FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1960
1960 - 1648.PDF
366 NEW from the ACCESSORY INDUSTRY . . . clean assembly area which opened at theBrentford factory in the spring. A design shortly going into productionfor the D.H.121 is the V.G.202 vertical gyro which is said to offer a highly precisepitch and roll gyro reference. It will also be used on a number of control applica-tions in military transports and fighters. Another application of the Rotorace bear-ing technique is on the Sperry twin-gyro platform, an attitude and directional refer-ence for a variety of military aircraft. It is said to have a free drift rate of about0.25 ° /hr in azimuth. When two Rotorace directional gyros are used in a coupledgimbal system the equipment is said to provide an attitude reference of inertialquality without the need for liquid-sup- ported gyros. This should offer betterreliability and reduce maintenance costs. Among a range of small electro-mechanical components which have recently been developed is a precisionvoltage reference unit. Stability is better than one part in 10s over five days. Smiths Aviation Division One of thisyear's most exciting revelations in the field of instrument guidance has undoubtedlybeen Smiths "barber's pole" Para-Visual director (Flight, May 13 and June 24).The firm say that since the equipment was first demonstrated it has received world-wide attention from airline;, and air forces. The company describe it as "a new con-cept in aircraft flight director instrumen- tation providing the captain with computeddirector intelligence through the mechan- ism of non-fixated vision." The PVDhas immediate application as a supplement to a conventional flight system and as anautopilot monitor, since flight-path diver- gence is compellingly brought to the cap-tain's notice even when bis attention is directed elsewhere. Other new developments are the SEP4automatic pilot, which is essentially part of the BLEU Autoland system, and the multi-plex SEP5 which is destined for the D.H.121. The SEP4 is a development ofthe well-known SEP2 which now has over lj million hours of service experiencebehind it. The Autoland system, compris- ing the SEP4 autopilot, Smiths auto-throttle speed control, Murphy leader cable and Standard Telephones & Cables radioaltimeter, has been adopted by RAF Bomber Command, the first operational useof automatic landing in the world. Also recently developed by the Divisionis a civil version of the 100,000ft servo altimeter in service with the RAF. In this acounter shows altitude to the nearest 50ft and a single pointer makes one revolutionof the dial for each 1,000ft. Pressure setting is shown in the usual way by a veedercounter in the lower part of the dial and a small window in the upper dial provides Sperry VG.202 vertical gyro for D.H.121 warning of power supply failure. Theinstrument operates from 115V 400c/s three-phase supply taking approximately230 milliamps from the A-B base. The mechanical gear train associated with thecapsule assembly M conventional alti- meters is replaced by a light pick-off to im-prove sensitivity and reduce system lag. Accuracy is plus or minus one millibar overthe whole range. Another new instrument is the 30ohmjet pipe temperature indicator. Torque/ weight ratio of the moving coil assemblyhas been much improved so that the instru- ment is light but does not sacrifice accuracy.The Division have also developed a device to detect any interruption in the flow ofcooling air to rear turbine bearings. This unit accepts a signal from one or morethermocouples installed in the cooling air duct. If the signal exceeds the predeter-mined maximum a relay is tripped to provide a warning signal. Kelvin Hughes, a company within theSmiths group, have developed a precision altimeter said to offer "an entirely newapproach to the problem of measuring pressure height and displaying the informa-tion without ambiguity." This altimeter, which is servo driven, covers the rangebetween —1,000ft and + 70,000ft. At ground level accuracy is said to be betterthan ±20ft and at 50,000ft, ± 180ft. Advantages of the instrument are said tobe in the force-balance principle used for pressure measurement, automatic positionerror correction and in the ancillary elec- trical outputs for other units such as com-puting navigational equipment. This last named enables autopilot height lock to beobtained much more accurately. Standard Telephones and Cables Tele-vision display is used in the new PVT-2 automatic di. triangulation equipment, thefunction of which is to identify and locate aircraft entering or over-flying controlledairspace. Only signals radiated by the air- craft in the course of ordinary communica-tion with the control centre are used. The closed-circuit television display is a furtherstage in the development of the PVT-1 triangulation system—the ground-basedposition finder which has been in use in Britain and parts of Europe for severalyears. It is particularly intended for opera- tion with the STC wide-aperture CADFsystem but it is adaptable to other direction finders. Recently, STC installed their STAN7/8/9 localizer, glide path and marker beacon ILS system at London Airport, andit is destined for installation at a number of other airports elsewhere. It is not yetknown if the system can be used for blind landing but an STC contribution in thisfield is a new single-range radio altimeter, STR-40. Ultra Electronics One of the newestadditions to the Ultra range of monitoring instruments is an engine vibration indica-tor. This gives a continuous indication of vibration level and immediate warning ofany change. When this occurs warning lamps are triggered which remain lighteduntil they are manually reset. There are no relays as the instrument is designedwith solid-state circuits. An associated instrument, the engine condition analyser,has been improved. It provides a visual display of engine temperature and vibra-tion conditions and a detailed check of one engine can be made by switch selection.The switch circuit is transistorized and there are no moving parts. FLIGHT, 2 September In the field of communication crUim\equipment Ultra have developer th UA.60 push-button control covering isservices or, in a larger unit, 25 On receiver channels the push-buttons incorporate an integral volume control Th equipment operates from a 28V aircraftsupply, will operate British or American radio equipment, and is designed for atemperature range of — 40 ° C to + 50 c Unbrako. Socket Screw Co Ltd A newdivision of this firm, Unbrako AD is developing and manufacturing a range offasteners including a number in titanium alloy. What Unbrako describe as thestrongest bolt in the world is an external- wrenching fastener with a minimum tensilestrength of 116 tons/sq in. Vactric (Control Equipment) Ltd The wide range of international-frame-sizeservo components produced by this firm has again been increased. Production nowcovers a.c. and d.c. motors, motor tacho- generators, inline gear heads with ratiosup to 1,000:1 and many breadboard servo components and speed reducer kits. Thereare also some new applications for Vactric's high-speed rotary switches. Vemons Industries Ltd New productsfrom Vernons Industries include a 30kVA d.c./a.c. converter and production staticinverters. The converter has been designed for the RAF to enable the standard10/40kW 112/28V d.c. servicing and start- ing trolley to be used with 400c/s aircraftsuch as the Lightning. Frequency and voltage regulation is within plus and minusone per cent under steady state conditions. The static inverter is intended to replacesmaller rotor inverters. It embodies a patented system of voltage regulation tohold output voltage constant while input voltage and load vary widely. Two sizesare at present available: a 100VA or 25OVA, but the range is being extended. Williamson Manufacturing Co Ltd Thisis a firm who specialize in the production of cameras for aerial reconnaissance. Earlierthis year information was released about the latest models in the F117 series (seeFlight, May 6, page 630). One, the F11C, is designed for remote control and perman-ent installation in an aircraft and the other is similar to the F117B hand-held camerabut contains an integral electric supply con- sisting of a lightweight battery. Thislatest camera, the F117E, has a 0.6 second re-wind time and the ability to continuefocussing during re-wind. It can fire between 1,000-1,500 exposures beforerecharge. Wilmot Breeden Ltd Wayne KenLaboratories Ltd, a company in the Wil- mot Breeden group, have developed atransfer function computer for the measurement of electrical control systemperformance. This is a tool to assist in the problem of designing control systems withrapid and accurate response. The com- puter overcomes the necessity for makingcomplicated electrical measurements fol- lowed by a great deal of mathematicalanalysis. It provides the measured per formance of the system in a matter ofminutes and in relatively simple mathe- matical terms. The operator connects the computer to the system under test anfl establishes a recognized pattern on a built- in cathode ray tube display. The dial read- ings obtained in establishing this pattern give measured values relating to the system more accurately and more quickly than is normally required to reach s wsl approximation.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
