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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 1277.PDF
624 Correspondence The Editor of "Flight" is not necessarily in agreement with the viewsexpressed by correspondents in these columns. Names and addresses of writers, not for publication in detail, must in all cases accompany letters. Choice of a Freighter SOME ironic amusement was voiced in certain quarters on read-ing Mr. William Richardson's letter (April 3), in which he listed three contenders for the long-range strategic-freighterproject. Its cause lay in the fact that Mr. Richardson made no mention whatever of a fourth contender submitted by a firm withmore experience of heavy freighters than any other in Britain, a firm which, moreover, has established quite a reputation throughits quaint habit of producing aircraft to target dates. (Since 30 April last year no fewer than five prototypes of a new andadvanced strike aircraft have flown—something of a record in recent years I imagine.) This firm's contender, in addition to embodying a wealth ofhard-won "know-how" on such matters as heavy-dropping equip- ment, freight-handling, specialized military role equipment—all,as far as I know, possessed by no other British firm—was definitely preferred by the War Office, who after all would have had to relyon its ability, was unique among the other projects in having full- width front-and-rear straight-through loading, had a definite civilfuture, and did not require acres of reinforced concrete or a battalion of maintenance personnel. Many hundreds of design hours had been spent on it; a full-size mock-up had been built, and ample production capacity was available. Its home, also, happens to be in an area with an unem-ployment figure not much lower than that of Northern Ireland. Its name, in case Mr. Richardson cannot yet call it to mind, wasthe Blackburn B.107. Leeds, 12, Yorkshire. M. J. LUND. The Airline Pilot Market TN an article on pilot training in your issue of March 6 and in••• several letters published in recent issues there have been refer- ences to this company which generally give the impression thatthe General Air Training scheme has collapsed. This is far from being the case, although it is true to saythat so far no young man has been trained from start to finish entirely under our auspices. However, the scheme in a modifiedform has been successful in enabling a number of pilots with varying amounts of flying experience to obtain their instrumentrating, or a helicopter rating on a commercial licence. In fact, since the inception of the scheme in November 1957, over £20,000has been advanced to pilots to enable them to obtain the qualifica- tions necessary for their particular cases. At the present time, owing to the (to quote the article) "currentscarcity of opportunities for freshly qualified commercial pilots," we are considering only applications from pilots or prospectivepilots who have guaranteed employment at the conclusion of their training. However, we do not believe that the present unemploy-ment rate amongst pilots will continue indefinitely, and as and when opportunities once more arise we shall continue to assistin the training of keen youngsters whose principal obstacle in achieving their ambition is lack of finance. London, S.W.I. I. A. F. DONNELLY, Director, General Air Training Ltd. D.C. Starter/Generators / read with interest in the February 27 issue of Flight RogerBacon's notes about how clever Mr. Oleg Antonov's boys in Kiev are .. . how a D.C. starter/generator has not been borne outin practice . . . how it appears that an efficient and reliable starter/generator simply cannot be made . . . His comments are absolutely wrong! Bendix Aviation Corpora-tion has been supplying highly efficient, reliable starter/generators for years. In 1947, thousands of starter/generators began pouringoff U.S. production lines for use in jet-engine starting applications. And for big engines, too—as big as the NK-4 and AI-20. Bendixalone has built thousands and thousands of efficient starter/ generators. So have our competitors. And here we will admitthat they build pretty good equipment—almost as efficient as ours. In the U.S. today there are several excellent starter/ generatorapplications in use. In addition to actual aircraft applications, one U.S. jet-engine manufacturer is using a starter/generator in hisfinal engine production testing. After investigating several pos- sible methods of starting his production engines, he has concludedthat a starter/generator was the most efficient and most practical to do this job. Red Bank Division has a complete family of D.C. starter/generators developed—from a 150-amp unit which provides a cranking torque of about 32 lb ft when supplied with a 400-amp FLIGHT, 1 May 1959 RETROSPECT *, - From "Flight" of May 1, 1909 Professor Reissner's Aeroplane: Experimenting last week at Aix-la-Chappelle with his new aeroplane. Professor Reissner, after rising to a height of 5 metres for about 40 metres, came to earth too hastily,resulting in the machine being somewhat bent. M. Jacques Faure's Dirigible: Very disappointing have been theattempts of M. Faure to carry out his scheme for a long flight by dirigible in the Mediterranean. Last week he sailed above the Bayat Monte Carlo for about half-an-hour, the trip being concluded by the airship falling into the sea, and being towed back to the harbour. starting current, up to a 500-amp rating which provides a torqueof about 95 1b ft when 1,000-amp starting current is supplied. For Roger Bacon's information, Red Bank Division is currentlyproducing an A.C. generating system which will also start a jet engine. Incidentally, please don't tell Mr. Antonov and his boysfrom Kiev about this. Eatontown, NJ. RED BANK DIVN., BENDIX AVIATION CORP.Stanley R. Chase, Marketing Manager, Aircraft Electrical Accessories and Generating Systems. History and the Wrights T AM sorry to see that in order to comment on Charles Gibbs-*- Smith's article "Hops and Flights," my good friend John Taylor should bring in some derogatory comments regarding theWright brothers. Mr. Taylor states that the "Wright biplane was a dead-enddesign." In what manner is this so? To help appreciate the magnitude of the Wrights' achievement, one should compare theirdesign with its contemporaries. A glance at the relevant pages in Mr. Taylor's own admirable book, A Picture History of Flight,will show that in many respects it was a classic aeroplane, along- side those "flown" by people such as Santos-Dumont, Ellehammer,Langley, the Marquis of Equevilley and Roshon round about the same time. It was these latter flimsy, tailless, paddle-propellered"Emett"-like contraptions that were the dead-end designs. True, flying experience indicated that it was more prudent tohave the height-control surface behind instead of in front of the centre of gravity, but many other features of the Wright biplanehave been retained right down to this day. And, judging from some of the futuristic pictures released of suggested configurationsof the supersonic airliner, the "elevator" may ultimately end up where the Wrights put it initially! One feature of the Wright biplane which was not adoptedgenerally—unfortunately—was its lack of a wheeled undercarriage. Had technical endeavour not strayed into the realm of undercar-riages, all aircraft might have developed as VTOs, with conse- quent benefit throughout the entire aviation field. Potters Bar, Middx. MAURICE ALLWARD. Invention of the Radio RangeI NOTICE on page 299 of Flight for February 27 several lettersof correction to the article "Flying Fords" that appeared in the February 6 issue. In my opinion, even more important questions on Mr. GeorgeLanning's article relate to the statements he made regarding the invention, development and demonstration of the four-courseequisignal radio range. I have understood the history of this system to be quite as described in Keen's Wireless DirectionFinding (published by Iliffe), 3rd edition 1938, pages 8 and 474- 486: Invention by the German Scheller in 1907; development anddemonstration in 1921-1923 by the U.S. Bureau of Standards; and further in 1924-1927 by the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Nutley, New Jersey, U.S.A. ROBERT I. COLIN. FORTHCOMING EVENTS May 2. British Interplanetary Society: "Inertial Guidance and its Application to Astronautics," by D. J. Cashmore. May 2. Aerial At Home, Woburn Park. May 4-14. I.A.T.A. Technical Conference, Berkeley, Calif. May 5. R.Ae.S.: "The Potential Use of Aircraft for Agricultural Purposes," by R. H. Scott. May 8. Helicopter Association: "Helicopter Noise Suppression," by H. B. Irving. May 9. U.S.A.F. At Home: Wethersfield. May 9-18. British National Gliding Championships, Lasham Gliding Centre, Hants. May 14. R.Ae.S.: 47th Wilbur Wright Memorial Lecture, "Managing Aviation Technologies," by C. J. McCarthy. May 16. U.S.A.F. At Homes: Bentwarer, Sculthorpe and Alconbury. May 18. S.S.A.F.A. Display, Leeds-Bradford Airport, Yeadon. May 21. Women's Engineering Society: "Aerial Survey Methods. June 12-21. Paris Aero Show. Sept. 7-13. S.B.A.C. Display and Exhibition, Farnborough. R.Ae.S. Branch Fixtures (to May 8): May 5, Luton, "Aircraft Carriers " by J. C. Lawrence. May 6, Weybr/dge, a.g.m. May 7, Cambridge, "Blind Landing Technique," by W. J. Charnley.
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