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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 1837.PDF
FLIGHT, 13 December 1957 BUILDING THE VULCAN ... etching primer. After being flown the aircraft is brought back tothe head of the assembly line and given its two coats of glossy white anti-radiation paint, and is once more subjected to thoroughchecks before delivery to the Service. At the time of our visit the three aircraft in this final condition were XH 475-7, each of whichbore a 5ft cone at the tail end of the fuselage apparently housing some electronic device.Before leaving Woodford we were permitted to spend some minutes seated in the cockpit of an early Vulcan B.I. Climbingup through the hatch immediately forward of the nose under- carriage one comes first to the lower deck, at the rear of whichare side-by-side aft-facing seats for the signaller, radar-bomber and countermeasures operator. A further near-vertical climb allowsone to grasp hand-holds behind the side-by-side ejeaion seats for the two pilots and so heave oneself through the narrow openingbetween these seats and on to the flight deck proper. Once installed, the Vulcan pilot must find everything very much to hisliking. His lofty perch commands a near-perfect view in all essen- tial directions, including directly forward over the nose where hecan see the ground less than 100ft away. Even the small circular windows at the sides of the opaque canopy are exactly in the rightposition and command a perfect view upwards, downwards and as far aft as the seat harness will permit. In addition, periscopes areprovided on either side of the canopy to permit scanning of the wings and empennage. Direct-vision panels are provided for eachpilot and anti-dazzle screens hinge down from the roof. 4 * 6 S I -•—1 1948 1 > <^5? /I ***** ! 1 I Design and engineering man-hours for the Avro 698 Vulcan. These figures may be compared with those tor the Boeing B-52, published in our issue of November IS. The two aircraft are roughly contemporary. The Vulcan is flown by a fighter-type stick. On this are mountedfinger buttons for manual variation of the degree of artificial feel in the powered flying controls, the main sub-contractor for thelatter being Boulton Paul. On the central instrument panel is a neat horizontal row of doll's eyes for air brakes, bomb doors, pitotheaters, powered flying controls, and artificial feel (three for each of the latter two systems, one for each axis). Immediately beneathis a single indicator which, when three horizontal lines are all aligned to a single index, denotes neutral trim for take-off. Thereare many other similar examples of neat instrumentation whereby the correct state can be assessed at a glance by either pilot. Fartherto the left is a doll's eye for the feel box, which blinks a warning should the feel become displaced from the true speed of the aircraftby more than 30 knots. Control of the powered flying control system is managed froma box on the port console, the circuits being engaged by groups and switched off individually should malfunction occur. On thecentral pedestal are the four power levers, beside which is a governing lever which can be set to "take-off" or "cruise" and thusrelieves die pilot of responsibility for perpetual re-positioning. The air-brake control is at the rear of the pedestal. At the top ofthe main control column is a four-way trim button, and the pilot's thumb can also operate a switch for the engagement of nosewheelsteering, the fatter being controlled in the usual manner by the pedals. Another unfamiliar instrument which caught our eye wasan indicator for fuel centre of gravity. 927 The diagram on the right illustrates the general disposition of partially completed Vulcan B.K. Mk 1 aircraft in the final erection bay at Woodford at the time of our visit. No attempt has been made to preserve precise scale. In an ad- jacent bay are Shackle- ton M.R.3 aircraft for Coastal Command and the South African Air Force. A photograph of the Vulcan assembly line appears on page 924. A Three concrete jigs fixed to the floor. These accept the complete centre sec- tion, prove it for geo- metrical accuracy and interchangeability and hold it during further installation^ work. B Four horizontal jigs for the triangular outer-wing box between the spars. The edge of the box adjacent to the front spar faces the central walkway. C Centre section on trolley awaiting wings. D Centre section and wings being offered up on trolleys. E Aircraft in green primer finish, standing on its own wheels and starting func- tional checks for (for example) fuel, hydraulics, air-conditioning and elec- trics. F Aircraft nearing com- pletion, awaiting installa- tion of operational equip- ment and undergoing pre-flight checks. G White-painted aircraft undergoing post-flight checks. H Completed aircraft XH 476 in final inspection. I Completed aircraft XH 47S awaiting collection. It is unfortunate that, owing to the great potency of aircraft likethe Vulcan, the total establishment for such machines in No. 1 Group of Bomber Command is relatively small. The great Avroorganization—which is so used to maintaining a large volume flow of aeroplanes—cannot be working anywhere near its truecapacity, and there is certainly ample space for a big increase in output should this be required. All Vulcans are being delivered fora fixed price, and for value-for-money these aircraft must be among the best in the world. Rightly are A. V. Roe and Co. very pleasedwith this great aeroplane, which is behaving so splendidly in operational service. ' W.T.G. EAGLE APPOINTMENT THE post of sales consultant and representative at Eagle Aircraft1 Services, Ltd.—a member of the Eagle Group at Blackbushe Airport—has been filled by A. V-M. Sir Leslie J. V. Bates,K.B.E., C.B. Sir Leslie's last appointment before retiring from the R.A.F. wasthat of Director-General of Equipment in the Air Ministry, prior to which he was A.O.C. No. 40 Group. In the war he served onthe staff of Maintenance Command H.Q., was Deputy Director of Movements, Air Ministry, and saw service in North Africa asDeputy Commander of Mediterranean Air Transport Services. G.E.C. DIRECTORSHIPS THREE new assistant managing directors have been appointedto the Board of the General Electric Co., Ltd. They are Mr. T. W. Heather, who takes over for the general products group;Mr. A. L. G. Lindley, who will be responsible for the engineering group; and Mr. R. E. Robinson, who takes over the telecom-munications group. Two new directors are also named: Mr. D. G. W. Acworth,who will take charge, of all overseas companies and export sales, and Mr. W. J. Bird, who will be in charge of home sales of thegeneral products group.
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