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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 1768.PDF
858 FLIGHT, 6 December 1957 FROM ALL QUARTERS Unification in the Industry ? THE future of the aircraft industry was the subject of questionsin the Commons last Monday. Replying to them, Mr. Aubrey Jones, Minister of Supply, said that although the reduction indemands for military aircraft had been substantial, he was optimis- tic of the success of manufacturers in selling civil aircraft atpresent in course of production or development. He went on to say that an interdepartmental examination of the problemsinvolved in the transition, including the future of Government policy on aeronautical research, was now in progress. The Trans-port Aircraft Requirements Committee was inviting the S.B.A.C. to participate in its discussions. "Lastly," said the Minister, "it is desirable that the industryshould reshape itself into stronger units. I have accordingly intimated to the industry that in placing orders for further require-ments, the Government will be influenced not only by the quality of design but also by the resources, technical and financial, avail-able to complete the project quickly and successfully; and that, in so far as these criteria were not met in isolation, the Governmentwill require the chosen contractor to work in association with one or more odier contractors." The Curtailment of Research A STATEMENT issued last week by the S.B.A.C., accompany-ing a memorandum circulated privately to members, says that the British aircraft industry is seriously worried about the extentof the curtailment in the research and development programme and has been so ever since the Defence White Paper was issued.The director, Mr. E. C. Bowyer, says that research and develop- ment must be maintained at a level which meets the parallel effortof competitive nations; but "little or nothing" had happened since April to mitigate anxiety. "The Society fears that Government policy may within thenext twelve months or so reduce expenditure on the research and FIRST OF SIXTEEN Fairey Gannets for West Germany's Naval Air Arm —a T.5 operational trainer. The other fifteen will be standard anti- submarine machines and will be delivered early next year. The order totals over £2'A million. A flight test of a Gannet by C. M. Lambert is reported on pages 861 and 862. development of aircraft and guided missiles by about one-third ofits present level, but it still hopes that these cuts will not take place." All this anxiety, added Mr. Bowyer, came at a time when theindustry was having substantial export success. There was a prospect of such trade being greatly expanded; but everythingdepended on the continuance of an adequate research and develop- ment programme. Prince Philip at Aberporth TOURING a private visit last Friday to R.A.E. Aberporth the•*-' Duke of Edinburgh witnessed the firing of two Armstrong Whitworth Sea Slugs, watching from a roof-top about 150 yardsdistant from the launching-point. Other developments inspected by the royal visitor during a five-hour tour of the establishmentincluded the newly erected launcher for the I.G.Y. Skylark. After- wards Prince Philip left Aberporth for Hatfield at the controls of aHeron of the Queen's Flight. R-R. "Bedstead" Accident TN an accident to the second Rolls-Royce "flying bedstead"A test rig at Hucknall on November 28 the pilot W/C. H. G. F. Larsen, lost his life. The company stated that the machine, whichwas being used for an initial training flight, struck the gantry to which it was tethered. They added that a duplicate machine isavailable to continue the tests "almost immediately." W/C. Larsen, seconded from the R.A.F. to the R.A.E. Bedford, was one of agroup of pilots being instructed in VTOL techniques at Hucknall. At the inquest on W/C. Larsen, held last Monday, evidencewas given that the aircraft "rose to an abnormal height" and came down on its side. A Naval pilot said that the machine hadbehaved quite normally during two flights which he himself had made that day. Honour for Dowty Director THE Simms Gold Medal of the Society of Engineers has been•*- awarded to Mr. R. H. Bound, a Dowty Group director, in recognition of the lecture on Hydraulics in Industry which hedelivered on November 4. On two previous occasions—for papers on Aircraft Hydraulic Equipment and Liquid Springs—Mr. Boundhas received the Society's Bessemer Premium Award. Satellite Rocket's Descent "DRITISH and U.S. scientists stated last week-end that the carrier•*-* rocket of the first Soviet artificial Earth satellite had most probably been burned up on descending into the denser layers ofthe Earth's atmosphere on Sunday, December 1. The radio- astronomy station of Manchester University at Jodrell Bank,Cheshire, failed to track the rocket at any time on this date, although there were seven predicted orbits during which thiswould have been possible. The last occasion on which the rocket was tracked by Jodrell THE WORLD'S LARGEST airliner is the Soviet Tu-114, which can carry as many as 220 passengers on internal routes. Of strikingly handsome appearance (see below), this 500 m.p.h.-plus Tupolev has three cabins, one of which is seen at far right. Typical seating capacity, respectively, is 41, 48 and 54. The pilot in the third picture is A. Yakimov. The lower deck—a/most as impressive in capacity as the upper—contains galleys and freight stowage. Service lifts deliver refreshments to the upper deck.
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