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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0594.PDF
610 FLIGHT, 2 May 1958 DART HERALD . . . Although the nacelle accommodates the ori- ginal undercarriage a slim profile has been obtained. All future Heralds will have the new oval windows of this Dart prototype. reappraisal. They have faced the agony oftheir decisions and emerged calmly confi- dent of the technical merit of their product.There has been some searching self-exami- nation at Handley Page, and their self-con-fidence has not been impaired; rather are they reaching through difficulties tomaturity in the difficult and competitive commercial aircraft world of 1959 and beyond. They areprepared to re-examine their case and their arguments in a com- pletely straightforward fashion, and this account is written notwithout admiration for the boldness with which these issues are faced. There is plenty of very close interest in the Herald. Apartfrom that of B.A.S., if Australia's policy of Imperial preference is carried through it may influence the sales of the Herald. Trans-Australia Airlines are committed to Friendships, but there is apparently plenty of interest in the Herald in Australia. SenatorPaltridge, the Minister of Civil Aviation, and Mr. Donald Anderson, the Australian Director-General of Civil Aviation, wereimpressed with the aircraft during their recent visit. New Zealand's air routes, with a longest stage-length of 250 miles, could well beHerald country. There are possibilities in India and in South America. Only in the United States has the Friendship challenge sofar been given undisputed sway; Dutch business acumen which led to manufacturing agreements with Fairchild, has made theU.S.A. a tough market to crack open, although the Dart Herald will, incidentally, meet all C.A.A. strength and performancerequirements. In any case, although the Herald and Friendship are closely competitive, their spheres of influence do not entirely over-lap; the slightly sleeker Friendship inclines a little more towards the more sophisticated routes; the robust, simple Herald to opera-tions where reliability and airfield performance are at a premium. Perhaps the biggest stumbling block in the way of more rapidHerald sales has been the sheer inability of DC-3 operators to find money for replacement fleets. Naturally enough, they are not toowilling to be the first to take the plunge for what is still an untried design, and the combination of a new airframe with a promising but new piston engine with a limited initial overhaul life couldnot be described as a really attractive proposition. Things might well have worked out differently/particularly if the Alvis LeonidesMajor had received more substantial military backing. But this- was not forthcoming and, in view of the popularity of the Dart,and the recent availability of the RDa.7 with sufficient power to give a twin-engined aeroplane a good payload performance, theturboprop decision was undoubtedly the right one (the Herald uses Dart Mk 527s of 1,910 s.h.p. for take-off). Of course, H.P. fervently wish that it were possible for a majorlocal airline—B.E.A. for example—to assist this private venture by working the aircraft over their routes for development purposes.But the Corporation are only prepared to extend their altruism so far, and in any case their policy is to progress their Viscountson to the remaining routes operated by DC-3s. But a very satis- factory alternative arrangement has been worked out with DerbyAviation, who are very satisfied users of the H.P.-developed Marathon. Being geographically so close to Rolls-Royce, and withH.P.-Derby Aviation liaison already well established, a practical agreement has been reached by which Derby will charter a DartHerald (with an option to purchase) for intensive flying during their busy summer season. This should help Handley Page to acquiremuch-needed operating experience. It might be greatly to Derby's advantage, too, beyond helping out with extra capacity at a peaktime; but it would be unfair to speculate further about possible orders when H.P. so resolutely refuse to do so themselves. To continue this analysis in the earlier vein of appraisal, it doesseem fair to ask whether ; in fact, there is very much promise forthe piston-engined Herald. Mr. Jack Frye's Safari was discon- tinued in piston-engined form, even with the well-developedWright or Pratt and Whitney powerplants that it was intended to use. Handley Page, of course, have reached demonstrationstage with two aircraft, but even these are being converted to Dart power. Most of the hopes for the aeroplane lie in the turbopropversion, so what future is there for a piston-engined Herald? Part of the answer lies in the short-field aeroplane already men-tioned, and part in the concept of the Herald as a four-engined aircraft. Four Darts, even, say, four RDa.6s, would not havebeen a practical solution for this class of operation, encroaching as it then would on the Viscount field. But four engines hold greatattractions for many operators, and the possibilities of say, four 1,000 s.h.p. turboprops have been very carefully considered. Themounting points for four engines are still incorporated in the struc- ture of the Dart-powered Herald. The airframe is also capable oftaking higher powered Darts and is structurally sufficient for the RDa.10, provided that some local stiffening were done in thenacelle and the asymmetric engine case reconsidered. Greater powers would permit appreciably greater payloads to be carried,or further improve the runway characteristics, or both. Any impression that the Dan Herald is a "bandaged-up" designof the earlier version should be dispelled by a consideration of the structural changes that have been made for the faster aircraft. TheDart installation has been a complete redesign within the present geometry, particularly as regards the wing, which carries an addi-tional 30 per cent bending load. The Dart Herald is in every way a carefully conceived design, with passenger, freight, and radioand radar calibration versions. In super short-haul form, it boasts the necessary adjuncts of whistle-stop operation—large loadingdoors, port propeller run-down brake, coincident take-off and landing weights, ample water/methanol capacity and mechanic-ally operated built-in loading steps. The low speed handling is reported to be good and pleasant for frequent landings. The high wing was an obvious choice for the Herald. Aero-dynamically, the aircraft gains valuable pendulum stability (the Leonides Herald was noted for its smooth ride) and makes possible Extensive testing has been done on the Herald fuselage at the Radlett structural test laboratory and 100 per cent ultimate load has been successfully reached on the critical landing and torsional cases.
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