the bladeson the compressor, and found 25, 27, 37 and 51 on the first four stages : at this point we felt there must be better things to do in Paris. Rolls-Royce. Dart noises from the air terminal constantly permeatethe entire Salon, showing that Rolls gas turbines really work for their living. By the display RDa.7 engine is a notice giving the latest round-figure total of Dart airline hours as over 2,500,000. Likewise a placard alongside the RA.26 Avon states that Avons have flown over a millionhours. The RA.29 s.f.c. is revealed as 0.775. The biggest revelation, however, was the static thrust ratings of thefinal civil and military Gonways. Fully expecting clearance, the com- pany prepared a placard bearing the figures, and it was inadvertently lefton show for a brief period. We prefer to withhold them from publication until they appear elsewhere. Salmson. An industrial version of the new 4AH, 100 h.p. unit isdisplayed. A special helicopter variant of this family is at present on certification testing. Fuel-injection (Bronzavia and Zenith versions) hasnow been fined to the 260 h.p. 8AS-04. S.E.P.R. The premier Continental rocket firm exhibit a tremendousvariety of motors, including a complete power pack in the 661 family (Trident and Mirage motor). Like previous S.E.P.R. units it is a nitricacid/furfuryl alcohol motor, with turbopump feed to aluminium cham- bers regeneratively cooled by the acid. No thrust variation is provided,but chambers can be fired or shut down individually. Chambers can be of 1,653 or 3,307 lb rating. Several big solid-boost units for missiles or test vehicles range up to44,530 lb thrust, and a particularly interesting display is devoted to the firm's Omnifor nitric-acid inhibitor, an additive (to the acid) whichcompletely eliminates corrosion on metal parts. S.N.E.C.M.A. A very fine Atar 9 (13,228 lb with afterburner) is onview, this being a real engine similar to those for the B.4 Super Mystere and Mirage III. The slightly earlier Atar 8, the first of the Atars with araised pressure ratio, is flying in the Etendard IV. A cut-away Atar E is on show, these units having run bench tests of a thousand hours andactually being overhauled on a 500-hr basis in the Vautour. Other exhibits concern large ramjets, reverse thrust, coleopters, theFlying Atar and ths licence-built Hercules (over 1,000 delivered). Turbomeca. This famous small-turbine firm have embarked on awholly new family of engines, embodying new techniques and with advanced design points. The first to appear—they are not yet on thebench—are the Bastan (illustrated on this page), of 750 h,p, and weigh- ing 397 lb without its propeller, and the Astazou, a 320 h.p. unit. TheTramontane, an air-compressor of Marbore size with a delivery of 5.5 lb/sec, is on view, as are new variants of the Artouste and Turmo. MISSILES AND TARGETS UNLIKE ourselves, France has paid great attention to guided weaponswith elementary "first-generation" characteristics. Certain of herearliest missiles, dating from around 1953, are in evidence at the Salon. Bristol. The whole centre of the Salon is dominated by a Bobbin testvehicle for twin 16in Thor ramjets. The exhibit is a genuine Bobbin which has actually been fired and recovered (and repainted). News ofthe definitive Bloodhound weapon is published on page 722 of this issue. Curtiss-Wright. C-W's subsidiary, Aerophysics Development Cor-poration, exhibit one of the HTV (hypersonic test vehicle) rounds which they have mass-produced for some years for the U.S. Air Force andother agencies. D.E.F.A. Signifying defense contre avions, this office of the FrenchNational Defence Department exhibits a PARCA anti-aircraft weapon. Although able to reach 82,000ft altitude PARCA flies at only Mach 1.7and has been superseded by later surface-to-air weapon systems. E.C.A. The E.C.A. 56 is a neat winged target towed behind Canberrasand Vautours at over Mach 0.8. Its glass-resin honeycomb fuselage is very narrow and is in every way (even to colour) reminiscent of a goldfish;projected side area is 54 sq ft. Lateral stabilization is by gyro and spoilers, and a brake-chute canister, hit counter and corner-type radarreflector are provided. E.C.A. 56 is in production and may later appear with its own powerplant. E.C.A. 57 is a small glider target, with a concrete-filled wing. It isdesigned to fly a 7-deg glide at 430 m.p.h. and carries a radar reflector and a smoke generator in its circular-section body. English Electric. A tunnel model of Thunderbird is exhibited,mounted on an early army launcher running on a railed track provided with a turntable. The model depicts a system which seems now to havebeen superseded in favour of completely mobile launchers which do not have to operate from a fixed base. Fairey. As agents for the Jindivik target developed by the Govern-ment Aircraft Factories in Australia, Fairey exhibit a very fine specimen of one of these outstanding little aircraft. Powered by a V«per turbojet,the Jindivik 2 has a Perspex fore-decking through which can be glimpsed the Elliott Brothers autopilot. Fireflash, the Fairey beam-riding air-to-air weapon, is much in evi-dence on the company's stand. Martin. A tactical missile squadron of the U.S. Air Force drove upfrom Sembach with one of their TM-61C Matador weapons. Complete with boost motor, launcher and support gear, it makes an impressivedisplay. Matra. Examples of the Type 510 (M.20 or AA.20) air-to-air missileare displayed in the Salon and beneath a Durandal. Some 10ft long and weighing 450 lb, the 510 has a Matra autopilot and is guided by aDrivomatic optical command guidance system. Nord. Type 5103 is a widely used beam-rider air-to-air weapon,8ft 6in long and weighing 297 lb. A colour film shows the weapon in action, with both H.E. and smoke (spotting-charge) warheads.Nord also exhibited the little SS-10 tactical wire-controlled missile, which is not widely used by the French Army and Air Force. It isbeing supplemented by the swept-wing SS-11, with an improved speed and range. Price of the SS-11 is approximately £450-£550, the latterincluding warhead. Northrop. Biggest missile ever publicly displayed, the SM-62 Snark is exhibited complete with undenting tanks, 33,000 lb-thrust boost motors and launching trailer. O.N.E.R.A. The Type 320 S two-stage launching vehicle is displayedtogether with an aerodynamic test model (Type 2021 P) freed from the* boost system at 33,OOOtt at about Mach 2.5. Republic. The Republic-manufactured ASP high-altitude, hyper- sonic research vehicle is exhibited.
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