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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 1643.PDF
FLIGHT, 2 September 1960 361 Ministry of Aviation, have concernednossible configurations of VTOL aircraft. One a delta-wing design, was envisaged« being lifted by three fans disposed in die v/ing in the form of a triangle. Fourengines were to be installed in two nacelles between the central and outer fans. Amodel of this layout was built and tested in the duplex tunnel at the NPL to deter-mine whether there was interference between the air flowing past the nacellesand the eflux of the fans. In another design, developed by theRAE, fans buried in rectangular wings would provide the lift. The intention herewas to study the effects of multiple rather than single fans in each wing and themodel was tunnel-tested by the RAE at Bedford. The third proposal is a con-tribution to the much-discussed VTOL transport aircraft. This design makes useof separate ducted-fan lifting engines. The model Boulton Paul have developed is ofan airliner lifted by four banks of engines mounted at the tips of the wings and thenose plane. Control is achieved by vary- ing the thrust of the various banks ofengines avoiding the lift penalty associated with the use of bleed air. Brief details were given last year of thepowered flying control which the firm are manufacturing for the VC10. Typical ofBoulton Paul's package units (in which the fluid supply is self-contained) it oper-ates independently each portion of a split control surface and is designed for theacceptance of both mechanical and electric signalling. An integral auto-stabilizer/autopilot actuator is incorporated which can operate with mechanical input andauto-stabilizer, or under complete auto- pilot authority. Boulton Paul have alsobeen developing double-acting hydraulic jacks to actuate the VClO's spoilers. Scanner unit of the Type E 180 lightweight Ekco weather radar BPA Electronics This division of theaircraft firm produces stabilized power units, acceleration measuring equipmentf°r packaging, multi-channel film recorders, a.c. strain measuring bridges,transducers, counters and timers. Perhaps the best known equipment is the Pende-rord multimeter for measuring displace- ment, force, pressure or strain, nowappearing in Mk 2 form. Added to the range of equipment associated with it is aload-ring dynamometer for measuring a Xanety of static or dynamic tension loads.wniie not specifically for aircraft applica- tion the load range of 500-10,0001b couldmeet a variety of aircraft needs. Another £pe of load transducer is a differential-•aductance proof ring. Cullum Detuner's muffler for BOAC's Conway-powered Boeing 707s British Ermeto Corporation Ltd Com-plete sealing on high-pressure hydraulic and pneumatic systems and easy opera-tion are the claims made for a new range of balance stop valves. They can be sup-plied in mild steel, high-duty bronze or stainless for piping of £in to l|in diameternominal bore. The corporation have also produced a new range of re-usable sleevehose connections. Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd One of the many manufacturers designing and build-ing ball screw units, Bristol Siddeley's Beaver designs have an efficiency of notless than 90 per cent, and can operate dry at temperatures too high for normallubrication. Other products of the company, new thisyear, are gas-bearing circulators and pumps. The squirrel-cage motors whichdrive these units have self-acting gas bear- ings lubricated by a film of the gas whichfills the spaces in the motor body. The circulators are lubricated by the gas whichis being compressed and the pumps by an inert gas introduced for the purpose. Therange covers pressures up to 1,0001b per sq in, temperatures up to 700° and powersup to 120 h.p. but the units have been designed for pressures and powers con-siderably in excess of this. Gas bearing circulators can be mounted in any positionbut pumps are mounted vertically with their impellers immersed in the liquidbeing pumped. S. G. Brown Ltd Nearly half the size,half the weight and twice the accuracy of their master reference gyro is the claimmade by S. G. Brown for their Gyro Twin master dynamic reference system. Dyna-mics of the platform have been improved by mounting the stabilizing and azimuthgyros in tandem; the servo amplifiers are now fully transistorized and the diameterof the instrument has been greatly reduced. Power requirement is 115V400c/s three-phase at 125VA. Another claim made by the company isthat for the first time they have made available a true north seeking gyro com-pass. It is based on the Arma/Brown gyro compass which is being produced bythe company in the form of a heading reference instrument, and is recommendedfor helicopter applications. Burndept Ltd The company this yearhave been working upon a much-needed 5-channel transmitter/receiver for lightaircraft. It covers the frequency range between 117 and 134Mc/s and is crystaltuned. Known as the type BE.255 the unit weighs 6§lb and measures 11 in by 7iin by4f in. There is a transistor power supply and units can be supplied for input of 6,12 or 24V. Controls consist of a channel selector, an on/off switch and a fine-tuning knob. Other new equipment includes search and rescue beacon equip-ment (SARBE). This is a crystal-controlled UHF beacon transmitting set developedunder contract for the MoS. It is supplied either with or without two-way speechfacilities and is intended primarily as an air-sea rescue aid for aircrew. As soon as the aerial is released by a survivor in thesea the set is switched on automatically and the aerial erects itself. A distresssignal is then transmitted for approxi- mately half a second and it is repeatedevery two to three seconds. Range is said to be over 70 n.m. and with two-wayspeech 20 n.m. Other new products are the BE.254SARBE performance tester and r.f. power output meter. Chloride Batteries Ltd Exide dry bat-teries for transistorized equipment are a development this year. One, the Drydexleak-prof unit cell T.22 gives high capacity discharges for very short periods. Another,the T.21 leak-proof cell, is fitted to the latest version of the Drydex rubber-covered torch. It has a long beam but can also be used for close inspection work.Chloride say that this battery can be left in a torch quite safely for up to six monthswithout danger of leaking or discharging. Cossor Instruments Ltd Single-powerand split-power oscillographs are new test equipment which have been produced atHighbury Grove this year. The single beam model 1076 has a display area of6cm by 10cm and provision is made for attachment of a camera to enable oscillo-grams to be obtained for record purposes. The split-beam model 1059 has a 4in CRTsaid to give a high degree of display defini- tion with freedom from flare. Cossor Radar & Electronics Ltd A 10cm wind-finding radar is the most recentdevelopment of this concern. Eight of these CR 353 units are to be supplied toNew Zealand early in 1961. The equipment is used to detect andtrack a passive reflector carried by a free balloon and wind velocity can thus be com-puted at heights up to the bursting point of the balloon. Provision is made for a radarsearch process to enable the operator to lay the radar on target when the movements ofthe balloon are erratic. The target can thus be tracked manually by keeping twocross pointers correctly positioned or auto- matically in all three co-ordinates by anoptional addition to the equipment. A data presentation unit shows the positional co-ordinates of the reflector and a timing unit freezes all the indicators at regular intervalsso that co-ordinates can be plotted at the instant corresponding to each timing pulse.Single-handed operation is perfectly feasible. Optional additions are an automaticprint-out unit and a computer to convert slant range and elevation into groundrange and height co-ordinates. A weather observation facility can be added to thebasic wind-finding radar at small cost. In this application the equipment is used toobserve the positions of storm centres and to assess densities of cloud and precipita-tion. This is achieved by setting the aerial at pre-determined small angles ofelevation and rotating it continually in azimuth. The resulting radar echoes aredisplayed on the PPI viewing unit with a 12in screen. Cloud heights can be esti-mated by following the tilt of the aerial and
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