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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0573.PDF
FLIGHT, 4 May 1961 583 ,~NG LOOK BACK: Grouped before the famous Percivol Gull Six G-ADPR (see "Two More for the Shuttleworth Collection") are seven men who were concerned with the aircraft over a quarter of a century ago and who are still with the company (under its present title of Hunting Aircraft Ltd) which built it. L to r: Messrs R. Woolley, design department; J. L. Bradley, security; J. W. H. Capron, ratefixing; C. Harding, experimental; H. C. Benton, Jabroc construction; W. A. Summers, managing director; J. £. Lavender, service manager In 1946 it was returned to Percival Aircraft at Luton and used bythe company for a further 150hr until 1955. It is now refurbished and restored as nearly as possible to its original condition. The first Hunting Jet Provost, G-AOBU, was also symbolicallyhanded over to the Trust, but is first being lent to various technical colleges for instructional work. It will complete the Trust's set ofall RAF basic trainers since the Service was formed. Present at Luton were seven of the men who originally helpedto build the Gull at Rochester in 1935; and before departing for Old Warden the aircraft was flown past by Hunting chief test pilotS. B. Oliver with a Jet Provost T.3 in formation alongside. Seeing Fighter Command ON Monday last, the day when Fighter Command was officiallyassigned to NATO (Flight, April 20), the Minister of Defence was visiting three of its stations. Mr Watkinson went first to NorthI Coates in Lincolnshire, the Bloodhound SAGW station, then to S Wattisham in Suffolk. From Wattisham he was making a helicopter trip to a radar station; then returning to watch a "scramble" byLightnings and Javelins and to see Firestreak maintenance. Hovercraft Appointments THREE major appointments have been announced by Hovercraft Development Ltd, the company set up by the National Research Development Corporation to sponsor the Hovercraft air-cushion vehicles. Cdr L. A. Sweny, a director of the company since 1959 i Cdr L A. Sweny (left) andMr VV. A. Pennington and formerly manager of Marconi's aeronautical division, becomesmanaging director; and Prof H. B. Squire, Zaharoff Professor of Aviation at Imperial College, London, and previously (1934-49)a scientific officer at RAE Farnborough, joins the board. The company remains under the chairmanship of Mr D. Hennessey,other direclors being Mr C. S. Cockerell and Mr H. K. Turner. The third appointment is that of Mr W. A. Penningtqn,BEng(Mech)Hons, AFRACS, as chief engineer. He joined the EnglishElectric Co aircraft division in 1951 from the NGTE, later be- coming principal project officer, English Electric Aviation Ltd. Assisting Noise Research ENDOWMENT by Hawker Siddeley Aviation Ltd of a readershipand lectureship in noise and vibration research at Southampton University has recently been announced. It forms the first industrialcontribution in support of a General Appeal Fund which the university is launching. The Department of Aeronautical Engineering at Southampton,under Prof E. J. Richards, has specialized in research associated with noise and vibration; it receives support for this work frommany sources, including the USAF. The university intend to set up an MSc course to extend research in these directions. In a comment on the endowment the technical director (aircraft)of Hawker Siddeley Aviation, Mr S. D. Davies, said that unless a vigorous programme of research and experimentation intoaircraft noise were commenced immediately the problem might become a limiting factor on future aeronautical progress. War-film Pilots Wanted IN Flight for March 10 was pictured one of three Tiger Mothsingeniously converted by Film Aviation Services Ltd into Fokker D.VlIs for the Horizon Pictures film Seven Pillars of Wisdom.Now comes news that Capt John Crewdson, the aviation company's managing director, has been appointed air consultant for two morebig feature films, one (The Longest Day, Daryl Zanuck Productions) dealing with the D-day landings in Normandy and the other (TheWar Lover, Columbia) telling the story of a B-17 squadron. The invasion film will include sequences for which Me 109s,Spitfires, Hadrian gliders, Dakotas and probably a Mustang will be flown. The aircraft exist but pilots are needed, and any who canhelp are being asked urgently to contact Capt Crewdson at Stone Court, Smallfield Road, Horley, Surrey (Horley 3652). IN BRIEF APPOINTED a director of the main board of Bristol Siddeley is Dr £. J. Warlow-Davies, BSc, BA, DPhil(Oxon), who has been chief engineer (aero) and a special director since the company's formation two years ago. His career, in Tasmania, Britain and Canada, has included appointments in government service, with a railway company and with Rolls-Royce Speed achieved by the North American X-J5 in its flight on April 21was 3,074 m.p.h. and not 3,140 m.p.h., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced on April 25. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's S-15 gamma-ray astronomy satellite, designated Explorer 11, was successfully placed in orbit from Cape Canaveral by Juno 2 on April 27. The planned orbitwas from 300 to 700 miles' altitude at an inclination of 28°. Design of the Sikorsky S-64 all-purpose transport helicopter, first of aseries of turbine-powered heavy lift aircraft, has been completed in preparation for manufacture of the first prototype models later thisyear. The S-64 is successor to the S-60 Skycrane. On rotary-wing aviation day (June 1) at the Paris Show a competitionis being held for which a first prize of NF10,000 (about £750) is being awarded by the Aero Club de France. Tests include rapid climbs andspeed circuits. Two world records have been claimed by the Soviet Union. On April28 a height of 34,100m (111,877ft) was achieved by Georgy Kosolov in an E-66; and on April 29 an Antonov An-10 carrying 100 passengersset up a new record for aircraft weighing over 3.000kg (6,6141b) by covering a 500km (311-mile) closed circuit at an average speed of730.616km/hr (454 m.p.h.). The Canadian Government have bought 24 Hiller 12E helicoptersfrom Hiller Aircraft Corporation. Three are for the RCAF and the remainder for the Canadian Army. Other 12E orders include five forOkanagan. the big Canadian helicopter charter operators (who already have three) and five for Argentina, where the Government of BuenosAires province will use them for agricultural and other civil work. A seven-stage Trailblazer 1 solid-fuel rocket was successfully launchedby NASA from Wallops Island on April 21. After the rocket had reachsd a height of 175 miles on its first three stages, the remainingfour stages were used to drive a small steel pellet back into the Earth's atmosphere at about 25,000 m.p.h. The object was to assist in re-entrystudies by NASA and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and in meteor investigations by the USAF and Harvard College Observatory. Three special numbers of our associated journal The Autocar arc appearing this month: [Home Servicing and Repairs (May 5).] [British Cars and Accessories (May 12)] and Continental Cars (May 19). HATFIELD VISIT last week by the Minister of Aviation, Mr Peter Thorney- croft (third from left), seen viewing a 3,000-ton press for applying stiffeners to aircraft skins. With him (left to right) are Sir George Gardner, Controller of Aircraft, MoA; Mr H. G. Sturgeon, managing director, DH Aircraft; Mr T. Gilbertson, DH production manager; Sir Aubrey Burke, deputy chairman, Hawker Siddeley Aviation; and Mr R. F. Prosser, the Minister's private secretary
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