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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 1877.PDF
FLIGHT, 20 December 1957 965 LEAVES FROM A LINE-BOOK . . . of the same era was apt to taxi his aircraft to the far side of theaerodrome, point it directly at a hangar, and open up; then, levelling-off at 20ft above the grass, he would hold the controlcolumn between his knees and use both hands to make leisurely adjustments of his goggles for the benefit of the quaking passengerin the back seat. The jest was rounded-off • by a last-moment zoom over the hangar roof."Climbing the hangar walls," as this manoeuvre came to be known, was doubtless foolhardy and bad for flying discipline,too; but this sort of lark by instructors appeared to be viewed with a more tolerant eye than it would today. Aeroplanes, it maybe remembered, were less expensive in those days. Of course, there were crashes; but quite often they were accom-panied by an air of comedy rather than of tragedy: like that which happened with a "Nine Ack5' flown-in by an A.O.C. on a visit ofinspection. Failing to notice a slender wireless mast, he struck it with one wing-tip, swinging the aircraft off its glide-path so thatit came to rest perched precariously on the corner of a hangar roof. Damage amounted to one dented leading-edge and a brokenpropeller and undercarriage. The A.O.C. and his passenger eventually set foot on earth after ladders had been procured andplaced in position—an operation which involved some delay to the two "high-ups" (in every sense of the word) stranded on theroof. And there was an anti-climax. Salvaging an aircraft from this position was an operation not covered by any manuals, andattempts to remove the engine by means of improvised sheer-legs led to the precarious balance being upset, so that the aircraft fellon to the concrete below. Result: write-off. There was another amusing incident involving a senior officerpaying a flying visit. Those readers who knew Sealand will recall that a railway line divided the station into two almost equal halves,one of which housed the Flying Training School and the other a packing depot. Aircraft destined for the Middle and Far Eastwere flown to the packing depot, dismantled and packed into crates, which were then shipped from Birkenhead, a few milesaway. The senior officer arrived unannounced, but a staff car waspromptly summoned to take him to the mess. When he returned to the tarmac some two hours later, withthe CO. to see him off, there stood his personal aircraft—minus wings, which were already on their way into a packing case. Bya coincidence, an aircraft of the same type had been signalled in for packing but had not up to then arrived. Never had a set ofmainplanes been reassembled and re-rigged in such a short space of time! It must be admitted that the discomfiture of one's fellow-creatures often provides a laugh. There was a really big one when an unfortunate Air Ministry expert examining the wreckage of anaeroplane from which the occupant had escaped practically unscathed was accidentally hit on the head and taken to hospitalsuffering from concussion. It happened thus. A pupil flying solo in a 504K got into a slowspin from which he failed to recover. The aircraft struck a hangar roof, the engine making a hole through which the fuselage fol-lowed, mainplanes, undercarriage and tail unit being left behind. The fuselage fell on to a wing standing on trestles, which col-lapsed under the onslaught, and the pilot was helped out of the tangle of wood, wires and fabric suffering nothing more than acut forehead, though extremely puzzled to know where the rest of his aeroplane was. It was a day or two later, when the investiga-tion into the cause of the accident was under way, that a sizeable piece of rafter, which had been suspended by a few fibres, sud-denly parted company from the roof and landed on to the head of the expert, with the consequence related above.Finally, the story of a Sopwith Snipe and a Punctured Pupil. He was doing a cross-country exercise when an engine failuredemanded a forced landing. He put down in a grass field which had not as good a surface as appeared from the air. The aero-plane finished up on its back, but the occupant emerged unhurt and went off to report by telephone to his flight commander.Returning to the scene of the accident he found a few curious bystanders being marshalled by the nearby village policeman, astolid North Country type complete with bicycle. When the crowd of half-a-dozen or so were under control out came theinevitable notebook and particulars were entered. Supplying details, the young pilot officer (who happened to have rather anaffected voice) said: "I was tooling along nicely when suddenly the jolly old engineexpired, so I stuffed down the nose and headed for this field. Made a lovely three-pointer then whoops! and I was over on myback; think I must have hit a rut." The puzzled look with which this statement was received gaveway to one of incredulity. "Get off with yer," said the bobby, "might 'a bin a rabbit ora 'are but a rat wouldn't overturn no flyin' machine!" JAYSEE AVRO AIRCRAFT APPOINTMENT APPOINTED executive vice-president and general manager of** Avro Aircraft, Ltd., Mr. J. L. Plant comes to the company from an executive vice-presidency at Collins Radio Co. and afterflying and administrative service in the R.C.A.F., from which he retired with the rank of air vice-marshal. His last post was asA.O.C. Air Materiel Command and he had previously been Deputy Chief of Staff, Logistics, at AAFCE, and in 1953 Chiefof Staff there. Mr. Plant's appointment follows Avro Aircraft's recent"realignment of management responsibilities" (referred to in Flight for November 29). SHOWROOM COMES HOME THE Anson 19 used by Lee Refrigeration, Ltd., as a flying show-room has returned to the company's headquarters at Bognor Regis after a successful first overseas tour of 15,000 miles, duringwhich several European countries and over 20 territories in North, Central, East and West Africa were visited. The aircraft wasflown by Mr. George Farley with Mrs. Jackie Moggridge as co-pilot. FIREPROOF FABRIC ONE of the most important aspects of fireproofing aircraft cabininteriors concerns materials used for upholstery and curtains. A firm that has given the matter considerable thought, and witha background of practical knowledge, is Baynes Aircraft Interiors, Ltd., Langley Aerodrome, Bucks. They have recently produced afireproof cloth with some attractive qualities. Sold under the trade name of "Bayette," it is a synthetic materialthe composition of which has not been divulged. As it is inherently flameproof no additives or proofing processes are required; there-fore, states the company, its properties do not deteriorate after repeated cleaning. With a "feel" rather like that of a good-quality domestic uphol-tery material, "Bayette" can be produced in any colour, design '•r weight, and costs about the same as an all-wool cloth of similar weight. A sample tested by Flight charred rapidly when exposedto a petrol-lighter flame but did not support combustion: the charring ceased instantly when the flame was removed. Produc-tion is at present on a limited scale, but larger supplies are to be available in the near future. PATHFINDER GATHERING ALWAYS a popular occasion, the Pathfinders' Ball this year- attracted some 600 people to the Dorchester Hotel, London, on December 7—for the fifteenth occasion. Guests of honourwere Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Bowhill, Air Chief Marshal Sir John Bater, and Sir James Barnes. And, of course, A. V-M.D. C. T. Bennett and Dr. J. C. MacGown were at their usual table.Christmas pudding aflame, the choristers of St. Paul's and St. Mark's for carols, and a cheerful floorshow added to theevening's entertainment. Alex Thorne, now a partner of Birks- Thorne, once again undertook the direction of the ball, withJohnnie Johnson, Peter Swan and Don Nelson to help with the organization. COMPUTER AIDS HELICOPTER DESIGN A METHOD of using digital computers as a means of solving•**• helicopter design problems related to performance and handling was described by Mr. J. M. Harrison, A.F.R.Ae.S., ofWestland Aircraft, Ltd., at a meeting of the Helicopter Associa- tion held in London on December 6. The computer used was theIBM 650, employing the standard Hollerith punched-card system. It had proved to be particularly easy to programme and so couldbe handled by the helicopter engineers themselves with little vetting from the computer specialists. Two simulated flight con-ditions were chosen by the lecturer to outline the method; the take-off and the autorotative landing. The investigations so farcompleted had shown the system to be remarkably efficient in practice and provided answers to problems with astonishingspeed. There was a great future potential for extending the use of the system to enable many design problems, including stability,to be investigated.
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