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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0122.PDF
122 FLIGHT, 27 January 1961 Furnishing and Finishing guards, operating over many latitudes, have two sets of tubes—one giving a warm tone for flight over Arctic regions and the other a cool light for the tropics. BOAC's Vickers VClOs will also be equipped with GEC'sOsram Transport fluorescent tubes, which are designed to with- stand shocks and vibrations. These tubes, which will range inlength from 18in to 4ft, will be operated through a new type of control gear weighing only 6?oz. Current will come from the115V, 400-cycle electrical system. At the other end of the commercial aircraft scale, Skyway's Avro 748s will have pairs of12in tubes operated by 28V d.c. transistor-invertors supplied from the batteries. An extension of GEC's work in the ambient lighting field is itsbusiness in lighting equipment for communications. The com- pany supply many airline operators and furnishers with illumi-nated indicators, from complete steward-call systems, which show in the galley the location of the passenger ringing for attention,to the straightforward "Fasten seat belts; no smoking" panels familiar to all air travellers. Interior trim in Vynide by John Cox & Son AIRBORNE PLUMBING "Plumbing,'" in aeronautical contexts, has a host of meanings.It can mean complex hydraulic or pneumatic systems, fuel systems, fire detectors and extinguishers or pressurization cir-cuits. In fact the word, in aviation, has anything but its prosaic ground-level meaning; it loses its association with water suppliesand defecation. Here, we consider it as applying to just these. Ultra-lightweight fluid control valves for aeronautical plumb-ing are manufactured by the Saunders Valve Co Ltd, Blackfriars Street, Hereford. One is a self-closing water tap suitable fordrinking or washing water, hot or cold, and fitted in both galleys and toilets. Another is a self-closing urn tap specifically for galleyservice, and yet another is a quick-action on—off valve with a wheel handle in a colour to suit the surrounding decor. A featureof these valves is the way in which the water passing through them is kept away from the operating mechanism, for it is incontact only with the stainless steel bodies and the tasteless rubber closure diaphragms.A new type of lavatory unit, the Mk 4, has recently been mar- keted by C. F. Taylor (Metal Workers) Ltd, Molly Millar's Lane,Wokingham, Berks. The company claim that this represents a new conception in aircraft toilets. The integral pressure flushingmechanism can be operated either from the aircraft's pneumatic system or by a simple built-in mechanical pressure system. Itsimmediate predecessor in the Taylor range, the Mk 3, is fitted in the Handley Page Herald and AWA Argosy. Made of stainlesssteel, this lavatory unit weighs only 161b. These two aircraft have also been equipped with lavatory unitsby Delaney Gallay Ltd, Vulcan Works, Edgware Road, London NW2, whose latest toilet type has also been fitted in Viscount800s and Fokker Friendships. This is a completely self-contained unit, with no extra tanks whatsoever. Made of stainless steel, thelavatory flushes normally, but its container is sealed from the pan by a trapdoor which opens only on flushing. The lavatory weighs261b and needs no special ground equipment. It is simply lifted out and an empty unit put in its place. Large-scale production,say Delaney Gallay, has made possible a very attractive price. Toilet fluids, an unmentioned but essential element in an air-craft's furnishings, are the stock-in-trade of Racasan Ltd, Elles- mere Port, Cheshire. Racasan fluid incorporates detergents tokeep the toilet interior clean and to ensure that its moving parts remain free. It is odourless, though providing adequate disinfec-tion. The claim is made that it is no more corrosive than water alone. THE FINAL TOUCHES In the well-fitted commercial aircraft there are innumerablemiscellaneous items which can be considered part of its internal furnishings. Tables are one such item. Though these are usuallyintegral with aircraft seats, a table in the back of each seat serving the person behind, some internal layouts call for larger tablesaround which four or five passengers can sit. Operators who require these can obtain them from Baynes and Turner Ltd,London and Heston Airports, who make a wide range of furnish- ings. Movable bulkheads are another product of this company.Vanguard bulkheads made for BEA are finished in leather embossed with gold. Galley and toilet furnishings, luggage racksand small items in wood, metal or plastics, such as shelves, locks, lampcovers and cupholders, are all made by this company—which, apart from work for BEA, has in recent months helped to furnish Viscounts, Britannias and DC-6s of British United Air-ways, Viscounts of Cunard Eagle and production aircraft from Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) and Handley Page (Reading). Dufaylite Developments Ltd, Essex Road, Boreham Wood,Herts, make a hidden contribution to furnishings. The company's honeycombs are hidden from sight behind the facings and trim-mings described in another section of this review. Made from a variety of materials including resinated paper, Fibreglass cloth,cotton cloth and aluminium, the honeycombs serve as low- density cores between skins of aluminium, plastics or plywood,to give lightweight stable laminates which remain rigid under conditions of high humidity and variable temperature. Suchlaminates are widely used in fabricating bulkheads, tables, doors and galley fittings.Small tabs and labels with various messages—"Press for steward", "Ashtray", "Reading light", "Lifejacket stowed beneathseat", "Mind your head when rising", etc, feature unobtrusively in any aircraft furnishing scheme. Lighter, cheaper, more easilyapplied and better-looking than conventional aluminium plates riveted in position are the "metal cals" marketed, to customers'designs, by Malby's Metal Cals Ltd, 1 Queen's Park Road, Brighton 7, Sussex. A metal cal is a small notice printed in one ortwo colours on natural or anodized 0.003in aluminium foil. It has a pressure adhesive film on the back, protected by Cellophane.The Cellophane is peeled off after immersion for about 40sec in water at room temperature, excess moisture is removed and themetal cal pressed into position on a cleaned surface which may, or may not, be flat. There it will remain firmly fixed and without corroding, forthe rest of the aircraft's life, come high or low temperatures, humidity or dryness. The maker willingly provides copies of testreports from the RAE, AID and the Signals Research and Development Establishment, which confirm the adhesive andnon-corroding qualities in the most extreme conditions. A new process of line or half-tone production of anodizedaluminium labels is Metalphoto, now available in this country; it is distributed by R. H. Lighting Ltd, Anyards Road, Cobham,Surrey. Finish is in black and aluminium, or the aluminium can be tinted in a range of colours. The process is stated to be highlyresistant to corrosion or the effects of strong light. Metalphoto is supplied either as unprocessed plates in a wide range of sizesand thicknesses, for processing by ordinary photographic tech- niques, or as a finished job prepared for the customer within avery short period. Thenno-Plastics Ltd, Dunstable, Beds, manufacture manytypes of furnishing components in various plastics, having 20 years' experience in these materials, and several methods ofworking them—vacuum forming, sheet forming, injection mould- ing, compression, hand lay-up—at their command. In particular,they manufacture very light glass fibre panels, only 0.014in thick, for fuselage lining of convertible passenger/freight aircraft. Whenfreight is being carried, the panels are easily removed. Other components manufactured by the company include window sur-rounds, air-conditioning ducts and passenger facility panels, together ^ with complete bulkheads of solid or honeycombconstruction.
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