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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 1845.PDF
FLIGHT, 9 September I960 **>, Strategic stand-off bomb For the firsttime, the Weapons Research Division of A. V. Roe & Co Ltd have been permittedto display a Blue Steel air-to-surface weapon. Mounted on trestles in the out-door missile park, the great supersonic canard is representative of productionMk 1 weapons for RAF Bomber Command. Its exterior is finished in matt black, andan accompanying diagram indicates some of its more interesting features. Most ofthe body seems to be occupied by HIT (high-test peroxide) for the Bristol SiddeleyStentor engine, kerosine tankage being of much smaller volume. The two chambersof the engine are sealed by covers bearing the legend DO NOT REMOVE FORFLIGHT—suggesting that the interior is pressurized by an inert gas, the coversbeing blown off as combustion pressure builds up when the engine is fired ataltitude. Seacat's guidance revealed This weaponfor protecting ships against aircraft which pass unscathed through the outer defencesof a fleet has in the past been described as having guidance "of a novel type"; thisyear the guidance can be seen to be of a radio-command type. The outdoor exhibitincludes both major elements that make up a complete system; the quadruplelauncher and the director. The latter, which may be mounted in any part of adestroyer (or other ship) with a clear field of view, is manned by a pair of ratings.The control officer stands up and rotates the director so that the aimer (the secondrating), seated in a bin, can pick up targets visually and follow them through binocu-lars. When the target is within range the first missile is fired; and, since the controlofficer has turned the director to face the farget, and the launcher is linked with itin azimuth, the departing missile rapidly comes into the field of vision of the aimer.The latter can thus drive the missile into coincidence with the target by moving aloystick to initiate demands to climb, dive, go left or go right, which are passed throughthe radio link to move the missile's four wings. The launcher, demonstrated by a Avro Blue Steel Mk 1: A, rudder; B, eleven.; C. foreplanes: D. folding Hawker Siddeleyfin; E drooped tips: F, Bristol Siddeley Stentor engine: G, turbopump; satellite: A, flywh H, blast-out seals; J, static point; K, pressure head; L, turbopumpexhaust; M, "Danger HTP"; N, HTP overflow; P, HTP drain; R, HTP vent; S, HTP filling; T, condensate drain; U, "Danger high explosive";V, drain. The wing tips droop; leading-edge sweep is constant communicationsflywheel; B, batteriw; C, horizon semen; D, attitude con-trol; E. reaction jets; F, HTP tank; G, receivers; H, transmitters; J, para-bolic reflector; K, solar cells naval crew, has this year sprouted anexcrescence in the form of a thimble-shaped radome which doubtless contains a spiralaerial to pass the guidance demands. Cap- able of firing four rounds without reloading,it is produced by Rose Bros (Gainsborough) Ltd; the director is by Short & Harland. Towards commercial hovercraft A part-cutaway model on the Westlandstand shows the type of commercial load which might be carried by the SR-N2.A 3-ton lorry, two Land-Royers or 66 passengers are accommodated in the cen-tral 20ft by 16ft payload area between the fan intakes. Aft, four Blackburn Nimbusfree-turbines are housed in pairs in an engine room, each pair driving a lift fan/propulsive propeller combination. Shafting for the forward units passes through theroof of the central cabin. Control is effected by varying the pitch of the propulsive pro-pellers and swinging them laterally on their pylons through ±30°. The basis of SR-N2 is a composite beamformed by an ogival-shaped buoyancy chamber, the deck above the air duct andthe passenger cabin. The buoyancy cham- ber is divided into 15 watertight compart-ments with two transverse 425 gal fuel tanks and two lOOgal water tanks for fore andaft trimming. Full data now revealed are: Length, 60ft 3in; beam, 29ft 6in; normaltankage, 850gal; typical operational weight, 29 tons; range, 200 run.; typical cruise speed,70kt; cruise hoverheight, 1.0-1.5ft; maximum hoverheight, 2.5ft. Westland say that SR-N2 is a develop-ment vehicle for a hovercraft of 70-125 tons—"the minimum commercially com-petitive size." Diameter and power re- quirements of fan and propellers are suchthat they could be used directly on a machine of between 70 and 300 tons. A125-ton development could carry 26 cars and 200 passengers at an equivalent direct Model of the Westland SR-N2 (compare with page 351 last week) operating cost of lid per passenger mile;with the SR-N2 it would be 4Jd- Accessories VTOL control and lift fans Enginebleed or jct-efflux-driven fans for the con- trol of vertical take-off aircraft were aBoulton Paul innovation at the last SBAC show. This year, Dowty are showing a newunit which they are using to investigate the advantages for pitch and roll controlof turbofans over variable-area nozzles or arrangements where direct-lift thrust ofthe main engines is varied to obtain con- trol. Preliminary results are said to showa favourable thrust/weight ratio and reduced gas ducting size. A six-bladed fanis rotated by an impulse-type turbine running at about 25,000 r.p.m. which drivesthrough step-down bevel gears at 11,000 r.pjn. Although turbine and fan are heremounted side by side, the turbine could be mounted on the fan hub or as a fan-tiparrangement. Thrust is varied by control- ling fan pitch. Dowty are following upwith tunnel tests on turbofans in model wing and fuselage sections. This is the stage now reached byBoulton Paul, who are showing multiple fans buried in a rectangular wing and alarge delta-winged aircraft model with a central lifting fan. These models are repre-sentative of a number of studies made by Boulton Paul into the effects of multiplefans, interference with nacelles and the advantages of fans vis-a-vis ducted-fan lift-ing engines. New propeller Propellers are not muchin evidence this year but a brand-new one appears on the Dowty/Rotol stand, des-tined for the Japanese YS-11 transport. It is thus the first propeller to be shownwhich will be married to the Rolls-Royce Dart RDa. 10/1 of 2,750 s.h.p. Fully rever-sible, it is of 14ft 6in diameter and has a low solidity factor. The new Dowty Rotol propeller for the RDa.W
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