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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 0381.PDF
184 FLIGHT, 6 February 1959 Frank Bernard Halford 1894-1955 . . . About this time de H. was looking around for an engine suitablefor a light aeroplane he was designing. It seemed natural that he and Halford should get together on this problem. As a result theCirrus happened along. It was half an Airdisco and the first engine was built in a remarkably short time, rated originally at60 h.p. So again the combination of these two men, who were so geared together, produced a very successful aeroplane—the Moth—and set the foundation for what was to become probably the most widely used series of light aircraft in the world. "Another wartime engine which received Halford's attention atA.D.C. was our old friend the Puma. Quite large quantities were being sold for the equipping of the then new Russian Air Forceand it was thought that an up-rated edition would have a market. Thus the Nimbus by Halford out of Puma. The cubic capacitywas increased from 18.85 litres to 20.7 litres and the r.p.m. from 1,400 to 1,600, thus producing 335 h.p. for 665 lb weight. Verycommendable at that time. A suffer crankshaft was needed to suit the higher output and by a remarkable stroke of good fortune itwas found that the Atlantic shaft, with slight modifications, was suitable, and was used." Other redesigns of wartime engines were undertaken, notablythe 300 h.p. Fiat, Wolseley Viper and the Sunbeam range named after African tribes. The Moth, in common with most other aeroplanes, wasclamouring for more power, and to meet the need a Mk II edition of the Cirrus was produced, rated at 80 h.p. This wasachieved by the embodiment of a new cylinder head and valve gear, together with a redesign of the induction system. Mostof this period was interspersed with hectic effort in the installa- tion of the lj litre in the Aston Martin chassis and all the manytroubles which arose therefrom: also from its successful career at Brooklands. This saw the end of Halford's association withthe Aircraft Disposal Company and the offices were moved from Croydon to Victoria. There the Gipsy range of engines was born.These included the Gipsy I, Gipsy II, Gipsy III (this latter the first of the inverted types of Gipsy engines), Gipsy Major,Gipsy Six, Gipsy Ghost 8-cylinder vee, and Gipsy Twelve (with reversed-flow cylinder cooling), and just before the war thebeautiful little Gipsy Minor. Between the wars Halford came to a working arrangement withD. Napier & Son Ltd. and was responsible for the design of the Rapier, the Dagger, and the Sabre series of engines. The Rapier,a 16-cylinder double-crankshaft engine of 8.55 litres capacity, ran at 3,500 r.p.m. and fired pairs of cylinders simultaneously. Ratedat 400 h.p. and weighing 720 1b, it was installed in the D.H.77, Fairey Seafox and the top component of the Mayo compositeaircraft. The Dagger, a 24-cylinder double-crankshaft engine of 16.8 litres capacity, ran at 4,000 r.p.m. developing 1,000 h.p. Itwas installed in the Hawker Hector and Handley Page Hereford. The Sabre was a larger engine of 36.7 litres running at 3,700 r.p.m.,ultimately developed to give 3,100 h.p. It had twenty-four water- cooled cylinders and Halford used single sleeve valves. In its dayit was the most powerful piston engine in operation in the world and saw service in the Hawker Typhoon and Tempest. During this period growing pains were being suffered in theoffices in Victoria and a move was made in 1929 to new offices in Golden Square. The staff now numbered seven. Little didthe moguls of the tweed industry (who were domiciled there) know of the vital work for aviation which was proceeding intheir midst. About this time several diversionary designs were undertaken, including the Hayes transmission. A fully automaticgear with overdrive was manufactured for the 18 h.p. Austin car. Other automobile activities included the redesign, to theiradvantage, of valve gear in at least two well-known British cars. The need for closer liaison with de Havillands was becoming • Cfcii The Halford Laboratory at Hatfield pressing; and the company built for Major Halford, in their StagLane Works, a suite of offices which was occupied in 1937, the staff then totalling 52. Many of them remain today. W. H. Arscott,E. S. Moult and many others had joined years before. The out- standing feature of this organization was the close-knit and happyrelationship of each to the other engendered by Halford. It still continues. Arscott and Moult had transferred much of their effortto Napiers but the centre of activity was largely maintained at Stag Lane, where the whole of the de Havilland output was thenlocated. Engines, aircraft and propellers were designed, developed and produced under one roof. With the coming of the Second World War engine design workat Edgware fell initially in the doldrums. One rather exciting job undertaken was the installation of the Gipsy Six engine inthe belly of a Wellington. It drove an alternator (which, in the main, consisted of the motor of a London trolleybus) for energizinga 50ft-diameter coil mounted under the fuselage and wings of this aeroplane. It was successful in sweeping the coasts of Britainof magnetic mines. Eventually five were transferred to the Middle East and used to keep the Suez Canal open. Another task under-taken about this time was the design and development of an auxiliary unit for supplying power to the Shetland flying-boat. It was in 1941 that Halford entered the field of jet propulsion.At the request of Sir Henry Tizard he undertook the design of the original H.I (later Goblin). This engine achieved its ratedoutput of 3,000 lb thrust within three months of its initial running date. It was a measure of the enthusiasm and effort in our war-time factories that from the day the first detail drawing was issued until the first engine was mounted on the test bed a periodof 248 days elapsed. The prototype of the Gloster Meteor, then known as the F.9/40, first flew with two of these engines, as alsodid the Lockheed P-80, later named Shooting Star. Experience gained in the Rapier and Dagger, and ultimately the Sabre, withthe single-sided impeller in the supercharger, was turned to good account in the Goblin compressor. The Ghost, a larger editionof the Goblin, was designed in 1945. This engine continues in production. Fitted to a modified Vampire it achieved a world'saltitude record in 1948 of 59,446ft. During the early part of the war Halford also undertook thedesign and development of de Havilland propellers. In the rela- tively short period of two years the contra-rotating propellersfor the Rolls-Royce Griffon and the Napier Sabre engines were made, and many new projects initiated. This effort expanded sorapidly that in 1943 Halford had to hand the work over to others. In a brief statement it was impossible to cover adequatelythe pressures and demands made on Halford and his teams. That he was master of this diverse effort throughout, and imposed suchforce and urgency to every aspect of it, was in itself a tribute to his strength of purpose and sense of responsibility. The war ended and one would have expected some let-up ineffort. But newer and bigger engines were required and the demands of civil aircraft were beginning to- be felt. In 1943Halford joined forces with the de Havilland Aircraft Co. Ltd., but although the staff became de Havilland employees the workwent on much as before. In 1944 the de Havilland Engine Co. [Concluded on page 186] An impression by F. Gordon-Crosby of a D.H.4 with the inverted engine referred to on the previous page
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