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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0663.PDF
FLIGHT, 13 May 1960 663 Sport and Business Summer scene, 7960 vintage: three D.H. Chipmunks of the London School of Flying in formation near Elstree Aero- drome. They are being flown by John Schooling (the CFI), Stuart Craft and Janet Ferguson DETAILS HAVE BEEN GIVEN by the Rotorwing Aircraft Coof Birmingham, Ala, of their Sportsman autogyro, a photograph of which was published in Flight for April 29. The company wasformed with the aim of offering the public a safe, reliable, simple machine, inexpensive to purchase, maintain and operate, able tofly from an area of 50ft X 150ft and approaching the criterion of "going for a drive in the air." The prototype model was makingits maiden flight last month, and variants are being constructed— the Pelican (for fish-spotting and other maritime duties), Grass-hopper (agricultural model) and a military version. The rotor blades are made from cedar and mahogany with steelspar; the fuselage has two main frames, one of aluminium and one of stainless steel doubling as a firewall. The tail unit comprisesa boom, fin, rudder, horizontal stabilizer and tailskid; and the leaf-spring main landing gear is fitted with Goodyear wheels,tyres and hydraulic disc brakes. Powerplant in the prototype model is an 80-h.p. four-cylinder Continental C85. The Sports-man has accommodation for pilot and passenger side-by-side; the target price (as quoted on April 29) is $5,600. Maximum levelspeed is given as 110 m.p.h., maximum cruising speed as 95 m.p.h. PRODUCTION of the two-seater Jodel D.I 12 (65 h.p.) andD.120 (90 h.p.) by the Wassmer Co has reached a total of 350 and the company say that series production of the four-seaterSuper IV is to start from March with an initial rate of two aircraft per month. GOLD MEDALS were awarded to Hans Klemm, the pioneerGerman aircraft manufacturer, by the Royal Swedish Aero Club and the German Aero Club at Munich Museum on April 4,Herr Klemm's 70th birthday. A 1927 Klemm Kl 25 trainer was presented to the museum. AUSTRALIAN PRIVATE FLYING STATISTICS reported atthis year's conference of the Aero Club Federation of Australia show that the 25 affiliated clubs now operate 202 aircraft, fly a totalof 76,449hr a year, employ 110 pilots and about 140 other staff, have an income from operations of roughly £A400,000 and get a£A108,159 subsidy (known as "financial assistance") from the Department of Civil Aviation. The clubs operate 80 Tiger Moths,64 Chipmunks, 22 Piper Tri-Pacers, 12 Cessnas, 16 Austers and various other types including a Saab Safir. The affiliated clubsdo 90 per cent of the total club flying in Australia, six clubs being outside the Federation. The re-elected president, G. A. Lloyd, of the Royal Aero Clubof New South Wales, told the conference that the two main events had been the granting of royal status—so that the Federation willin future be known as the Royal Federation of Aero Clubs of Australia—and the inauguration of an airline pilot training scheme.This was started as a trial scheme on June 1 last year, to train 14 youths for pilot appointments in the airlines. It is being financedby the Federation and the students, the only contribution being made by operators is a guarantee of jobs for graduates. Problems facing the clubs are rising costs owing to variousindustrial awards, and aircraft replacement. In controlled areas, near big cities, all aircraft must be radio-equipped by next year. This is the cockpit of Piper Aztec G-APYX, the first example of one of the most significant new twin-engined business aeroplanes to reach England. It was being demonstrated at Kidlington last weekend; and h the time this photograph appears "Flight" staff pilots hope very much to have flown it The clubs want a 100 m.p.h. all-metal, side-by-side two-seaterfor £A2,5OO-3,5OO. The only possibility (writes a correspondent) is the French Rallye or an aircraft from Poland or Czechoslovakia:the solution will probably be a more expensive Cessna, and fewer of it. "It is a tragedy," he adds, "that the British industry hasignored this universal requirement; there would be a big Australian market for a type like the Rallye." PETER GLUCKMANN, who was reported missing last week onan attempt to set up a new solo long-distance record (8,885 miles non-stop from Tokyo to New York), had been crossing theworld's oceans in light aircraft for the past seven years. In 1953 he flew from San Francisco to the UK in a Luscombe 8-F; and lastyear he made a round-the-world flight in a Meyers 200 in 29 days 6hr 52min. On his latest trip Gluckmann, aged 34 and a watch-maker by profession, was flying a Beech Bonanza. German-born, he was taken to England by his parents in 1939 when they wererefugees from Nazism. He went to the US when he was 21 and learned to fly in California. Gluckmann took off from Hong Kong on April 20 and leftTokyo at 0815 on April 27, carrying 580gal of fuel on take-off
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