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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 1082.PDF
172 PLIGHT, 2 August 195? THE INDUSTRY Lt-Gen. Lord Weeks, at the Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) apprentices' prize-giving, presents a scholarship certificate to J. W. Abernethy. The occasion is recorded in a news-item below. Lord Weeks has taken a particular interest in the training of apprentices. Weybridge Prize-giving /"\VER 150 apprentices of Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), Ltd.,^-' received awards and prizes when the company held its speech " day at Weybridge recently. This was the first formal occasion ofits kind, and it marked the coming-of-age of the aircraft company's apprenticeship scheme. Awards for the session 1955-56 werepresented by Lt-Gen. Lord Weeks. Formerly chairman of Vickers, Ltd., Lord Weeks inaugurated the current programmeof extended technical education within the Vickers Group, which now employs over 5,000 apprentices. Some 300 parents of award-winners and first-year apprenticesattended the ceremony. Sir George Edwards, managing director of Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), Ltd., presided, and Mr. H. H.Gardner, chairman of the Vickers Group Committee on Educa- tion, spoke of the company's future training plans in the light ofaeronautical progress. Reviewing the session 1955-56, Mr. E. G. Barber, education officer, reported that over 1,000 applicationshad been received for 160 apprentice places in that year's intake. Winners of the principal scholarships and awards were as follows :Vickers-Annttrongs (Aircraft) Scholarship and Group Supplementary Award, D. Tisdall; Vickers-Armstrongs Scholarships, J. D. W.Abernethy, B. Graham and H. G. Edwards; Pam Newton Memorial Trophy (best trade apprentice of the year), D. Williams; best first-yearapprentice, J. D. W. Abernethy; best final-year apprentice, C. Torking- ton; apprentice making most academic progress, B. J. Dyble; apprenticemaking most effort to further the corporate life of the apprentices, A. J. Brennan. Argonarc Welding Developments VfARIOUS developments in Argonarc welding techniques were* recently demonstrated by British Oxygen Gases, Ltd., of Spencer House, St. James's Place, London, S.W.I. By one of thenew processes, for the cutting and profiling of aluminium plate by means of a gas-shielded electric arc, aluminium plates of up tolin thickness can be cut at very high speeds, using either oxygen- free nitrogen or other inert gases. Cutting action is produced by a constricted arc of high tempera-ture and velocity being struck between a tungsten electrode and the surface of the metal. The arc is surrounded by a shielding gas.The concentrated energy of the arc stream melts and ejects a thin section of metal to form a kerf, and the result is a clean-cut edgewith little or no adhering dross. A new arc-length control unit has also been developed by BritishOxygen. The equipment was primarily developed for use with automatic welding machines and longitudinal and circumferential An experimental rig by British Oxygen Gases (see above), showing the application of the Argonarc spot-welding technique for joining the web members of a torsion box to the skin. welds in thin-gauge material can be made The unit is designedto overcome any irregularities in the joint—irregularities which might be present even when the parts are held in a fixture. Therequired length of arc is preset on a dial and once the arc has been struck the arc voltage is constantly monitered and is used toindicate where the preset length is being maintained. Where it is not, a servo-circuit is energized to move the tungsten electrodeeither toward or away from the work to re-establish the nominal conditions. The equipment can be used for either A.C. or D.C.welding and for either fixed- or consumable-electrode work. This type of equipment is used for the welding of gas-turbineengine components, rocket-motor tubes and continuous stainless steel tube.The Argonarc spot-welding process has been available for a number of years and has the advantage that a spot-weld can bemade between two parts when accessible from one side only. A disadvantage of the process in the past, however, was that itproved to be inconsistent in operation and resulted in severe cratering and cracking in the fused zone. To prevent this theweld nugget must be allowed to cool slowly, and British Oxygen have now introduced a system of control which achieves this endand results in consistent spot-welds. A D.C. rectifier is used as the power source and control is effected by the introduction ofresistances in the magnetic amplifier control circuit. The current at the end of a welding cycle is successively reduced to zero infour stages. The equipment used consists of a D.C. power source, a timing control and a torch normally positioned by hand over thework-piece and contains the electrode. A trigger switch incor- porated in the torch handle initiates the timing circuit and thearc can then be struck for a predetermined time. The arc is shielded by argon during the spot-welding process. IN BRIEF Messrs. C. C. Hall, Andrew Smith, D.S.C., C.A., A.C.W.A., and A. R. Spidy have been appointed directors of the Walter Kidde Co., Ltd. * * * i The caption to the Vickers-Armstrongs Valiant photograph onthis page for the issue of July 19 should have made it clear that the nose radome was moulded in reinforced laminated plastic materialby Marston Excelsior, Ltd., with a covering of neoprene supplied by the Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Co. (Gt. Britain), Ltd. * * * A new research and development company, Rheem-Solartron,Ltd., has been set up jointly by the Solartron Electronic Group, Ltd., Thames Ditton, Surrey, and the Rheem Manufacturing Co.,New York. It will work on radar simulation projects and "certain other electronic devices"—including a multi-headed electronicreading machine for commercial applications. * * * Mr. C. J. Buchanan-Dunlop, formerly of the Birmingham salesoffice of the Northern Aluminium Co., Ltd., has been appointed manager of the sales administration division at Banbury; andMr. J. A. Ambler, formerly head of the metallurgical section of the sales development division, has taken charge of a newly formed »market research section of the sales department (also with an office in Banbury). * * * Under a recent reconstitution of the Board of Black and Decker,Ltd., Sir Walter Puckey became a director and Mr. F. W. McCartney (assistant general manager) and Mr. W. O. Bell (actingproduction director) assistant managing director and production director respectively. The company also announce that Mr.Douglas Brown, technical director of Attwood Statistics, Ltd., is to join them in August as contract sales manager. Plastics products of Bristol Aircraft dis- played at the recent British Plastics Exhibi- tion included a new high-speed radar scanner, aircraft drop tanks, and resin-im- pregnated glass-fibre pressure vessels. On the right, one of these vessels is seen in course of manufacture from strands of the fibre.
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