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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0984.PDF
84 FLIGHT, 19 Jtdy 195'. A DAY WITH THE P.I ... be ready?" asks Beamont, as the group disperses. The P.I flightprogramme has advanced another notch, with more flying time, more film records, more scientifically recorded measurements anddata—and more scribbled thoughts in the notebooks of those at the debriefing. As the day's flying programme gets under way, we visit someof the other departments at Warton, less directly (perhaps) but. equally vitally concerned with the present flight-test phase of theP.I. Without a design office there would clearly have been no P.I in the first place, but along which lines is the present activity ofthe design staff directed? Under Mr. F. W. Page, chief engineer at Warton, Mr. A. E. Ellison is chief designer (P.I), and he is theman who tells us. Among the several main streams of effort on the part of thedesign staff on the P.I are, briefly, the productionizing of the air- craft; various "Stage 1" modifications; the general developmentprogramme up to the end of the pre-production batch; and "Stage 2" development of the P.I as a weapon system. The second of these categories includes a number of airframe,engine and equipment modifications which were to be incor- porated at the P.IB machine's first minor inspection (shortly afterour visit, when some 50 flights had been logged). Armament and general equipment form an important part of the Stage 2 design;while work on various P.I projects is being carried out at English Electric's Acton office. A large proportion of P.I design effort isdevoted to electrical equipment, while the problem of space is clearly a major one on this aircraft. Flight instrumentation is a most complex and important itemon the P.I. Several instrumentation systems, each involving up to 1,000 drawings, are required on the 20 pre-production aircraft,including those for general performance and handling, engine and armament performance, and engineering measurements such astemperatures and pressures. As in every aspect of the design, production and testing of the P.I, close teamwork is involved:the flight-test department states what measurements are needed; the flight-instrumentation department interprets this in the formof hardware required; and the design office handles the engineering and installation of the system. Not all design work at Warton is concerned with the P.I; othersections are headed by Mr. F. D. Crowe (chief designer, Canberra) and Mr. R. F. Creasey (assistant chief engineer, new designs). Mr.J. C. King (assistant chief engineer, development) is responsible for the provision of facilities to meet commitments. Also respon-sible to Mr. Page are the various technical departments other than the design offices; these include the wind-tunnel, aerodynamics,flight-test, stress and weights, aeromechanical engineering, equip- ment, mould loft, mechanical and electrical test departments. Otherspecialist departments deal with flight/design liaison, instrumenta- "Science feeding on flight experience . . ."—a typical debriefing. From the left, clockwise: Roland Beamont, flight-operations manager and chief test pilot; A. Atkin, deputy chief aerodynamicist; D. de Villiers, chief experimental test pilot; W Eaves, assistant flight-shed superintendent; W. Dyke, design liaison; A. M. Cundick, flight-test engineer; and 0. Horsfield, chief flight-test engineer. R.A.F. Fighter Command representative ai Warton, S/L James Dell leaves the P.I A after taxying in from his Aberporth flight. The assistant flight-shed superintendent and the ground maintenance chief discuss the turn-round arrangements for the aircraft. tion, electronics and photography. Amongthe facilities used by stress, performance and other technical sections are the DEUCEdigital computer and the Warton analogue computer and flight simulator. Typical among the technical departmentsin its record of early basic work and in its present development programme is theWarton wind-tunnel department. Its early predictions now being confirmed by thepresent flight-test programme, the depart- ment is now looking ahead with investiga-tions into (for instance) the effect of the P.I carrying various external stores; aspecial-purpose version of the aircraft; and the cambered (and kinked) wing—a long-term development which is being studied in several forms and which promises well.A particular case in which early wind- tunnel predictions have been precisely con-firmed by flight-test experience is the investigation of directional stability atsupersonic speeds (even at this first stage of the flight-test programme, satisfactorily positive nv had beenmeasured, by the stick-free Dutch roll method, up to the maximum speed so far achieved). "Security" considerations prevent Flightfrom indicating what this speed is—but not from quoting Air Marshal Sir Thomas Pike, who said earlier this year that the P.I[the lower-powered P.I A] had exceeded 1,000 m.pji. in level flight. Lunchtime in the aircrew flat at Warton gave an indication ofsome of the other flying operations with which the aerodrome is concerned. The familiar faces of Hackett and Moneypenny, therecord-breaking transatlantic Canberra team, beamed a greeting which included the incidental detail that they were off to Venezuelathe next day. This journey comprised the delivery flight to Caracas of one of a repeat-order batch of Canberra B.8s for the VenezuelanAir Force. That afternoon, we learned from chief experimental test pilot "Dizzy" de Villiers (impeccably suited, with a red-rosebuttonhole), a special Meteor 7 flight was laid on: he and Don Horsfield of Flight Test were to visit an R.A.F. airfield and arrangepreliminary details of the radar-tracking techniques needed in connection with the high-level p.e. runs. Visitors in the mess thatday included G/C. "Bruin" Purvis from Boscombe, and a pleasant young lady who, it transpired, was his test observer; both hadarrived in a fierce-yellow Venom. Flying continued that afternoon (indeed, it had not stoppedwhile we were at lunch), with little change in the routine. Some- times a short briefing session between pilot and flight-test menwould take place while the aircraft instrumentation was being readied. After each flight, while the debriefing session was takingplace, all recording equipment (including cine cameras and Hussenot recorders) in the aircraft was changed and reloaded. Aquick check indicated whether the film records appeared satis- factory, or if repeat runs would be required. No time was wastedduring the busy turn-rounds. Fighter Command representative at Warton is S/L. James Dell,who was to fly P.1A WG 763 for trial runs over the Aberporth range that afternoon. At the debriefing he reported the details ofhis flight, including the radar-controlled pattern at the range, and the amount of trim needed to cruise hands-off. Only a few flightsremained for 763 before its move from Warton to R.A.E., Bedford, for further research flying. The day at Warton had been a cloudless scorcher throughout,and it was only slightly cooler that evening when the P.IB was to
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