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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0952.PDF
32 FIRST OFFICIAL VISITOR to see the Avro 748 was Mr Krishna Menon (right) seen discussing the new transport with Sir Roy Dobson. The aircraft made its first flight on June 24 and was fully described in our issue of June 3 Exports: £l,000m SINCE the war, the British aircraft industry has exported pro-ducts amounting in value to £1,007,075,403. Of this total, the sale of engines abroad earned £314,619,023. These figures wereachieved by the end of May, which had an exports total of £13,211,136. This brought the figure for the first five months of1960 to £65,028,220—equivalent to an annual figure of £156m. May's total was made up as follows: aircraft and parts,£5,646,725; engines, £7,037,132; electrical apparatus, £248,821; aeronautical instruments, £175,183; tyres, £103,275. Leadingcustomers for aircraft were the United States (£922,948) and Egypt (£526,326), and for aero-engines the US (£1,571,099) andFrance (£1,212,004). The £ 1,000m figure for exports since the war does not includeroyalty payments for overseas manufacture, under licence, of British aircraft, engines and equipment; nearly 50 agreements havebeen signed in recent years with 14 countries, covering 11 basic types of aircraft and 14 types of engine. Nor does it include thevalue of all products sold abroad by the 574 member companies of the SB AC: it excludes undercarriages, flight refuelling equip-ment, gun-sights, parachutes and ejection seats, to name but a few items among products which have earned many more millionsin overseas currency. Dowry sales of undercarriages, pumps, accessory drive equipment, propellers, hydraulic and electricalcomponents have totalled more than £12m; Lucas fuel systems, £8m; Ultra Electronics rescue and inter-communication equip-ment, £5m; Martin-Baker ejection seats, £4|m; and Sperry auto- matic pilots, gyro horizons and Gyrosyn compasses, £3m—toquote some examples. Sud Frelon Progress ONE of the two prototypes of the Sud Frelon helicopter, poweredby three Turbomeca Turmo IIIB free turbines, has now been handed over for official testing by the Centre d'Essais en Vol atBrdtigny. Manufacturer's tests to date have shown that the top speed of the Frelon is 153 m.p.h., cruising speed, 144 m.p.h. andspeed on two engines over 125 m.p.h. Three-engined ceiling at 15,4001b weight is 12,450ft and on two engines at the sameweight, 7,870ft. The Frelon has flown at 17,1501b weight and at heights of over 13,000ft and has carried a slung load of 2,4201b.Autorotational descents and considerable two-engined time have been completed, the longitudinal and lateral e.g. limits have beenestablished and "smoke-screens have been laid" (a performance that is not explained). Sud add that the Frelon will hover hands-off for more than aminute under control of its SFENA autostabilizer and that the Turmos have behaved extremely well and proved reliable and easyto start. The definitive version of the Alouette III, powered by an Artouste IIIB, has also been sent to the CEV and recently made aseries of landings on the summit of Mont Blanc. V-Bomber Crew Ejection A SERIES of trials by Martin-Baker Aircraft Co Ltd was success-fully concluded last Friday when Mr W. T. H. Hay made a successful live ejection in a rearward-facing seat from the crewcompartment of a Valiant of Bomber Command Development Unit. Many dummy tests preceded the live ejection. It has nowbeen satisfactorily demonstrated that rearward-facing ejection is practicable and the decision must be taken whether V-bomberswill be modified to provide ejection seats for all crew members. The ejection gun and charges used in the tests were of thenormal kind, but the longer seat rail, required to guide the seat from well inside the fuselage, provided a better ejection trajectoryand Mr Hay cleared the fin of the Valiant by about 50ft. The seat itself, although it incorporated several modifications, wasexternally similar to standard Mk 4 models and included leg restraint. SUCCESSFUL CULMINATION of tests to prove rearward-facing ejection from V-bombers with a Martin-Baker seat is the subject of a news-item above. Seen, I. to r.f at the live test, are Wg Cdr H. B. Hunt, AVM M. E. M. Perkins, Mr W. T. H. Hay, AVM T. A. B. Parselle, Mr James Martin and Wg Cdr K. G. Hubbard FLIGHT, 8 July 1960 FROM ALL QUARTERS RB-47 Lost ON July 1 contact was lost with a Boeing RB-47K reconnaissanceaircraft temporarily detached from Forbes AFB to RAF Brize Norton, Oxon. Its last reported position was given as 73°N 35°E(another report claimed a different location) over the Barents Sea some 500 miles north of Murmansk. The aircraft, with a crew ofsix USAF officers, was stated to be engaged in electronic recon- naissance; possibly this involved the recording of Soviet radioand radar transmissions, as well as investigations into the Aurora Borealis in connection with the BMEWS system. As we go to press there is still no news of the aircraft, despite anintensive sea and air search, the latter based chiefly on the NATO airfield at Bod0, Norway. A Russian rescue cutter, KapitanAfanasiev, is also engaged in the hunt. In Washington the Assistant Defense Secretary, Murray Snyder, said he was sure there hadbeen "no deliberate attempt" to cross the Soviet frontier. Soviet Helicopter News THE Russian helicopter designer Mil has given particulars of anew "popular" helicopter called the Moskvich, after the Soviet "people's car." The idea was originated by Mr Krushchev him-self, who was delighted when he was flown in an Mi-4 direct from Vnukovo Airport into the heart of the Kremlin. The Moskvichhas been developed from the very extensively used Mi-1 and carries pilot and three passengers in a soundproofed cabin inwhich normal conversation is said to be possible. The rotor blades are all-metal and hydraulic controls are provided. An amphibiousvariant will be available. The Russian designer is reported to have said that the Mi-1 has been supplied to Poland and 17 othercountries. Also reported is Malyutka ("The Little One"), a three-seatersaid to be largely based on the design of Nikolai Kamov's Ka-18. An ambulance version would carry a stretcher case and a doctor.From New Delhi comes news that the Indian Prime Minister, Mr Nehru, inspected an Mi-4 which had been specially flownthere for demonstration. India is looking for a high-altitude helicopter to ferry men and supplies to isolated mountain outpostson the Tibetan border, and the Russians consider the Mi-4 to be ideally suited for the requirement. It is understood that theRussians have offered to accept payment in Indian currency. Manpowered Flight at Westminster SPEAKING in an adjournment debate in the House of Commonson June 29, Mr William Teeling asked for Government aid for the development of manpowered aircraft. For about £12,000, hesuggested, production of a prototype should be possible. In support of his request Mr Teeling quoted the possible advantagesof new low-speed knowledge applicable to conventional aircraft, and a security advantage which "could be immensely useful,offering possibilities of flying from submarines or elsewhere in such a way that radar could not detect us." Private enterprise, Mr Teeling claimed, was doing all that it
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