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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0890.PDF
902 FLIGHT, 29 June 1961 Wrights to Dyna-Soar W GOODYEAR'S HALF-CENTURY OF AIDING AVIATION SAFETY GOODYEAR have been in aviation since the Wright brothers,for the Burgess-Wright biplane of 1911 had Goodyear tyres,shock absorbers and wing fabric. In the previous year thecompany had made the world's first pneumatic tyres for aircraft. Now, hah0 a century later, the wheel of progress seems to have comefull circle. Goodyear are making "thermal" tyres for the Bristol T.I88 all-steel research aircraft and wire-tyred wheels—withoutrubber, without fabric, non-inflatory—for the Dyna-Soar re-entry project. There, in a nutshell, is the Goodyear aviation story to date; butthe history of fifty years' development is, of course, a good deal more complicated and interesting than the bare facts imply. Itcomprehends not only tyres but wheels and brakes, helicopter rotor brakes, anti-skid systems, erosion-resistant cements forradomes, jointing compounds—and from fuel cells to complete aircraft, airships and inflatoplanes. Its locale is not only the UnitedStates and Great Britain—the Aviation Division of Goodyear - Gt Britain has been established since the Second World War—butworld-wide. The winged-foot insignia of Goodyear has become a universally known trade-mark from Wolverhampton to Woomera. To get things into perspective it is worth taking a brief look at thebeginnings of Goodyear as far back as that spring day in 1893 when Charles Goodyear discovered the principle of vulcanization.In tribute to this event, Goodyear adopted the discoverer's name when the organization was established in 1898. The company'sfirst association with aircraft came before the 1914-18 war with the Wing aeroplane tyre and the manufacture of wing fabric; then duringhostilities Goodyear started to develop self-sealing fuel tanks. In the inter-war years they went in for lighter-than-air craft,building those famous American airships Akron and Shenandoah. (This came about through experience gained during the war, thenthrough post-war American acquisition of Zeppelin patents.) But it was during the Second World War that Goodyear gainedaviation experience in a really big way when they built over 4,000 Chance Vought Corsairs and more than 150 blimps, besides contri-buting parts to hundreds of other aircraft and producing nearly 90 per cent of the wheels and brakes for US fighters and bombers. Because there was so much interchange of equipment owingto US-UK lease-lend arrangements, it became necessary for the Wolverhampton factory to get involved in the servicing of Goodyearequipment brought into this country. As a result of this, the Goodyear Aviation Division in Great Britain was set up. Further,since Goodyear then had the bulk of experience in producing giant tyres for earth-moving equipment, it was fairly easy for the companyto switch to large tyres for heavy bombers. With the post-war expansion of Goodyear aviation business,a wheel and brake factory was opened independently of the tyre factory at Wolverhampton, the company being offered by theGovernment a factory site either in North Wales or on Merseyside. They became established at Wallasey, remaining there until thelatter half of 1958; and there, under NATO contracts, their produc- tion included thousands of wheel and brake assemblies for F-84sand F-86s. Another side of their aviation interest was the institution A tyre being tested to destruction at the Goodyear test plant at Akron, Ohio, where contact speeds of up to 510 m.p.h. have been achieved Testing "thermal" tyres developed by Goodyear for the Bristol T.I88 all-steel research aircraft Blowlamp test on the all-wire tyre developed by Goodyear for the Dyna- Soar project and designed to withstand temperatures of up to 2,000°F Vanguards of Trans- Canada Air Lines are being supplied with Goodyear Tri-metallic disc brakes. Details: A B C D E FG HJ K L M N OP Stationary disc Rotating disc Backplate Torque-tube spacer Back-up ring O-ringTorque tube SealHousing Insulator Emergency piston Piston Pressure plate Bleed valveRetaining ring
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