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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0160.PDF
160 FLIGHT, 3 February l^i Dunlop's Aviation Jubilee . , . Variety show: an assortment of wheels o d tyres manufactured between 1912 and 7940 taking the place of air. Further refinements were to follow:"pressed-in" brake drums were replaced by isolated drums to prevent heat transfer to the tyres, and bi-metal drums wereintroduced to improve heat dissipation and prevent distortion; such brakes, Dunlop record, were used on all British fightersduring the war. In the years immediately before the war the company's technicaleffort became intense, extending far beyond landing gear. The Dunlop fluid anti-icing system and the "Ecta" static-conductingtailwheel were announced, and very soon the company's famous pneumatic gun-firing gear began to appear on RAF fighters. Bythe time of the Battle of Britain the eight guns of the Spitfire and Hurricane were all fired by the Dunlop single pneumaticbutton and cocking units; and with the introduction of 20mm cannon the twin-button selector system followed. Further develop-ment during the war produced the Selectric gun-firing switch. During the war, of course, Dunlop development of wheels andtyres continued unabated; production problems can be gauged by the fact that a heavy-bomber tyre was 17 times heavier than anaverage car tyre and took 45 times longer to make. Other Dunlop wartime products included rubber dinghies, meteorological bal-loons, self-sealing fuel tanks and aircraft lifting bags. One notable development was the Franks anti-g suit, first used operationallyin the North African landings of November 1942 to make it possible for pilots to make high-speed diving attacks withoutblacking-out. Dunlop progress in the post-war years will be well known tothe majority of Flight readers. In 1946, for example, the plate- type brake succeeded the drum type, and five years later camethe Maxaret anti-skid unit to increase its efficiency still further; complete pneumatic systems for aircraft were produced; electro-thermal de-icing systems for aerofoil surfaces were soon followed by adaptation of the same principles for de-icing engine air intakesand other vulnerable points; the Dunlop propeller brake appeared in 1954; another aid to reducing turn-round times was the air-cooled wheel-brake; there was the fusible plug, a safety measure against tyre damage; and in the past two or three years the high-pressure tubeless tyre has been widely adopted for high-perform- ance aircraft. Other products include valves and rams for high-temperature operation; flexible piping; and Maxivue windscreen wipers. Even the missile field has been explored, Dunlop pro-ducts finding an important place in Firestreak and Blue Steel. Energy-absorption testing on the Adamson dynamometer Mr G. A. V. Tyson, OBE, FRAeS, tech- nical sales manager Mr J. Wright, CBE, FRAeS, director SOME DUNLOP AVIATION DIVISION PERSONALITIES Mr J .Darby,general manager AVM C. E. H. Allen, CB, DFC, BA, liaison officer Mr W. H. SutcM export soli manager Air-cooled brake installation on a D.H. Comet 4 AWA Argosy undercarriage, with Dunlop wheels, tyres and Maxaret Close-up of the Maxaret unit, rf prevents skidding through mer-bnto
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