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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 1822.PDF
912 FLIGHT THE LAST BLENHEIM in service—with the Finnish Air Force—is seen here in company with the Edgar Percival E.P.9 demonstrator G-AOZO which, when the photograph was taken, was on its way to be demon- strated to the Finnish Chief of Staff. The Blenheim is in regular service for mapping and forestry patrol. FROM ALL QUARTERS . . . Hunting Percival Name-change T)Y a decision announced last week, the name "Percival" now•** disappears from the title of Hunting Percival Aircraft, Ltd. Henceforth the company will be styled Hunting Aircraft, Ltd.,thus completing the process of identification with the Hunting Group, of which it has been a member since 1944.Older readers will recall that the original Percival company ORPHEUS-POWERED: The new Japanese T1F2 trainer, powered by a Bristol Orpheus turbojet and built by Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd. Three examples have been completed and seven more will be built before large-scale production begins. An engine of indigenous design is intended for later machines. was responsible for the Gull and Proctor series of light aircraftSince the Hunting Goup acquired the company towards the end of the war the reorganized and modernized Luton factory hasdesigned and produced a number of types including all three of the Royal Air Force post-war basic trainers—Prentice, Provostand Jet Provost. Another type, the twin-engined Pembroke light transport andgeneral purpose aircraft, is in service with seven air forces, includ- ing the R.A.F. and the newly reconstituted West German AirForce. The President, civil version of the Pembroke, is available to commercial operators for charter, executive and survey work. Canadian Jet Trainer CANADAIR recently announced the existence of their CL-41Trainer, a side-by-side, low-wing basic trainer with nose- wheel undercarriage and powered by "an advanced lightweightturbojet" of about 2,000 lb thrust. Weighing 6,250 lb, the Trainer should take off after a ground-run of 1,000ft, stall at 62 kt, havea maximum speed of 400 kt and travel 800 n.m. at 300 kt with 10 per cent fuel reserve. Wing area and loading are 220 sq ft and28.4 lb/sq ft; and span and length are 36ft 4in and 31ft llin. Two prototypes are to be completed next autumn. R.C.A.F.,U.S. Navy and U.S.A.F. teams have inspected the mock-up and the aircraft has been designed to meet both British and Americanspin requirements and R.C.A.F. training specifications. Pres- surization, duplicated instrument panels, fully automatic ejectionseats and a bird-proof windscreen are features of the aircraft. Except for having a T tail and a single engine, the CL-41 bearsconsiderable resemblance to the Cessna T-37. Exports Indian Summer SO far this year India has been Britain's best customer for-aviation exports, heading the list for the first ten months with purchases amounting to £5,531,220 and for October with£1,359,274. The second biggest customer so far this year has been Sweden (£5,423,858), followed by the U.S. (£4,674,842),the Netherlands (£3,328,454) and Canada (£2,918,454). During October, aviation exports amounted to £9,192,714—the fourth highest monthly total for 1957—compared with £8,531,445 for the same month last year. The figure was madeup as follows: complete aircraft and parts, £5,180,278; aero- engines, £3,488,587; electrical equipment, £299,473; instruments,£169,057; tyres, £55,319. The recent Swiss order for Hunters, worth £26m, is the tenthso far received by Britain for military aircraft this year and brings the 1957 total to almost £100m for some 460 aircraft. FLYING TRIANGLES TWO new flying films, both made by Universal-International,-•• are being released for public showing this month. The first, Tarnished Angels, is based upon William Faulkner's surrealistnovel Pylon, and concerns U.S. air racing in the post-depression days of 1932 when money was tight and (the plot would have usbelieve) morals were loose. Love's eternal triangle, which sur- rounds Roger Schumann, Lafayette Escadrille, his stunt-parachut-ing wife and his trusty mechanic, soon becomes a quadrangle when an idealistic, whisky-drinking newspaperman starts to probe theirstory—"Their veins run with crankcase oil . . ." The Mardi Gras (always good value when a macabre touch isneeded), a newspaper office where the editor is little concerned with "flying gypsies who sleep under their planes and tour the airrace circuit," and a showground at New Orleans airport, form the backdrop to the rather brief air racing action, but the film givessome tantalizing glimpses of American air racing specials, all of which are eclipsed in the first race by the 60G Moth belonging tothe stern, silent Schumann. He's a man who rarely talks and never smiles except when in the air, but then he's "got a hunger for theflying machine." The racing scenes are a composite of the genuine and the faked, and both of the speeded-up races which are shownend in fatal crashes. No wonder, when the angry young com- petitors knock pieces out of the sides of the pylons with theirwingtips—Coventry was never like this. So dangerous is this air racing that before one event the clerk ofthe course insists upon an inspection of a borrowed aircraft, which has been patched up by Schumann's mechanic Jiggs after all-nightwork on a faulty electrical system, but the doubtful wisdom of limiting the check to persuading the engine to run is made onlytoo clear. . . . Love, whisky and good newscopy have their slightly jadedtriumph in the end. The heroine buys a ticket back to the farm in Iowa (all the best Americans have country backgrounds) in aLockheed Vega, Jiggs takes to alcohol, and the bewitched reporter, returns to his office to persuade his editor that some blood at leastruns in the oily veins of the air racing fraternity. The Lady Takes a Flyer (alternative titles have been A GameCalled Love and Wild and Wonderful) is a picturesque burlesque of Fleetway, Inc., the ferry service operated by Mary and JackFord. The latter, as technical adviser, must be held responsible for some shenanigans that would certainly cause the Civil Aero-nautics Administration to raise an administrative eyebrow—a proposal over the radio of two B-25s on a delivery flight is buta part of it. But the colour is so good, and the flying scenes have all the lightheartedness that comes from leaving the clouds below,that the many absurdities of the story can almost be forgotten. Indeed, Cupid's darts seem to be shot in every direction, and e"enbefore the new "Skyways Aircraft Ferrying Service" is formed by the two reunited ex-U.S.A.F. chums, the ex-ferry pilot won:anflying instructor is well on the way to changing her allegiance. The ferrying service, run with tremendous enthusiasm on 'hemost casual lines, provides plenty of opportunity for some gr-od shots of Privateers, B-26s, B-29s, Commandos and so on, includ igthose in the great American desert graveyards where the air is so dry that airframes left there at the end of the war are still bripntin their squadron paint. One might wish that the dialogue was as attractive as -M-photography, but at least stay-at-homes who see this film will ^e reminded that family ties needn't really be a bar to running a fe-ryservice: you can always take baby with you. A.T.F
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