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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0218.PDF
228 NAVAL LADIES: de Havilland Sea Vixen FAW.21 all-weather carrier-borne fighters for the Royal Navy, built at Christchurch and flown by Mr. 1. Elliot (chief test pilot at Christchurch), Lt-Cdr. P. Barlow, R.N., Mr. A. C. Capper and Mr. R. E. Clear. One aircraft is carrying D.H. Firestreak infra-red homing missiles, four of which will be standard armament for Sea Vixens in service with the Fleet Air Arm. FROM ALL QUARTERS Supply Minister on B.E.A.'s JetI N a statement in the House of Commons last Monday, theMinister of Supply, Mr. Aubrey Jones, summed up the objec- tives of his approach to the problem of B.E.A.'s jet order. Firstly,he wished to ensure that the project would not involve financial liabilities on his department, partly because such liabilities hadbeen heavy in the past, and partly because it was "healthier for the industry" to be more self-reliant. De Havilland's first proposalrequired a Government financial contribution. Their proposal of December 19 promised private financing among the other contrac-tors, with reservations about the volume of other Ministry con- tracts. The further proposals of January 23 would have to becarefully examined "to make sure my department is protected against contingent liabilities." He was also anxious to ensure thatthe arrangements would be calculated to "align home demand with potential foreign demand." Canadair CL-66 Cosmopolitan /"\N February 12 the Canadian Defence Department in Ottawa^-^ announced an order for ten Cosmopolitan aircraft from Canadair, Ltd., of Montreal; they will be operated by TransportCommand of the R.C.A.F. The CL-66 Cosmopolitan is an improved Convair 440 Metro-politan powered by a pair of Napier Eland turboprops. Canadair and Convair are both subsidiaries of the General Dynamics Cor-poration of New York. Convair have been investigating the possibility of going into production with an Eland-poweredCV-440 for two years, but did not succeed in selling the aircraft. The last CV-440 is almost completed at Plant 1, San Diego, andthe floor space previously devoted to the manufacture of this aircraft has already been cleared for occupation by the CV-880final assembly department. Practically all the CV-440 jigging is being sent by rail to Montreal, together with a considerablequantity of spares and components to assist Canadair in produc- ing the Cosmopolitan. Canadair will handle the complete manufacture of the newtransport, which will be built in parallel with the CL-28 Argus and the CL-44 long-range transport. It is not yet known to whatextent the airframe will differ from that of the CV-440, but develop- ment should be rapid and the first delivery is due in one year'stime. Canadair have placed an order worth between $4m and $5m for the Eland engines, which will be manufactured at Napier'sworks at Netherton, Liverpool. It will be remembered that an NAVAL GENTLEMEN: Seen with a D.H. Sea Vixen in which the First Lord later flew are (I. to r.) Mr. P. B. C. Moore, Principal Private Secretary; Mr. J. Elliot; the Earl of Selkirk, First Lord of the Admiralty; Rear Admiral R. A. Ewing, Naval Secretary; Mr. W. A. Tamblin, chief designer at D.H. Christchurch; and Mr. A. F. Burke, managing director of the de Havilland Aircraft Co. Eland-powered CV-340 is at present undergoing certification trialsat Santa Monica, and Napier have also purchased a CV-440 to replace the former aircraft as the company's standard developmentand demonstration machine. Canadair doubtless expect to make considerably more than ten Cosmopolitans; meanwhile Napier arecontinuing to promote the Eland as a replacement powerplant for .piston-engined airliners and have already achieved one firm sale(to R.E.A.L. of Brazil) and a considerable number of interested customers, including Panair do Brazil for L-49 Constellations. Antarctic Air-Drops Ended AS tidal pressures in the Ross Sea have now made the 6,000ftk ice runway at McMurdo Sound unusable, American plans to air-supply their bases in Antarctica by Globemasters have had tobe abandoned until next season. The last Globemaster to land at McMurdo took off from there at short notice in the early hours oflast Sunday morning, after helicopter reconnaissance flights had observed widening cracks in the ice up to within 1,000 yd of thelanding strip. Other American aircraft are now using Scott Base, where there are two Dakotas, two Otters, a Beaver (pictured onthe facing page) and an Auster—belonging variously to Britain, New Zealand and the U.S. Navaids Checked at 40,000 ft TN addition to DC-3s, Twin Beeches and Convair 440s, America's -•- Civil Aeronautics Administration is now using two converted Martin B-57s (English Electric Canberra licence) to test both
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