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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 0873.PDF
"Flight" photographs The forthcoming visit to this country, tor certification and demonstration, of a Meta-Sokol four-seater from Czechoslovakia is reported on this page. The latest version of the type is powered by a Walker M.332 engine which develops 740 b.h.p., and has a cruising speed of 137 m.p.h. Sport and Business A BRANCH of the Tiger Club has been formed at SywellAerodrome, Northampton, led by Charles Boddington and operating Tiger Moth G-AOXS. This, it is hoped, will be thefirst of a number of branches of the club operating outside the London area. Several additions to the Tiger Club fleet will beflying in this season's displays and races, notably the first British- registered Jodel D.I 17 G-APOZ, a second Rollason Turbulent(G-APLZ) and Arrow Active G-ABVE. The Active will incor- porate a redesigned fin and rudder. Another newcomer to theclub will be a second aerobatic Tiger, G-ANZZ, which is expected to follow in the inverted footsteps of the Bishop Tiger to sucheffect that it will be known as the Archbishop. In addition to these machines, the club expects to have four Tigers, three HornetMoths, a Jackaroo and two further Turbulents available for the national air races. Forthcoming club events include a display at Sywell over theEaster week-end (March 29-30), and an aerobatic training week at Sywell during April 5-12 organized by Colin Labouchere. Pilotsinterested in spending part of the aerobatic week with the club should contact Mr. Labouchere at Sculthorpe Old Rectory,Fakenham, Norfolk. APPLICATIONS TO ATTEND the Aerial At Home at WoburnAbbey on May 2 should be made to the Royal Aero Club by April 17. The programme includes a reception by the Duke andDuchess of Bedford, lunch, a tour of the Abbey and grounds, a demonstration by aircraft of the Shuttleworth Trust, and tea.Visitors will pay a £1 landing fee and there will be a sealed time-of-arrival competition. Aviation was one of the interests ofthe Duke of Bedford's grandmother, the eleventh duchess, who learned to fly in 1926 at the age of 61 and who disappeared ona solo flight from Woburn in 1937. A CZECHOSLOVAK META-SOKOL aircraft is due in thiscountry at the beginning of next month, and will be evaluated by the Air Registration Board for British validation of its Czechcertificate of airworthiness. The machine will be based initially at Croydon, and flying demonstrations will probably be arrangedat Biggin Hill. The power of the Meta-Sokol has recently been increased from the 105 b.h.p. of the Walter Minor 4-III to140 b.h.p. provided by a Walter M.332, and the provisional U.K. price of this latest version is £4,400 including import duty.Enquiries concerning the British demonstration tour of the aircraft should go ro G/C. E. L. Mole, Aircraft and General FinanceCorporation Ltd., 3 Red Place, Green Street, London, W.I. FOLLOWING THE DECISION of Goodhew Aviation Com-pany Ltd. to cease operating Oxford Aeroplane Club at the end of last month, a new company has been formed to ensure thecontinued existence of the club at Kidlington. Directors of the company comprise Peter Clifford, Kerr Elliott, Peter Jewson,Stan Jewson, Patrick Raison and Rex Smith, who has taken over as manager and chief flying instructor. Peter Clifford is con-tinuing as dub chairman for 1959. A recent club newsletter emphasizes that visiting pilots and aircraft will still be mostwelcome at any time at Kidlington. A THREE-DAY TOUR covering a distance of 700 miles andincluding visits to six aerodromes is to be made by a group of aircraft from Fair Oaks Aero Club over the Easter week-end.From Fair Oaks on Saturday, March 28, the route is via Ipswich (for lunch) to Brough; on the following day calls will be made atSywell and Lulsgate; and on Easter Monday the group will return to Fair Oaks via Roborough and Thruxton. Five Tiger Moths,three Austers, two Chipmunks and a Taylorcraft will be used. Following a successful visit to the control tower at London Airporton February 25, a second visit there by a group of Fair Oaks members was planned for the evening of Wednesday, March 25. A STRONG TEAM is being entered by the R.A.F. Gliding andSoaring Association for the 1959 National Gliding Championships at Lasham (May 9-18). Captained by G/C. N. W. Kearon, andwith A. Cdre. G. J. C. Paul as team manager, this year's R.A.F. entry will have higher-performance sailplanes than ever before.The team is divided into two groups, the first of which consists of pilots with previous Nationals experience, and the entire con-tingent of pilots and ground crew, numbering about 70, will form a self-contained encampment at Lasham. The pilots in Team 1 are Sgt. A. W. Gough (Olympia 419X),G/C. N. W. Kearon (Skylark 3B), F/L. K. Fitzroy (Skylark 3B), S/L. J. L. Bayley (T.42 Eagle) and Sgt. J. Williamson (Olympia401). In the second team are F/O. D. Cretney (Gull 4), F/L E. W. Clarke (Kranich), S/L. J. G. Croshaw and Cpl. K. V.Newholme (Olympia 2), S/L. N. Maygothling and F/L. F. Allen (Olympia 2), Cpl. W. R. Longley and S/L. E. T. Ware(Olympia 2), and P/O. D. Campion as reserve. Air Cdre. Paul, the team manager, was the original founder ofthe R.A.F. Gliding and Soaring Association ten years ago, and recently retired from the R.A.F. to become secretary-general ofthe Air League of the British Empire. The present R.A.F.G.S.A. chairman, G/C. R. R. Goodbody, will act as deputy team managerduring the championships. AT THE KRONFELD CLUB on Wednesday, March 11, a newelectric variometer designed by Peter Davy and Peter Bulman of the Cambridge Gliding Club was the subject of much interestamong glider pilots present. Six of these instruments have been built and, it is expected, will be used during this year's nationalchampionships at Lasham. IMPRESSIVE STATISTICS showing that private flying in theU.S.A. is big business were published recently by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of Washington, D.C. During 1958,the Association reported, a total of 6,414 new private aircraft were sold by the U.S. industry, with a total retail value of $127.5 million.Of the "Big Three" companies, Beech sold 694 machines at an average price of $51,220; Cessna sold 2,926 at an average price of$16,813; and Piper's figures were 2,162 aircraft sold, averaging $16,372. The October 1958 total of registered U.S. civil aircraft was98,414, of which no fewer than 95,577 (97.1 per cent) were private aircraft. The number of airports available to civil aircraft in theU.S.A. is 6,919, all of which are used by private aircraft and only 569 by the airlines. At the major terminal airports—which formonly three per cent of the total number—private aircraft were responsible for approximately 50 per cent of the total aircraftmovements during 1958. The total of hours flown by U.S. private aircraft during the year was estimated at 11.5 million comparedwith 10.9 million in 1957. In the official caption to this photograph of the Russian A-13 sailplane, designed by Oleg Antonov, no mention is made of the interchangeable- wings feature previously publicized (two sets of wings were used, one for aerobatics and the other for distance flights)
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