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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 1856.PDF
428 FLIGHT, 9 September 1960 Looking-in on the Industry ... tive at Weybridge. On the west side of the airfield there is asmall red-roofed building, which in the old days was a booking- office for flights from Brooklands: it stands there now empty andanonymous, but has looked out since the war on the first flights of those successful Vickers aircraft the Valiant and the Viscount.But Weybridge airfield has now proved too small for modern requirements, and test-flying is done from Wisley: the new air-craft are flown over there at minimum weight; at Wisley there is ample runway accommodation and some of the best radar facilitiesat any manufacturer's airfield are available for the guidance and recovery of aircraft on test flights. Weybridge presents a picture of three current activities: com-pletion of Viscount orders; production of Vanguards for BE A and TCA; and the start of VC10 production, with immense jigsbeing built to take the first aircraft. Here one can see the Vanguard under construction from start to finish: the assemblage of the"double bubble" fuselage, its upper part for passengers and lower part for freight; close examination of the structure showed howstrongly this aircraft is constructed. Inside the empty fuselage, bare of power and control lines and sound-proofing and furnish-ing, one gets a dramatic impression of the length of the machine and the size of its freight holds. Wisley airfield lies just outside the London Control Zone. Itsentrance is only a few yards from the A3 London - Portsmouth road. But nothing betrays the presence "of an aerodrome to thepassing motorist save a warning sign: "Sudden Aircraft Noise." There was a mixed collection of aircraft in the hangars and on Above: Steps to the future: the D.H.I21 mock-up at Hatfield A 1960 summer's day at Holme-on- Spalding Moor, the Blackburn Aircraft test airfield: preparing an NA.39 for ground-running the tarmac: Vanguards variously in V;ckers' own colours, and inBEA and TCA markings; a Valiant; some Scimitars. A Vanguard was having its engines test-run on the edge of the airfield; anotherhad been undergoing stress tests in a hangar: the starboard wing allowed a 9ft strain before a crack appeared, testifying to thestrength of construction. Vickers are confident in the qualities of the Vanguard as aload-carrier; they are disappointed at the delay enforced by com- pressor trouble with the Tyne engine, which will probably meanthat the new airliner will not enter service before 1961—and until it is seen operationally, it is not likely to begin attracting furthercustomers. There seems to be, in all other respects, an air of confidenceabout the future at Weybridge—both for the company individually and as part of the British Aircraft Corporation. Tangible resultsof this amalgamation, however, are not likely to be seen for some time yet. One form of co-operation, the TSR.2, dated from beforethe formation of the BAC: the Corporation can now back it with unrivalled resources in design skill, experience of very high speedaircraft, and computer techniques. * * * It was perhaps appropriate that the next point of call, afterWeybridge, should have been the English Electric test and development airfield at Warton in Lancashire. I mention the county particularly, because all English Electric'saircraft (as distinct from guided weapon) activities are concen- trated there, with factories at Preston and Accrington and air-fields at Warton and Samlesbury (aircraft electrics come from Yorkshire, at Bradford). To visit Warton, which lies betweenPreston and St Annes on the north bank of the River Ribble, is to feel oneself on the fringe of new experiences in aviation. Notonly is it the spiritual home of the Lightning, the fastest fighter aircraft that Britain has ever produced, but it is clearly gearedto even swifter horizons: the Mach 1.7 wind tunnel is almost becoming an anachronism there,beside those being prepared for speeds of Mach 2 and Mach 6.The scenery at Warton, apart from Winter Hill to the east andBlackpool Tower to the west, is dominated by Lightnings—that pug-nacious-looking aircraft, with its great fin and seemingly downward-pointing appearance: Lightnings on development work, Lightnings onproduction test before going to the RAF, Lightnings back from RAFColtishall bearing the badge ot tne Air-fightingDevelopment Squadron.Test-flying these aircraft, Witt their great speed and high altitudeoperations, raises special problems of ground control and recovery; anaAir Traffic Control at Warton pos- sesses some of the most afieequipment for the purpose. Its radar range covers• (with allied controls in Nortn Ireland and on the north-east coast;
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