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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 2347.PDF
246 FLIGHT, 18 September 1959 Roy Bradley enjoyed his usual Farnborough romp in the Westland Wessex (left), and Saunders- Roe had the Mk 2 version of their P.53I, with Blackburn A.129 turbine, in the same circus Farnborough Week... and Mr. Ronald Shaw, Assistant Director for Aircraft Research, Ministry of Supply, to talk to representatives of companies work- ing on air-riding vehicles. Meanwhile, development of a larger Hovercraft would continue. Thursday, September 10 The hot, hazy weather continued andthe well-wined occupants of the terrace enclosures baked gently in the sun as they watched the flying display. High in the dustyblue sky nine pairs of white eyes blinked open at us from the top of a loop—the roundels of Treble-One's Hunters, in voodoo, inthe accustomed groove. Racking turns by the Lightning T.4 (with Roland Beamontin the cockpit); and a re-shuffled programme that puts on the Hunter 66A and its smoking corkscrew (and Bill Bedford, whois in the cockpit) as the final item. The only inadvertent happen- ing is that the Bristol 192 is slightly clumsy in depositing itsBloodhound on the ground—but an R.A.E. crane is soon on the spot to set the missile right. Throughout the day the strange shapes in the outdoor equip-ment park are the subject of much interest, and there is no shortage of cinemagoers to attend the N.G.T.E. film on jet noise—and to bequizzed on their own subjective reactions to different types of noise. Thursday's news announcements include the achievement ofa 2,500 hr overhaul life for the Rolls-Royce Dart 510s of Kl.M.'s Viscount fleet; and discussions between Fiat and Microcell con-cerning the possible use of Microcell glass-fibre rocket launchers for the Fiat G.91 NATO fighter. The Public Days Friday, September 11 From the cockpit of a Twin Pioneer atabout 350ft above the airfield, Farnborough was a 55-second blur of people and aeroplanes and runway and tentage. Ahead of andjust below, so that we were almost fanned in the hot afternoon sunshine by their whirling rotor-blades, were a Sycamore and aWhirlwind; close alongside, like chicks with a mother hen, were two Pioneers; and as the Twin Pioneer pulled up over the heli-copters at the south-eastern boundary a Beverley appeared over A far cry from their dainty helicopters, Saunders-Roe showed (right) a model of a 400-ton Hovercraft. Below, also in model form, are possible developments of the Westland Westminster. The pod (below) carries passengers and stretchers; the other version is a military rear-loader the top of us, then a Hastings above it, then a Britannia, then aComet: an airborne epitome of the present strength and flexibility of R.A.F. Transport Command. For those aboard XM960, a Twin Pioneer of No. 21 Sqn., theday's show had begun when we positioned before lunch "in the wings" at the famous old airfield of Upavon. The Pioneers ofNo. 230 Sqn. which were also to fly over Farnborough are based there, and another Twin Pioneer—as reserve—had come fromNo. 21 Squadron's headquarters at Benson. Take-off was timed for 1445; the flight was due to take 24 min 34 sec with a distanceof 38.1 miles from the first check point to the far side of the airfield. At starting-up time, when F/L. Graham Reith pulled thetoggle which fires the starboard cartridge, nothing happened; the chain had stuck, as it did at Benson in the morning. The offendingcartridge barrel was quickly changed, but the delay cost valuable time; so that when we came to turn on to our course of 103 deg thenavigator, F/L. Bob Norton-Craig, counted us 40 seconds late. But being late (they had said, on experience earlier in the week) isbetter than being early on such a tightly-timed operation: it is easier to make up time than to have to lose it. Our flight plan air-speed was to have been 93 kt (ground speed also 93 kt, in hazy conditions with almost no wind); but "better make it 95-97 kt,"the navigator advised. At the first check point, U.I, we were 45 sec late; scarcely anything had been gained or lost. F/L. Reith put upthe r.p.m. to 2,400 and the A.S.I, gradually rose to 100 kt. The two Pioneers were comfortably settled in loose box formation; thereserve Twin Pioneer was still with us, as was another Pioneer, doing some photography. At U.2 (a road in a wood) the Twin (Continued on p. 248, after page of helicopter pictures)
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