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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0292.PDF
Above, a V.891, with contact probe extended, h pictured with its glass-fibre canister/launcher. Above, right, a canister spike is being driven, and the third photograph shows two weapons ready for a target. VICKERS 891 A Guided Weapon for the Foot-soldier FIRST revealed at the 1957 S.B.A.C. Exhibition, and describedin our issues of September 6 and 13 and December 6 last,the Vickers-Annstrongs Type 891 is not (as might at first be thought) a new mark of Viscount, but an infantry anti-tankweapon with numerous outstanding qualities. Like the pioneer- ing German and French weapons of a similar nature, it is acruciform-winged projectile powered by an internal solid-propel- lent rocket motor and provided with control surfaces movedaccording to signals transmitted through a fine wire linking the weapon with its launcher. The projectile itself has a conical nose, fitted with a retractablecontact probe, and a main body section and motor pressure-vessel made in aluminium alloy. The wings are plastic shells reinforcedwith glass-cloth and filled with foam plastic. Between the wings are two detachable fairings which house the printed-circuit elec-tronic components of the guidance system and provide a means of linking the equipment at both ends of the rocket motor pressure-vessel. The motor has been developed to give good performance throughout its burning period, and its igniter need not be screwedinto position until the missile is ready for action. For use, the weapon is packed in a combined canister/launcherwhich provides protection against shocks and adverse environ- mental conditions. The missile is mounted by two pairs of lugsengaging with a launching rail inside the box roof. When a target is sighted, the operator opens the box and folds the lid down toact as a prop to maintain the box at the required launching angle of some 20 deg; two spikes can be inserted through the front of RECORD JANUARY TANUARY export sales by the British aircraft industry amounted«* to £11,089,584. This is the largest January total ever achieved —the previous best being £8,343,236 last year—and the fourthhighest monthly total ever recorded. Aircraft and parts accounted for £6,726,855 (compared with lastyear's monthly average of £5.8m); aero-engines for £3,942,854 (compared with £3.4m); electrical components for £246,041;instruments for £127,495 and tyres for £46,339. India was the industry's best customer, spending £1,568,242;Iraq the second with £1,137363. GUILD AWARDS AWARDS for 1957 of the Cumberbatch Trophy and the Derry• and Richards Memorial Medal have been announced by the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators. The Trophy (donatedby Miss Alice Cumberbatch in 1931 "for the promotion of reli- ability in civil aviation") goes to Malayan Airways, Ltd., who inthe words of the Guild's citation "have made a positive contribu- tion to air safety, having operated scheduled public services forover ten years with a high degree of regularity, often in difficult circumstances." The company operates throughout Malaya andBritish Borneo and to Indonesia and Thailand, and its record to date is completely accident-free. The Medal has been awarded to Mr. Michael Randrup, chieftest pilot of D. Napier and Son, Ltd., since 1946, "for his long and meritorious flight development work, culminating in thetesting of an engine installation under flight conditions well in excess of the design limit of the airframe." The citation recalls the box and lid, and driven into the ground to prevent the boxfrom moving when the weapon is launched. A rubber blanking cap is removed from a hole at the rear of the box to provide anorifice for the motor exhaust. Guidance is by means of a simple optical line-of-sight commandsystem. The operator employs a thumb-stick like a miniature control column, the position of which is signalled through a cableto the launcher and thence to the missile itself via insulated wire unwound from a spool encircling the motor nozzle. The operatorsights on the target (using optical magnification at long ranges) and, assisted by a flare carried by the weapon, he endeavours tokeep the missile on the line-of-sight between himself and the target. Vickers state that the velocity closed-loop system is simpleand accurate, and allows a wide angular coverage. As noted in our December 6 issue, the missile has a bodydiameter of 4.5in, a wing span of 11 in and a length of 33in (when in its container the length is somewhat less, since the contact fuseprobe is then retracted). Various types of warhead can be fitted, the most common being a hollow-charge head of new design andgreat effectiveness. The complete missile and canister together weigh roughly 40 lb. that it was in the course of this development flying that a Scorpion Canberra B.2 piloted by Mr. Randrup last year gained the world altitude record of 70310ft. Both awards are to be presented at a G.A.PA.N. banquet in London on May 28. J83-POWERED JETSTAR— LOCKHEED AIRCRAFT'S California Division have placed an' order with Fairchild's Engine Division for an undisclosed number of J83 turbojets. The original CL-329 Jetstar design wasplanned for four G.E. J85 or Fairchild J83 engines, but the first two aircraft are powered by twin Bristol Orpheus. The latterengines are being imported by Curtiss-Wright as the TJ-37 and are being offered by Lockheed as an alternative powerplant. Fairchild's J83 weighs about 400 lb dry and has a thrust of some2,000 lb with a possible extension to 2,500 in several years' time. Lockheed are scheduled to get the first J83s in about one year'stime. Except for Fairchild's own SM-73 Bull Goose weapon, this is the first firm order for the new Fairchild engine. —AND CL-41 AGREEMENT has now been reached between Canadair, Ltd.,1 and the Fairchild Engine Division for the supply of J83 turbojets as standard powerplants for the Canadian company'sCL-41 basic trainer (Flight, December 13, 1957). Canadair state that, since their announcement last November of their decision tomanufacture two CL-41 prototypes, the design has continued to progress satisfactorily, tooling being on schedule and the firstassemblies already being in the jigs. No order has yet been placed for the aircraft, which is a side-by-side machine of clean design.
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