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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0124.PDF
i:v-«;S**-"vii:'«-.7 124 FLIGHT, 27 January 1951 SYSTEM SURVEY Autotest A SPECIALIST division of Elliott Brothers (London) Ltd, withthe name Autotest, has now produced a range of test and check- out equipment for both aeronautical and general industrial applica-tions. The purpose of the division is to provide specialist service in testing and industrial control of all kinds, applicable to anyprocess or equipment requiring it. Traditional test equipment for missiles and aircraft systems hasrelied on cross-bar switches, uniselecter relays and patch panels; and a tester for 300 lines would require three 6ft racks because ofthe large number of relays involved. Elliott Autotest have attempted to reduce the total number of components by makingas much use of each individual component as possible. In the aircraft field, the most important equipment shown at a recentdemonstration in London was the automatic second-line test-set designed for the complete check-out, testing and servicing of anautopilot for an unspecified British military aircraft. The test-set, illustrated here, is a twin-pedestal unit on castors, the left-handpedestal housing a complete hydraulic plant capable of simul- taneously operating four 3,0001b/sq in hydraulic actuators. TheOther pedestal contains the electronic elements, and the autopilot under test is plugged into leads from the equipment. The test sequence is controlled simply by depressing a steppingswitch, the number of each successive test being clearly indicated by numerical tubes alongside the switch. Specific tests can beselected out of sequence by telephone dial. During each test, one of a group of lights shows the percentage of tolerance allowed andthe actual reading is always presented as a null reading on a single meter. Up to 350 individual tests are available, their parametersbeing set in a stack of units in drawers in the right-hand pedestal. The main autopilot computer, combinations of sub-units or singleunits may be tested, up to a maximum of 33. The hydraulic por- tion of the test-set is offered as a separate installation suitablefor use in the clean conditions of an electronic laboratory. Self- sealing couplings are provided and various types of pump maybe incorporated. Up to 2!gal/min can be delivered at 3,0001b/sq in from a 5gal tank. An accumulator can provide sudden shock load-ings or abnormal flows. Another unit is the programmed automatic circuit-checkingequipment for testing, under taped programme, cable forms with up to 600 terminations. Resistance, insulation and continuitybetween all terminations may be tested from a programme pre- pared on lin tape by push-button programmer; and a fault-recording print-out is being developed. The full 180,300 test combinations with 600 terminals can be stored on 120in of tape. Monitoring Comet Engines AN order worth about £31,000 has been placed by BO AC withUltra Electronics Ltd for engine condition analysers to be installed in Comet 4s. The analyser senses engine vibration at variouscritical points and can indicate trouble before actual failure occurs. I O A A « 1 Elliott Autotest's automatic second-line test-set, designed originally for the complete check-out and servicing of a British military autopilot. A hydraulic installation is on the left and electronic test parameten are set up in the pull-out units in the right-hand pedestal $70m-worth of Reliability As a result of the successful Tacan reliability programme com-pleted by Hoffman Electronics, and reported in these columns on November 11, the failure rate of Tacan ARN-21C units hasfallen from 57 to six per l,000hr. This would result in an annual saving of $70m on the 10,000 sets Hoffman are under contractto produce. The same degree of reliability is now to be demanded of all similar electronic equipment. Recording Tracking Radar THE special projects department of International Computers andTabulators Ltd has been given an MoA contract to produce a system for recording, in digital form, the azimuth, elevation andrange readings from a precision tracking radar. In addition, the voltage signals indicating the displacement of the tracked targetfrom the centre of the beam will be converted to digital values and also recorded. The tape will then be played back more slowlyand the digital readings converted to a punched-card record. In order to allow preliminary editing and elimination of unwantedsections of the record, the tape can be played at any speed from the original to "single-shot" stages into a real-time computer whereunwanted sections are deleted. Two recording and editing systems have been ordered, togetherwith one tape to punched-card converter. Solid-state techniques are used throughout and a measure of self-checking is incorporatedin each stage to obtain a high degree of operational reliability. Hughes SABCA in Belgium A NEW company called COBELDA has been formed jointly byHughes Aircraft Co and SABCA in Belgium. The initials stand for Compagnie Beige d'Electronique et d'Automation. Tem-porarily based at SABCA's flight test and overhaul factory at Gosselies, the new company will provide technical assistance andmaintenance for Hughes electronic equipment, ground and air- borne radars, in Europe. It will also undertake overhaul, main-tenance and calibration of standard and commercial test equipment. Left, the hand controller for Ferranti's Airpass 1 fire-control radar being operated in a laboratory by Air Marshal Sir Frederick Sherger in May last year. He was then CAS of the RAAF and headed the fighter evalua- tion team which visited Europe and America and from which the decision to order the Mirage, but not yet Air- pass, resulted Right, the "ergonomic" successor of the control on the left, destined for Ferranti Airpass II. A rocking palm- rest is surrounded by wheels and switches for operation by the thumb and finger-tips
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