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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0002.PDF
FLIGHT FROM ALL QUARTERS The B.E.A. Jet Deadlock f~* COMPETITION within the industry to secure the order for the^ new B.E.A. jet airliner reached a critical point just after Christmas. It was reported on December 27 that Bristol and theHawker Siddeley group were planning to merge and to form, as a first step, a joint company to finance and develop the project. Thereport of the planned merger was not denied (it was described as "conjecture") but both companies confirmed that a joint proposalon the B.E.A. jet had been made to the Ministry of Supply. The extent to which this new move affects an already delicatesituation Flight, December 20) is not easy to assess, but it is likely to frustrate yet again B.E.A.'s wish to see work started soonon a 600 m.p.h., 100-passenger jet airliner for delivery in 1963. The Bristol/Hawker Siddeley proposals appeared as a dramaticmove to focus Government attention upon a firm "amalgamation" proposal. The Government have been using the B.E.A. jet orderas an instrument in their policy of encouraging industrial re-group- ing. The Minister of Supply has, in effect, said: "Amalgamationfirst, B.E.A. contract second." The fact remains that B.E.A. have selected the de Havillandproject—the D.H.121 (Lord Douglas made this choice last August). And the managing director of the de Havilland AircraftCo., Ltd., Mr. A. F. Burke, has observed: "When B.O.A.C. wanted to buy American jets the opinion was strongly expressedthat they should be permitted to have the aircraft of their choice. Should it not be the same today if B.E.A. wish to have the deHavilland jet airliner!'" It may well be asked whether the Government can now say toB.E.A. that, because the Bristol-Hawker proposals provide for the amalgamation of those two companies, it is therefore in thenational interest for the Corporation to change its mind. This might be reasonable if the de Hayilland proposals exclude thepossibility of industrial amalgamation. So far as can be ascer- tained, this is not the case. It is understood that the de Havillandscheme—although not involving overnight mergers (which D.H. vehemently feel would cause chaos, friction and the exodus oftechnicians)—does in fact point the way to re-grouping in the natural course of events. Rolls-Royce (three of whose RB.141sare to power the D.H.121) and Bristol would be the main partners in the D.H. scheme; and believed also to be involved are HandleyPage, Fairey, Hunting, Saunders-Roe, and certain component, instrument and equipment firms. All these organizations, withD.H. as design-leaders, and probably under the aegis of a joint company, would finance, design, develop and produce the D.H.121 for B.E.A. and for export. It now remains to be seen whether the Government will con-tinue to insist on the prerequisite of amalgamations or whether they will accede to the view that technical considerations mustcome first, with mergers us a natural sequel. SR.177 Cancellation "OOLLOWING the rejection of the type by Federal Germany,•*• the cancellation of the Saunders-Roe SR.177 project was announced by the company and the Ministry of Supply onDecember 27. This decision is expected to result in serious unemployment in the Isle of Wight, where between 1,000 and2,000 workers are likely to be declared redundant. The com- pany statement was as follows: — "Saunders-Roe have been advised that the Federal German Govern-ment do not intend to take any share in the development of the SR.177 mixed-powerplant interceptor."It is further understood from the Ministry of Supply that this project is to be cancelled as the SR.177 does not fit in with the terms of the1957 Defence White Paper and will, therefore, not be required by the Royal Air Force: the Naval requirement does not demand a sufficientquantity to justify the cost of development for this Service alone. "Very serious redundancy within Saunders-Roe must be expected,which will be confined mainly to the Isle of Wight factories." The Ministry of Supply, in its announcement, said that the air-craft "commands general recognition as an excellent and unique design in its class," but that it no longer fitted into the broadpattern of the U.K. defence programme. This programme visualized the English Electric P.I as the last manned fighterfor the R.A.F. There had been a Royal Navy requirement for the SR.177, but this involved a relatively small number. It had been decided, the M.o.S. statement continued, that thisNaval requirement "might prove financially feasible" if a German order for the SR.177 were forthcoming. The German Govern-ment was informed that Britain was unable to finance this aircraft solely for the U.K. defence programme, and that the project wouldbe ended by December 31, 1957, if the German Defence Ministry had not indicated a firm requirement by that date. According to a Bonn report, news of the German rejection ofthe SR.177 was given in a letter to Mr. Aubrey Jones on December 24. The four aircraft reported to be still under con-sideration by Germany are the English Electric P.I, Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, Grumman Super-Tiger and Northrop N-156. At the Saunders-Roe factory at East Cowes it was stated that aminimum of 1,000 workers would have to be dismissed because of redundancy. These dismissals were expected to be completedby the end of January. As described in Flight of October 18, 1957, the SR.177 wasto have been a development of the SR.53. The second prototype SR.53 was flown for the first time by S/L. J. S. Booth, thecompany's chief test pilot, at Boscombe Down on December 18. Like the first, it is powered by a D.H. Spectre rocket engine andan Armstrong Siddeley Viper turbojet; but it has "a considerably greater capacity of rocket propellant." The New Year Honours A KNIGHTHOOD for Mr. Gerard d'Erlanger, chairman of**• B.O.A.C., was among those announced in the New Year Honours last Wednesday. Mr. Hayne Constant, Director of theNational Gas Turbine Establishment, is appointed C.B., as is Mr. J. E. Serby, Director-General of Guided Weapons. C.B.E.sinclude Mr. W. A. Summers, managing director of Hunting Air- craft, Ltd., and Mr. Keith Granville, B.O.A.C.'s commercialdirector. A number of honours in the Military Divisions are given on p. 25, and full lists of both civil and Service awards will appearnext week. Air Chief Marshal Boothman AS we go to press we learn with deep regret that Air Chief^ Marshal Sir John Nelson Boothman, K.C.B., K.B.E., D.F.C., A.F.C., died on December 29 at the age of 56. Among his manyachievements was the winning of the Schneider Trophy outright for Britain in 1931 in the Supermarine S.6B at an average speedof 342 m.p.h.; and in 1944, as A.O.C. the photographic recon- naissance group of Coastal Command, he won an immediateD.F.C. for his P.R. flights over the invasion beaches on D-day. From May 1956 he was technical sales director of Kelvin andHughes, Ltd. A fuller appreciation will be published next week. U.S. Bombardment Missiles DURING testimony before the U.S. Senate last month theU.S.A.F. Secretary, Mr. James Douglas, stated that the first squadron of IRBMs was "slated to go into operation in the UnitedKingdom in December 1958." Since preliminary discussions on EGYPTIAN JUBILEE: Displayed at Almaza airfield on December 19, in celebration of the silver jubilee of the Egyptian Air Force, are (left) two Mi-1 helicopters; (upper left) a Mig-17 fighter with reheat; then, reading clockwise, a Mig-15bis; an 11-28 light bomber; a Yak-11 advanced trainer; and two Czech Zlin 226$. The tail framing the picture at bottom right is apparently that of an II- U.
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