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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 2379.PDF
f LIGHT, 21 October 1960 Correspondence The Editor of "Flight" is not necessarily in agreement with the viewsexpressed by correspondents in these columns. Names and addresses of writers, not for publication in detail, must in all cases accompany letters. I Clouded Horizon AM encouraged to read the leading article in this week's(September 30) issue of your magazine, stressing the need for a Government re-appraisal of light aviation. In spite of the increase in aircraft sales, and the intense publicinterest, no such re-appraisal has been forthcoming, and indeed there are ominous signs that indirect attempts will be made tosuppress completely the private aviation movement. I believe that the next few months will be some of the mostcritical in the history of British private aviation, and therefore of British aviation in general. I sincerely hope that your magazinewill devote as much space as possible to the causes of the light aircraft and the private flyer. There is much more at stake thanthe well-being of a section of aviation; the right of the individual to fly himself is at stake. This is a basic freedom synonymouswith sailing a boat on the high seas, or driving a vehicle on the roads. To tamper with this freedom unwisely or unnecessarily isto create the most dangerous of precedents. Redhill Aerodrome, Surrey J. V. HOSE,Director, Business Aviation Ltd ON page 540 of your issue of September 30 it is suggested thatone of the best ways of encouraging private flying might be "to introduce follow-up training to standards higher than for thePrivate Pilot's Licence." The ABAC did just this in 1956 by introducing an advancedcourse to be taken in two stages as a follow-up to the Private Pilot's Licence course. The two stages of the ABAC advancedcourse comprise 14j hours' dual and 13 hours' solo and include instrument flying, night flying, aerobatics and pilot navigation.At the end of the course a pilot should have obtained his restricted R/T Licence and his Night Rating. The ABAC "Star Pilots Wings" badges may be worn by pilotswho have successfully completed this course, Stage I having one star and Stage II two stars.Our pilotage committee is now considering a revision of this course in the light of the experience gained since it was introducedin 1956. London SW1 E. SOUTHERN, Secretary, Association of British Aero Clubs and Centres From Air Cdre G. J. C. Paul, CB, DFC, AFRAeSA S a private owner based on Fair Oaks, I read with alarm your- paragraph (September 30) about the future of this airfield. I agree wholeheartedly about the urgency of solving the problemyou describe. But the first need is to know whether the tenants themselves, who are in fact a wholly owned subsidiary of theHawker Siddeley combine, have done something about it. If it is the policy of Hawker Siddeley to try to keep Fair Oaks going,they will receive my enthusiastic support. But so far it has not been made known, at any rate to theircustomers, what their intentions are. Until this is done there is no policy which one may support; nor is it reasonable to makerepresentations elsewhere. It seems to me, therefore, that the first move must come from the tenants; and, in this particular case,it amounts to a declaration by half the industry of its policy towards light and/or general aviation. Fleet, Hants G. J. C. PAUL (Owner of Turbulent G-AJCP) Church Steeples rTHE news that the Chancellor of Worcester Diocese has A rejected the petition by the Minister of Aviation for the removal of the spire of St Edburga's Church, Abberton, near Pershore, isan interesting example of the British way of dealing with these matters. In deciding questions of flying obstruction, a knowledgeof heavenly things evidently gives more authority than any amount of practical experience in aviation. The church in question, on the admission of the Chancellor, islittle used and he would be glad to see a diminution in the number of churches in this country, but not even one of their spires mustbe sacrificed to safeguard the lives of airmen. Because nobody has yet had an accident due to the steeple, in the kind of flying doneat Pershore during the last three years, the Chancellor appears to be satisfied that the risk in the future is of no consequence. There was a somewhat similar case at Dusseldorf in 1949, whenit was considered that the spire of the Deakoness Anstalt con- stituted an obstruction to what was then the main runway,although the aerodrome had been in active operation for many years. To begin with the Pastor wrote to Lord Pakenham and .. ..„• ,.... .. .... •_..-.. 645 the Archbishop of Canterbury about this "catastrophe which isabout to befall us," but that didn't cut any ice and the spire came down. The church really looked just as good with its square,low-roofed turreted top after the removal of the steeple, and the aerodrome was very much safer. I agree that we should not lightly cast aside buildings ofaesthetic value which have been handed down to us by former generations, but there is such a thing as striking a balance betweenobjects of beauty and the safety of human life in aeroplanes. Where these conflict, I would submit that the Chancellor of a Diocese isunlikely to be the most impartial witness. London Wl JOHN GRIERSON Jet Fuel and Safety A FURTHER case needs to be added to the list of accidents•rv to kerosine-fuelled aircraft appearing in my article "Jet Fuel and Safety" (June 10). While landing at La Guardia, a kerosine-fuelled Electra crashed,overturned and burst into flames. All 76 occupants walked away almost unhurt, after which the fire largely destroyed the aircraft.Although investigation is still in progress, it is well to draw attention to this accident while it is still fresh in the public mind;and unless and until the contrary is proved, it is not unreasonable to assume that this accident has provided the finest demonstrationto-date of the greater safety of kerosine fuel. And yet, Mr Hagrup and others are saving that no one can tellwhether or not one fuel can be safer than another. Harpenden, Herts J. W. RICKARD[Our correspondent is referring to the Electra accident which occurred on September 14.—Ed.] Credit to Griffith XT'OUR issue of August 26 records the retirement of Dr A. A.•*• Griffith from Rolls-Royce and mentions a few of the debts the world of aviation owes his advanced thinking. One that isoften overlooked today is his proposal for burying a turbojet propulsion engine within a rather thick wing and using poweredsuction to maintain low-drag laminar flow around the outside of the wing. In 1947 Prof Sydney Goldstein devoted the whole ofhis Wright Brothers' Lecture to this subject, introducing it as "the story of the researches carried out in Great Britain arisingfrom an idea due to Dr A. A. Griffith . . . [which] was, if boundary-layer suction is to be applied, the shape of the solidsurface should be specially designed." Although much valuable work was done in England on lowdrag/ boundary-layer control in the forties, the Griffith aerofoil concept was far ahead of its time and has been neglected forthe past ten years, its importance obscured by the ballyhoo sur- rounding the jet flap. Among all the vast army of aeronautical"researchers" in the world only three under-privileged groups (led by Lachmann, Pfenninger and Raspet) have continued to makeimportant contributions to the engineering of LD/BLC. How- ever, the recent award to Northrop for full-scale flight tests giveshope that the turbulence barrier may eventually be dissolved; and maybe some form of integrated Griffith-type suction-jet is not sofar off now. Fairfield, Conn J. M. STEPHENSON The Name of HandasydeI REFER to earlier correspondence relating to the question of asuitable tribute to perpetuate the pioneer name and work of the late G. H. Handasyde. As the idea has been approved andacclaimed as an excellent one, it will be of interest to readers to learn that a most fitting offer has been tendered from Australia,this being the offer of an Eagle aircraft in such excellent condition that it can be flown back to this country. This machine must beabout the last, if not the very last, of the Eagles. As readers may know, the Eagle was one of Mr Handasyde's later products, hislatest being the Double-Eagle which was primarily designed for Australia, and acclaimed in an official report as the best of itsclass to be flown. It had been hoped that it might have been possible to restoreone of his earlier designs of Martinsyde but it was found that no specimens now exist except the one owned by the FinnishAir Force, which is being retained for their museum. As the Australian Eagle must be the last of his many creations,and being in such excellent condition, it would represent a most fitting tribute to the memory of its designer while at the sametime symbolizing an appropriate foundation-stone for the rebirth and perpetuation of the old pioneer name as he so desired. Priorto his death it had been planned to construct an up-to-date small twin-engined executive-type aircraft with a top speed of 250 m.p.h.,for which he considered there would be a wide market, now being proved today, and at that time there for the taking. Alsoat that time, certain firms very graciously offered to assist towards the construction of the prototype by subscribing and supplyingthe necessary components. However, due to his lengthy illness
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