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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0704.PDF
704 THE INDUSTRY Electronic Test-House Approval VfllNISTRY OF AVIATION approval as a Part 3 test-house for-*•"•"• functional and performance testing of electronic components (including environmental testing) has been granted to Nash andThompson Ltd, of Hook Rise, Tolworth, Surrey, by the Director- General of Inspection. t This approval—which, states the company, is the first of itskind—means that the standard of work meets official requirements in that all the equipment and reference standards have up-to-datecertificates of accuracy, from the NPL or from other approved establishments. The laboratories are also under the supervisionof an area inspector. The Nash & Thompson environmental and electronic testinglaboratories have been in existence for more than six years and have long had ARB approval. The company adds that for thepast six years it has been the only one under contract to the Ministry's Radio Components Standardization Committee fortype-approval testing of electronic components. During this time practically every specification issued by the RCSC has beencovered; and, in view of the current changeover from these to the defence specifications, the laboratories have had equipment in-stalled to meet the new requirements. In addition to the testing of electronic components Nash andThompson also carry out environmental and functional tests of instruments and small assemblies. Some of the other specificationswhich have been covered include DTD.1085B, combined tem- perature, humidity and low' air-pressure; MIL-STD-202A, saltspray; DES.l, vibration and acceleration; and G.100, aircraft electrical equipment. Any firm or organization may submit specimens for testing toa specification, and a certificate is issued stating that the tests have been carried out in accordance with the requirements of the ARBor the Director-General of Inspection. Environmental work that can be undertaken includes testing attemperatures within the range — 100°C to +300°C; low tempera- ture combined with low air-pressure; climatic, tropical-exposureand mould-growth tests; electrical and mechanical life tests; acceleration, vibration and bumping; and testing for air leaks insealed components over a wide temperature range. The electronic measurements section is equipped to test electrical parameters ofcomponents and can undertake d.c. resistance measurements to 1 part in 10,000; capacitance, power factor and inductive measure-ments over a wide range of frequencies; insulation resistance; voltage breakdown; and voltage and current measurements. Filtering Fuel DURING the past decade the importance of removing foreignmatter from ayiation fuel—always a matter which can mean life or death—has increased enormously. The progressive intro-duction of turbine-driven aircraft, and particularly those in which anything up to 20,000 gallons must be loaded in the briefestpossible time, has placed a heavy burden on filtration plant. Modern equipment in this field is proven in Air BP's new filtra-tion test unit at Flight Refuelling's airfield at Tarrant Rushton. In the absence of a universally accepted test procedure for suchequipment, all Air BP micro-filter and water-separator units are exhaustively evaluated under both laboratory and field conditionsbefore they are placed in use. Full-scale tests at up to 260gal/min were formerly carried out at the BP research centre at Sunbury-on-Thames. The new installation at Tarrant Rushton can pass 500gal/min and is one of the most advanced of its type in theworld. As the photograph shows, the complete facility is neat and self-contained. The main test gear is located in one building,surrounded by the fuel and water storage tanks, and its control panel enables one engineer to control the entire operation. In anadjacent building is a laboratory for such tests as the measurement of interfacial tension and the microscopic analysis of slides forparticle counting. Various test sequences can be carried out, including resistanceto flow, efficiency of filters and water separation, simulated life The Air BP filter installation at Tarrant Rushton, described above FLIGHT, 20 May l%>) tests and backflushing (reverse-flow) investigations. Artificial contaminant and water can be injected into the fuel system s controlled rates and concentrations. Moreover, not only fillers btalso other items of fuelling equipment can be investigated. A present it is felt that fuelling equipment should be designed to a^optimum flow rate of 600gal/min, but investigations are in han"; to increase the capacity of the rig from 500 to 700gal/min to meepossible future requirements. —^-"v IN BRIEF - M. HolUday has been appointed Rolls-Royce area representative jrSouth Africa in succession to Air Cdre R. J. Legg, who was killed recently in a road accident. George Kent Ltd announce the appointment of John F. Willshergeneral works manager, as a member of the board. He joined the com- pany in 1947 and was instrument division manager from 1955 to 1959. The Decca Navigator Co has appointed Brig H. G. Willmott, formerAir Chief of Staff to the South African Air Force and at one time military adviser to the South African High Commissioner in London, as itsrepresentative in Southern Africa. M. L. Jofeh, OBE, AMIEE, manager of the industrial division, has beenelected an additional director of the Sperry Gyroscope Co Ltd. He joined Sperry in 1947 as an equipment engineer and was appointed tohis present position in January last year. Built for BOAC Boeing 707 electrical testing, the AGE unit dispenses with the need for load-dissipating resistances. A 30 h.p. electric motor drives two aircraft alternators through a dual-output gearbox, and current from the alternator on test passes through the test circuits and is fed to the other, which then runs as a motor and helps to drive the first. A comprehensive interlock system is provided for protection in the event of faults. Aircraft Ground Equipment Ltd, of Blackswarth Road, Bristol 5, are the makers Two extremely informative brochures have been added to the list oftechnical publications dealing with I.C.I, titanium; they are No 2, Physical and Mechanical Properties and No 4, Fabrication. Copiesare obtainable from Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd, Millbank, London SW1. Taylor, Taylor & Hobson are showing an important range of theirengineers' measuring instruments in the forthcoming exhibition in Moscow being organized by the Scientific Instrument Manufacturers'Association of Great Britain. The USSR recently placed a considerable contract with the company. C. W. Lane has been appointed assistant to the general manager(regional sales) of BTR Industries Ltd and is succeeded by Sqn Ldr C. W. Fletcher as sales manager, Palmer Aero Products Ltd, the aerodivision of BTR. In addition, F. E. Sherras has been made European executive, a newly created post. Douglas Edwards, formerly Canadian Air Attache in Bonn, has beenappointed technical sales manager, Europe, for A. V. Roe Canada Ltd. He will be representing Avro Aircraft Ltd, Orenda Engines Ltd,Canadian Applied Research Ltd and Canadian Steel Improvements Ltd. Mr Edwards retired from the RCAF on March 31 as a group captain. The latest Development News Bulletin (No 20) issued by TeddingtonAircraft Controls Ltd, of Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, deals with a new type of liquid-oxygen control and metering valve; a multiple-phial typeof thermal sensing element; and a stainless-steel valve for aircraft toilet servicing equipment. D.H. Aircraft (Pry) Ltd, Bankstown, Sydney, have announced twoboard appointments in addition to those reported in Flight on Msy 6. Rollo Kingsford-Smith, previously commercial manager, has becomea director and general manager of the aircraft division; and G. 1 A. Spittle, previously manager of the industrial products division of D.H.Engines at Leavesden, has become a director and general managti" of the general engineering division.
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