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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 1576.PDF
664 FLIGHT, 25 October I957 NATO Courses on Guided Missiles Foreign Service and Civilian Students at Cranfield IN July of last year the Minister of Supply announced that theGovernment had undertaken to provide instructional coursesin the basic principles of guided-missile design and operation for military and civilian scientists from other NATO countries.The courses were to be provided by the College of Aeronautics at Cranfield, and entrants were to be of the standard requiredfor a good honours degree in a British university. By August the College authorities had worked out a rough syllabus and hadinvited entries for the first course, 30 of which—from seven NATO countries—were accepted; and during September thesyllabus was substantially remodelled in view of the experience and qualifications of the students selected. In early October astart was made. The course consisted of three ten-week terms, and students were required to make a general study of aero-dynamics, design, electrical engineering, propulsion, mathematics of trajectories, and flight. They were also required to select twoof the first four subjects for specializations, with laboratory periods each week. In spite of the haste with which the course was introduced, itproved extremely successful; and a similar one, with 24 entries, has just begun at Cranfield. One student, Major Romano ofItaly, has attended both, specializing differently each time. Addi- tions to the syllabus this year include lectures on the mathematicsof assessment, and on production and economics; and guidance and control have been made separate specialization subjects. Thecourse is run entirely separately from the normal Cranfield Diploma Course, although, naturally, subject material and lecturesoverlap to some extent. No students from Canada or the U.S.A. have as yet attended,probably because a similar facility has been available at Michigan University since 1946; nor have there been any British personnel,although it is intended to provide vacancies for them in future (there is no comparable course for civilians in this country at themoment, but the R.A.F. hold one at Henlow and the Army another at Shrivenham). The foreign students on the first twocourses—for whom a good knowledge of English has been manda- tory—have been about two-thirds Service and one-third civilian.In general, the former subsequently receive appointments in Ministerial requirements departments, or join establishmentssimilar to the R.A.E.; the latter, for the most part, return to the industrial firms which sent them on the course. Any course on guided weapons must at once come up againstthe problem of security, but this has proved to be only a minor difficulty in the Cranfield case. The syllabus is in fact cleared at"confidential" level to give it added scope and interest, but the real point is that the various techniques of guided-weapon designare based on well-established principles, which can be combined and modified in an almost infinite number of ways; and successdepends on forging a team that is capable of relating and blending the various factors in the most intelligent manner. Happy com-promise is the essence of the business, and this entails each man knowing not only his own pet subject but also having a workingknowledge, sufficient for constructive discussion and suggestions, of the other sciences which together enable a successful weaponssystem to be created. This is the real basis of the NATO course, and reference to the realities of actual weapons can therefore becut to a security-safe level without losing the point of the instruc- tion. The lecturers are given access to much secret informationabout actual hardware, but this is as much to show them what not to overstress as to provide background to their talks. Another point about the staff is that they make great effortsto keep up-to-date widi the latest developments, both by visiting factories and establishments during term and by actually workingin such places during parts of their vacations. Extra permanent staff have also been signed on, so that it is now hoped to cater forup to 45 students on each course in future years. Finally, indus- try has co-operated wholeheartedly by providing occasional visit-ing lecturers and by loaning equipment. The College stresses that without such assistance by the manufacturers the course couldnot have proved such a success. Turning now to more detail of the personnel and work of thevarious departments, the Principal of the College is Prof. A. J. Murphy, M.Sc, F.I.M., and the chairman of the NATO course isProf. G. A. Whitfield, B.Sc, F.Inst.P., A.F.R.Ae.S., A.M.I.E.E., who also heads the Department of Aircraft Electrical Engineering.This is appropriate, for the course includes instruction on G.W. guidance and control, simulators, servo-mechanisms, instrumentsand overall systems, as well as a review of the background know- ledge essential for an understanding of these subjects. In the Aerodynamics Department, of which the head is Prof.J. A. J. Bennett, B.Sc., M.A., Ph.D., D.Sc, D.I.C., F.Inst.P., M.I.Mech.E., F.R.Ae.S., A.F.I.Ae.S., a series of 30 lectures of arelatively non-mathematical nature is given, designed to indicate the problems the specialists must meet—such as those concernedwith low aspect-ratios, high incidence, heat transfer and cruciform structures. The specialists then cover the subjects in much greaterdetail. In the current session, for example, they will test a typical G.W. configuration at subsonic speed in the 8ft x 6ft wind tunnel,utilize a shock-tube to investigate aerodynamic heating and—in conjunction with the Department of Aircraft Design—participatein a project for the theoretical design of a missile, to a specifica- tion laid down by the various departments. (Last year the"G.M.56" was given a slant range of 30,000 yd, and was to reach Mach 2.0 to 2.5 whilst attacking a single aircraft flying at M = 0.9at up to 60,000ft.) The Department of Aircraft Design, headed by Prof. W. S.Hemp, M.A., F.R.Ae.S., gives a general and two specialist courses in the subject: practical work comprises demonstrations in thefirst term, and for the remainder of the time is concerned with the design project. The Department has a collection of actual andsectioned missiles for inspection and handling, as well as a com- prehensive set of scaled models of all security-cleared weaponsthat have been made anywhere in the world to date. The Depart- ment of Flight, of which W/C. C. G. B.McClure, A.F.C., B.A.,A.R.Ae.S., is head, gives instruction on the flight trials of guided weapons, on range facilities, and on instrumentation and telemetry.Laboratory equipment includes examples of the three current systems of telemetry, together with a kine-theodolite and Dopplerradio with which it is hoped to carry out a trajectory evaluation on a College aircraft. Finally, in the Department of AircraftPropulsion there are, in addition to lectures, demonstrations of fuels and combustion systems; pump characteristics are tested;rocket motors (of 2,000 lb and 10 lb thrust) are run; ramjets are operated (in an airstream provided by a 2,000 h.p. motor); andvisits are arranged to guided-missile manufacturers and to M.o.S. establishments engaged in missile work. Further details of these NATO courses are available from theWarden, the College of Aeronautics, Cranfield, Bletchley, Bucks. NEW PILOTS' RATING PROPOSED "DROPOSALS for a special clearance certificate for private pilots•*• have been submitted by the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Naviga- tors to the M.T.C.A. This would enable a pilot to enter or leavea controlled airspace in marginal weather conditions. Require- ments would be 200 hours' flying time and satisfactory perform-ance in an oral examination; resulting privileges would be (1) to allow the holder of a Private Pilot's or other Licence not endorsedwith an Instrument Rating, to enter or leave a controlled airspace in marginal conditions (defined as below I.M.C. but not less thanone nautical mile visibility), and (2) permit the right to depart at night from an aerodrome in a controlled airspace, provided thepilot has a night rating. The certificate would be valid for visual flying only. The Guild expresses its opinion that such a certificatewould be valuable, but that any reduction in the standard of the Instrument Rating would not be favoured by the Guild. The proposed certificate, it is said, would give guidance to airtraffic control officers as to the ability of private pilots to fly under the above conditions. FORTHCOMING EVENTS Oct. 30. Kronfeld Club: "B.E.A.," by P. W. Brooks, B.Sc.fEng.), A.C.G.I., A.F.R.Ae.S. 31. G.A.P.A.N.: "British Aircraft: Some Designers' Problems," by D. L. Brown, A.M.I.C.E., M.I.Mech.E., M.I.Gas.E., A.F.R.Ae.S. 2. British Interplanetary Society: "Conditions for Life," by Dr. J. W. S. Pringle, M.B.E., F.R.S. 6. Kronfeld Club: Talk by Phillip Wills. 7. R.Ae.S.: Graduates and Students Section: "Background to Aircraft Specifications," by K. W. Clark. 8. Helicopter Association: Discussion on "The Problems Relating to the Installation and Operation of Radio Equip- ment in Helicopters." Introduced by D, W. Griffiths, M.S.L.A.E. 12. R.Ae.S.: Section Lecture: "Some Problems of Stability and Control," by H. H. B. M. Thomas, A.F.R.Ae.S. R.Ae.S. Branch Lectures (to Nov. 13):— pet. 29, Boscombe Down, "Review of the Future Prospects of Fleet Aviation," by Rear Adml. D. R. F. Cambell. Oct. 30, Southampton, "Engineering Education," by Prof. A. R. Collar. Nov. 13, London Airport, Brains Trust. Oct. Nov. Nov. Nov. Nov. Nov.
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