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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0774.PDF
790 PLIGHT FROM ALL QUARTERS The Queen Opens Gatwick LAST Monday, June 9, the Queen inaugurated Gatwick Airport.•» Her Majesty arrived there at 10.45 a.m. in a Heron of the Queen's Flight, accompanied by H.R.H. Prince Philip. The unveiling of a commemorative plaque was preceded bya blessing by the Bishop of Kingston and an address from the Queen, who was welcomed in a brief speech by Mr. HaroldWatkinson, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation. In the course of her speech Her Majesty said: "My husbandand I travel by air often enough to realize that without proper ground control and efficient terminal facilities quick and safe airtravel would not be possible. I have not the least doubt that the latest ideas and techniques have been embodied in every depart-ment of this new airport. I am quite sure that the combination of a good road and rail link with modern buildings and facilities willhelp to make a favourable impression on visitors to this country. I am sure this airport has a great future before it." The Queen and Prince Philip spent an hour at Gatwick, touringthe facilities and airport buildings, before leaving by car. Though the first commercial use of Gatwick was by a TransairViscount on May 30, the first official service, which left a few minutes after the opening ceremony, was performed by a B.E.A.DC-3 Pionair on a charter flight to the Channel Islands. The new airport was fully described in Flight last week. The R.A.F. and Bloodhound AN Air Ministry spokesman said on June 2 that the role of the•**• ground-to-air guided missile in Britain's defence policy was unchanged: the policy remained as outlined in the White Papers.The R.A.F. had the ramjet-powered Bristol Bloodhound deployed as an operational weapon, and the Army had placed an order forthe English Electric Thunderbird. The spokesman denied newspaper reports that Bloodhound hadbeen relegated to a training role and that the R.A.F. intended to wait for Thunderbird. He added, "We agreed some time ago toconduct trials with Thunderbird, and that weapon is in the training role." NAPIER HISTORY is represented at an exhibition now in progress in London (see news item in column 2). In this photograph Mr. Aubrey Jones, Minister of Supply, is seen at the opening ceremony: on his right is Sir George Nelson, chairman of the parent English Electric Group, and on his left Mr. H. Sammons, director of D. Napier and Son, Ltd. They are examining the Schneider Trophy, loaned by the Royal Aero Club; it was won by Napier-engined aircraft in 1922 and 1927. ROYAL GATWICK: Last Monday, as reported below, the new Gatwick Airport was opened by the Queen. Here Her Majesty is seen examining a model of the layout, the details being explained by Mr. F. Snow, consulting engineer. On the right is the Duke of Edinburgh and behind Mr. Snow is Mr. Airey NeaYe, Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation. Commenting on the Ministry statement, Bristol Aircraft, Ltd.,said that it "contained the first official intimation that the R.A.F. is in actual possession of Bloodhound, which thus becomes thefirst homing weapon to enter service in the free world. Although Bloodhound is Britain's first surface-to-air missile to go into quan-tity production for the operational role, the Bristol/Ferranti design team actually entered the guided-weapons field at a later stage thanits British competitors." Germany's adoption of the Bloodhound is reported below. German Industry Plans PLANS for the future of the West German aircraft industrywere outlined by the Minister of Defence, Dr. Franz-Josef Strauss, in speeches to its representatives last week.He said that the industry would receive orders worth DM. 2,100m (£179m) to build missiles and aircraft for the German forces duringthe next seven years, nearly half of this being earmarked for missile construction. All missiles and aircraft would be offoreign design, manufactured under licence in West Germany, the former being of five types—Honest John and Corporal; Hawk,Nike, Bloodhound; Matador; Sidewinder; and anti-tank. On aeroplanes, the Minister said that the Luftwaffe would until1963 rely on manned aircraft for two-thirds of its strength; the German industry would build under licence "two types ofbombers, one light bomber and one intercepter." The industry's immediate tasks were to manufacture under licence "a light bom-ber for use also as a short-range reconnaissance and ground- support aircraft" (at least 100 Fiat G.91s are to be built in Ger-many, and some 50 bought in Italy), and "a bomber for use also as an all-weather fighter, tactical reconnaissance aircraft and fighter/bomber." About 200 of the latter requirement arc to be built. The Napier Story TO celebrate the anniversary of the arrival of twenty-three-year-old David Napier in London 150 years ago—he is believed to have become established in business in 1808—the famous enginefirm of D. Napier and Son are holding an exhibition of their past and present products at the Tea Centre, Lower Regent Street,London, W.I. The exhibition was opened by Mr. Aubrey Jones, the Minister of Supply, on June 2 and remains open untiltomorrow, the 14th. Beautifully presented, it recalls the milestones of the Napierfamily and engineering history: the early bullet-making machinery that produced 25,000 rounds a day, the gold-coin weighing machinethat is still in use in the Royal Mint, the first of a range of motor cars that in their heyday competed in quality and workmanshipwith the best produced anywhere, and the first R.E.7 and R.E.8 airframes and RAF. 3a and Sunbeam aero-engines that Napierbuilt in 1915. Some excellent scale models and well preserved (or restored) early engines tell the Napier engine story from the timein 1918 when the first of the famous Lion engines was produced. The Lion's successes in the Schneider Trophy races, in record-breaking and as powerplant for an enormous range of civil and military aircraft is recalled by a series of aircraft models and
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