FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1957
1957 - 1876.PDF
964 FLIGHT, 20 December 1957 Jet-age Runway Problem Solved ? . . . only 165 acres (one-quarter of a square mile). Yet the length ofthe perimeter, i.e., the runway, is approximately two miles— long enough for most aircraft of today, but more important, prob-ably long enough for the aircraft of tomorrow. The circular format implies that the runway is in fact "endless," and thus providesfor a run of one mile, two miles, or indeed ten miles if necessary. As will be seen from Fig. 2, this runway is steeply banked.Aircraft are thus enabled to touch down at very high speed; and if the banking is vertical at the outside edge, it will be impossibleto leave the runway no matter how fast the aircraft is travelling. On the other hand, take-off should present no problem, since it isonly necessary to continue round the endless track until safe flying speed has been attained. An encouraging line of thought arises from consideration of an"endless" runway of this type. It is impossible to overshoot, whether on take-off or landing; and it must surely be equallyimpossible to undershoot. The conventional straight runway is inherently difficult in this respect, since it must start somewheremore or less suddenly and come to an end more or less equally abruptly. The circular runway implies, however, a different approach-pattern. Aircraft arriving over the airport will lose height in a spiral glide directly over the runway throughout the landing.Undershooting, as stated, is thus impossible. Pilots will gain in confidence in bad weather in the knowledge that their glide-pathis free from obstructions, and throughout the approach the con- trol tower is only 500 yd away on the pilot's port side. The capital outlay in this type of aerodrome must be consider-ably less than for large airports such as London—which has, for example, no fewer than six runways—the saving in valuable landrequirements alone being enormous. Where capital cost is not a limiting factor, however, or can be recovered by means otherthan from the air transport industry, consideration may be given to another attempt to solve the problems already touched upon. The "elevated" airport makes use of the force of gravity toassist landing and take-off (Fig. 3). Here the main source of income for investors is a massive skyscraper which houses, inaddition to the usual airport accommodation with hangarage and repair shops, a wide variety of industries, offices, shops, flats,theatres, restaurants, etc., all providing rental to the enterprising financiers. Modern soundproofing methods eliminate unwantednoises. Occupants enjoy the convenience of an "airport on their doorstep." A shorter landing run is envisaged by virtue of the uphillgradient, coupled with a runway surface (Fig. 4) designed to offer resistance to travelling uphill while permitting rapid accelerationdownhill for take-off. The height of the elevated aerodrome gives an added advantage when the surface-wind velocity is appreci-able. At, say, 500ft pilots can count on an extra 10-20 kt which will again assist take-off and help to slow up the aircraft at touch-down. Passengers are embarked under cover in the airport build- ing, travelling up to the top platform in lifts. Similarly, arrivalstaxi into the lifts and are taken below for unloading. The "elevated" design, like that of the "circular," makes gooduse of the available land space, and, if high enough, need only cover about 200 acres. No doubt other ideas will be forthcoming in the search for ananswer. One thing is certain, for many years to come the conven- tional aeroplane will hold the field. Speeds will continue toincrease, and so will landing and take-off speeds. Existing run- ways will not be able to cope, and it is well that some thought isbeing given to finding the answer. Perhaps the aviation vocabu- lary will soon include CTOL—"circular take-off and landing"—and/or GATOL—"gravity-assisted take-off and lar>H:n<?." H. TEMPEST Leaves from a Line-book On the Tarmac in the Twenties when Life was not so Grim and Earnest) THE Avro 504K was diving steeply earthwards. To theairmen on the tarmac it appeared that a crash was inevitable,but with minimum height to spare it zoomed, levelled off just before the stall and continued an erratic course across theaerodrome. The flight commander danced with rage, muttering in his native French awful imprecations which foretold direpenalties for the pupil—if he survived—who had taken up an aeroplane without authority and without ever before having flownsolo. The time was the mid-1920s and the place No. 5 Flying Train-ing School, Sealand. The "pupil" was, in fact, a young flying- officer instructor who loved to play practical jokes on his seniors.On this particular occasion a fresh batch of pupils had just arrived and been kitted-out with flying clothing. "Borrowing" brand-new Sidcot, helmet, goggles and gauntlets, the practical joker had arranged with his colleagues to notify the flight commander thatone of the new boys had taken off on his own. The Avro made a shaky turn, slid around the end of a hangarand dropped on the grass with a thud which must have taxed the rubber cords of the undercarriage to their limit. Before it hadrolled to a halt the flight commander was running out to order the pupil from the cockpit. Just as he was level with the tail a burstof engine temporarily halted him and blew away his cap. Without waiting to recover it he resumed the pursuit, but the apparentlyflustered occupant kept "blipping" the engine and the exhausted runner finally gave up the chase as the engine was opened up tofull revs. The aircraft took off, gained some altitude, then turned and dived at the now retreating figure. As it climbed away on asteady course and the angry flight lieutenant returned officewards a crowd of- grinning erks on the tarmac diplomaticallydisappeared . . . Did someone who witnessed this, I wonder, later introducethe version which became a popular feature in the repertoire of every air circus in the 1930s and has so often been repeated atflying displays right up to the present day? The practical joker must be nameless, for he is now a VerySenior Staff Officer; but his pranks outshone any ever thought-up by the high-spirited pilot-officer pupils, whose scope in this direc-tion rather tended to be stifled by discipline. One foggy winter's day when the aircraft were all in the hangarsand the office stoves were roaring away this same instructor was seen walking along the flat annexe roof, carrying sods borrowedfrom a garden-making exercise and placing one on each chimney- top in turn. A few weeks later he developed a variation of thistheme by introducing giant squibs through the outside flue-doors. They Certainly dislodged the sOOt—most Of it into the offices! MOST readers know the classic anecdotes of the golden days of aviationbetween the wars .. . the instructor who threw away his control column . . . the V.I.P. who stepped overboard from the flying-boat. Here aresome others, hitherto unpublished (as far as we know) and guaranteed genuine by their author, who today holds a senior technical post witha leading firm of aircraft constructors. It was not surprising, therefore, that the practical joking habitspread. A sergeant-pilot instructor who later became a well- known test pilot took his ticket and got a job barnstorming witha joy-riding concern. When they later visited the district he looked up his old pals in the mess one evening and was subjectedto a good deal of ribbing on the score that he was "robbing the public." "Damn shame," they told him, "taking ten bob off themand only doing a five-minute flip." His critics found out the registration letters of the aircraft whichhe flew and next day two of them formated on him when he was airborne, forcing him into a wide circuit and providing the luckypassengers with a fifteen-minute ride. Don't let it be assumed from the foregoing that the station atthat time was staffed by playboys. Those same instructors turned out a considerable number of pupils who later achieved distinc-tion in all spheres of aviation, while some of the instructors them- selves are by no means unknown today.There was, for instance, a young flying officer, reserved in manner, whose crazy flying had to be seen to be believed. He isnow Air Marshal Sir Thomas Pike, C.B., C.B.E., D.F.C. Then there was F/O. the Earl of Bandon now Air Marshal, C.B.,C.V.O., D.S.O. And among the N.C.O. pilots there was F/Sgt. Sparkes, whose development work in sustained inverted flyingcontributed largely to the successful inverted formations which became a feature of the pre-war R.A.F. Displays at Hendon. Hishobby was motor cycling, and seldom was he seen without his brown spaniel riding with him on a cushion strapped to the tank.He competed in reliability trials with such consistent success that he was given special leave to ride a manufacturer's new model ona world tour. Another instructor, F/L. J. A. Mollison, had still to come tofame as a pioneer of long-distance flights, but his dead-stick land- ings were a by-word. In a Bristol Fighter at about 1,500ft overthe aerodrome he would switch off the engine and ease up the nose until the propeller stopped turning; then, descending ina series of side-slips, he would make a three-point landing on the grass, always so perfectly judged that the "Biff," with only thedrag of the tailskid to bring it to a halt, would just roll to the edf« of the tarmac. Taking a new mechanic out OJi a morning test, another expe"'
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
