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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 2927.PDF
FLIGHT, 9 December 1960 925 its uses include the construction of mainten-ance docks, mobile gantries, assembly jigs, trolleys and work benches. At London Air-port, state Dexion Ltd, BOAC alone have to date used some 100,000ft of this material. Cranes and Hoists Made by Anderston Clyde Engineers Ltdjs the "Colossus" mobile gantry, a highly adaptable device capable of lifting loads offrom one to 30 tons, or up to 100 tons to special order; hand-operated chain hoists orelectrical hoisting gear is used as required. K & L Steclfounders & Engineers Ltd aremanufacturers of the Jones mobile crane, which is widely used both by airport con-tractors and operators. At the last SBAC Show over 200 tons of equipment valued atover Cl^m was handled by a single Jones crane during the assembly and dismantlingperiod. These cranes are distributed and ser- viced in the UK by George Cohen Sons & CoLtd, of London W12. An old-established manufacturer of cranesfor lifting aircraft is Steels Engineering Products Ltd, who make the Coles crane. Asnoted in the "Emergency Equipment" sec- tion of this review, John Curran Ltd make a60-ton mobile crane. Jacks Skyhi Ltd manufacture a full range ofhydraulic jacks, capacities ranging from two tons to 80 tons. Fitted with either tripod orquadruped feet, they can be operated—in addition to hand operation—by electricmotors or by compressed air from the service lines normally available in overhaul shops.There is also a range of wheel-change jacks of from two tons to 50 tons capacity, thelarger sizes being air-operated if required. A particularly useful variant of the jack isthe jacking castor, various types of which are made by Flexello Castors & Wheels Ltd andAutoset (Production) Ltd. Mechanical Handling Equipment, Miscellaneous Wheel skates for the easy manoeuvring oflarge aircraft in confined spaces made by Skyhi Ltd, who also have a range of trackjacks (see page 924). Mechanical handling equipment is aspeciality of Herbert Morris Ltd, and among their products are roller conveyor systems ofthe type illustrated in a photograph on this page. Conveyors and elevators are among theproducts of Gordon & Co, who are engineers and consultants responsible for a wide rangeof maintenance equipment built to customers" requirements. What might be termed a minia-ture fork-lift truck, hand-propelled and with hydraulic lift for loads up to 3001b, is theSherpa Junior, a new product of Salisbury Precision Engineering Ltd; many largermodels, together with power trucks and trailers, are also m3de. Of value in the largertypes of maintenance organization is the E.M.I. "Robotug" (see page 920). Positioning Equipment, Engine Stands, etc. Murex Welding Processes Ltd, throughtheir subsidiary company Donald Ross and Partners Ltd, supply various kinds of posi-tioning equipment, from small bench models suitable for servicing electrical and lightweight Herbert Morris Ltd roller conveyors in EOAC engine overhaul shops assemblies to large positioners enabling majorcomponents to be set in any position required. In association with Air-Log Ltd, AutoDiesels Ltd are manufacturing a range of engine-handling trolleys. This equipment—described in some detail in Flight for Novem- ber 11—consists of a positioning trolley, trans-portation and works stand, the powerplant being easily transferred on roller gear fromone unit to another. Engine and aircraft servicing equipment isa speciality of Morfax Ltd, who have given a great deal of attention to the production ofequipment for specific types of engine—not- ably the Dart and Tyne—and aircraft. Itemsfrom their engine range include a hydraulically operated work platform for the stripping andassembly of large turbojets and turboprops in the vertical position; servicing, parking androad transport stands for gas turbines; and roll-over stands, including a model which per-mits the engine to be rotated in two planes. The aircraft range includes 14 items of main-tenance equipment for the Viscount and four for the Vanguard. Hydraulic lifting tables, hand or electricallyoperated (mains or battery), with one- and two-ton capacities, are made by SalisburyPrecision Engineering Ltd. Test Equipment Heenan & Froude Ltd design and manufac-ture engine test plant of all types, including thrust-measuring stands (as used by BOACfor the Avon and Conway); complete engine test plants and dynamometers (as supplied toBEA for Dart and Tyne testing); torque re- action stands (PIA use these for Dart testing);cable-suspended hangar stands; and helicopter engine test plant. Though much of their development workhas been concerned with the military-aircraft field, John Curran Ltd number among theirproducts several items of value to those opera- tors of civil aircraft who have their ownengine-maintenance facilities, and amonn these are test stands for piston, turboprop andturbojet engines. A typical design is the Type T torque-measuring test stand originallydeveloped for the Dart and now completely re- designed as the Mk 2, for engines develop-ing up to 7,000 s.h.p. Among users of Curran turboprop stands are Middle East Air-craft Servicing Co (Dart and Proteus), Aircraft Carriers Engineering Services, Miami (Pro-teus) and South African Airways Corporation (Dart). Apart from other ground power units (seepage 921) Vernons Industries Ltd make test equipment and are currently supplying a num-ber of rigs for testing the alternators and Sundstrand drives of the Boeing 707, VickersVC10 and Bristol Britannia. One such rig, installed at London Airport for BOAC, isinstalled in a specially constructed building with a control room on the upper floor separ-ated from the test cell. Trailer-mounted motor generating sets fortesting aircraft electrical systems are manu- factured by the Heavy Plant Division of Asso-ciated Electrical Industries Ltd. Rated respec- tively at 90kVA and 40kVA, these sets aredesigned for outdoor and indoor use. Among much other AEI test equipment is an elec-tronic leak detector for testing pneumatic sys- tems and an electronic ignition-tester forpis'on engines. Another well known manufacturer of testequipment for turbine and piston engines is the English Electric Co Ltd, and engine test-beds and associated equipment are made by Gordon & Co. Almost all the manufacturers listed on pp.921-922 as makers of ground power units supply sysrem-test units for maintenance-shop use. Hydraulic-system test rigs and associatedequipment built to operators' requirements are the speciality of H.M.L. (Engineering) Ltd.Electric and hydraulic test rigs, trailer- mounted or self-propelled, are made by Air-craft Ground Equipment Ltd. A simplified method of providing air and/ornitrogen over a wide pressure range for aircraft maintenance-shop test purposes is provided bythe mobile air distribution panel made by Mobile gantry constructed from Dexion angle "Mobiliftor" (Thames Packaging Equipment) Mercury Airfield Equipment platform
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