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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 0420.PDF
420 FLIGHT International, 22 March 1%2 WORLD NEWS Avro 748s for Brazil Six Avro 748 Series 2 aircraft have been ordered from A. V. Roe & Co by the Brazilian Ministry of Aero nautics. They are for the Brazilian Air Force special transport group and will replace its DC-3s. Although they will be in military service, these aircraft are basically identical to the standard RDa.7- powered civil airliner, unlike the 748MF for the RAF. Value of the contract is put at some £2m with spares. The contract was signed in Rio de Janeiro after the Brazilians had evaluated a number of other aircraft. Brazilian Air Force officers recently visited Avro premises at Chadderton and Woodford. The order brings Avro 748 sales in South America to 15. More Gnat Trainers On March 19 Hawker Siddeley Aviation announced an order for 41 Gnat T.l dual-control tran sonic trainers for the RAF. This brings the total purchase of this Orpheus-powered Folland Aircraft product to 105. Joint Service Staff Chief It was unoffici ally reported last weekend that a Royal Air Force officer—AV-M P. G. Wykeham—is to be the first Director of the new Joint Service Staff at the Ministry of Defence. An announcement by the Ministry is expected as we go to press. This news follows quickly on the mention of the formation of such a staff made last month in the Defence White Paper. AV-M Wykeham, at present AOC 38Gp, Trans port Command, is widely recognized as an expert in joint Service affairs, especially in relation to air movements of ground forces. USN Climb Records The US Navy have submitted to the FA1 details of a series of flights which are claimed as world records for time-to-height. All were made in a McDonnell F4H-1 Phantom 2 (two GE J79 engines) from NAS Brunswick, Maine, by USMC Lt-Col McGrath, between February 21 and March 3. Figures from brakes- off are: 3,000m (9,842ft), 34.523sec; 6,000m (19,685ft), 48.787sec; 9,000m (29,527.5ft), 61.629sec; 12,000m (39,370ft), 77.156sec; and 15,000m (49,212.5ft), 114.548sec. In our March 1 issue details were given of a claim, not yet ratified, made by the USAF with a T-38. Rocket Ejection Test On Tuesday of last week Sqn Ldr P. Howard, in charge of acceleration research at the RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine, made the first live ejection in a Martin-Baker rocket seat. He ejected at 250ft and 250kt from a Meteor flown by Sqn Ldr J. S. Fifield, Martin- Baker test pilot and himself a "live" subject for earlier tests. Reported to consist of several tubes attached beneath the seat pan, the rocket fires upwards and rearwards through the e.g. of the man-seat combination. Angle of thrust is quickly adjusted to a e.g. assess ment of the man, made in a simple ground rig. The rocket allows the use of a rather gentler ejection gun (50ft/sec instead of Mr "Jimmy" Martin congratulates Sqn Ldr Peter Howard after his ejection, right, in the Martin- Baker rocket-assisted seat (see news-item) 80ft/sec), but at the same time provides a much higher trajectory, allowing escape at ground-level and zero speed, or from a fast- flying aircraft diving close to the ground. Several live and dummy demonstrations have been made from the back of a lorry. Martin-Baker have stated that they hope to be able to produce the rocket attachment as a retrofit for existing seats, and they expect to begin production in a few months. The first new aircraft to have the rocket seat will be one of the Hawker P. 1127 prototypes. Air Estimates Discussed Much of the debate on the 1962-63 Air Estimates in the House of Commons last week centred on the validity—or otherwise—of Britain's independent nuclear deterrent. The Air Minister, Mr Julian Amery, expressed his confidence in the efficiency of Bomber Com mand's V-force and in the efficacy of our early-warning system. No one on the Opposition side dissented from praise for the Royal Air Force; their quarrel with the Government was that the deterrent endan gered the UK rather than protected it, both Mr Mulley (Sheffield, Park) and Mr Michael Foot (Ebbw Vale) considered that Thor missiles were provocative weapons and should be removed from Britain's armoury. Mr Amery touched on many aspects of RAF activity in his explanation to the House —sitting as a Committee of Supply, with at one time barely a quorum of 40 members present—of an estimated expenditure of £550m, which some members considered too great a cost. He was taken up in debate not only on aspects of V-force equipment— for example, the cost of Blue Steel—but also on aircraft for Transport Command and RAF recruitment. Mr Mason (Barnsley) said that the devel opment of Blue Steel might cost perhaps £120m before it was completed; he could not see the Air Ministry being able to fit Skybolt to Vulcans and pay for the interim period of Blue Steel for anything under £300m. Like several other members, he had something to say about new aircraft for Transport Command, agreeing with Mr Eden (Bournemouth, West) that the decision to purchase the Avro 748 had been a poli tical one. Mr Wigg (Dudley) had earlier called the Belfast order a "soup-kitchen subsidy," while Mrs McLaughlin (Belfast. West) had asked whether the Belfast could be adapted for civilian purposes, and whether a further order was to be placed. Mr Turner (Woolwich, West) commented that either we needed 30 or 40, or none at
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