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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 1639.PDF
792 FLIGHT FROM ALL QUARTERS Record Entry for , Farnborough A RECORD number of 376 companies will be exhibiting at thisyear's S.B.A.C. Flying Display and Exhibition at Farn- borough (September 7 to 13). The exhibition building will againcover about 125,000 sq ft, but the outside equipment display will be 50 per cent bigger than last year's and the guided-weapon parkis to be enlarged by 40 per cent. The Society states that, while it is too early to give a full list of aircraft which will be present,they hope that the Vickers Vanguard, Armstrong Whitworth Argosy, Short SCI and Saro Hovercraft will be included. The Bleriot Race "pEW new details of entries for the Daily Mail Bleriot Anniver-••- sary Race (July 13-23) are yet known, but the newspaper has stated that "already several hundred entry forms have been issuedto would-be challengers in the race for the fastest competitor between Marble Arch and the Arc de Triomphe." Last FridayFlight learned of the entry of a Westland Widgeon, Piaggio 166 and Bell 47, jointly by Mr. K. McAlpine and Helicopter Sales Ltd. Mr. Harold Watkinson, Minister of Transport "and CivilAviation, has said "my Ministry is perfectly willing to consider any idea or project. . . and give as much help as we can." (TheMinistry has the responsibility of approving flight-plans and any unorthodox take-off or landing methods or sites.) SCI Progress > i7 (XN June 2 the Short SCI VTOL made its longest free hovering^^ flight to date. Taking-off in gusty weather from the platform of its test gantry at Belfast, it flew forwards for a quarter of a mileover a concrete road, hovered at from 25 to 30ft, executed several turns and flew sideways under perfect control, and finally wasmanoeuvred backwards to land on a small metal platform on the runway. The SCI was airborne for six minutes. Most of the flying of this aircraft has been conducted by thecompany's chief test pilot Tom Brooke-Smith. After his latest mission he said: "All is now set fair for the final phase of ourtest programme which will be complete transition from vertical take-off to flight as a normal aeroplane and the reverse. I havethe utmost confidence in the outcome of the transition test, which we shall begin shortly." New Engines /"!J AS-TURBINE engines of diminutive size were displayed^-* recently at the World Congress of Flight and Hanover Industrial Fair. The American engine, probably the smallest gasturbine yet developed, is the Curtiss-Wright Turbo-mite, designed and developed by the division at Santa Barbara, Cal. Featuresinclude a back-to-back centrifugal compressor and inward-radial turbine turning at 92,000 r.p.m., a circumferential combustionchamber and, when used to provide electrical power, an integrally mounted alternator turning at 24,000 r.p.m. The Turbo-mite hasa diameter of lOin, a length of 13iin and a weight of 30 1b, and is available in 5 to 10 h.p. models. The German engine is the B.M.W. 6002 and is rated at 50 h.p.At full power the turbine speed of 45,000 r.p.m. can be reduced SHORT CIRCUIT: As noted in a news-item on this page, the Short SC. 1 recently made a six-minute flight at Belfast. The aircraft is here shown moving forwards above a road on the airfield at Sydenham by gearing to output speeds between 11,000 and 3,000 r.p.m. andmaximum consumption of kerosine or petrol is 66 lb/hr. A larger gas turbine has been unveiled by Solar Aircraft, of SanDiego, Cal. Named Saturn, it has a sea-level rating of 1,250 h.p., weighs 950 lb, and has a simple-cycle six. of 0.60 (thermalefficiency 23 per cent). Fixed-r.p.m. and variable-speed versions are to be marketed for a variety of applications. New piston engines are still appearing, and Potez in France haverecently announced a new range of horizontally opposed units. The first of this family are rated at 90 h.p. (four cylinders, 3.42 lit.)and 180 h.p. Operating on 80-octane fuel, the former can deliver up to 96 h.p. at 2,530 r.p.m. Marconi Early Warning Contract — TN October 1957 Marconi's Wireless Telegraphy Company and-*• the Compagnie Generate de Telegraphie Sans Fil, announced their intention to collaborate in certain aspects of NATO work.Earlier this month they jointly stated that "their proposals for the provision and installation of equipment for all stations in theEarly Warning Chain have been accepted and that contracts are now being placed by the Governments concerned." Total value of the contracts is approximately £7m. This sumcovers the supply and installation of equipment, the training of national personnel and assistance in maintaining the stations afterhand-over. The international nature of the work is underlined by the news that the two companies will award "substantialsub-contracts" to Italian industry. APPOINTED chief ~ designer, light aircraft, of Short Bros, and Har- land Ltd., is Mr. F. H. Robertson (left), formerly chief project designer; he will be responsible for design and development of the SC.7 light freighter. Mr. J. C. Buck (right) succeeds him as head of the project office, with the title "chief of preliminary design" Inertial Guidance for DroneO NE of the largest development and production contracts yetreceived by the inertial-guidance plant at St. Petersburg, Fla, of the Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company, covers themanufacture of a new miniaturized inertial system for the naviga- tion of the Fairchild USD-5 Drone of the U.S. Army. According to the general manager of the St. Petersburg plant"the drone's guidance system will enable the Army to pin-point battle-area targets for such missiles as the Redstone, Sergeant,or Pershing, several hundred miles behind enemy lines." The system, which will incorporate a variation of the well-known MIG gyro units, will be able to guide the drone over several preselected target areas in a single mission without theneed for any radio or radar guidance. Agusta Choose the Gnome IN our "Helicopters of the World" special issue of May 15 weannounced a project by Costruzioni Aeronautiche Giovanni Agusta of Milan for a 25-seat transport Helicopter. For manymonths Agusta have been evaluating a variety of powerplants, and the de Havilland Engine Company are now able to announce thatthe new helicopter will, in fact, have three Gnome shaft turbines. This is the first foreign sale of the Gnome to be announced; thebasic engine is, of course, essentially a development of the T58, and is manufactured under licence from American GeneralElectric. The first all-D.H. Gnome ran successfully on June 5. Designated Agusta 101G, the new helicopter is illustrated herefor the first time. Few details of the aircraft have been released, but it is stated that it is under development against a contractplaced by the Italian Government, and is expected to fly before the end of this year. As the artist's impression shows, the Gnomesare mounted above the roof of the passenger cabin; Nos. 1 and 3 engines are disposed radially from the rotor hub. GNOME ROTARY: First aircraft to be designed around the de Havilland Gnome engine is the Agusta 101G (right), which will have three Gnome H.I000 turboshaft units. Main and tail rotors will each have four blades, the diameter of the former being 64ft 11 in. Further details above
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