FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0032.PDF
32 FLIGHT, 8 January 1960 FROM ALLQUARTERS Sir Dermot's Farewell * IN a farewell message on his retirement as Chief of the Air Staffon December 31, Marshal of the RAF Sir Dermot Boyle said that the four years of his tour had been "rich beyond measure withunforgettable experiences." Addressing his thanks to all members of the RAF for their support, the retiring CAS added: "The RoyalAir Force stands in the front line of Britain's defences and bears an unprecedented and tremendous responsibility for the country'sfuture and well-being. I am confident that this responsibility is well placed in your hands and it is this thought which has con-stantly sustained me and immeasurably lightened my own responsibilities." [See also page 52.] BEA to Buy American? THE most significant aspect of BEA's application last week tooperate helicopter services from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam (and on the domestic routes to Birmingham and/orManchester) is the proposed use of Sikorsky S-61s or Vertol 107s. No mention is made of the Bristol 192C, which is now presumablyout of the running in BEA's plans for a helicopter to precede, and later to supplement, Rotodynes. Whether the S-61 or the Vertolis chosen, the order will be BEA's first ever placed with the American aircraft industry. The BEA helicopter services to the Continental points appliedfor and to Birmingham and/or Manchester will probably start in 1962. The corporation will first operate a service between Land'sEnd and the Stilly Islands some time in 1961. NA.39 Ejection Tests in USA HIGH-SPEED ejection through the Blackburn NA.39 canopyis to be tried out in the near future on the US Navy's rocket sled testing facilities at <"!hina Lake, CaL Tests will be made on theSNOKT (supersonic naval ordnance research track, a stretch of four miles) and an actual NA.39 front fuselage employed—seeillustration on facing page—with a steel bay built behind it to contain the propulsion rockets. On the side of the fuselage theaircraft is described as a "low altitude bomber/reconnaisance aircraft, designed and manufactured by Blackburn Aircraft Ltd,Brough, Yorkshire, England." In an article on aircrew escape from the NA.39, in the currentissue of the Blackburn house journal The Courier, A. E. Rowland, Head of the Structures Department, writes of the special difficul-ties of ejection from an aircraft designed to fly "low and fast" and describes the static tests of the NA.39 ejector system which havealready taken place at Brough. So far, he says, these have shown the system to be "as perfect as static tests could make it." In thehigh-speed tests—the first to be made by sled of a British military aircraft—the two seats will be fired from the cockpit six times.The seats are, of course, Martin-Baker automatics. In a New Year message the chairman of the Blackburn Group,A. F. Jopling, says he considers the concern has never been "in better shape in relation to the aircraft industry as a whole." Hepays tribute to Eric Turner, who resigned as chairman and managing director on December 31, and to the team which he builtup and led "with conspicuous success." Mr. Jopling refers to the production order for the NA.39 and says "we have recently beentold that the A129 engine is to be ordered for installation in the Saunders-Roe P.531 [Wasp]." Hawker Siddeley Results SO rapid was the growth of Hawker Siddeley in Canada in recentyears that the tail was threatening to wag the dog: the stage was about to be reached where the value of the Canadian subsidiariesexceeded that of the UK parent companies. Now the accounts for the year ended July 1959—issued recently in advance of thea.gjn. on January 14—show that this trend has been sharply reversed. In broad terms, the book value of the British and Canadianconcerns in 1958, after allowing for shares held in subsidiary companies by outsiders, stood at about £50m in each case. Butby the close of the 1959 financial year the British part of the business rocketed in book value to almost £70m, whereas theCanadian section remained more or less unchanged. A similar picture appeared on the profits side. That Britain isno longer a poor relation is shown by a net profit figure for 1959 of £5m. The Canadian figure was only half this amount, andover half of that went to outside shareholders. The main feature of the Hawker Siddeley balance sheet is the WASP'S NEST for the Saunders-Roe P.531, which now bears this insect's name, was provided by HMS "Undaunted" during recent evaluation trials (referred to on this page last week). Here the helicopter is making one of its 300-odd deck landings on the frigate progress the group is making away from indebtedness. Raisingof a £15m debenture loan in the UK allowed bank loans and overdrafts to be substantially reduced, while sale of their £7imshare in Algoma Steel allowed the Canadian group to pay off most of their overdrafts also. It is interesting to compare the book value of this enterprisewith that shown on the Stock Exchange. At the time of the announced take-over of de Havilland, the market value of HawkerSiddeley shares stood at £44m. The 1959 accounts, after allow- ing for debenture shares and double-counting between parentcompany and subsidiaries, show a figure of £64m. Thirteenth Recognition Contest THIS year's All-England annual aircraft recognition competi-tion, organized by the Aircraft Recognition Society, is to take place at the Royal Commonwealth Society (Craven Streetentrance), London, WC2, on Saturday, January 23. The thirteenth to be held, it is open to teams of three members representing unitsof the Services (including the ROC, ATC and WJAC) or any recognized club, society or body interested in aircraft. Air CdreG. J. C. Paul, Secretary-General of the Air League, is to umpire the competition, and six trophies are to be contested. Firth Cleveland Acquire Solartron FOLLOWING an approach made by the Solartron ElectronicGroup Ltd for assistance to finance development during the next five years, the Firth Cleveland Holding & Investment Co Ltd is toacquire a controlling interest in Solartron. The latter organiza- tion, who design and manufacture electronic and electro-magneticequipment, came into being less than ten years ago and have since then put on the market some 140 proprietary products. In theaeronautical field, these include radar simulators, telemetry equip- ment and test instruments. The agreement with Firth Clevelandwill provide £900,000 immediately for development and expansion. Solartron's sales have increased from £30,000 in 1950 to over£2m in the year ended last April, and during this period almost LICENCE CONSTRUCTION in India of the Rolls-Royce Dart was the subject of an agreement signed last week by Mrs V. L. Pandit, Indian High Commissioner in London, and Air Marshal Sir Colin Weedon
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
