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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0227.PDF
No 2658 VOLUME 77 FRIDAY 19 FEBRUARY 1960 P: Editor in-Chief MAURICE A. SMITH DFC r. :..;.• Editor H . F. KING MBE Technical Editor W. T. CUNSTON Production Editor ROY CASEY IN THIS ISSUE From all Quarters 228 Missiles and Space-flight 230 What Course for the Independents? 232 "Flight" System Survey:— Automatic Landing 233 Inertial Navigation 247 Straight and Level 253 Air Commerce 254 Service Aviation 259 Correspondence 26O Iliffe & Sons Ltd, Dorset House, Stam-ford Street, London SE1; telephone Waterloo 3333. Telegrams FlightpresoediBt London. Annual subscriptions: Home £4 15s. Overseas £a. Canadaand USA $15.00. Second Class Mail privileges authorized at New York, NY.) Branch Offices Coventry: 8-10 Corpora-tion Street; telephone Coventry 25210. Birmingham: King Edward House, NewStreet, 2; telephone Midland 7191. Man- chester: 200 Deansgate, 3; telephoneBaelcfnars 4412 or Deansgate 3595. Glasgow: 26B Kenfleld Street, C2;telephone Central 1265. ^•y°rk: NY: Thomas Skinner & Co(Publishers) Ltd, 111 Broadway 6; telephone Digby 9-1197. © Iliffe & Sone Ltd, 1960. Permissionra reproduce, illustrations and letterpress fan be granted only under written agree-ment. Brief extracts or comments may be made with due acknowledgement AIRCRAFT, SPACECRAFT, MISSILES Official Organ of the Royal Aero Club First Aeronautical Weekly in the World Founded 1909 Dear Mr Masefield ...N O news more welcome to light-aeroplane pilots could have buzzed over the aeronautical grapevine than that Bristol may be the builders of a new British light aircraft. For ten years we have waited and some of us have meanwhile bought executive twins and singles from overseas because we could wait no longer. So with the keenest possible interest, Mr Masefield, we wonder about the sort of machine your designers will give us. A single? A twin? A pusher? Suitable for training and aerobatics or only for touring? What engines? How many seats? Most of us have ideas of our own; so we ask you not to think it presumptuous if we suggest the type of light aeroplane that we who will fly it should most like to see. It is our conviction that a resurgence of "off-airways" flying in Great Britain (and in Europe) can come about only through merchant adventuring by the private and business owner. So our new aeroplane should be twin-engined (with adequate performance on one) and a four-seater, with a cruising speed of 170 miles an hour. If it could be adapted for use in an aerobatic category, so much the better, because most of us who now aspire to fly on business have an occasional longing to brush away the cobwebs by flying just for fun. A Market is Open The size of our new aeroplane (in which we have more than an avuncular interest) seems to us critically to affect its chances of sale. The market for the bigger twins must already be close on saturation from the outpourings of those responsible for the excellent Apaches and Aero Commanders, Cessna 310s, Travel Airs, Moravas, and Piaggios. But in this press of competition the smaller twin— with room for four and 1201b of baggage—has been strangely neglected. No one would deny that the design of a successful light twin—fast, economical in fuel (llgal/hr?) and take-off distance (600ft?) and with a practical range of 4^hr—must be a tricky design exercise; but, then, to make up ten years' leeway with one design is a task well worthy of the mettle of a company which is tackling a project so advanced as the Bristol 188. This matter of design leeway is of the greatest concern to all of us. Gone must be the days of short-life components, engines that are noisy, and installations that lOOhr from new become an oily mess. Never again do we want to see oil trickling down flaps or undercarriage legs, wheel brakes that overheat if we use them on landing, cockpits that let in the wet, and finishes that fade in the sun and the rain. With the greatest respect for your own wide experience and the skill of your design team we beg you all to fly and to study, and to study again, the features for which we find US and continental aeroplanes so excellent. There is still room for improvement, but improvements must start from the best available. Please take a good look at cowling fasteners, at nosewheel steering, at the fuel tank selectors, the sliding seats and the sun blinds. Examine the cockpit heating and ventilation, the logic of instrument markings and the accessibility of the circuit- breaker panels. Assess how the difficulties and uncertainties for the amateur pilot have been reduced by placarding all the drills. And particularly, observe how the airliner arts of upholstery and interior design have been applied to easy-to-clean little aeroplanes. Then give us a sleek airframe, better controls, ample provision for navigation aids, responsiveness at high speed, natural stall warning, bigger flaps, better laid- out instruments and even more visibility. Because we believe that if you do you may number your sales not in tens or hundreds but in thousands.
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