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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0743.PDF
6 June 1958 759 MISSOURI MONSTER: The McDonnell F4H-1 two-seat all-weather fighter of the U.S. Navy reveals its curious droop-snoot wings and anhedral tailplane. Powered by two G.E.J79s with afterburners the F4H has blown flaps and can carry a Hound Dog missile or, as seen here four Sparrow 3s The Navy have bought 23 development F4Hs at $7,405fl00 each; full production depends upon an evaluation against the Chance Vought F8U-3 "Buzz" in a Spanish AISA I-11. Prince Cantacuzene f record with regret that Prince Constantin Cantacuzene,known to us on Flight, as to numerous other friends in Great Britain, as "Buzz," died in Madrid last week at the age of 49,following a short illness. "A romantic figure with a highlypractical turn of mind and an aerobatic pilot of the first rank"—as we described him a few years ago—he was a Rumanian bybirth. He gave brilliant per- formances at air displays all overEurope, his usual mount being a Biicker Jungmeister (recentlyfitted with a Lycoming 275 h.p. engine), in which he executedastonishing and varied evolu- tions. His tour de forceoccurred at the very end of a typical demonstration — wheneverybody thought it was over and the Biicker's wheels wereabout to touch down. Cantacu- zene would then give his engine a burst of throttle and, having gained a few feet of height, whipthe aircraft over in a flick roll—performed at so low an altitude that it could almost have been done under a hangar roof. Typical of the affection in which the Prince was held was thefact that, when he fell ill, efforts to save his life were marked by offers of blood transfusions from scores of members of the SpanishAir Force. Chester Garden Party AN aeronautical garden party organized by Chester branch of• the Royal Aeronautical Society was held at Broughton Air- field, Denbighshire, last Saturday; and Sir Arnold Hall, who asthe Society's president performed the opening ceremony, rightly congratulated the Chester members on their initiative, saying thatas far as he was aware it was the first time one of the R.Ae.S. branches had ever held such a function. He added that he wasnot exactly sure how one "opened" a garden party; he thought he might have had to make a parachute jump, but he had beenlet off that. It transpired during the next two-and-a-quarter hours thatparachute jumping was about the only thing missing from an entertaining agenda. This ranged from a fleeting but impressiveP.I visitation (on test from Warton and flown by Desmond de Villiers) to some fast passes by R. W. Ford in the Fairey Junior,its 62 h.p. Walter Mikron going all out; from a somewhat nostalgic asymmetric demonstration of a Mosquito T.3 by F/L. Page toswoops by Sedberghs of No. 631 A.T.C. Gliding School; from a Beverley which looked in weightily from Shawbury to prettilyco-ordinated antics by an Auster Alpha and Autocrat and a civil Percival Prentice.Perhaps the most outstanding items in a programme which also included a Wicko, a Tri-Pacer (flown over from Ireland by itsowner, the Marquis of Kildare), a Bonanza, a Leopard Moth and a Swordfish were first-class shows by F/L. Hamilton in a Whirl-wind and F/L. Edwards in a Vampire T.ll. The tetter's cleanly executed aerobatics, including an inverted pass and ending witha delicate stall turn, formed a delightful finale to the flying part of an ambitious and deservedly successful garden party. IN BRIEF The first attempt to launch into orbit a full-size (20in diameter)Vanguard satellite was made at Cape Canaveral on Tuesday, May 27, and was unsuccessful. The satellite attained a height ofabout 2,000 miles. The small test sphere launched into orbit on March 17 was the only successful attempt out of the four Vanguardfirings which preceded that of the 20in sphere. * * * Lt-Cdr. J. F. S. Overbury, senior test pilot of Saunders-Roe,Ltd., who was injured in an accident when he was demon- strating a Druine Turbulent at Sandown, I.o.W., on Whit Mon-day and was taken to hospital, is reported to be progressing favourably. * * *The 12-volume Rothschild collection of pioneer air stamps and covers—formed by the late N. C. Rothschild—is to be soldnext Monday (June 9) by H. R. Harmer, Ltd., 41 New Bond Street, London, W.I. It includes a pair of Newfoundland 3 centstamps overprinted for the Hawker-Grieve Atlantic attempt. * * * D. Napier and Son, Ltd., are holding an exhibition at the TeaCentre, Lower Regent Street, London, W.I, to mark the 150th anniversary of their founding. Illustrating the many differentproducts designed and manufactured by the company during its long history, the exhibition is open to the public until June 14(10.30 to 6 p.m. weekdays, 10.30 to 1 p.m. Saturdays). Admission is free. * * * At the Royal Air Forces Association annual conference, heldlast week-end in Edinburgh, Air Marshal Sir Harold Lydford was elected chairman of the national council in succession toAir Marshal Sir Robert Saundby. Among resolutions carried at the conference was one asking that the Air Ministry should beimpressed with its "increasing responsibility for giving priority to former R.A.F. and W.R.A.F. personnel when filling vacancies atthe Air Ministry and R.A.F. establishments." * * * Full reports of the Senior, Sidecar and Lightweight T.T. Racesin the Isle of Man appear in the next (June 12) special issue of our associated journal The Motor Cycle. QUIETING VULCAN'S FORGE: The new, twin, Sdft-long muffler units now in use at Avro's Woodford (Cheshire) airfield with the Bristol Olympus turbojets of the Vulcan V-bombers. A Vulcan is towed into position and the mufflers (fabricated within the Hawker Siddeley Group) are then wheeled sideways on rails set in a concrete base.
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