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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0901.PDF
5 July 1957 5 DM. Sea Vixen XF 828, shown fitted with a massive striped refuel- ling probe, under-wing pylons and bulges under the fuselage just aft of the radome. The wings of this particular aircraft do not fold. "FLIGHT" PHOTOGRAPHS wide, 6in. deep and is located at 70 per cent of each semi-span.Another high-speed investigation was shown by a Hunter which has been area-ruled by application of a large lateral bulge on eachside of the fuselage, just aft of the wing. Significant reductions in drag were obtained with no change in handling characteristics;but since these were recorded at speeds above the thrust-limit level, no increase in maximum level speed was achieved. Thissame machine had been used to photograph shock-wave patterns indicated by light refraction in natural sunlight over the wing.Highly viscous oil had also been spread over the wing to photo- graph airflow-stagnation points, but this method had not provedas successful as in similar American work. Low-speed research was represented by the jet-deflection, Nene-powered Meteor, whose stalling speed had been reduced by 20 kt at approach power setting with 60 deg deflection. A blown-flap SeaVenom was also there, showing extensive tufting and the exceed- ingly fine slot in the leading-edge camber of the flap throughwhich compressor-bled air is blown at supersonic speed. Stalling speed at approach r.p.m. had been reduced from 88 kt to 75 kt.The tip-tanks had been filled with varying amounts of liquid ballast to test the rolling power of the ailerons. An intriguing machine was a Venom N.F.3 used as a pacingaircraft. It carried accurately calibrated height- and speed- measuring instruments and three alternative pitot heads. It alsohad a "bird," stowed under the fuselage, which could be lowered some 70ft into undisturbed air from an electric winch in thecannon bay. This Venom is intended to calibrate the pressure instruments of other aircraft. A Meteor T.7 with a large striped nose-boom, exhibited in thestatic park, is used for experimenting with a very rapid method of evaluating the stability characteristics of an aircraft. With thenew method, accurate measurements can be made in ten minutes which would require ten hours' flying with traditional techniques.Another Meteor, an F.8, was being flown with an electronic device which controlled the elevator trim tab in much the same way as The area-rule bulges of the experimental Hunter which was also used for photograph- ing shock-wave pat- terns by sunlight. an auto-pilot, but in the opposite (de-stabilizing) sense. Thepurpose was to determine minimum safe and acceptable longi- tudinal stability characteristics. This is because some aircraftwhich are suitably stable at one part of the speed range become much less stable in others. A sure knowledge of the minimumacceptable stability allows the provision of the best compromise in flight characteristics to cover the whole speed range. The Rolls-Royce Flying Bedstead was on the airfield, but the wind was too strong for a demonstration flight to be made. An extensive exhibition was laid out in one of the three largehangars at the Aero Flight site. Two Hunters were shown fitted respectively for determination of moments of inertia in a staticrig and for measurement of tailplane loads and airflow distribution in flight tests. The Murphy Rebecca Mk 8 and Babs Mk 4 were onview. They are respectively the airborne and ground elements of the new combined distance-measuring and heading-indicationequipment which can handle 50 aircraft at a time and is claimed to be the first pilot-interpreted precision-approach aid fitted insingle-seat aircraft. Rebecca Mk 8 has a range of 20 miles at 2,000ft and is standard in the Hunter 6. Smiths' S.E.P.2 autopilot andthe associated Flight System integrated instruments were displayed, as was the Standard Telephones and Cables radio altimeter.The last-named uses F.M./C.W. radar and has indicating ranges from 0-500ft and 0-5,000ft. A special delay line attached to theaerial system allows accurate functional checking of the equipment against the sample altitude reading produced by passing the normalsensing signal through the delay line. The Naval Air Department was strongly represented in thestatic display with carrier models and a scale-model arresting- gear installation. The TRODI (Touch-down Rate of Descentindicator) for instantaneously measuring rates of descent during carrier landings was described; and the companion device formeasuring touch-down forward speeds was demonstrated. It consists of two light-sensitive elements which, "looking" acrossthe landing area, instantaneously measure the time between the cutting of the first and second lines of sight by the shadow ofthe aircraft. Another device was a cross-pointer instrument for helicopterblind-flying which gives the pilot visual instructions for stabilizing his machine. The cross-pointer needles are regulated byintegrated displacement and rate-of-movement indications derived from attitude and rate gyros. The pilot therefore acts much likethe servos of an autopilot, by being instructed to damp out dis- turbances almost as soon as they begin. He simply has to keepthe needles crossed centrally to maintain a stable attitude. This system is much easier to use than a plain artificial horizon.Other Naval items on display were concerned with the assess- ment of fields of view from projected aircraft cockpits at variousranges from model carriers. The mechanics of the slotted tube mechanism of the steam catapult were also shown in full-scalecut-away models. All these exhibits showed—for the first time since the notableFarnborough Jubilee exhibition two years ago—the present general direction of R.A.E. work. There appears to be no slackening inresearch in the fields of manned aircraft and their equipment. The Sea Hawk just leaving the steam cata- pult mounted on the five - foot - high plat- form which simulates a carrier deck. A speed of 150 kt is reached in some 200ft.
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